Villiers beach cruiser

[harry76]

I got the sprocket off but the nut holding the flywheel is wider then on the other motor. So if i want to use its flat cover ill need to grind the end off the nut. I cannot seperate the nut from the flywheel.

I also grabbed an old cooper engine today. Doubt ill get it going but ill use some parts off it. I really like the fuel tank on it. May use it in the future....

 

[harry76]

Got my shorter bolts. I was planning on making an exhaust but i thought id see if the standard one fit. It did and im liking it. I may just need to put a 90 degree bend where the pipe exits. Ill just put another mock tank on tommorrow, get some fuel and see if its still gonna fire up

 

[harry76]

 

[fasteddy]

I may be wrong but that may be the nut that turns the flywheel off the crank shaft.
I read that the nut holding the fly wheel on the crank turns for a bit then stops and then keeps turning and as it turns it pulls the fly wheel off the crank shaft. A nut inside a nut.

The motors came with a spanner that was made for the job from what I can tell. Let me look at the information I have stored away but that will be later. it's 12:30 am saturday at the monent and I'm off to bed.

I think the other motor is what they refer to as a sloper due to it being sloped on an angle like that.

Steve.

 

[fasteddy]

Harry,
Go to the "old lawn mower club' on google.
In their search box put "villiers magneto rebuild"
Go to the top of the page. I think the words you need to get in, are in colour and click on that and when it opens you should be able to pick the heading out that you need to see.

A lot of information there.

I'm off. The cats properly chuffed about the late hour and has her claws in my leg.

Hope this helps.

Steve.

 

[harry76]

Ill have to check that out...
I tried on a set of springers i have to see if i preferred it. I quite like them. Although i would need to get the thread extended as they dont fit. So the bars and stem would be about 1 1/2" lower.
I also would probably strengthen them after reading comments on here.

 

[fasteddy]

Harry,
I think you will be ok with those forks. At least I really hope so since I'm using them as well.
My bike is a Monark which those forks came from. The ones they are talking about are the new ones that are a copy of them. Those are about 60-70 years old so they have survived this long they should keep going.
That said, an inspection of the bike before you ride would be a good idea.

Your bike is coming together nicely. A job well done.

Steve.

 

[harry76]

I put on a tank to hold fuel and tried starting it but it wouldnt fire. And UFC 129 PPV is about to start so im finished for the day. i will have to take a look at that through the week

 

[fasteddy]

Hi Harry,
How goes the build or are you back to work?

Steve.

 

[fasteddy]

Harry, you were right about the cost to shipp a motor. The lad shipping it was off a bit in his price.
It isn't 40GBP but more like a 120 GBP or around $190 dollars Canadian. That's for 4-5 day delivery with tracking. More like I thought it would be.

Steve.

 

[harry76]

Hey eddy i havent done much on my bike in the past week, been a little busy on other things..... Yeah not surprised about the freight cost as they are pretty heavy. But i guess vintage + quality = heavy.

I measured my wheel and shim up. But im still deciding what to do as i think if i do run a direct drive it may be a little far away from the wheel. The shim will need to be positioned 80mm (3.15") from the centre of the rear rim to the centre of the shim. Should i try and put a centrifugal clutch and jackshaft on it or a jackshaft with a double stepped pulley or leave as is.

Im thinking the shim could be moved inwards around 30mm (1.18") so would i be able to even use a centrifugal clutch with a 30mm gap between pulleys on the jackshaft. As of yet i havent really looked into cent clutches so i dont know whats available. Any help would be great

 

[fasteddy]

Hi Harry,
The chap that I bought my motor from said that a Whizzer set up was the answer. He has restored a lot of motor bikes and scooters so I am going with his suggestion.
He did mention that the crankshaft could be cut down to make it fit. I'm going to see about getting the whole Whizzer set up and after the motor is in the bike frame see how it all sets up and do what I have to do get it to work.

I'm going over to the sellers sight and look at the set up he has and see just what it is.
I may get the parts from Quenton who is the resident Whizzer guru on this site and then I know the parts are right and information is close at hand.

I wouldn't think that it is a good idea to have the sheave to far away from the rim. There will be a lot of twisting force on the sheave and the longer the clips holding it to the wheel the weaker it will be.

Steve.

 

[fasteddy]

Checked the Whizzer site and it seems that the chap selling the parts in Hong Kong was the person who started remaking Whizzers and redesigned them to what he thought they should be. It was not a sucess.

