My attempts to look vintage with Honda/Schwinn

I

Irish John

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These are my two best attempts to get a vintage look using modern equipment.
The black bike is a steel framed Schwinn Deluxe Seven and it is just too heavy and breaks rear spokes all the time. It needs DT Swiss 14g on rear wheel.
The other bike is an alloy Schwinn and much lighter. It can't take springer forks but it is a better ride than the Deluxe Seven. Actually it is better made bicycle for 60% of the price of te D7.
The chainrings all eventually end up turning on the crank because the hexagonal hole in the chainring is poorly machined and the metal is soft so I need to spot weld those to fix them good and proper. I have never been able to get a vintage cruiser frame to work with but one day hopefully......
I'll attach a few pictures of a 1947 Ducati Cucciolo for your delectation.... the Cucciolo will do 40 mph and considerably more if tuned up and has 2 pre-select gears. The positioning of the pedals chooses the gear.
 

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Terrific looking stuff......

I especially like the two-tone, blue Schwinn. Very good looking.

I'm not sure I got it straight, though. Is that the one with the spoke and chain ring issues? That would be a pity. But I suppose you'll work it out.
 
Thanks guys. The blue Schwinn is the alloy one and hasn't got spoke breaking issues. the black Schwinn weighs a lot more and has serious spoke breaking issues. It comes with a Shimano Nexus 7spd hub that won't take 12g spokes so I'll use DT Swiss 14g which will be much better stainless steel than the Chinese or Taiwanese stock spokes. I can't get a clamshell sprocket to fit the fat hub so I am compelled to use the spoke clamping method.
Galv spokes are stronger but they go a daggy grey colour so I want stainless.
The tanks are sprayed with 2 pack and clear coat to match the frames and are petrol resistant. The black bike will do 63 km\hr on the flat leaning over the tank and the blue one only 58 km\hr. I think this is because I ran the black Honda in more carefully for first 200 kms because theoretically the alloy bike should be faster but it isn't.
The problem with the chainring turning independly of crank is common to all those Grubee wide cranks and chainrings and it will happen faster on a heavy bike and also on bikes with a rear coaster brake because of increased wear and tear from backpedalling to brake. Eventually it happens on any bike but I think spot welds will fix it.
 
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Hello John,
Nice looking bikes. I especially like the Ducati gas tank behind the seat. That's cool! The two speed you were talking about... is that a two speed transmission of some sort or is it a reference to the two speed Bendix hub? Schwinn used to have cruisers back in the fifties which came with an optional 2 speed Bendix "kick back" hub that you changed the gear on by back pedaling a bit to kick it into the other gear. That would not affect a motor speed, however, just pedaling speed.
Another option on the cheap chain rings no longer fitting would be to use the old sprocket as a guide and use a good quality chain ring to file out the central hole into the keyed shape. I had to do that to be able to use a smaller sprocket to get engine clearance on a couple of builds. It doesn't take as long to do as one might think.
SB
 
Hello John,
Nice looking bikes. I especially like the Ducati gas tank behind the seat. That's cool! The two speed you were talking about... is that a two speed transmission of some sort or is it a reference to the two speed Bendix hub? Schwinn used to have cruisers back in the fifties which came with an optional 2 speed Bendix "kick back" hub that you changed the gear on by back pedaling a bit to kick it into the other gear. That would not affect a motor speed, however, just pedaling speed.
Another option on the cheap chain rings no longer fitting would be to use the old sprocket as a guide and use a good quality chain ring to file out the central hole into the keyed shape. I had to do that to be able to use a smaller sprocket to get engine clearance on a couple of builds. It doesn't take as long to do as one might think.
SB

Hi Silver, The Ducati has 2 speeds that can be selected by how you position the pedals at start off. The top speed of that Ducati is really very high and those motors can be tuned to go at over 50 mph. The gears are selected under the bottom bracket. Nothing to do with the wheel hubs. You can stuff the gearbox and motor up if you change gear the wrong way. Over 400,000 were built between 1947 - 57. It was Ducati's first product.
Re the wide crank and chain ring - the wide crank cannot take a normal chainring because the crank arm is too far away from the bottom bracket to weld on a lug to stop the chainring rotating. I have to use the ones that Grubee supply with the hexagonal hole and tightened with a washer and nut.
I can now report that the 3 welds I use to fix the chainring onto the crank gives the extra strength to stop the chainring rotating free of the crank. This solves the problem until you want to replace the chainring when you will have to cut the old chainring off and that will be problematic.
What I like about the Ducati and all the other, mostly British, motorised bicycles of that period, is how everything was designed as part of a whole so you haven't got the afterthoughts we have to work with. The British ones even had lights working off the engine but they all had to be registered and taxed which ours do not. Here's a picture of my Great Uncle Arthur and his brother Charlie on a couple of interesting bikes in 1913!
 

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John,
What great photos those are. Don't you wish those bikes were sitting in a shed somewhere with a note addressed to you and inside it saying... "John, these are for you. From your Uncle Arthur." It makes you wonder what happened to all of those old bikes and motorcycles. So you have motorbicycling in your blood, it seems.
The Ducati sounds like a great setup. I have a 2 speed Tomos moped engine & transmission set aside in case I finally decide to build it into a heavy old cruiser someday
SB.
 
Nice family pics, John. Tnx for posting.
...Humble abode they have there...

Your replica is very nice, indeed!

I do like the low forward mount of that Ducati engine.
I shall attempt a low mount, myself.
...can't figure out how the two-speed you mentioned actually works, depending upon pedal position at startup...

Best
rc
 
Nice family pics, John. Tnx for posting.
...Humble abode they have there...

Your replica is very nice, indeed!

I do like the low forward mount of that Ducati engine.
I shall attempt a low mount, myself.
...can't figure out how the two-speed you mentioned actually works, depending upon pedal position at startup...

Best
rc

The gears are selected by letting the clutch out when the pedals are in a certain position - left pedal forwards is 1st right pedal forward is 2nd I think left pedal downwards is neutral. If you pedal with the clutch in it will detroy the gearbox.
That humble abode was sold and became a boys boarding school then it was knocked down recently to become expensive mass housing - nobody must ever stand in the way of an Irish developers right to make squillions. Same all over the world these days I suppose. I'll post a page on the Ducati Cucciolo from a British Classic Bike Buyers Guide. In fact here it is now:
 

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I have another vintage family picture of a 1920s Triumph bike taken during WW2 which I'll post for anyone's delectation. I'd love to own a vintage bike myself and Australia isn't a bad place for finding them. Neither is the USA which probably has more of them than anywhere. Can anyone help me with this query I have at present? http://www.motoredbikes.com/showpost.php?p=319661&postcount=8 Don't worry I've solved that problem and am posting a thread on how it's done.
 

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