what did you do to your motorized bicycle today?

[CTripps]

Tire popped 3 miles from home so im selling it. POS

Time for a new tire and tube...

• look for a Kenda tire with the kevlar strip lining the tread.
• Grab a thicker-walled tube (self sealing if you like 'em)
• Take the old tube, slit it open all the way around, discard the valve stem (save the valve hardware from inside the stem if you can) and wipe it off (check for/remove sharp things too)
• fold the old tube over itself and line the inside of the tire with the folded tube (Mine is folded to proved a triple layer of 'dead' tube)
• Inspect spoke nipples, make sure no spokes are protruding past the inside of the rim. (True wheel if needed here, maybe add some tape to the inside of the rim if needed)
• Mount lined tire over new tube and inflate

I drop my max pressure by about 5 psi on the lined tire.

I used to have the back wheel on my beast blow out on a regular (nearly weekly) cycle until I 'beefed up' the wheel as above. Most of my punctures were due to riding in a light industrial area (to and from work) with a lot of unknown crap on the road. I usually found little 'fibres' of a wire or whatever to be the culprit. Knock on wood, I haven't blown out that back one for over a year.

Oh yeah... and if the road ahead sparkles (broken glass), go around that patch.

 

[NunyaBidness]

Tire popped 3 miles from home so im selling it. POS

I wrote a good paragraph about this and on reading it before posting I decided against posting what I was going to say.

Good luck with your future endeavors.

 

[Greg58]

Everyone has his or her level of toleration as far as breakdowns go, I have been fortunate to have only one flat while riding. I was more than ten miles out, but repaired it on the side of the road. I carry patches, a pump and the tools needed to do most anything. Don't let a flat get you down, I like to look at the positive side of every problem. At least you didn't wreck!

 

[truckd]

Avenir thorn proof tubes are the best!, I get mine at Sports Chalet $8.99 then I use a dis-guarded vinyl vertical blind (because it already has the curve of the inside of the tire) to line the inside of the tire over lapping the end about 1" and glue it with rubber cement and or PVC pipe glue.

 

[slayer60973]

Its all the small things that made me want to sell it. The tire popping just made me angry as as ****. Yeah it sounds stupid but everytime i get it running great. Something else effs up. The engine lost almost 1/2 of its power. Which i.think is because of the base gasket being squished down to nothing. Even though i cleaned up the transfer ports. Does anyone know what detonation sounds like? Cause i think thats happening also under acceleration, it doesnt sound like 4 stroking. Its like a loud high pitched pop. Its just overwhelming. When i took it out to ride today the throttle handle where the cable attaches broke for some idiotic reason. No i didnt drop it. And the kill switch wire came off im just having some crappy luck. And being broke as a joke doesnt help any. Sigh.

If noone contacts me about by tomorrow at 8 ill just rip it apart and try to fix it with the crap i have laying around. Nunya. Id have liked to read that paragraph. Lol. ive calmed down now. Ive gotta work on my anger

 

[xseler]

Slayer, post up what you need that you don't 'have laying around'. Many of us have extra stuff that may be of use to you.

 

[CTripps]

Its all the small things that made me want to sell it. The tire popping just made me angry as as ****. Yeah it sounds stupid but everytime i get it running great. Something else effs up. The engine lost almost 1/2 of its power. Which i.think is because of the base gasket being squished down to nothing. Even though i cleaned up the transfer ports. Does anyone know what detonation sounds like? Cause i think thats happening also under acceleration, it doesnt sound like 4 stroking. Its like a loud high pitched pop. Its just overwhelming. When i took it out to ride today the throttle handle where the cable attaches broke for some idiotic reason. No i didnt drop it. And the kill switch wire came off im just having some crappy luck. And being broke as a joke doesnt help any. Sigh.

