Bike Build and Some Questions

How yall doin? So I guess this is the pace to start...

I had joined motorizedbikeforum.the-talk.net but was sorely disappointed with the complete lack of response to nearly everything after waiting their mandatory 7 days before I could even post links (and couldn't post pics at all), so I'd like to post my story here for all willing minds to consider. So, continuing on...

This is my build so far:

Shall I start from the beginning? Well, I got this particular bike at least 15 years ago (maybe more), and rode it a good bit for about 3 years, until school and chores ate up all my free time, so its been sitting quite a while. Well, while roaming around on youtube, I saw this guy Panofish putting an engine kit on his bicycle. I had been contemplating buying a motorcycle or motorized bike, so this sparked my interest. I went on ebay and found a kit from "motor99motor". I got instructions but they weren't very good (as I heard), and the support from this seller was minimal, so I consulted youtube for most of the build. I got the VERY useful advice that on the slant plug engines, you could just rotate the cap 180 to make it fit in a tight frame. I'm going to post PICTURES *in* LINKS for the sake of continuity for this story format. See the comparison for spark plug mounting here: Spark Plug Original and After Rotating Cap

You may notice that I had to make my own front motor mount, I used pipe strap and a piece of conveyor belt since the kit didn't come with the optional mount the instructions said to use.

Just for reference, I notice on youtube that nobody really has a good close-up of their wiring, so here's mine. The connectors have double ends on them, so I went blue to blue, black to black, then ran the kill switch to both sides. I don't think the colors on the kill switch matter since all you're doing is shorting the spark module. Just a thought - the white wire is probably for a tachometer...

At this point I should probably say I haven't seen a new bike since I got mine years ago, and apparently they now come with a lot of mounting points for fancy things (found that out while looking for racks and disc brakes), so bear in mind the age of this bike and my lack of knowledge of newer bikes and bicycles in general (as I was never a cycling buff). That said, I'm very unfamiliar with the naming of bike sizes, but I get the feeling my bike was smaller than the engine manufacturer intended, so I've got this little problem. (For future reference, I measured my bicycle rim *inside* diameter, and it measures about 20"... does that mean I have a 20" bike?)

As you might have noticed here, in order to even make the carb fit in the frame I had to turn the intake manifold upside down. This puts the carb at a pretty steep angle from vertical, and I suspect that might cause an issue with the float. So thats my first major problem. Any suggestions for that? I've come across a type of angled extended manifold by BoyGoFast; looking at how the engine is right now, do you suppose that would work? I thought about taking some EMT conduit and welding up my own manifold, as I am capable of some simple fabrication like that, but I'm not sure what the rules are for distance from the carb to engine. But anything besides my current manifold would probably flow better, I looked inside that one and it needs some serious porting.

The next issue I have is this - I don't like the supplied chain tensioner. Yes, its made of sturdy stuff, but aside from the fact it is not spring loaded, it looks really unprofessional, clunky, and isn't very adjustable as far as putting it inline with the chain. So I really want to use something else. I looked around and found other rigid type tensioners such as this one and nicer ones like this one, and found some spring types like this one and some a little fancier like this one, but it seemed to me like the best route to go would be a derailer (derailleur? whatever) , so this is what I got. A derailer would spring tension it while allowing me to precisely align it with the chain. I'm probably gonna use pipe strap to mount it since I couldn't find any instructions for mounting one on the right side using the hub mount. I might additionally use one of these rigid mounts to help stabilize the chan, or possibly use it's mounting base for the derailer since it is made for tube mounting.

