what historical figure

[UncleKudzu]

Che Guevara, radical riquimbilista?

yes, definitely Wilbur and Orville. and it is easy to picture Mark Twain astride a steam-powered riquimbili.

 

[eDJ]

LOL, yes Che definately. It just came to me.....current history.....the guy to see it as a must have would be Jay Leno. Wouldn't it be sweet if he found that
PBS film footage that the girl showed and reaired it on his show one night.

I'd bet Leno would get a bang out of riding one onto his show. And just his mentioning it would create instant public awareness.

 

[jasonh]

I'd bet Leno would get a bang out of riding one onto his show. And just his mentioning it would create instant public awareness.

And the prices of these kits would instantly skyrocket and be on backorder for even longer amounts of time.

 

[eDJ]

Pooor Jasonh,

Hard time your're having just affording a motor......wait till ya get to buy gas for it .

 

[eDJ]

Hey UncleKudzu......

On that steam powered motorbike for Mark Twain, I saw this one from Germany.
I've been wondering what a steam powered bike would look like since you mentioned it and I found one today. DAMPFFAHRRAD (German) meaning Dampf or steam and Fahrrad is bicycle.

.......and with the way gasoline prices are going and the economy on top of that
this may be the machine we should be considering building. We could at least pick up combustable things along side the road to continue our journey. A steam boiler like that one is after all a "multi fueler"

 

[deacon]

HOlY crap batman what a great idea. I see the sprocket on the FRONT wheel. that might be ideal for a weed whacker assist motor. About 25cc is light and wouldn't give the bike a lot of problems. I'll have to give that some thought.

We already know the engine doesn't need a clutch it can be stopped and started with the pedal action. I think this might just work.

I could mount the counter clockwise motor on the right outside of the tire without having to worry about the pedal sprocket. Brilliant thanks man.

 

[eDJ]

Ya know Deacon, there used to be plans for converting a Ford Air Conditioner
compressor to a steam engine available thru Popular Mechanics or the old Mechanics Illustrated. A buddy of mine was a machinist and always wanting to
build a small steam powered boat to go fishing in. I'm guessing it would weigh between 10 and 15 pounds but he was telling me something about having to make a different cylinder head for the compressor out of aluminum. He was telling me it wouldn't be much of a job to do.

Then a boiler would have to be built and I've long looked at those Bevrage Companies Co2 cylinders that go to the scrap yard after so many months of service. If you knew someone that could get you one of those then building the fire box around the bottom, finding a small water tank, and then some gages, valves and controls voila !

I'd say it would be a dream to ride in the winter with some saddle baskets on the rear wheel filled with coal or hard wood chips. But we're only talking a few pounds of low pressure steam here.

Just looing at the Dampffahrrad I'd say that Boiler housing has a copper tubing boiler in it and perhaps a smaller superheater toward the top (like a second stage coil to extract the last bit of heat for the steam making process) built in that Co2 tank. (the bottom would be cut off and the top
opened up for a smoke stack like in the photo)

One thing about steam my buddy told me......it's pure force. So if you are chain driven you're goinna have plenty of torque to drive ya. He was telling me the first Robert Fulton steam ships had copper boilers and tubing in them
so I'm sure the small micro boiler could run a bike with impressive results.

If ya had good luck with this.......ya may want to consider making a charcoal
production kiln in the back yard. This could make the argument for a side car full of charcoal fuel. But when others park their motorbikes for the cold winter months......you'd have your own pleasant climate on that steamer. (not to mention riding by the gas stations and waving to everyone)

 

[jasonh]

I personally think I'd be putting the steam engine on the rear of the bike for stability reasons. I'm just not sure extra weight on the steering tire is a great idea.

But I do think that that is a fantastic machine. I don't think I would be burning coal in it though. Likely to get attacked by hippies. Now if you were burning waste combustibles (i.e. trash) that might be something. Which makes me wonder...those guys that did the "CoolFuel Roadtrip" were using something in their motorhome to convert certain kinds of trash into fuel. Worth looking into.

I still personally want a biodiesel powered MB. I haven't found <50cc diesel motors though, and the ~100c ones weigh a good 50lbs

 

[eDJ]

When I was in my eighth grade year there was a teacher who showed us this
Mercedes news video where apprentices were building these 1200 mpg carts that used these very small single cylinder Diesels and their carts looked like a cross between soap box derby carts and Bonneville Salt Flat racers. They were competing to see who could get the greatest mpg.

