First build, I might be hooked!

First, I'd like to thank all of the members of this forum. I found a lot of great info on here to help with the build. I also found info in the /r/motorizedbikes subreddit as well as a couple other resources. All seem like great communities of people who like to work together and share info.

My build started with a Sixthreezero Around the Block men's 26" single speed. I wanted a steel frame beach cruiser style bike with some style, but also a brand with a fairly good reputation and not overly expensive. I went with the matte grey, as I wanted a little bit of contrast with the black and white.

From there, I went with the typical ebay 66cc two-stroke china girl kit. The following items I added to the build:

• CDH Power 44T sprocket/hub kit
• North Tiger Spring chain tensioner
• #41 nickel plated chain
• Planet Bike Polycarbonate Fenders
• Tektro Front dual-pivot caliper with Kool Stop Pads
• XYZCTEM Rearview Mirrors
• "Retro Clown Horn"

The tank and CDI are affixed to the frame using 3M VHB as well as the brackets supplied with the kit. This was an effort to reduce any movement post-install and prevent me from having to over-torque the fasteners. During install everything was disassembled, lubricated, loctited and re-torqued.

Still breaking her in. I'm running the VP Fuels 40:1 premix, as I live in MA and non-ethanol based fuels are not found at the pump. Top GPS measured speed at this point is 32.8MPH. I've retorqued once so far but haven't found anything of concern just yet.

I had a fantastic time building this and am hoping to step it up a bit more on the next build. I'd love to do something with disc brakes and suspension next with a bit more off-road capability.

Here are the pictures. I hope you enjoy as much as I have! Feel free to express any concerns, dislikes or whatnot, I can take it!
(Click thumbnail for full size)










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[Old Busted Hotness]

The drum brake is simple nostalgia. When I was a kid I envied the kids who had a drum on the front of their Schwinn Krate bikes. Although I had the Cheater Slick and 5-speed ball-knocker shifter, I didn't have the drum. 40 years later I had my chance and took it. It also fits with the wannabe-antique theme of the bike, and the Sunlite has a mount for it.

Huge difference in ride, and all for the better. Even though it only has an inch or so of travel, it's enough to take the shocks out of our terrible roads.

 

[aquielisunari]

NICE, very very nice

 

[camoto]

Part 1.

OK so I took the plunge on this whole "new studs, cylinder and head" thing. It didn't turn out as well as I was hoping. I read up a bunch on this and the main things I was concerned with were: punching through the case with the drill (didn't happen), tearing out the threads after tapping them (didn't happen), not having well lined-up holes in the first place (TOTALLY happened), and finally chips of metal in the lower end (had a few really minor ones but was able to carefully clean them out.

Unexpected issues were: super tight wrist pin. Why. This makes no sense and I've never seen them this tight on any other motor. Given the ridiculously bad tolerances, why of all things do they need this one thing to have so much interference??

Tap Magic is a must here:


Right Angle Drill, trying to avoid interference but certainly made for a sloppier experience:


M8X1.25mm pitch Bottoming Tap


Tapping Complete, time to clean out the holes:


Piston back in (needed heat for the unnecessarily tight wrist pin...)

 

[camoto]

Part 2:
Here's where the (not so much) fun began. When they drill the M6 holes in the case, they can be pretty damn sloppy about placement. This causes an issue when you're upsizing because the M8 studs have less clearance in the holes for the gaskets, cylinder and head. Looking back I should have just found some M6 studs of the appropriate length but hindsight something something. I also wanted the beefier studs for some reason. Not sure why. Anyways, on to installing the studs:


If you don't use loctite stick, you're a caveman:


So the next part there are no pictures. If there were, it would be evidence of things I am not proud of. I had to do some creative stud bending and beating on things to get the cylinder, gaskets and head in place. It wasn't pretty and I'll be damned if I ever am able to take this thing apart ever again given how hard it was to go together. All of this is because the stud spacing was not aligned given the existing M6 holes. My sloppy right angle drill didn't help this much and made bad worse.

I am waiting on the new 40mm intake so no testing was completed. I attempted to compression test but lost patience and wrapped it up for the day. I'm not sure if the motor will run after this or not-- I'm not super confident, that's for sure. I should have the new intake mid next week and that will be the day of reckoning to see if this was as much of a bodge as it feels like it was. In the end it looks nice but looks don't make you go.

 

[camoto]

Well things turned out better than I had hoped. I lost patience and just notched the bolt holes in my 32mm intake because I wanted to see if the engine was still going to run OK.


To my complete surprise, not only does it run, it runs really well. We'll see about longevity but for now it seems to go pretty good still. Perhaps I was being pessimistic? Who knows. I'll put the correct intake on there next week when it arrives.

In the interim, thanks to @Chainlube for the tip on the roller cable guide idea. Wow, what an upgrade. It transforms the cable routing as well as the clutch lever effort and feel. Thank you!!



Onwards! I might try the springer fork. I'm torn on it because I do like the paint color of my existing fork. Still thinking...

 

[darwin]

Don't leave that bike unlocked anywhere, I just might be tempted to steal it!

 

[Chainlube]

It wasn't my idea, but I like it and pass it on.

 

[camoto]

I might have celebrated too soon, but I don't think I've got a major issue here. Once warmed up the bike stalls out. It's super easy to restart but just dies after a 10 seconds of running. I'm thinking it's either the modified intake sucking some air or jetting issues with the new head. Either way, I'm not going to mess with it any more until I have the proper intake on there.

 

[camoto]

Success! I can't believe it but yeah everything works great. New manifold with gasket installed and she runs like a champ. Pulled the plug and it's just slightly rich so I'll probably finish off this tank and start adjusting. Head temps aren't getting above 220F but it's really cold out too so I'll probably eek out one jet size smaller.

 

[CrazyDan]

That jug has some pretty casting. Nice bike.