what did you do to your motorized bicycle today?

[CTripps]

We finally have a good day, snow's melted and the roads are dry so I got the cruiser out to tweak it post-reed installation.

The shim I made out of a pop can has taken care of the intake side problem, the carb is nice and snug on the intake and the kill switch works again.

I had to tinker with the air/fuel mix a little, ended up dropping the circlip on the needle two notches (raising the needle). Now when the choke is wide open it doesn't stutter or stall.

The tires and tank are full, now it's time to take it out for a ride.

 

[placidscene]

Hey placidscene,

Your build is looking good.

A_dam
Thanks for the props!
The new huge tank may acctually lower the center of gravity because it stradels the top tube instead of setting on top of it.
The ammo cans don't weigh that much empty, but the battery adds a little more to it.
The worst top heavy item on the bike is me! lol
I have thought of lowering the angle of the top tube down on the seat stay, but i have to dismantle the whole thing, then do some cutting and welding.
I also considered looking for a road bike frame built for a smaller person. That would be less work.
I don't have time for any of this right now. I have to get my house ready to sell.

 

[a_dam]

The new huge tank may acctually lower the center of gravity because it stradels the top tube instead of setting on top of it.
...
The worst top heavy item on the bike is me! lol

Cool. Fill up your tank and it acts as a stabilizer! You gotta love the frames on the old full size 10-speeds. Lots of room - big "hole" for the motor and other stuff.

Now, "the worst top heavy item" is harder to fix. I'm actually down 15 pounds in the last 1 1/2 months. It wasn't a New Years resolution; don't believe in those. I just really needed to shape up a bit. No sweets and almost no beer for the last couple months. For dinner, I eat half what I normally would, then the other half becomes my late night snack.
That diet's been working very well and the only thing I'm missing much is (surprise) the beer. I make wine for a hobby and drink some of that when I'm craving a little buzz.

Good luck with the sale of your house. If you're moving out of TX, let me NOT recommend Illinois.

 

[mapbike]

Didn't do a thing to my bikes but I did take my oldest bike out for a 6 mile ride late yesterday evening, it was 86 degrees here in Central Texas yesterday, was 23 the night before so the 86 felt really nice and I had got my piddling around the house done about 45 minutes before dark and figured it would be a nice time for a late evening cruise up the dirt road to the highway which is just over 3 miles one way, the old Black bike is the slowest of the tree I have going right now and only has a comfortable cruise speed of about 28mph with a high vibration top speed of 34mph, it is the most comfortable bike to ride though, nice wide cushioned seat and the old Wall mini ape bars, got a 24" rear wheel and a 26" front with a 32T rear sprocket, old engine is bone stock with a banana pipe expansion chamber that I cut the exit end off of so it would flow better, it's louder but the power had a noticeable increase, if this engine was a vibe king this would be the bike I'd ride the most for sure, it may get one of my dax GenIV engines in the future.

happy safe riding guys and gals, and hope you northern people get some good weather before long, we're getting some good days here in Texas already but before long we'll be complaining about the heat down here...lol

Peace, Map

 

[Danschutz]

happy safe riding guys and gals, and hope you northern people get some good weather before long, we're getting some good days here in Texas already but before long we'll be complaining about the heat down here...lol

Peace, Map

As I made my way to my truck this morning trudging through several inches of snow on my sidewalk (didn't I just shovel this an hour ago) I thought of your post Map. Feeling the -21 degree weather bite at my face I thought of 60 degree weather Map. I hopped into the truck with the heater already blasting getting nice and cozy slipped the shifter into first started to pull onto the road and the truck stalls and dies in the heavy snow. Even then I thought about your post.

Finally making it to the main road I leave the truck in 4 wheel, the road is covered in snow no way to tell where the sidewalks end and the road begins, again thought of your post. Finally made it to my shop and started shoveling the store front, yep thought of your post. I checked the temp right before I took the picture and it was -25. I took my gloves off to snap the pic and my fingers instantly started to tingle. Guess what Map? Thought of your post buddy.



Yay Winter!

Dan.

 

[xseler]

I haven't done anything to the bike in a month.....

It was 70* here yesterday....gonna be 10* tonight with snow and freezing rain moving in. I think they made a mistake when they named Nature "Mother". It's name should be "Duncan", cause it's certainly like a yo-yo........

 

[Danschutz]

I haven't done anything to the bike in a month.....

It was 70* here yesterday....gonna be 10* tonight with snow and freezing rain moving in. I think they made a mistake when they named Nature "Mother". It's name should be "Duncan", cause it's certainly like a yo-yo........

Oddly, I used to live in Duncan Ok. lol.

 

[xseler]

Oddly, I used to live in Duncan Ok. lol.

I'm guessing that you may have worked for Halliburton.

 

[Danschutz]

I'm guessing that you may have worked for Halliburton.