If I remember the engines were less than one brake horse power. (but being Diesel cycle they would have to be heavier than these little 2 cycle Chinese
outfits. They didn't say if these were 2 or 4 cycle Diesels that they used.

Somehow I'd be willing to bet those could be found. If nothing else by contacting the German American Chamber of Commerce in Ny Ny. Inquire of sources for small German made Diesel engines. The GACC will likely email you back within a day explaining who in Germany makes and exports such engines.

I notice alot of German products are being manufactured under license in China now. Deutz manufactures air cooled Diesels and some are being built in China now.

Air Cooled Diesel Engine Single Cylinder China Manufacturers

 

[deacon]

Hey I was just fascinated with the sprocket on the front wheel. I found it an idea so simple I couldn't imagine how I could have overlooked it. I'm trying to think of a way to mount one without having to mount it to the spokes. Anybody got an idea? Mount a rear coaster wheel as the front wheel and weld the a chain ring to the old sprocket maybe?

 

[jasonh]

You could get a sprocket that just has one small hole in the middle, and sandwich it between the cone and locknut. Might have to add a space on the other side to keep it even. Not sure how well that would hold up under power though.

Get a front wheel with a disc brake mount and get one of the custom drilled sprockets to fit?

 

[deacon]

Get a front wheel with a disc brake mount and get one of the custom drilled sprockets to fit?

If i was going to go to all that trouble I would just get one of our rear sprockets and mount it on the front. I'm still kicking around ideas now.

by the way a small child bike chain ring will fit a cone just fine. I might be alble to take out the coaster brake mechanize and secure a chain ring to the wheel with a cone ring. but wouldn't it free wheel. Looks like i would need to either weld to the small sprocket there or remove that sprocket and replace it with the chainring. Oh well more things to think about.

 

[eDJ]

Deacon, I was thinking about your question regarding a workable sprocket on the front.

If you found a rear rim the size you wanted with the 5 (or more) gear cluster that's shifted with the derailer..........and could get the gears dismounted from the axle. (takes some special tools) Then find a sprocket diameter/circumfrence to pair up to the engine
sprocket (to get the drive ratio you need for the specific engine you're using)
then it could be a possible solution. Just a matter of adapting a setup. You'll only be using one sprocket (instead of a cluster of 5 or more) thus the axle won't be as wide and give a better fit into the front forks. The rim may be from a mountain bike to get the size of the front tire to match the rear. The sprocket may be from the front of a salvage one speed bike which uses an ashtabula pedal crank (one piece). That sprocket may have to be drilled out
or whatever to fit up to the end of the hub that the cluster came off. The hub itself may have to be modified, cut down etc..........but it's worth looking into.

I'm sure you could find some of these old rear rims laying around to experiment with. It would be interesting if you were able to have that sprocket free wheel just the same as if it were in it's original install. Thus if you throttled back or killed the engine it would still coast. With a centrifugal
clutch rolling downhill the wheel could coast with the engine still running if
the bike began to travel faster than the engine would propel it. Just a thought.

 

[deacon]

I'm thinking that it would be easier to take a rear coaster wheel and cut the center out of the chain ring to mate up to the already there freewheel sprocket and have it welded on. I am assuming that it wouldn't be a problem to get the rear coaster wheel to fit the front fork. I never tried to put one on, but I did read somewhere that you could put a rear coaster wheel on and somehow use a cable to activate the coaster brake how I don't remember. If that is the case them the rear wheel should mate up. The trick might be to get a sprocket for the motor.

 

[eDJ]

Hmmmmmm, About the only bicycle I've ever seen that had cable activated drum brakes was a Japanese Toyo Kaga (I think Kaga is right) It had these 5 inch drums front and rear that were cable activated. The rear wheelo of one of
those would be the set for you I'd bet. I've tried searching Google just now but didn't have any luck. (Toyo Kaga bicycles and Toya Kaga and bicycles)

But if you could get one and adapt the sprocket size you needed......you'd be in business.

I've only seen one of these bicycles and the young lad who had it claimed his Uncle brought it back from Japan when he returned from the service. The bike was of the 1980's vintage and except for the brake system it was about like any other bike.