Ryo's Rat/Hot/Cafe-Rod Bike Build (temporarily revived!)

Ryoskate · Dec 28, 2015

I moved on to make the chain tensioner and realized that I could integrate the exhaust hanger.

Test fit. The clearance at the rear tire was very narrow... I was wanting to go with wider tires but seems like it'll be an extra hassle to make that fit. I'll stick with the tires I have for now.

LukeTheJoker · Dec 28, 2015

Exhaust looks great!

Luke.

Ryoskate · Dec 28, 2015

**UPDATE 1/3/2016** The cable end thing came off. Attemp at own risk.**
I didn't take much pictures since it was uninteresting but started work on all the cables and wires. I like to keep things as neat as possible so I trimmed the throttle cable by cutting, per usual, and then soldering on the ends with a little fondry/mold thing I made out of polymer clay and aluminium foil. Also note that the aluminium 1/4 twist throttle sold on ebay will not work with the cable that comes with the kit without modifications to the cable as seen here.

a little porous, but as long as the wire was heated enough, then it'll stay pretty good. I purposely did it to the throttle side as a "just in case" it comes off.

I also re-did the front brake mount .

Ryoskate · Dec 28, 2015

LukeTheJoker said:
Exhaust looks great!

Luke.

Thanks! No one can tell that the welds were actually bird poo If I grind it am I right?

LukeTheJoker · Dec 28, 2015

Ryoskate said:
Thanks! No one can tell that the welds were actually bird poo If I grind it am I right?

A sanding disc is a welders friend!

Luke.

Ryoskate · Dec 29, 2015

Got a really long ladies belt for a dollar at goodwill to make a cafe-racer style tank strap out of.

I really didn't take much pictures of the in between process because since it's quite boring. It was literally just cutting it to length and sewing it.

LukeTheJoker · Dec 29, 2015

Love that tank strap, nice work!

Luke.

Ryoskate · Dec 31, 2015

Well, good news and bad news.
Good news is that it ran, and ran FANTASTIC.
I was so EXCITED that I completely forgot to take a video!. The large baffle and the exhaust really makes it sound like a machine rather than a toy or a weed-wacker.
It pulled a lot more than I could ever imagine (110lb 5ft tall kid with a 36T and 26"+2" Wheel / Tire... Yeah... It goes...)

But, After about the 5th time roll-starting the bike, this happened.

The force put on the bottom chain on a pedal start was a LOT more than I though, causing the thing to just bend like jello.

More things to work on!

GuitarlCarl · Jan 3, 2016

Luckily, steel comes in all thicknesses... beef it up and go!

Carl.

Ryoskate · Jan 3, 2016

Please, attempt the cable end thing at your own risk... Didn't even last 2 days.

Ended up having to modify some sort of collar with an allen tight down.

I also made a little alternator with hopes of getting 12v rather than 6v out of the magneto. It's composed of busted transformer parts.

I've remedied the tensioner problem but I've completely forgot to take a picture. I have one more day of winter break left so I'll do that then.

Also, appearance wise, nothing much will be updated until I can reliably supply 12 volts to run the tachometer and lights.

Ryoskate · Jan 4, 2016

Series of failures... Dissapointment :/
I tested the generator today. A whoopin 2 volts AC at a good few rpm above idle. Un-believable... It either had a short somewhere in the coils, making it a big stick of heat, or the stator was too far away from the magneto. which was most likely the case.

Also, I rode around the block and it hauls, but it is noisy, and it vibrates.... It's actually not so bad under load, but it was enough that I had to take the "pedal / limp of shame" because the motor undid 3 nuts (which were, without coincidence, the ONLY nuts without any locking washers or nylock.) on my banana seat, which the rear end was grinded down because of

I've stitched the seat back up and also bolted the components back on with nylock nuts this time.. Forgot to snap a pic though..

Oh and also, picture of the new tensioner, or rather "chain clearance getter". Picture taken from far away because my welds suck.

Ryoskate · Jan 4, 2016

Also, here's a little blooper video, But as a proof that it's up and running. I also don't have a Go-Pro So I can't really do "on-board" videos.

Smoke is most likely because of break-in mixture and Cold start. Hard to notice when you're riding the thing.

Ryoskate · Jan 5, 2016

Looking back, I can't believe I completely left out the work that went into the engine on this thing. Anyways, here are some back-tracked photos of the engine work.