yoothgeye
I build stuff.
Building a motorized bicycle is what brought me to rat rod bikes, but not long after getting here I realized that I wanted to just pedal my 1950 Columbia and put the engine on something else, so this is where we started:
It was fun, but without a diamond frame I had motor mount issues, I never finished breaking in the engine (cheap eBay kit) but with my GPS in hand on break in fuel I was hitting 36mph. I was happy with that.
Anyway, After removing the motor I had another frame in mind, but until today I hadn't really done any work on it. The motor has been sitting in my shop for about 2 years. Back in the spring I had taken apart a kids OCC Chopper (the 16" one) fork to use on this bike painted it and modified some cups to fit the frame. Today I started some work.
I started by installing the fork, it ended up going on really well. Then I grabbed my wheels. There was a member on here selling new coaster brake wheelsets and I bought a set over a year ago. Alloy rims, heavy gauge spokes, and Shimano coaster. These wheels are beefy. I put on the Bell Streamliner tires, I have these on another bike and I love them. Up top I added a set of bars off of a Kawasaki dirt bike. Years ago I had cut them short and now I wish I hadn't gone so short, but they will work fine.
I also built a layback seat post. I had actually pulled one off of a monkey bike to use on this bike, but I couldn't find it today. I like this one better anyway, it's made from a piece of weight lifting equipment, so it's strong and I've got a black theme going on the bike (not really on purpose, haha but it's looking good.)
I quickly ran into my first issue, the 3 piece crank arms hit the motor on the right and the muffler on the left. ugh. I got the left side off, but the right the threads stripped and I eventually got it off. Meanwhile I called a friend who I knew had a parts mountain bike and he brought it to me and I got the crank arms off it it and while I had it I pulled the cartridge bottom bracket and this thing now has good clearance and pedals smooth as butter!
Now facing another issue, I have a 41t "vintage" wheel sprocket for the engine and it fits over the hub but not sure if the smaller bolt pattern will fit around the thick spokes. The 44t that came with the kit (that I didn't use before) will fit the spokes, but the hole in the center won't fit over my hub. Ugh, I'll figure it out. I went ahead and got it riding and I really love the looks. With the fork putting the wheel further forward with a little extra rake (built into the triple tree clamps) this thing tracks really well and will be great when spinning the motor. Enjoy these photos, I wanna be on gas power by next weekend.
And my daughter just HAD to be in one:
It was fun, but without a diamond frame I had motor mount issues, I never finished breaking in the engine (cheap eBay kit) but with my GPS in hand on break in fuel I was hitting 36mph. I was happy with that.
Anyway, After removing the motor I had another frame in mind, but until today I hadn't really done any work on it. The motor has been sitting in my shop for about 2 years. Back in the spring I had taken apart a kids OCC Chopper (the 16" one) fork to use on this bike painted it and modified some cups to fit the frame. Today I started some work.
I started by installing the fork, it ended up going on really well. Then I grabbed my wheels. There was a member on here selling new coaster brake wheelsets and I bought a set over a year ago. Alloy rims, heavy gauge spokes, and Shimano coaster. These wheels are beefy. I put on the Bell Streamliner tires, I have these on another bike and I love them. Up top I added a set of bars off of a Kawasaki dirt bike. Years ago I had cut them short and now I wish I hadn't gone so short, but they will work fine.
I also built a layback seat post. I had actually pulled one off of a monkey bike to use on this bike, but I couldn't find it today. I like this one better anyway, it's made from a piece of weight lifting equipment, so it's strong and I've got a black theme going on the bike (not really on purpose, haha but it's looking good.)
I quickly ran into my first issue, the 3 piece crank arms hit the motor on the right and the muffler on the left. ugh. I got the left side off, but the right the threads stripped and I eventually got it off. Meanwhile I called a friend who I knew had a parts mountain bike and he brought it to me and I got the crank arms off it it and while I had it I pulled the cartridge bottom bracket and this thing now has good clearance and pedals smooth as butter!
Now facing another issue, I have a 41t "vintage" wheel sprocket for the engine and it fits over the hub but not sure if the smaller bolt pattern will fit around the thick spokes. The 44t that came with the kit (that I didn't use before) will fit the spokes, but the hole in the center won't fit over my hub. Ugh, I'll figure it out. I went ahead and got it riding and I really love the looks. With the fork putting the wheel further forward with a little extra rake (built into the triple tree clamps) this thing tracks really well and will be great when spinning the motor. Enjoy these photos, I wanna be on gas power by next weekend.
And my daughter just HAD to be in one: