Hi from Vermont!

Zachary

New Member
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Sep 28, 2014
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Hello forum,

I just got my motorized cranbrook in working order a few days ago - bought it from a guy on Craigslist for a steal but it needed work. I believe it has a 66cc Grubee but am not sure. One of the front studs was broken off inside the engine. I removed it with a drill-out tool and mounted it more better with a new mount from SBP.

It runs great now but isn't finished. Mostly I'm concerned with the rear wheel. It has too much wobble in it and I can actually see bearings just inside the rear sprocket... I suspect the original builder removed the dust cap?

Top speed is 35mph but I've been riding at 27ish super comfortably. Vibrations become interesting faster than that.

Pictures to come...
 
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I noticed this after a ride today. Grease coming out of the bearings?
 

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More things about this bike:

The bottom (and guts?) of the muffler fell off in a mystery location on the first or second ride. Part of a beer can is working well enough until the new stock muffler comes in.

I removed the chain tensioner. The included one never stayed put. I picked up a spring loaded tensioner. Didn't like it either. Taking out one link gave a tight enough #41 chain. I have a 410 bmx chain coming that will hopefully improve wheel and frame clearance.

The pedal chain came off twice on my last ride. First while assisting up hill, then on a mild downhill. The second time I had to stop with my foot + engaged engine. I have since pulled the rear wheel back tighter and so far so good.

So fun.
 
And go faster than 35??? Maybe after I get the rear wheel feeling better. I'm thinking of just getting a new rear wheel without a coaster break once the side pull breaks come in... and installing a 41 tooth sprocket on it. I haven't installed a sprocket myself yet. The 44 tooth on there now was installed by craigslist guy.

Last night I installed a new (not broken) stock muffler and Jaguar's CDI. The bike definitely has better low end power and feels smoother up until 20ish mph, but gets a little funny around 30 and kind of hesitates. It's like it pulls then gives up, pulls then gives up. It did feel like it had extra power just past 30 but I couldn't always get there. Probably I should play with the jumpers. I've also had a little trouble starting since installing the new CDI. Not sure about that yet.
 
Last night I installed a new (not broken) stock muffler and Jaguar's CDI. The bike definitely has better low end power and feels smoother up until 20ish mph, but gets a little funny around 30 and kind of hesitates. It's like it pulls then gives up, pulls then gives up.

You need to look at other aspects of engine operation, because the CDI won't give those symptoms.
 
Thanks seriously for the feedback, Fabian. I went on a 15 mile ride before installing the CDI... and didn't have those symptoms. I did (re)install a chain tensioner the same time I did the CDI. The replacement stock muffler was earlier in the day and it did fine with just that change. I had put about 35 miles on the bike before yesterday.

The "hesitation" I described reminds me a little of my old Monte Carlo, which would do something similar and shortly after die completely. The shop said it was likely being starved for fuel because of rust clogging the filter (we never found out if that was true, however). My bike only does this at higher RPMs, unlike the old car, and doesn't die afterwards. Could this be a carb problem being revealed by the new CDI? I'm thinking out loud. Maybe I'm not getting a consistent spark and something is up with my wiring job. Maybe the vibration at faster speeds is shaking something perfectly wrong with the new electricals. I wonder how the starting problem and high RPM oddness are related.

Can't wait for lunch so I can troubleshoot more.
 
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I got it starting super consistently - at least in the parking lot. The CDI came with two different connectors, spade and ring, for the ignition coil (I got them together from JNMotors) but the coil had two male spades on it. I had found an old female spade end from another project and swapped the ring terminal for that while installing the CDI. Testing today makes me think my old spade end was just all corroded and dirty. Wiggling it around where it connects to the coil *seemed* to make things a lot better. I could start the bike just releasing the clutch for half a second at <5mph. I haven't taken the bike up to 30 yet, but it hit 24ish in the parking lot without any bad behavior.

Will test more on the way home and probably clean out that terminal best I can.
 
It sounds more like a fueling issue.

Get the carburettor jetted correctly before chasing electrical troubles, if the engine is running without any spark miss.
 
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