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Crank Forward Fuji Saratoga with GEBE Power
Hi Mary,
I am very sorry for delay. Glad to hear from you and that you are still an angler. The message thingy did not tell me about your sending PM and would not let me respond but it worked out.
That Fuji Saratoga looks just the ticket. I am boyo who prefers step-through also, but not avail then. The Gruv II new was only $250 or so here...so ya dun did good. I did buy a Rans Dynamik but chicken to mess with it and add motor.
The CFs are simply the best for motoring...
I bought a nice shock fork from Veggaspaddy and installed on Rans, but no engine yet.
You will have to buy a longer cable, obviously, as the step-through is lower and will need more inches. But even longer than the one I used. I wish I could tell you where I bought the cable, but my system crashed and I lost that contact. It should not be hard to locate.
What I did...If I am not mistaken, I needed a 12 foot long cable. Thing is, the cable has to be thick enough to not jamb up when it is pushed, so it may be slightly thicker than normal cables. That means it might fit the carb slot snug...keep cable a bit longer than seems, to allow for large loops.
Should find what you need at one of these: http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt...+brake+cables&SpellState=&fr2=sp-qrw-corr-top
Now I tried three throttle assys, and the best one was the Sinz red brake lever I bought on some site, likely it was eBay?
It is shown in page one of this thread, I believe. It seems the best of all. Strong, comfortable, and not stiff, so engine shuts...the throttle types that can be tightened for cruise control are too dangerous for me...
The handlebars on the Raleigh were not standard diameter, but it worked out.
As I recall, I took stiff packing twine and taped it to the engine, and lead it along frame etc to top bar, where the lever was clamped to find distance. Add at least a foot for wide turns at each end.
I bought a cable and casing from same place...as unit, and it had the round lead drum-shaped thingy on one end and the smaller cylindrical lead piece at the other end, and included the necessary metal caps at each end...
The trick is to shorten the casing, which was, in my case, made up of a spiral metal assy, covered with the black plastic covering. Sort of like removing electric wire insulation, then unwinding the metal and cutting.
The other trick is to have the right tool to snip the cable cleanly.
I happen to have a stainless wire snipper I used with sailboat rigging, so that was not a problem. If you do not have one, take the able to a bike shop and they will snip - you do not want frayed end.
Do all while cable is in casing...but remove cable when cutting the spiral interior, so as not to kink...
At the carb end, you will have to do some custom work...need to have something that will keep cable from slipping back through the lock nut...and still fit the sleeve...I used a piece of brass tube that was flared at one end, that I ground off. (I think the tube was for making very small grommet holes.) Spoke sleeves may work also, with some filing, cable might have to be a bit longer, however.
I just cleaned the cable end of oil with acetone or lacquer thinner, and dunked in some flux, and added solder, then heated the brass and and slipped it over the whole thing...the solder by itself in a small enough glob may be enough to keep the cable in place, however.
The rest is just fitting the drum end into the brake lever and attaching to frame and then the carb throttle piece.
You will have to remove and mess with the hand grips...hairspray makes the removal easy, pry up and spray inside and work around, and use the spray to reinstall, after everything is set the way you want. I shortened one grip and that you can see on the first page of the thread.
When I did it, I had to grind a bit of the Raleigh brake housing away to allow the Sinze lever to hang just below the brake and offer easy access to both levers.
I also had to reverse the brake levers on the bars, so the rear brake lever was on the left, which is used most and first in emergency...and remember that when riding. It seemed dangerous to have to move right hand from throttle lever to brake in potential emergencies.
If the cable from GEBE is long enough and is teflon, maybe worth the money to offer smoother operation. Need to be sure one end is a drum to fit lever if using Sinz brake, which I recommend as simple and so on. GEBE does not do volume, so smaller orders or labor costs more and they need a bit of profit. Family operation.
The engine end of the cable should be a generous bow, so the cable does not jamb, and the same at the top, where it turns to enter the lever...and moves with the bike.
I hope this helps and makes the install easier.
Also, I used a GEBE wheel (stronger) and their 9 inch long axle, and had local bike ship replace the cassette, as the Gruv came with quick release rear axle.
The longer axle will let you nut the axle to the frame, then nut the GEBE engine mount to the axle separately, to offer more secure attachment and each removal that allows the bike to be ridden when cable is separated from engine and tied down, if need be.
I also replaced rear tire on that rim with Armadillo tire for obvious reasons.
Keep fishing, and remember, keep the line in the water...
BTW, the motored bike makes it easy to go float fishing where you stop at some spot down-stream--you chain bike to tree back in woods at stop point and pedal/motor back to car and then come back and pick up canoe etc. Hope you recognize stop point from water...yes, missed it once.
The bar on the rear was made from alum stock from big box store, bent with bench vice and large adjustable wrench on garage floor. The end I drilled to match the Gruv II clamp bolt perfectly, but easy to sub a SS bolt there. I tapped for 5mm screws to attach to GEBE mount and use the bar to hold a Trek bag. It also adds some stability to GEBE mount and could be used to replace mount strap easily and one on each side would make the whole rig bulletproof for trail riders.
I also replaced the GEBE engine strap with narrower alum bar and twisted to match the seaat bolt, see pics on previous page. Easy to do.
