no_i_am_aj
New Member
I upgraded my wheel bearings and greese them frequently with high quality automotive greese. At the moment I'm mostly concerned with my deteriorating breaking system.
How goes it
- Thread starter no_i_am_aj
- Start date
Fabian
Well-Known Member
Either way, a motorised bicycle will become a powerful vacuum cleaner that manages to suck money out of your wallet, even when it's firmly closed.
Having said that, a woman sucks money out of your wallet with far more force, so a motorised bicycle becomes a much more financially attractive option.
Fabian
Well-Known Member
That's why the only (safe) option is a motorised bicycle with large diameter disk brakes.
Fabian
Well-Known Member
When i received my motorised engine kit, i promptly went down to a bicycle shop and bout a bike. I had no real idea at the difference between rim brakes and disk brakes, but did i learn fast.
After assembling the engine in the bike, i rode it down the road for maybe 50 yards, and much to my horror, the rim brakes proved to be completely useless at stopping the bike, but they were quite effective at rubbing up against the rim when the brakes were not being used.
The other issue that immediately became apparent, was that of the complete uselessness of the standard drive system to the rear wheel. Not only was it complete rubbish, but you only had one gear, which made the bike completely useless for motorised transport, considering that even the sniff of a decent hill, meant the engine couldn't provide any meaningful power to the rear wheel.
After 3 weeks of research, i came across the SickBikeParts website and within 30 seconds i ordered the Deluxe shift kit.
Once the shift kit arrived, i went back to the bicycle shop and purchased another bike, but this time with disk brakes.
Now, the two most significant problems were solved: that of a proper gearing system to enable the bike to climb hills, and that of being able to properly stop the bike when going down them or anywhere else that the brakes needed to be used.
The next most immediate issue was that of enabling more heat soak area, because the standard small diameter disks couldn't cope with extended periods of braking, so the front disk rotor and caliper were upgraded to an Avid BB7 and a Hayes 9" disk rotor
The brakes were finally at a point were they could be deemed reliable for everyday use under the most punishing conditions.
Even so, there have been times where a 9" rotor was barely up to the job of providing reliable stopping power; turning a shade of distressed blue, as per the below pic, but at least it enabled me to have safe control over the bike.
If such a situation was encountered with rim brakes, either the tyres would have exploded off the rim (Ford Explorer style), or the brake pads would have melted; guaranteeing a visit to the hospital emergency ward.
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AssembleThis
Member
Pave your own path!
Good for you. Take any comments with a grain of salt. I am also a noob motorized bike builder myself but my first bike has worked fine for over 6 months. I don't drive my mini van much anymore. To be honest about it I'd rather ride my bike. Plus I've already saved hundreds of dollars on gas. So my motorized bike is paying for itself. Oh I had a few parts go bad the first month but took care of it by buying extra spare parts. I'm really surprised in how nice a ride it is too. Very little vibration, not a lot of noise and has way more power than I need to get around these country roads and hills. My advise is to keep plugging away. Think outside the box. Be the trend setter it seams you are. The only advise I would give is to take the hubs and crank apart and pack the bearings yourself. My wally world bike bearings were dry. La Jolla cruiser.
Good for you. Take any comments with a grain of salt. I am also a noob motorized bike builder myself but my first bike has worked fine for over 6 months. I don't drive my mini van much anymore. To be honest about it I'd rather ride my bike. Plus I've already saved hundreds of dollars on gas. So my motorized bike is paying for itself. Oh I had a few parts go bad the first month but took care of it by buying extra spare parts. I'm really surprised in how nice a ride it is too. Very little vibration, not a lot of noise and has way more power than I need to get around these country roads and hills. My advise is to keep plugging away. Think outside the box. Be the trend setter it seams you are. The only advise I would give is to take the hubs and crank apart and pack the bearings yourself. My wally world bike bearings were dry. La Jolla cruiser.
I'm a disabled vet and my mb is my only transportation. Has been going on a year now. I get bike parts from free junk bikes and a local bike junk yard. For the first few months I was working on it all the time but now that its all dialed in it's fairly reliable. This is an 80s schwinn mountain bike with a cheap eBay ht engine kit. When it was given to me it hadn't run in months. Bottom line is - keep tools on you and do what you gotta do. Don't ride wot. They like about 20 mph. If you maintain it like its all you got and baby it you should be ok
