hello all,
i have just come back from my first ride on my motorized bike and i can say im very happy with my work and effort for my first time project.
i decided on the zbox z80 kit which was to be fitted on my old apollo 12speed mountain bike that i used during my teenage years.
i could have gone and bought another new bike or got one from second hand store but thought what for as we have a few bikes at my place that dont get used much plus i thought for a first time project this would be fine. i may splash out and buy a cruiser or something for my next project, will wait and see.
the zbox kit arrived within 2 days of ordering, very happy with the speed of delivery!
i dont know about the instructions saying 2 hours to do the whole job it took me about 4-5 days spread out over 3 weeks to compete the build but i can say that i have enjoyed every part of it, even the part where i have nursed saw and throbbing red fingers!
plus ive had to go and buy the few things that not everyone has lying around the house like zip ties, inline filter from mower shop, loctite and chain lube.
i serviced the bike beforehand going over everything including brakes, gears, bearings and seating. the bike is quite old and a little tattered but it was solid enough i believe for the engine kit i was using. oh, and both tyres were replaced not long ago as my dad was using it as an occasional exercise ride.
i learned to service bikes properly whilst living in sweden as bicycles are common form of transport there unlike here in oz. i saw in sweden people with Kronan bikes, theyre a sold bit of work wish i could splash out on one of those for a kit but theyre just too expensive here. australia doesnt have the european bike culture and we are very limited to moutain and road/racing bikes here mostly.
the engine is a tight fit i thought it wasnt going to fit when i was installing it but im happy the way it fits inside the frame nice and snug.
i didnt get into any problems till i found i didnt have enough clearance between muffler and pedals, and how the h3ll i was going to shorten the heavy duty chain.
thanx to warren who was quick to give his helpful advice over phone and i quickly fixed this by grinding down a chain link and using heat to bend muffler. the instructions i had didnt say anything about using heat so u can imagine the time i was having trying to bend the pipe without heat! i ended up using heat from my bbq to bend the muffler which now has a cool multi coloured marble swirl that u get on motor bikes afer the pipes have been heated.
besides these issues during the build everything else went according to plan. after running it tonight i have the small issue where its not idling at stand still and just turns off, need to rev it to keep it going but im sure i will be able to fix this easily with a bit of tinkering with the idle control. few other things i need to do now is just seal up the holes with silicon where wires come out of engine and ignition and putting a few more zip ties around wires etc.
just wondering if anyone knows if spark plug change will make any difference to the standard one?
and the clutch, is there anyway of making it a little easier on the hand? ive oiled cable before installing but it still seems quite hard.
i may have caught the bug a little now, i may try my hand at doing a 4 stroke build but 4 stroke engines are pretty pricey here in oz unless anyone in the sydney area can tell me of where i can get good jap engine reasonably priced.
cheers and thanx to the people that told me to go with the zbox!
KG78
i have just come back from my first ride on my motorized bike and i can say im very happy with my work and effort for my first time project.
i decided on the zbox z80 kit which was to be fitted on my old apollo 12speed mountain bike that i used during my teenage years.
i could have gone and bought another new bike or got one from second hand store but thought what for as we have a few bikes at my place that dont get used much plus i thought for a first time project this would be fine. i may splash out and buy a cruiser or something for my next project, will wait and see.
the zbox kit arrived within 2 days of ordering, very happy with the speed of delivery!
i dont know about the instructions saying 2 hours to do the whole job it took me about 4-5 days spread out over 3 weeks to compete the build but i can say that i have enjoyed every part of it, even the part where i have nursed saw and throbbing red fingers!
plus ive had to go and buy the few things that not everyone has lying around the house like zip ties, inline filter from mower shop, loctite and chain lube.
i serviced the bike beforehand going over everything including brakes, gears, bearings and seating. the bike is quite old and a little tattered but it was solid enough i believe for the engine kit i was using. oh, and both tyres were replaced not long ago as my dad was using it as an occasional exercise ride.
i learned to service bikes properly whilst living in sweden as bicycles are common form of transport there unlike here in oz. i saw in sweden people with Kronan bikes, theyre a sold bit of work wish i could splash out on one of those for a kit but theyre just too expensive here. australia doesnt have the european bike culture and we are very limited to moutain and road/racing bikes here mostly.
the engine is a tight fit i thought it wasnt going to fit when i was installing it but im happy the way it fits inside the frame nice and snug.
i didnt get into any problems till i found i didnt have enough clearance between muffler and pedals, and how the h3ll i was going to shorten the heavy duty chain.
thanx to warren who was quick to give his helpful advice over phone and i quickly fixed this by grinding down a chain link and using heat to bend muffler. the instructions i had didnt say anything about using heat so u can imagine the time i was having trying to bend the pipe without heat! i ended up using heat from my bbq to bend the muffler which now has a cool multi coloured marble swirl that u get on motor bikes afer the pipes have been heated.
besides these issues during the build everything else went according to plan. after running it tonight i have the small issue where its not idling at stand still and just turns off, need to rev it to keep it going but im sure i will be able to fix this easily with a bit of tinkering with the idle control. few other things i need to do now is just seal up the holes with silicon where wires come out of engine and ignition and putting a few more zip ties around wires etc.
just wondering if anyone knows if spark plug change will make any difference to the standard one?
and the clutch, is there anyway of making it a little easier on the hand? ive oiled cable before installing but it still seems quite hard.
i may have caught the bug a little now, i may try my hand at doing a 4 stroke build but 4 stroke engines are pretty pricey here in oz unless anyone in the sydney area can tell me of where i can get good jap engine reasonably priced.
cheers and thanx to the people that told me to go with the zbox!
KG78
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NGK B5HS or B6HS depending on your temperature ???