If noone contacts me about by tomorrow at 8 ill just rip it apart and try to fix it with the crap i have laying around. Nunya. Id have liked to read that paragraph. Lol. ive calmed down now. Ive gotta work on my anger

That sounds about right.. it was the same for me on the first build. I'd do a run to work and back and need to fix, adjust or tweak something (either at work or after the ride home). It takes a while, but eventually it's broken or forced you to replace everything that needs it, and it's great from there on out.

Slayer, post up what you need that you don't 'have laying around'. Many of us have extra stuff that may be of use to you.

...or can suggest alternate materials that can do the job.

 

[truckd]

Are you running a totally stock outta the box kit ? if so you may to do some upgrades, base gaskets are CHEAP! you can even make one or all yer self, Porting is a BIG PLUS! outta the box, get a better ignition system one with a coil, an expansion chamber and try a better fuel additive like Opti-2 Carbs help as well like a Dax RT carb (decent price) heads make a BIG difference.
So many things that you can Change out, Modify, and clean up to give you the riding experience you want and you'd get real familiar with yer engine in the process, they aren't that hard to work on.

 

[placidscene]

Wow, the tire makes the whole bike bad?

 

[Cruise]

Last year I had about 8 rear tyre blowouts. Very painful. First round was because of cheap tyres, then I had a few side-wall punctures. Once I hit a squid-jag for crying out loud, and I was nowhere near the ocean!
For my new bike I got schwalb brand big apple treads. They're tough. So far so good with only off the shelf liners in there.

 

[slayer60973]

Slayer, post up what you need that you don't 'have laying around'. Many of us have extra stuff that may be of use to you.

if anyone has a head gasket and or a exaust gasket i could use thatd be great. I bought some gasket material at my local m/c shop and its air tight but it gets saturated with oil and leaks all over the engine. I used the. rest of that stuff for a base gasket. Time will tell if itll hold up. I need the head gasket cause i used both base gaskets i had cause the material i bought is very compressible. And i decked the head just a little more. I need some courser grit sandpaper... takes forever wth what i have. I can deal with this stuff in the summer just fine. But winter... my tolerance goes with the weather . i figured out the "detonation" problem I was having. It was the spark plug boot. And the spark plug. They were both resistor type. I thought it wouldn't be a problem but after awhile it got worse. I just put the old boot on and it went away. now I just have to get a iridium NGK plug. Still running rich with a 65 jet and the clip in the top notch.. Lost some compression with using two base gaskets. Should I deck the jug or the head for better compression?

 

[Cruise]

Nearly there. Only the frame to finish then put it all back together.
Adverse conditions include having no spray booth type setup so have to walk every bit about 50 metres up the street to spray it.....
Wind.
Flies.
People thinking I'm graffiti-ing.
Etc
Here's how I've kept the frame from wobbling about during all of this.
Labour of love.

 

[a_dam]

Hey placidscene,

Your build is looking good. With just the motor mounted in-frame, your bike wouldn't be too top-heavy at all. But with those beastly ammo cans and a gallon and a half tank on the top tube, I can see why you're trying to lower things.

Are you still running a 27" rim in back? I kept my original hub, but used quality stainless spokes to lace in a new 700c rim. The diameter is only 8mm smaller so there's no problem with the brake shoes reaching the rim. The smaller rim gives more frame clearance to use fatter tires, which you ain't gonna find in 27". I fit up to 40mm tires now, and might go a little fatter if I mess with the frame a bit.
Still has all the benefits of "skinny-tire".

 

[a_dam]

Not today, but yesterday...
Took a quick run to test out an experiment. It was 20 degrees F. and windy. Fun! But that was supposed to be the nicest day we're gonna have for another week or so.

So far my weed wacker friction drives have used springs to pull the motor/roller down onto the tire.
On this new design, I rigged a lever that locks the roller up off the tire or down into the tire. Worked perfect first time! Just the right amount of force to not slip. I wasn't looking forward to hopping on and off the bike to fine-tune things with freezing fingers.

I've got pictures, but since it was a prototype (from plywood), you would probably consider it pretty cheesy looking.

 

[xseler]

Most of us like 'cheese'........post 'em!!