Quenton says the clutches need to be rebuilt to be useable and he does it. I think that is the route that I'm going to take or I'll look into using a Comet Torque Converter if it can be attached to the Villiers motor.

Steve.

 

[silverbear]

Hey Harry,
You're still at it, I see. I'm hoping the little book from msrfan will show up in your mailbox soon so you can look at his drive setup for the Briggs. I'm hoping to use his setup for the Villiers once smart people like you and Fasteddy show me how and have worked out the pulley sizes, etc. I'm patient. I'm on some one else's computer, but will have my new old laptop soon and can follow your progress a little more closely. So get busy... ha!
SB

 

[harry76]

Thanks Silverbear, that book turned up in the mail today. Very much appreciated. I cant wait to sit down and read it. Yeah im still at it. Ive stalled a little because the front pulley is a little too far away. I need to decide what to do: A) shorten the crank and rethread it B) jackshaft with a double pulley C) jackshaft with a centrifugal clutch..... Maybe MSR's book may give me ideas.
Once i work that out i can make those brackets, and fit the sheave. Im going to try to start on that tank this week. Hopefully i can get a little closer.
Hope you get a coputer soon , need all the help i can get to get this right.

 

[msrfan]

Hey Harry. Great looking pulley. A bit large but that's the beauty of a jackshaft with all the ratios available. You could use a pulley with more offset to hug the engine. It could be countersunk to slip onto the non threaded portion of the crankshaft for plenty of support. Cutting and rethreading the crank would be a lot cleaner. You could also turn the crank to a common size like 3/4" and have a 3/16'' keyway added so you could use off the shelf pulleys in whatever size you want. The added benefit of a shorter crank is that the pedal cranks may clear without modification. Keep up the good work. It's looking very nice.

 

[harry76]

Yeah after i got the pulley and then was looking at bikes on here, i figured that the front pulley was a little large. Thanks for the advice MSR. Im still deciding, im liking the idea of shortening the crank (should have done that before i got the front pulley, live and learn). But that would mean id have to disassemble the engine and remove the crank wouldnt it. That may have to wait until funds allow on my next pay....

I did get a bin find at work, i saw they threw away a hot water system so i grabbed some of the pipe (unfortunately too big for fuel lines obviously) and fittings. It had 2 endcaps that will be perfect for fuel caps, ill use 1 on this project. Like i said i wanna try and get started on the tank this week on my days off.

 

[harry76]

Oops forgot to post the binfind....

 

[fasteddy]

Harry,
It's a learning process and to me, more fun than school.

Silverbear and I will be joining you in a couple of months. A little sooner as far as having a motor in our hands since he will be picking up the motor and transmission that I bought and I have one on the way from England and the carburettor is still over there being rebuilt at a Villiers repair shop but it should be here in 10 days or so.

Thought about the crankshaft being turned and wondered about the motor being bolted to the lath bed and started so the work could be done.

Found a photo of my Gradfathers motorcycle from 1921/22. My Mom doesn't remember the make but it probably was British since they lived there at the time. The drive sheath was very close to the rim in diameter. Maybe 5cm/2in from the top of the inside of the rim to the outside of the sheath. I'll try and post the photo somewhere on the forum tomorrow.

The story was that my Granddad was h*ll on this bike and had it set up very much like a board track racer that he used to get to the train to go to work.

Steve.

 

[harry76]

Sounds like vintage motorcycles/boardtrackers run in your veins, you never stood a chance of a life without them.

Cant wait to see your engine and setup. And i look forward to seeing the pic of your grandfathers bike. Very cool!

Well i just bought another Villiers/Atco lawnmower for $50. Its complete and looks to be the same model as the one in this bike. Its a little of a drive so i organised to pick it up next w/end. I dunno how to post an EBay link but the item number is 290561305490 if that helps and you wanna have a look.

Well i think i better lay off buying motors for a little while (well after the honda gx160 im bidding on). And i know either you or Silverbear commented on how the Villiers motors are WAY cheaper in a mower then they are sold seperately. So if you see one of these mowers in the Brisbane, Australia area id be more then happy to pick it up for you and pull the motor and any other parts you want and send them to you (providing the freight from Australia to U.S or Canada was worth it for you) free of charge. Let me know if you ever need this done.