XR-75/Staton NuVinci Build

Okay, This project isn't near finished yet but I have been taking pictures at just about every step of the way. Heres a list of features that are going to be included on this build:
-Mongoose XR-75 dual suspension MTB, aluminum frame, steel rear triangle.
-Staton NuVinci drive with Mitsubishi TLE43 engine, half-lever left hand throttle/killswitch , right side NVshifter. Torsion bars.
-center handlebar mounted digital speedo.
-left handle bar end nashbar convex mirror.
-New aluminum nashbar Jaws pedals.
-double thick and slimed Bell innertubes
-Bell kevlar lined 26x1.75 road tires (thin but should allow this thing to be pedaled if need be.)
-Bottle and cage for extra fuel
-Bell comfort Gel seat (black)
-Finished and painted Staton hardware (gloss black to match rear triangle of bike.)
-Emaxi break levers with internal switches for brake light activation.
-Full lighting to New Hampshire moped standards. Enclosed in a soft (hard lined) black/silver lunchbox to be mounted to the left hand side of the Staton rack opposite the engine.
--55w Halogen headlamp w/ small rectangular enclosure and mounting hardware wired through a very efficient 12v turn dial dimmer switch to adjust brightness.
--A 7 LED taillamp that doubles as a brake light when wired with the Emaxi levers.
--Electrical master on/off switch and 12v battery gauge.
--5ah SLA battery.
--Charger port.
--Possibly an on the move charging system as well as I have a 1200mAh 12v power rectifier that I may be able to hook into a dynamo or DC brushed motor.
-All wires/cables to the staton rack are going to be run down (and through) the center of the frame and will be wrapped in spiral casing and zip tied clean and secure.


I would have this beast finished but I'm still waiting for the weather to get nice (clear and over 50F) so I can prime and paint the staton rack to match the bike. I've already done a lot of grinding and rounding to make the staton kit not appear as chunky. I have to say though this thing is rock solid. I've already mocked everything up and it should all fit together nicely. So here are the pictures. I have tons more but I've had to do the steps all out of order as I got the chance to do them so it would be more confusing to you folks than its worth.

Pic1: The mongoose last summer after a muddy thrillride down a trail near my house.
Pic2: Mongoose with NuVinci installed and cables run, torsion straps are backwards (was just measuring at the time) and heavy duty pedal chain.
Pic3: NuVinci out of the box.
Pic4: Mocked up rack to make sure everything would fit and work well.
Pic5: Cooler electrical box. Front pocket (with penguin) has the dimmer, switch and battery gauge mounted into plastic underneath. Unfinished.
 

Attachments

  • P5230125.jpg
    P5230125.jpg
    145 KB · Views: 3,284
  • P2110074.jpg
    P2110074.jpg
    113.2 KB · Views: 4,630
  • P1280021.jpg
    P1280021.jpg
    78.8 KB · Views: 2,794
  • P204005g9.jpg
    P204005g9.jpg
    189.2 KB · Views: 4,767
  • P2090065.jpg
    P2090065.jpg
    62.8 KB · Views: 2,598
Last edited by a moderator:
The only piece that isn't high quality is the frame itself but considering I destroyed the original wheels and it was a bit heavy for pedaling around I wouldn't have used it for anything if I didn't motorize it. I may eventually upgrade the bike to a better downhill MTB with long travel suspension and dual disc brakes.
Yeah Vegas she does haul thanks to the fact that I can easily keep the engine in its powerband. That and the fact that if the engine is running at a good RPM the pedals also rotate at a nice speed for pedal assisting. I haul arse around my yard and on dirt roads/trails in low gear pedal assisting. It's really easy to lift the front wheel off the ground briefly off-road this way but I haven't attempted doing large or sustained wheelies for the fear of breaking my frame or simply eating dirt.

Brett, thanks for the good words. Yeah its not a bad frame for the whole $100 I spent on it. If you're son is planning on using either of the original rims or wheels I would suggest tightening all the spokes and probably lubing everything. If I were to buy a new bike specifically for motorizing this one wouldn't have been it, but I had it already so I figured I'd "recycle" it by motoring it. The honda 50 probably has a ton of power and I would bet is well worth the money you'd pay for the kit. Mine has all the power I could ever want I just didn't like the extra bulk of the honda with the gas tank on top. The bike is top heavy so I had to insert a metal shim between the frame and kick stand to make the bike lean less so it wouldn't be apt to fall over.

Oh yeah, the last pics I posted are as far as I've got into this project at the moment. I still want to do a little bit of tweaking to the electrical system but other than that she's pretty much complete.
 
Whoa, whats that? SPOKES!

I came upon this today as I was preparing my MB for a trip to the state line store. As I was kicking up my stand I heard a strange noise from the bottom of the bike. I must have brushed my foot against a spoke and popped it out and I found another broken right next to it upon further inspection. I had no idea there was a problem. The wheel is running true and there were no tell-tale signs or sounds of spoke failure. I'm guessing this was caused by one or maybe a few reasons.
1. Maybe the wheel couldn't take the repeated poundings it gets from the rough roads around here at 30mph or possibly my trail and dirt road riding.
2. I haven't checked the spokes in the 450 miles it's been running, I probably should have more thoroughly.
3. Maybe it was overtightened to begin with?

Anyways, whatever its cause now I have an excuse to strip off the rear wheel and correct or improve it. I'm going to get much beefier tires to help absorb the shock, I think I'll try the ones with shock absorbing sidewalls that augidog recommended.
I sent an email off to staton to see if I can get some replacements or upgraded spokes. I'm planning on installing them myself so I guess I'll check around for good wheel truing guides.

