Villiers beach cruiser

Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum

Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I won a seat on EBay a few weeks ago for future projects. Well it turned up today....

Picture276.jpg


Picture277.jpg


Picture279.jpg


Nice looking seat dont you think? Perfect for a boardtracker?............ I thought so too. Thats why i bought it, guess i should have asked the size of it. The dissapointment when i opened the box said it all. It must be a kids seat. Its so small :-( lol


Picture278.jpg


Not a total waste, ill throw it on an antique kids bicycle i saved and fixed up.

P3120091.jpg
 
I went back to the machinist because i forgot to give him the kickstart freewheel thingy. I was planning to get him to tap a thread in the jackshaft shaft he is making me, but the thread is a little too large for the 5/8 diam of the shaft.

He then said he could put a new thread on the kickstart freewheel but would cost about $30, and as im not sure ill use it yet, but figured i should get it put on anyway, i said not to worry as i could just weld it on. He said he could bore a 10mm hole in the shaft and turn down the kickstart sprocket thread to a 10mm shaft for free..... so should i decide to use the kickstart i just have to weld it to the end of the shaft.
 
Heres a picture with the shifter flipped. I dont know which i prefer..... what do you guys think. Either way ill probably cut the shifter near the exhaust to move the shifter more vertical.

I may add lightening holes to the shifter, i havent decided yet. It may be a little overkill with the holes.

Picture280.jpg


Picture281.jpg


Picture274.jpg


Picture275.jpg
 
I like it better behind the muffler. Not sure why. I do think that you need to redo the arm though. Not the entire thing.. Just the section where it goes around the muffler. I think it needs to be cut in a way that follows the curve of the muffler a little closer, with less of a gap. You could probably just add a little metal with a welder then grind it back to get a better curve. But then again I am a perfectionist, and this site is about rat rod bikes, so there is no reason for you to change it :)
 
Yeah i think i prefer behind the muffler also. The curve does follow the muffler fairly closely, just doesnt look like it in the photo. But i may end up redoing the shifter because im not happy with the thin section at the scalloped bit. I could just add metal and grind it away but i have another handle off the mower so i could just redo it. My bikes nearly ready though so i may just leave it until i get it sorted so i dont have to do it a 3rd time. I appreciate the input though.....
 
I finally found a bike shop with a 1" steerer tube dye to extend the thread on my Monark fork. I dropped it off today and will be ready tommorrow.

On the way home i picked up my goodies from the machinist. Now i just need to weld everything in place, then i can get my v belts, make my shifter gate and thats nearly it. I just need to wait until my friend isnt busy to use his welder.... im getting fed up not having a welder. But as of tonight i may buy a welder off EBay if it doesnt stretch out of my price range. I cant really afford it, but i dont think i can afford not to have a welder. It will make my projects so much easier and 100 x quicker.

Picture282.jpg
 
I just need to cut down my jackshaft bolts, cut down the shaft to suit ( i will do this once i consider if ill use my kickstarter because i can slide the shaft a little if needed).

Picture287.jpg


Picture286.jpg


Picture285.jpg
 
Thanks guys. Its getting close and im getting excited i must say.....

Im thinking i might get the machinist to mill my gate to save me a lot of drilling and filing. Depends how much itll cost. I need to do this in the morning if i want it for the weekend if i get it going.

So i have to decide how to do it. Its hard to explain so i drew a few ideas i have. Any input would be appreciated or any other way you know of. Im not sure. A and B would be easy. I like my C idea but it would take a little more work.... I would have to either replace my shifter with tubing or join the tubing to the flat shifter neatly somehow.

I also have to decide whether to make it out of 3mm steel or 3mm stainless steel, as i have both cut ready to be milled.

WARNING!!!!! Im no artist but i think you get what i mean.....

Picture291.jpg


Picture290.jpg


Picture289.jpg
 
I had a look at my kickstarter. And it doesnt look too hard. If i mount it like the picture it misses the chain, cranks and pedal sprocket, and i would only need to put a small bend in the kickstart arm outwards to follow the lower chainstay....

Picture295.jpg


Picture293.jpg


Picture294.jpg


Picture292.jpg
 
I must say that I am a little confused at this point :? If you are running a single ratio pulley system, without any sort of transmission, then why do you need a gated plate for a shifter? Are you planning on adding something in the future to give you multiple gears? As far as the kick start goes, it looks pretty good. The only issue that I can see is that the kick start might flip back down if you hit it with your foot. That might cause it to engage back into the starting gear while the engine is running, which would be bad. Are you planning on something to keep the kick start in a safe position after you use it to start the engine?
 
I understand the gated shifter. I have seen them for years on San Francisco cable cars. It allows a full LOCK as well as a full UNLOCK, and when you are using a big leather belt and you engage it to the power source it is going to be different as the belt is a little strechy and things like heat and humidity will cause it to expand and contract. As for the full UNLOCK, when you are in neutral and want to stay that way, it won't pop out. When I had the hand shift on my Indian I didn't want a gated system because I was running a clutch that had springs for tension. With belts you are the spring :)
 
The gate for the shifter is there to lock the shifter in gear (shifter forward), without it the primary belt would simply push it back into neutral. There is no multiple gears planned..... is that what you meant?????

Also i will most likey use the pillow bearings and return spring from the cylinder mower. It will automatically return the kickstarter to a neutral position.
 
cobrafreak said:
I understand the gated shifter. I have seen them for years on San Francisco cable cars. It allows a full LOCK as well as a full UNLOCK, and when you are using a big leather belt and you engage it to the power source it is going to be different as the belt is a little strechy and things like heat and humidity will cause it to expand and contract. As for the full UNLOCK, when you are in neutral and want to stay that way, it won't pop out. When I had the hand shift on my Indian I didn't want a gated system because I was running a clutch that had springs for tension. With belts you are the spring :)

Are you saying the tightness of the belt varies? Like on a chain? If so i could always make a belt tensioner....
 
from experience of using belt drives on my whizzers and my motorbikes, i haven't really ever experienced a belt stretching that much. we run the same belts for at least 3,000 miles with no problems and very seldom having to adjust them. now we do run the spring loaded tensioners on the primary belts that "self tensions" its self when fully engaged. i use the power rated belts that would be found on lawn mowers, very good and don't "squeal" like the regular automotive belts. if you can get your hands on some jason industries belts, they are the best hands down! they are red in color too and look cool. :wink:
 
So you are doing this for the clutch? That makes more sense. You used the word "shifter," as in gear shifter, so that's why I was confused. That and the fact that you have multiple positions shown on your diagrams. If this were for the clutch I would assume that you would only need two positions, "engaged" or "disengaged" with a lockout for one of the two (like Cobrafreak did on his build.) But then Cobrafreak explained the tendency of the belt to stretch, etc., so having mutiple engaged positions makes sense now.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top