New Golden Eagle belt drive - 24 hour impressions


Yeah - this approach seems to be a better one... If you continue to dump the returned fuel into the existing tank, you'll always end up with fuel in the auxiliary tank when the existing tank is empty. This is because the fuel return line generally has air bubbles in it, which will reduce the amount of fuel that gets sucked into the existing tank.

FuelTankPlumbing.JPG
From an old thread on the same subject.
 
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Yeah - this approach seems to be a better one... If you continue to dump the returned fuel into the existing tank, you'll always end up with fuel in the auxiliary tank when the existing tank is empty. This is because the fuel return line generally has air bubbles in it, which will reduce the amount of fuel that gets sucked into the existing tank.

No, if you seal the vent on the stock tank, what I see every time is that the auxilliary tank completely empties before the level in the stock tank starts to drop.

That is because it is a closed system that can only make up the volume of the fuel that has been lost by drawing from the aux tank. The "air" in the fuel return is probably just gas that has heated and vaporized.
 
When I first decided to build a motorized bike, I was pretty much set on the Honda GX35 engine, with a Staton friction drive. But after reading all the positive comments on the GEBE setup, I may go with that instead. Only I would get the EHO35 35cc Robin/Subaru 4 stroke engine. It is an expensive setup, and has a couple of drawbacks for me. Unlike the Staton setup, there is no room to mount a basket on top of the friction drive assembly. But apparently you can mount panniers to the sides of the GEBE support, so that should work. The other thing is how the drive ring mounts to the wheel. It only attaches to the spokes on one side of the wheel. Having been a long time bike rider, and having some degree of skill/experience in wheel building, to me this is not a good thing, I would rather have a hub mounted pulley. But, I have yet to hear of any problems caused by this, so it must be stronger than it seems like it would be, and my bike has a lot stronger wheels than the walmart bikes I see their kit installed on on their site.

I have no need for speed, 20 mph is fine, what I need is range. I would like to go on 300-400 mile trips on it.
 
I had a GEBE-Robin EHO35 setup on a bike and it was a superior setup. Smooth and quiet with adequate power and torque. There are at least 4 drive gear options, so if you want more speed or more power you can try different drive gears. As to the driven "gear"(I'd call it a sheave) atached to the spokes, my suggestion is to go with at least 12 gague stainless steel spokes as the minimum. The 10.5 gague spoked wheel GEBE offers is one of the strongest and best wheels you can buy. It is as good as a light motorcycle wheel. It is well worth the price and if you buy it with the kit the gear(sheave) will be correctly mounted and centered on the wheel and you will be able to rely on it for many years of hard use. If you mount things to the motor mount support, do it by clamping to the mount, not drilling through it. Trust me on that.
 
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If you mount things to the motor mount support, do it by clamping to the mount, not drilling through it. Trust me on that.

What problems did you have with holes drilled in the mount? I have drilled holes in mine and so far have had no problem. It seems to still be very strong and rigid. Have I made a mistake?
 
I did drill a few small, 1/4" holes in mine at first to mount an auxillary fuel tank. When I moved the kit to a better bike I found that it seemed quite weak and flexible compared to when I originally mounted it. I ordered a new mount strap and to compare the strenghth with and without extra holes is like day and night. I wouldn't do it, anymore than I would drill holes in a bike frame. The mounting strap isn't all that rigid, even without extra holes. Grab your engine and see how easy it is to move it side to side in relation to the bike. The price of the replacement mounting strap wasn't all that expensive. With the new strap in place I found ways to mount the bigger fuel tank by clamping to the strap. It is more difficult, but I'm sure if you asked GEBE they would tell you not to drill holes in the strap.
 
When I first decided to build a motorized bike, I was pretty much set on the Honda GX35 engine, with a Staton friction drive. But after reading all the positive comments on the GEBE setup, I may go with that instead. Only I would get the EHO35 35cc Robin/Subaru 4 stroke engine. It is an expensive setup, and has a couple of drawbacks for me. Unlike the Staton setup, there is no room to mount a basket on top of the friction drive assembly. But apparently you can mount panniers to the sides of the GEBE support, so that should work. The other thing is how the drive ring mounts to the wheel. It only attaches to the spokes on one side of the wheel. Having been a long time bike rider, and having some degree of skill/experience in wheel building, to me this is not a good thing, I would rather have a hub mounted pulley. But, I have yet to hear of any problems caused by this, so it must be stronger than it seems like it would be, and my bike has a lot stronger wheels than the walmart bikes I see their kit installed on on their site.

I have no need for speed, 20 mph is fine, what I need is range. I would like to go on 300-400 mile trips on it.

I would have gone with the EHO35 engine myself, BUT, they were out of stock for the immediate future. I'm not sorry I got the Tanaka engine at all. If nothing else, I can replace it with a Honda 35cc or EHO35 when the tanaka wears out.
 
Don't hold your breath on the Tanaka engine wearing out any time soon. They are a fine engine and, with proper care and the recommended fuel mix, may out-last the bike it is mounted to. I suggest you ride and enjoy your GEBE-Tanaka.
 
Virginian,
I like your aux. tank mount. Where'd you find that tank; looks like it would
work well on my other bike. Check out the aux on my tourer. It's 1 gal. with
a pump cap. when the stock tank gets low, I just pump some in from the 1
gal.
Here' the whole setup.
 

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