Good enough.
Hi Mary,
I am very sorry for delay. Glad to hear from you and that you are still an angler. The message thingy did not tell me about your sending PM and would not let me respond but it worked out.
That Fuji Saratoga looks just the ticket. I am boyo who prefers step-through also, but not avail then. The Gruv II new was only $250 or so here...so ya dun did good. I did buy a Rans Dynamik but chicken to mess with it and add motor.
The CFs are simply the best for motoring...
I bought a nice shock fork from Veggaspaddy and installed on Rans, but no engine yet.
You will have to buy a longer cable, obviously, as the step-through is lower and will need more inches. But even longer than the one I used. I wish I could tell you where I bought the cable, but my system crashed and I lost that contact. It should not be hard to locate.
What I did...If I am not mistaken, I needed a 12 foot long cable. Thing is, the cable has to be thick enough to not jamb up when it is pushed, so it may be slightly thicker than normal cables. That means it might fit the carb slot snug...keep cable a bit longer than seems, to allow for large loops.
Should find what you need at one of these: http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt...+brake+cables&SpellState=&fr2=sp-qrw-corr-top
Now I tried three throttle assys, and the best one was the Sinz red brake lever I bought on some site, likely it was eBay?
It is shown in page one of this thread, I believe. It seems the best of all. Strong, comfortable, and not stiff, so engine shuts...the throttle types that can be tightened for cruise control are too dangerous for me...
The handlebars on the Raleigh were not standard diameter, but it worked out.
As I recall, I took stiff packing twine and taped it to the engine, and lead it along frame etc to top bar, where the lever was clamped to find distance. Add at least a foot for wide turns at each end.
I bought a cable and casing from same place...as unit, and it had the round lead drum-shaped thingy on one end and the smaller cylindrical lead piece at the other end, and included the necessary metal caps at each end...
The trick is to shorten the casing, which was, in my case, made up of a spiral metal assy, covered with the black plastic covering. Sort of like removing electric wire insulation, then unwinding the metal and cutting.
The other trick is to have the right tool to snip the cable cleanly.
I happen to have a stainless wire snipper I used with sailboat rigging, so that was not a problem. If you do not have one, take the able to a bike shop and they will snip - you do not want frayed end.
Do all while cable is in casing...but remove cable when cutting the spiral interior, so as not to kink...
At the carb end, you will have to do some custom work...need to have something that will keep cable from slipping back through the lock nut...and still fit the sleeve...I used a piece of brass tube that was flared at one end, that I ground off. (I think the tube was for making very small grommet holes.) Spoke sleeves may work also, with some filing, cable might have to be a bit longer, however.
I just cleaned the cable end of oil with acetone or lacquer thinner, and dunked in some flux, and added solder, then heated the brass and and slipped it over the whole thing...the solder by itself in a small enough glob may be enough to keep the cable in place, however.
The rest is just fitting the drum end into the brake lever and attaching to frame and then the carb throttle piece.
You will have to remove and mess with the hand grips...hairspray makes the removal easy, pry up and spray inside and work around, and use the spray to reinstall, after everything is set the way you want. I shortened one grip and that you can see on the first page of the thread.
When I did it, I had to grind a bit of the Raleigh brake housing away to allow the Sinze lever to hang just below the brake and offer easy access to both levers.
I also had to reverse the brake levers on the bars, so the rear brake lever was on the left, which is used most and first in emergency...and remember that when riding. It seemed dangerous to have to move right hand from throttle lever to brake in potential emergencies.
If the cable from GEBE is long enough and is teflon, maybe worth the money to offer smoother operation. Need to be sure one end is a drum to fit lever if using Sinz brake, which I recommend as simple and so on. GEBE does not do volume, so smaller orders or labor costs more and they need a bit of profit. Family operation.
The engine end of the cable should be a generous bow, so the cable does not jamb, and the same at the top, where it turns to enter the lever...and moves with the bike.
I hope this helps and makes the install easier.
Also, I used a GEBE wheel (stronger) and their 9 inch long axle, and had local bike ship replace the cassette, as the Gruv came with quick release rear axle.
The longer axle will let you nut the axle to the frame, then nut the GEBE engine mount to the axle separately, to offer more secure attachment and each removal that allows the bike to be ridden when cable is separated from engine and tied down, if need be.
I also replaced rear tire on that rim with Armadillo tire for obvious reasons.
Keep fishing, and remember, keep the line in the water...
BTW, the motored bike makes it easy to go float fishing where you stop at some spot down-stream--you chain bike to tree back in woods at stop point and pedal/motor back to car and then come back and pick up canoe etc. Hope you recognize stop point from water...yes, missed it once.
The bar on the rear was made from alum stock from big box store, bent with bench vice and large adjustable wrench on garage floor. The end I drilled to match the Gruv II clamp bolt perfectly, but easy to sub a SS bolt there. I tapped for 5mm screws to attach to GEBE mount and use the bar to hold a Trek bag. It also adds some stability to GEBE mount and could be used to replace mount strap easily and one on each side would make the whole rig bulletproof for trail riders.
I also replaced the GEBE engine strap with narrower alum bar and twisted to match the seaat bolt, see pics on previous page. Easy to do.
Good enough.
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