Howdy from Montana

[fastfestus]

Hi all,
I completed my bike on 1/13/10 and have had a near perfect riding experience since. I guess it's because I took the time to assemble it right the first time. MY buddy from Seattle was here last week and rode the "Cactus Killer" and loved it. I got an email from him last night and he had already received his motor and was buying a bike. My question is does anyone have a preference between aluminum and steel frames? I have mine built on a Schwinn Jaguar frame which is steel. Any opinions would be greatly appreicated. Thanks for the forum. It's awesome

 

[professor]

Hi Fast, welcome to Motoredbikes.
This question came up a while ago. The one definite thing that I saw was, do not drill any holes in an aluminum frame.
My preference is steel. I have lots of welds on mine. Frame legnthed , motor mounts, tabs, etc.
Weight is simply not an issue when you have a gas engine. What is the weight advantage for alum? 3 or 4 pounds? Go steel.

 

[fastfestus]

Hi Professor,
Thanks for the info on the steel vs aluminum frame. My buddy thats building one has the aluminum. so should I tell him not to drill any holes in it for mounting the engine?
Take Care,
FastFestus

 

[Al.Fisherman]

Welcome...Thin steel frame that I enlarged the water bottle mounting hole caused me to have to do this.....



Enter my free drawing... link below

 

[SimpleSimon]

Aluminum frames have issues, serious issues, with vibration. They will stress crack and fatigue significantly faster than will a normal steel frame. As others have said, don't drill the tubes on an aluminum frame - at all. Frankly, given the nature of the materials and the near limits of performance that bikes approach encountering road hazards, it is a really bad idea to drill any tube frame, aluminum or steel.