Bicycle-Engines HD bike wheel problem

[bikejock]

Can you just provide a link to exactly what you bought, you don't have a top hat adapter so that's not relevant, and what you do have seems to be counterintuitive to be "some idiot's" fault since if both sides are threaded then one side must be a left hand thread to be a functional hub, if both sides are right hand threads then what you have is something real f***ed.

Looking at your hub I can't say you have a grubee HD hub, if you did you wouldn't be able to bump start because the freewheel that is part of it would stop it. If you aren't using an adapter that screws into the larger left hand threads then you will get this problem. Sorry those photos just aren't giving the right info needed to determine what is going on.

Ok here’s the link to the wheel:
http://www.bicycle-engines.com/HD-Bike-Wheel-and-Axle-Kit.html

Assumed it was using a Grubee HD axle/hub kit because it said Skyhawk on the box. Had to do without the disk brake adapter shown in the picture on the website because it was too wide for my dropouts with it on.

 

[FurryOnTheInside]

I thought the Grubee HD hub has a 6 bolt hole ISO rotor mount and a larger flange behind that with another 6 holes.
Screw-on bi-drive doesn't make a lot of sense for a bump start engine.

 

[bikejock]

The chain tensioner pulley whatsit is very high up, giving the chain a very acute bend. This adds to the resistance during the bump starts.

I don't see any nut locking down the screwed on adapter.

Presumably the adapter is on a ccw thread so that it doesn't unscrew under engine power, but it will unscrew during the bump start if there's no lock nut and there's added chain resistance from a tight bend around the pulley.

Try to find a ccw nut to jam up against the adapter with brute force, a big wrench and some blue loctite; and lose a link or half a link out of the chain so you don't need the tensioner so high up....

Why can't you remove the tensioner completely? Does that frame really need it?
Looks like it doesn't.
I'd move the tensioner to the pedal chain side instead.

I’ll give removing the chain tensioner & installing it on the pedal side a try & I’ll see if I can find a CCW nut thin enough to fit between the sprocket & the left side dropout at my local hardware store.

Also I got those adjustable axle mounted tensioners to make adjusting chain tension on both sides even easier.

 

[Frankenstein]

I’ll give removing the chain tensioner & installing it on the pedal side a try & I’ll see if I can find a CCW nut thin enough to fit between the sprocket & the left side dropout at my local hardware store.

Also I got those adjustable axle mounted tensioners to make adjusting chain tension on both sides even easier.

Does your large sprocket freewheel or not? It is supposed to freewheel, and if it does how are you supposed to bump start it in the first place, the freewheel would HAVE to prevent bump starts.

Am I crazy here or something?

 

[Frankenstein]

Actually I can't tell, the site says it's solid yet also states it freewheels. I'm really not sure how this makes sense but he doesn't appear to have a freewheel in his photos, I guess I have to assume it is the solid one if he's bump starting anything...

So something he could do is start it with a drill and then after using it it should be tight enough to not unscrew, he could also push the bike backwards with the engine turning over so he can get it tighter, he could lock the engine drive sprocket up with a wrench on the underside and give some good solid pushes backwards to get it tight.

Once he has driven it the thing should be tight enough to do the job, turning the engine over by hand using the rear wheel isnt nearly as difficult as removing a well bedded freewheel from a hub with the freewheel in a vice, I wouldn't locktite the adapter in place because his sprocket is on the INSIDE of the adapter between the 'top hat' and the spokes, locktiting that in place would essentially prevent him from changing sprockets on that wheel for the rest of its existence...

 

[bikejock]

I think this HD bike wheel was more meant for a 4 stroke pull start engine the way it’s currentily setup. I think with a few minor mods I can get this thing to work with my 2 stroke pedal start engine. I’m thinking if I just add a CCW nut over the sprocket & a spacer over the CCW nut holding it in place I think it just might work. I’ll be making a trip to the hardware store for the CCW hub nut & some spacers & do the work on my day off work tomorrow.

 

[crassius]

I wonder if some guy at Bicycle-Engines built it on a flip-flop hub by mistake - those are right-hand thread on both sides. Maybe not a mistake, but one is supposed to drill thru threads on one side and run a locking screw thru it. It just sounds weird tho.

maybe you should ask them.

 

[bikejock]

Actually I can't tell, the site says it's solid yet also states it freewheels. I'm really not sure how this makes sense but he doesn't appear to have a freewheel in his photos, I guess I have to assume it is the solid one if he's bump starting anything...

So something he could do is start it with a drill and then after using it it should be tight enough to not unscrew, he could also push the bike backwards with the engine turning over so he can get it tighter, he could lock the engine drive sprocket up with a wrench on the underside and give some good solid pushes backwards to get it tight.

Once he has driven it the thing should be tight enough to do the job, turning the engine over by hand using the rear wheel isnt nearly as difficult as removing a well bedded freewheel from a hub with the freewheel in a vice, I wouldn't locktite the adapter in place because his sprocket is on the INSIDE of the adapter between the 'top hat' and the spokes, locktiting that in place would essentially prevent him from changing sprockets on that wheel for the rest of its existence...

It’s solid but came with a freewheel adapter for the 44 tooth. The freewheel adapter that came with my wheel had a damaged bearing & I think is the incorrect size anyway so it just ended up in the trash. I hear a solid adapter is more reliable anyway so I plan to use it the way it is once I get it to work right with my engine.

 

[Street Ryderz]

I think you were sopossed to receive this with the hd hub and axle.but it can be purchased seperatly.

 

[Frankenstein]

It’s solid but came with a freewheel adapter for the 44 tooth. The freewheel adapter that came with my wheel had a damaged bearing & I think is the incorrect size anyway so it just ended up in the trash. I hear a solid adapter is more reliable anyway so I plan to use it the way it is once I get it to work right with my engine.

You won't find a left hand thread in that size at any hardware store, actually you'll be hard pressed to find anything in left hand thread at a hardware store, it's not commonly used lol..

Look, I suggest locking the chain up somehow and push the bike backwards to get it stuck good, I might even use a long bolt that would reach from one of the mounting bolt holes on the sprocket into the spoke region so it won't keep twisting.

Personally I would attempt to drill start in this instance though the first start can be kinda hard so I don't know how well it will go.