In this picture you can tell that the spokes are broken off inside the nipple almost at their end where its threaded. I did notice at first how the spokes are bent a little at the end due to their arrangement. Anyhow, It's been all up and good stuff until this, I can't complain, I'm probably just more demanding on the system than it was intended for. Time to bulletproof.
 

Attachments

  • PoppedSpokes.jpg
    PoppedSpokes.jpg
    85.3 KB · Views: 348
Bummer. Did the wheel come laced from Staton in their kit?? The kits do come with a whole wheel already laced, right?

I can't wait to see how your improved, bulletproof wheel.
 
This is a 132 page document I just found from Barrett Bicycle Institute where training is available for mechanics. http://www.bbinstitute.com This should cover all there is to know about building a bicycle wheel, but I never read this one. This article looks manageable so I will probably read it, Sheldon Brown is quite articulate about bikes and knowlegable about what makes them work. Barrett has it right that wheels work is not easy work. I spent a lot of hours learning how to do it and had some failures. Go ahead and go for it as the main thing is patience and going slow with tightening spokes, loosening spokes and generally working out the issues.
 
That PDF is crazy, yo! Sheldon Brown's website is much better for the verbal learners, and Bicycle-Tutor.com is awesome for the visual learners.

Can't wait 'til someone starts adding videos to MB-Tutor.com

I always thought wheel truing was something I'd never be able to do... but there's hope for me still.
 
I know I saw somewhere a guy/company is lacing bike rims with motorcycle gage spokes.
What tires was it that Augi recommended? I was going to buy 26 x 3 or 2.5's hookworms for the e-zip this weekend, glad I read this.
 
I came upon this today as I was preparing my MB for a trip to the state line store. As I was kicking up my stand I heard a strange noise from the bottom of the bike. I must have brushed my foot against a spoke and popped it out and I found another broken right next to it upon further inspection. I had no idea there was a problem. The wheel is running true and there were no tell-tale signs or sounds of spoke failure. I'm guessing this was caused by one or maybe a few reasons.
1. Maybe the wheel couldn't take the repeated poundings it gets from the rough roads around here at 30mph or possibly my trail and dirt road riding.
2. I haven't checked the spokes in the 450 miles it's been running, I probably should have more thoroughly.
3. Maybe it was overtightened to begin with?

Anyways, whatever its cause now I have an excuse to strip off the rear wheel and correct or improve it. I'm going to get much beefier tires to help absorb the shock, I think I'll try the ones with shock absorbing sidewalls that augidog recommended.
I sent an email off to staton to see if I can get some replacements or upgraded spokes. I'm planning on installing them myself so I guess I'll check around for good wheel truing guides.

In this picture you can tell that the spokes are broken off inside the nipple almost at their end where its threaded. I did notice at first how the spokes are bent a little at the end due to their arrangement. Anyhow, It's been all up and good stuff until this, I can't complain, I'm probably just more demanding on the system than it was intended for. Time to bulletproof.

Hi Jakesus, I had spokes popping all the time on my Merida but I read that it was a bad batch of Chinese spokes and was reported in all the bike mags so I got a rebuild under warranty. Here is a good guide from Barnett's Manual (see attached PDF) for wheel truing & repair. If your hub flange can take 12g spokes I would strongly recommend the Swiss DX cos they are very strong.
Not all hubs have spoke holes big enough for 12g spokes.
A complete wheel respoke is Aus $40 (US$38.60) in my bike shop and they do a good job.
 

Attachments

  • 17 Wheel Truing & Repair.pdf
    710 KB · Views: 325
Did you get the "Mammoth" heavy duty wheel from Staton ? it has a sturdier rim.That's what I have.I haven't had any problems but I don't ride much on rough roads.
 
All I know is it's a rhino lite double walled alloy rim. The rim itself must be darn good if I was riding with two broken spokes and had no wobble or bounce to it. The whole wheel was built and supplied by staton and was in very good order when I got it. I'm figuring it's either my rough heavy loaded riding or maybe the spokes on it are too long to begin with, they do seem to meet the nipple at quite an angle more so than I had ever seen on a bicycle wheel. I know the wheelmaster can build a heavy duty wheel with 12ga spokes but I don't really want to ship my hub half way across the country to get it done. Right now I'm seeing if I can get some replacement spokes and nipples from staton to just replace the damaged ones since the wheel is still true. While I have it off I am going to put some beefier tires on it so hopefully that will absorb some of the shock before it gets to the rim or spokes. If I have failures afterward I'll look into getting some heavier spokes but by the looks of it the nuvinci hub couldn't take much larger ones. The loose spokes seem to have a little play in them at the hub so it may accept one gauge higher but I have no idea what is currently in there. I don't feel like drilling out the spoke holes to accommodate larger ones for fear that I'll weaken the hub and cause some kind of failure. I read some of sheldon browns stuff after I posted this and it seems pretty straight forward. I've trued rims myself before (since the age of 13) so I know I have the patience to lace a whole wheel. If I just want to get it done fast I'll ask around at the local bike shops to see if they have a good wheelguy there who can make something as tough as BMX bikes use. It's a bummer but it's not a major failure and was probably due to me pushing the bikes limits.
 
On my "Mammoth",whatever that is rim,I noticed that there was a noticeable kink in the spokes just after the nipple,it comes out straight out of that rim but since the spokes are at an angle there is something of a kink.Did your spokes break at that point?It looked like it to me.
 
Back
Top