Dilly Bar Rob says Hello!

[Dilly Bar Rob]

Hello everybody!

I have been "lurking" on here for about two months now and I love the site!

Friendly members and lots of good info on these THINGS everybody seems to love so much, myself included

I built my first MB about 2 months ago. I kept seeing the Happy Time kits on e-bay and just couldn't resist trying one any longer. I am a low-voltage electrician by trade and work as a "sort of" automechanic, so this seemed like an awesome thing to tinker with.

I loved the bike, and so did anybody that saw it putting around. I live in a small town and am apparently the first to have one of these so...you know how that goes..

I was asked by a friend to make him a bike, so I did. Alas after it was done I a)loved the thing even more then the first bike, b) found out that is too small for my friend (I am maybe 130lbs, he is closer to 200...), and c) figured that I had put too much time into it to sell it for the agreed upon price. Sooo I sold him my first bike instead as it was better suited to him. Now I plan on starting another one! Man, these can get you hooked

I use my bike for short commuting during the day, mostly distances of 0.5km or so. I occasionally do a longer trip, maybe up to 5km's. So far it has been holding up good (both the first one and the second one). I take a long time during assembly and initial testing to make sure everything is tip-top. I have a whole shop of tools at my disposal so modifying parts etc. is easy.

I have used 66cc "PK80" powerking/zoombicycles kits on both bikes. We have some steep hills around so I never even thought of trying a 50cc (I don't like to pedal). The 66's with the included 44t sprocket seem to do very well, I took a longer ride with my wife on the other bike and was pleasantly surprised that either bike could pull either of us up even the steepest hills. The gearing differs a bit between the bikes (one has 26" wheels the other just 20") but both of them had plenty of torque.

It seems any MB other then electric is illegal (or not legal...) here and anywhere else in canada (apart from maybe alberta?), but so far I have not run into problems. If a see a cop or go through a "suspect" area I kill the engine and pedal, also I always wear a helmet (required by law here).

Weel enough chit chat - go check out my bikes

And feel free to ask any questions

 

[SimpleSimon]

Welcome aboard! Very nice builds you've done there - I especially like the 20" bike - that is a sweet looking little machine.

 

[Dilly Bar Rob]

Thank's

Thank you for the compliment

Yes silly me I didn't even write anything about the bikes...

The 20" was rescued by a co-worker from a dumpster years ago, along with one identical one. It seems they were never ridden (no wear on brakes etc.). He never got to fixing it so he dumped it again, I saw it in the steel pile (in folded state) in the wrecking yard I work in. I pulled it out and sat on it...seemed perfect for what I wanted - a low, easy to ride cruiser for just putting around - and it went from there

The bike was/is a ESGE Voyager folder bike, maybe 1980's? Three speed shimano hub. I "locked" it into first gear so I could eliminate the cable. The cranks are short so you would not want to shift or try to peddle any long distances anyway. The chrome on all the parts was rusty but cleaned up nicely with some WD40 and a scotchbrite pad. The bike also had fenders, alas they didn't clean up and were all twisted. If I miss them I will buy a set, but I have a feeling they would just vibrate like crazy with the china girl setup (the chainguard vibrates a bit...). The frame got a tube with mounts welded on for the tank, the folding hinge was welded up for obvious structural reasons, the front engine mount is welded on. 2 rattle cans of "gold" paint gave it a nice touch (bike was originally white). Tires are whitewall kenda's 20 x 1.75 with thornproof tubes, seat is a cloud 9 on springs. Brakes were replaced with new ones (they seem as good/bad as the rusty original's, ugh, darn sidepull's).

I have a heavy duty spring loaded chain tensioner in the making, I have also been playing with the idea of trying to convert the clutch to "wet" by swapping the pads from rubber to cork and running the assembly in oil....anybody ever try that or think about it?

 

[linnix13]

Thank you for the compliment

Yes silly me I didn't even write anything about the bikes...

The 20" was rescued by a co-worker from a dumpster years ago, along with one identical one. It seems they were never ridden (no wear on brakes etc.). He never got to fixing it so he dumped it again, I saw it in the steel pile (in folded state) in the wrecking yard I work in. I pulled it out and sat on it...seemed perfect for what I wanted - a low, easy to ride cruiser for just putting around - and it went from there

The bike was/is a ESGE Voyager folder bike, maybe 1980's? Three speed shimano hub. I "locked" it into first gear so I could eliminate the cable. The cranks are short so you would not want to shift or try to peddle any long distances anyway. The chrome on all the parts was rusty but cleaned up nicely with some WD40 and a scotchbrite pad. The bike also had fenders, alas they didn't clean up and were all twisted. If I miss them I will buy a set, but I have a feeling they would just vibrate like crazy with the china girl setup (the chainguard vibrates a bit...). The frame got a tube with mounts welded on for the tank, the folding hinge was welded up for obvious structural reasons, the front engine mount is welded on. 2 rattle cans of "gold" paint gave it a nice touch (bike was originally white). Tires are whitewall kenda's 20 x 1.75 with thornproof tubes, seat is a cloud 9 on springs. Brakes were replaced with new ones (they seem as good/bad as the rusty original's, ugh, darn sidepull's).

I have a heavy duty spring loaded chain tensioner in the making, I have also been playing with the idea of trying to convert the clutch to "wet" by swapping the pads from rubber to cork and running the assembly in oil....anybody ever try that or think about it?

dont bother with the oil in the gear box, there made to rune dry, drop in a pea sized amount of marine grease every hundred kms or so, i rode mine (80cc zoombicycles) and it got to 3000kms before my first problem, it was the small crang gear that gave out, but i never put grease in there once, then ever since 3000kms it had been a pain to keep runing, it was always one thing or another breaking, i managed 4200kms and then the clutch pin gave, so its in my garage, i gave up on the fram hts and built my push trailer cause i dont have the 150 bucks to get another ht, oh and as for the cops, in dundas and waterdown and burlington they seemed cool, i have rode past over 30 cops in my mbs lifetime and i never got pulled over once, infact one time i was in tim hortons with my bike parked out front and the cops came and looked at it for a good long while, they liked it! i went past a cop taking radar and he pointed and laughed at me

anyways good luck,