 

[a_dam]

OK, you talked me into it.

I already had this spare Mac motor mounted to a plate. The plywood "lever" is bolted to the motor plate at one end and there is a rod (bolt) that slides in the other end. When the rod is under the bike frame's top tube, the drive roller is held up off the tire. With the rod on top of the top tube, the roller is pressed down onto the tire. This worked good for my test, but when I do a real build, I'll figure out a better way to lock the friction drive on and off.

I could have cut the plywood into more of a handle shape but I didn't want to waste wood or time on a quick test. Plus I didn't want it to look like a product from an adult novelty store. I stole that joke from Cannonball2!

It ran really smooth. Since it's locked into place, the motor can't "bounce" at all with road or tire imperfections. Of course, spring-loaded frictions drives don't bounce much when they're designed right, but the springless design has advantages.

 

[CTripps]

OK, you talked me into it.

I already had this spare Mac motor mounted to a plate. The plywood "lever" is bolted to the motor plate at one end and there is a rod (bolt) that slides in the other end. When the rod is under the bike frame's top tube, the drive roller is held up off the tire. With the rod on top of the top tube, the roller is pressed down onto the tire. This worked good for my test, but when I do a real build, I'll figure out a better way to lock the friction drive on and off.

I could have cut the plywood into more of a handle shape but I didn't want to waste wood or time on a quick test. Plus I didn't want it to look like a product from an adult novelty store. I stole that joke from Cannonball2!

It ran really smooth. Since it's locked into place, the motor can't "bounce" at all with road or tire imperfections. Of course, spring-loaded frictions drives don't bounce much when they're designed right, but the springless design has advantages.

Here's another take on the lever rig for a friction drive... I have no idea whose bike this is, it was locked up at the grocery store last summer.

 

[xseler]

OK, you talked me into it.

I already had this spare Mac motor mounted to a plate. The plywood "lever" is bolted to the motor plate at one end and there is a rod (bolt) that slides in the other end. When the rod is under the bike frame's top tube, the drive roller is held up off the tire. With the rod on top of the top tube, the roller is pressed down onto the tire. This worked good for my test, but when I do a real build, I'll figure out a better way to lock the friction drive on and off.

I could have cut the plywood into more of a handle shape but I didn't want to waste wood or time on a quick test. Plus I didn't want it to look like a product from an adult novelty store. I stole that joke from Cannonball2!

It ran really smooth. Since it's locked into place, the motor can't "bounce" at all with road or tire imperfections. Of course, spring-loaded frictions drives don't bounce much when they're designed right, but the springless design has advantages.

Props to you!! Why don't you just stain & seal the wood and use it as is? Would be a great conversation starter!

 

[a_dam]

Thanks for the input, CTripps.

It's good to grab those images when you see something interesting. That design looks a lot like something I was discussing here five years ago with a member NEAT TIMES. Some company selling bikes they called Zipcycle. Here's the thread:

http://motorbicycling.com/showthread.php?t=6300

Pics of Zipcycle:

http://motorbicycling.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7536&d=1240013984

http://motorbicycling.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7540&d=1240016351


I don't know the proper way to include links to pics. Gimme a break; I've only been here for seven years or so.

Xseler,

Using wood is an idea I thought of. But I would do the whole bike frame in wood, too. I've seen bamboo used in bike frames. I have a bunch of Osage Orange I've collected. There's a lot of it around here - farmer fields are often surrounded by it. It's super strong and flexible. Native Americans made archery bows from it. Beautiful color. Really heavy, though.

Maybe that's a new thread we can start. Wooden bikes and parts. (unless it already exists)

 

[a_dam]

I hit a bump and all my parts fell off.

Actually, since it might be weeks till we get above freezing, seems like a good time to repaint the frame. I yanked bearing cups, kickstand, everything. I took this bike down to bare metal in 2008, so I know what's under the paint (besides rust). Should be a little easier than the last paint job. I'll try to keep you guys and gals up to date with pics, probably posting in the paint forum.