How Do I Raise My Engine?

[5-7HEAVEN]

I decided to fab a 19" lever from 9/16" square tubing to hold the front wheel drive engine down instead of using springs or bungee cords. The fulcrum is a swivel caster(minus the wheel) at the very end. The pressure point is a rigid caster wheel(less friction) and is one inch from that end. This provides a very powerful 18:1 mechanical advantage. It works well, puts a LOT of pressure on the friction roller yet allows the roller to rise 7/16" off the tire. The lever is not too obvious. It passes through the middle of my front basket, but I can still carry groceries in it.

I rigged the hoist so the friction roller's normal position is now 7/16" off the tire, using a single 19-pound spring to hold the engine up. The lever handle is secured with a short loop of rope when it holds the roller to proper tension. The loop will do until I can think of a better handle.

This lever is awesome. If I hang an eight-pound weight from the handle, it exerts 144 pounds of force onto the friction roller at its maximum range.

It works like a charm.

 

[Rgvkid]

Any pics on your setup? I did the Comfortableshoes Brake lever/cable lift with 2 pullies setup. It works but feels like im lifting a concrete brick. my pully degre might not be correct. Being that my friction drive has no clutch, my forarm is going to get a good work out until i can figure out a better way of engineering.

 

[5-7HEAVEN]

I believe your pulleys are merely redirecting the cable route and have very little mechanical advantage, which is why you're lifting a concrete block. What I would do is remove all springs and lubricate the lever's pivot. Then attach a rope where the cable connects to the lever. Pull rope forward from all angles to find optimum pull angle. Attach pulley there and pull rope from a position at the engine's rear. Attach second pulley at angle of least resistance and route the rope back to the front of the bike.

What I'm recommending is compound pulleys for better mechanical advantage, like an engine hoist. Install the springs and bungee cords after getting the correct pulley angle.

To keep the cable from jumping the pulley when your engine roller bounces off the tire, place a light spring or rubber band as tensioner between first pulley and cable stop.

My car transmission shift cable lost a bushing, cost me $400 to repair. I should've kept the cable. I bet it would've worked well for a gravity clutch.

I'm coaxing my daughter to help me post pictures. I'm ignorant about that procedure. Anyway, I'd much rather have my shift lever than a cable. There's very little adjustments if any, because the lever doesn't stretch like a cable. The lever passes thru the front basket at a 35-degree angle. The long vertical slots in the front basket's rear wall acts like a shift gate, guiding the lever downwards to an adjustable shift stop bolted onto the vertical slots. The lever locks into position like a ratchet, and a thick rubber band is like the detent spring. When shifting downward from Neutral(roller off the tire) to Drive(roller on the tire), I swear it's almost like my old Hurst Synchro-Loc shifter.

In fact, I mounted my old Hurst 4-speed shift ball onto the lever.

 

[Rgvkid]

The shifter sounds like its a good setup. The only problem with my friction drive is that it has no clutch so the engine lift acts as the clutch and it allowa me to keep both hands on the bars at all times.

The pulley science is great, thank you so much for your insight. You were right, i just put them on to relocate the cable line. Im going to work on the pulley setup with your tips and i will update you on the status.

Thank You

 

[5-7HEAVEN]

Rgvkid, you're welcome. The cable might have more resistance than rope when you use compound pulleys.

If you want both hands on the bars at all times, consider a foot-operated lever. But like I mentioned in the other forum, a hand lever under the seat might take two seconds to operate and generate 140 lbs. pressure( a LOT!) with 10 lbs. pressure at the hand/foot lever.