Good guess but no. I lived there as a youngster. My accent was so bad my father could barely understand me lol.

Dan.

 

[mapbike]

As I made my way to my truck this morning trudging through several inches of snow on my sidewalk (didn't I just shovel this an hour ago) I thought of your post Map. Feeling the -21 degree weather bite at my face I thought of 60 degree weather Map. I hopped into the truck with the heater already blasting getting nice and cozy slipped the shifter into first started to pull onto the road and the truck stalls and dies in the heavy snow. Even then I thought about your post.

Finally making it to the main road I leave the truck in 4 wheel, the road is covered in snow no way to tell where the sidewalks end and the road begins, again thought of your post. Finally made it to my shop and started shoveling the store front, yep thought of your post. I checked the temp right before I took the picture and it was -25. I took my gloves off to snap the pic and my fingers instantly started to tingle. Guess what Map? Thought of your post buddy.



Yay Winter!

Dan.

Sorry for your bad weather up there Dan, we have cold here today..... not nearly as cold as where you are but cold for us considering it was uppper 80's yesterday and now around freezing and suppose to be around 19......!

 

[xseler]

We are having the odd phenomena of 'thunder sleet' as I type........on top of ice, then snow.

 

[Danschutz]

Sorry for your bad weather up there Dan, we have cold here today..... not nearly as cold as where you are but cold for us considering it was uppper 80's yesterday and now around freezing and suppose to be around 19......!

It was a passing phase lol. It's 14 degrees and sunny. With the sun it's not even jacket or glove weather which still freaks me out lol. I really liked your post makes me think about riding weather!

We are having the odd phenomena of 'thunder sleet' as I type........on top of ice, then snow.

Yuck. The one benefit to our region is its very dry, very cold but dry I don't miss cold weather in the south.

 

[mapbike]

We are having the odd phenomena of 'thunder sleet' as I type........on top of ice, then snow.

Yep same here, and very windy also......

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

We are having the odd phenomena of 'thunder sleet' as I type........on top of ice, then snow.

Wow, that just looks so dreary and cold. Brrrrrr.

 

[maniac57]

I'd trade all this miserable rain and freezing for some fresh snow to go out in on the ATC.
Finally got it running again and.....no snow.
Running around totally sideways all night in fresh snow is all I miss about Illinois.
Well, that and the local dirt track...

 

[maniac57]

I'd trade all this miserable rain and freezing for some fresh snow to go out in on the ATC.
Finally got it running again and.....no snow.
Running around totally sideways all night in fresh snow is all I miss about Illinois.
Well, that and the local dirt track...

 

[xseler]

I'd trade all this miserable rain and freezing for some fresh snow to go out in on the ATC.
Finally got it running again and.....no snow.
Running around totally sideways all night in fresh snow is all I miss about Illinois.
Well, that and the local dirt track...

Well, Buddy, you may just get your wish late tonight or tomorrow!

 

[a_dam]

I'd trade all this miserable rain and freezing for some fresh snow to go out in on the ATC.
Finally got it running again and.....no snow.
Running around totally sideways all night in fresh snow is all I miss about Illinois.
Well, that and the local dirt track...

Fresh snow we've got! Had to clear the driveway AGAIN today (about 3 inches). It's 2 degrees below right now, 4 AM. I am more than sick of this winter. Tennessee is supposed to have some nice ice storms in store Sun/Mon.

Stripped the frame to bare metal yesterday - will post pics later.

I was thinking of a way to pretty-fy my kickstand. Black powdercoat would be nice, if I had powdercoat. Another thought was to apply a thin layer of epoxy glue, then slip a piece of black shrink-wrap over and shrink it tight. I have some large stuff for electrical wires that might work. I'd need about a 16-inch length.

Then it hit me. The kickstand is 1/2 inch round steel rod. I have 1/2 inch aluminum round. So I bent one up.

In the pic I have two old kickstands and the new one. The old one on the end is very rusty. That's how they get after 40 years when the plating (cadmium?) wears off. The center one was about that rusty. I completely sanded it and then covered it with a 2-part polymer EnviroTex. Looked great for about a year or two. But the kickstand always eventually gets hit by the crank and the coating chipped. Then the rust started growing under the coating.

On the end is the unfinished aluminum stand. I just have to cut the ends to length and drill the hole for the pin. Bending that bar was a mutha. I always underestimate the strength of aluminum. Gonna be a nice shiny, non-rusting kickstand. And much lighter... those steel ones are retardedly heavy. Finished pics to come.

 

[Cruise]

Nice to have those old project leftovers laying around.
Watch the ally doesn't get all galvanic and chew up the ?steel stand-bracket and spring. Grease should help.

 

[Cruise]

I took it to work for the second run since putting it all back together. It's done for now as wife is about to pop out a baby. I reckon it'll get a custom made bobber style seat at some point. Anyway, here's a few shots. I'm pretty happy. Real comfy ride.