what did you do to your motorized bicycle today?

[mogollonmonster]

Oh the chains and pavement will get along fine, it's everything around your tires that will be ungrateful. Well, studded tires should do the trick, and they're easy enough to make. Far easier than engineering a track kit, which I've heard someone's working on. Tracks on a bike sounds like too much to me.

 

[grathado]

Today i hopped on my two stroke and tore through town. purposely going to areas that i knew would be congested with traffic so i can absorb the hate as i tore to the front of traffic afterwords i went to the pump and filled up for 90 cents. yes.... life is good.

 

[johnnywheels]

I have thought about Airwheel A3. But I'm likely to ride on long stretches of clear pavement even when snow is out and about. And I'm thinkin' tire chains and clear pavement aren't gonna match up all that well.

Gotta love riding out in Nevada, don't have to worry about the snow, moreso the angry drivers on the road! But they shouldn't be that bad of a matchup on clear pavement.

Update: things are heating up here! Almost hit 90 degrees yesterday, summer is right around the corner!

 

[bluegoatwoods]

I'm doubtful about chains on two counts.

One is that I figure that pavement will wear out. and break, ordinary cheap chains. And I suspect chains might get slippery in certain low-ice conditions.

I don't really know about the whole slippery thing. And I'm a bit reluctant to experiment.

It's always seemed to me that chains would be good for actual snow, but probably not so good for slick ice.

 

[curtisfox]

Chains will were out faster then the pavement, have had them on car before 4x4's were a fad turned to a necessity. Pavement is like a grinder on chains, good with snow but bad without. Even on my tractor with blower, blowing snow i have to fix every year,replace links..............Curt

 

[mogollonmonster]

That's actually what I meant, everything around those tires will literally get hammered when the chains let loose, and after awhile on clear pavement, they will. Lost more than one mudflap from that, and the front shock on my TopKick too.

Chains are at their best on ice. The best answer to deep snow, (in a tire, in my experience) is an agricultural type tire, with a wide spaced, deep "V" tread pattern. The wider the better.

Blue, in your situation, my experience points to a semi-aggressive studded tire, with as wide a footprint as possible. It sounds like your road conditions change a lot by the mile, much like here on the Rim. Riding on dirt roads this time of year, adds yet another set of variables to the mix.

I say "Semi-Aggressive", because if the lugs are too tall the studs won't grip. You don't want to make your studs too long, or they'll pull out. Mountain bike tires are typically quite thin, between the lugs. A semi-aggressive, Kevlar, road bike tire, with the studs placed between the lugs, should be a good compromise. This should allow enough material between lugs to hold a screw, or other "stud".

 

[bluegoatwoods]

Yes, mogollonmonster, my road conditions do change. I ride on some decent pavement. But I also ride gravel shoulders and surfaces that aren't far short of 'cross country'.

I have a couple of sets of manufactured studded tires for my pedal bike.

And for my motored bike, I'm making a set of studded tires right now. The studs are outside enough that they're at nearly a 45 deg angle from the centerline. I'm passing them through the lugs for strength. And I'll be cutting them off something a bit less than 1/8 inch from the surface of the lug. No doubt I'll lose a stud from time to time.

But if I lose enough to worry myself, then I'll just pull the tire and replace missing studs. That'll be easy enough.

 

[scratchbuilder]

Sold it...took it to the swap meet... 20 min. later she had a new owner.

 

[Amarion1]

Was my bike but sold it to a friend at work for his only transportation this summer. A couple weeks ago on his way in he got about half way and it died and wouldn't start. So I ran through it with him thinking maybe the carburetor needed a cleaning or the cdi died or bad plug and I literally said and pointed to the magneto that if somehow you got that wet that it could be why she died. So I finally got it home and in my shop and tried a new plug and wire and nothing. Then a new cdi and nothing. Cleaned the carb and nothing. Put the old parts on to try with the new clean carb and nothing. So I opened the magneto cover and a flood of water pooled out! How in the heck?! Put a new magneto in and WALLAAH! she fired up on the first kick =-)

I sealed where the wires come out and made a gasket with some good rtv sylicone. And sealed the cover screws

 

[Flathead]

No biggi just drove 6 screwws into TENtionER an not to eat SpokeS

 

[WECSOG]

Rode it for the first time in awhile. The tank has started moving around again. It slid down the top tube and pulled the hose off the carb. I looked down and saw fuel running all over the carb. Yeah, I know I should have stopped right then and there. But I was only a quarter mile from home so I just turned off the petcock and made it home on what was left in the bowl.

 

[grathado]

i cut up an old tire and i sit the tank on the tire and bolt it down

 

[WECSOG]

That's a good idea. I originally used stickyback foam to pad the tank from the tube, then I added JB Weld to make it stop moving. Maybe I'll hose clamp a piece of tire to the tube and then bolt the tank down over that.

 

[grathado]

lol thats a better idea then what i did, i think i may do that haha

 

[bailsafe]

Chain fell off yesterday, had a grand ol' time tightening the sprocket and refitting the chain. Runs like a dream, though. Still gotta figure out why my fuel efficiency is so low.

 

[Blakenstein]

Winter is here again, and I just finished removing the wheel and changing over tires, and then remounting, and then brake adjustment. To remove my wheel, I have to loosen bolts, and drop the whole motor frame down. I just right now finished mounting my studded Psycho that I posted in the tire section with pics.
Here are pics of my mount, with a pic of my new Psycho right next to my old Nokian that I have on my front . Big difference. The Tioga Psycho II is the best tire that I could ever want, and muchly needed!!! I got the studs from Maxigrip ( i - Grip )

 

[TheNecromancer13]

I converted my pedal gears from 18 speed to 1 speed, and then wired up the shifter to a second throttle cable which now gives me 9 speed cruise control (idle to full throttle and everything in between) while still having full control over speed with my thumb throttle when the cruise control is set to idle. Then I test rode it around my neighborhood before coming back in the house from the garage, which was when I noticed that it was 1:00 AM. I had completely lost track of time, and had been in the garage for 5 hours tinkering with my bike and working on another for a friend. So yea, I realized that I had been blasting Guns N Roses into the neighborhood and riding my bike around the streets at midnight. I'm sure the neighbors were thrilled. Oops. Single speed chain is skipping a bit cause I apparently did a crappy job with chain alignment, but I'll deal with that tomorrow, I'm tired and I'm going to bed.

 

[crassius]

nice, a throttle that doesn't return when you fall off - what could possibly go wrong?

 

[tgaydos]

made myself a spring tensioner. it appears that it should work just fine. best part is it was made from things i had laying around.

 

[TheNecromancer13]

Broke my frame. Repaired it with pop rivets and scraps of steel I had lying around. Decided it's time to get a new frame.