So, my build so far looks like this:
*Before doing any work, I had to take the rims off and get new tires, as these were the 15 year old originals and would pop off the rim due to having a stretched bead.
*This is how it looked after getting the new tires mounted and installing the drive sprocket. I managed to get it perfectly center but still wobbles a *tiny* bit from side to side cuz one of the meaty chunks of rubber has a bit missing from it.
*Here was my first problem during installation. Come on, wouldn't it be easier to make that mount larger and have an adapter to go down smaller? A lot of bikes have a larger tube in front. Anyways, thats where the pipe strap came in.
*Finally got the engine mounted.
*This is after putting the new grips on. You can see here where I didn't put on the clutch lever first. That handle was a real pain to get back off, I had a hard time getting it on in the first place! Unfortunately after getting the clutch lever back on and reinstalling the grip, that inner plastic ring broke (actually it broke earlier, but not that bad). You'd think the manufacturer would realize the rubber will expand after pressing it on.
*Here is a back view of how it looks now. Also a front view. I still havent secured any cables or wiring yet. The main thing I'm waiting on now is getting the chain fixed up. Yes, I know I'm supposed to take some links out. I'm waiting for my chain repair tool to arrive in the mail. I might also look for a half link to take additional slack out, if there are any available for that kind of chain.

Some things I have on order:
*Chain Tool
*The aforementioned derailer
*A speedometer
*A new seat with brake light
*Rear "running" light
*LED 3-watt Headlamp
*White Tire Flys

I've seen the turn signal units but they all seem dim, blink too fast, and are pretty crappy in general. Also, depending on who you get yours from, they look the same but have different internals, so some are more crappy than others. I decided I probably don't need a turn signal. The reason I got that particular seat is because of the brake light - its the only one I saw that had *only* a brake light with a *physical switch*. All the other stand alone brake lights were some kinda "smart" or "intelligent" mess, which I think wont work properly because once you're up to full speed, any kind of deceleration or road bumps could activate the inertia sensor and give people false braking, after which they'll start ignoring your brake light cuz they don't think you're really braking. I think those kind are dangerous. I'm not sure if the seat light will have a dim "running light" mode, so I got the other light to act as a "running light" at night. The way it mounts, I think it will fit nicely on my factory rear reflector mount. I got two of the headlamps to help with people's perception of how far away I am. I find it very difficult to tell how far away a motorcycle is at night with only one headlamp, especially when the dummy has his brights on all the time and you cant see his two side markers, if he had any. I got the white tire flys as a cheap "ring of fire" imitation. The most noticeable motorcycle I ever saw was a guy who had the ring of fire kit on his motorcycle. His buddy in front had all kinds of multicolor LEDs and ground FX and lights everywhere you could think of, but the guy with the ring of fire was way more noticeable, so I think those will be good for night riding. And they're not any sort of legal color like blue or green or red, so I don't think the cops will have a problem with it.

One more note about the bike so far - I haven't secured any cables or wires, so it is a bit messy looking right now. I will fix that after everything I plan to put on is installed. And yes, my kitchen is messy. I don't have any other workspace though, so it usually has stuff all around

As soon as everything comes in I'll post another update. Please let me know what you think of it so far and if you have any suggestions for the carb!
Happy building!

....
So, an update already, since I been wasting time on that other forum

I ordered a few more things for my bike, namely:
A tachometer to keep an eye on my engine speed;
A seat cover to go over my new seat, since the seat itself didn't have the little indention for privates (!);
And a fully adjustable rack (with a rack adapter to make it fit the top rail) for carrying whatever I decide needs to be carried on my trips.

I've also gotten a few personal protection items to take care of any slow speed road rash that might occur (in case anyone overlooked it, all the colorful words are links

). Everything is made of leather and I'm looking at a few other protection items too, like wrist guards and some kind of leather pants.

I'll post another updated picture of the bike once some more installations have been done.

 

[IbedaYank]

Your problem is you think you know everything when you don't. I've found in life even a beginner can teach you something new. Even though you don't like me fine. But at least have respect for the OP; stop picking fights on other people's treads. You may not agree with someone but you don't have an A-Hole either.

when your giving information that could cause somebody to get hurt... aka busted brake cable I could care less if your feelings get hurt.. learn the correct ways or don't get all butthurt when called on it... pretty simple. heating to red hot makes it weaker... no reason to get the cable any hotter then needed to make the solder flow out and stick.

 

[Stoltzee]

{This is after putting the new grips on. You can see here where I didn't put on the clutch lever first. That handle was a real pain to get back off, I had a hard time getting it on in the first place! ]

When removing grips stick a screw driver in then spray some kind of soap in it. then start slowly twisting it back n firth til it loosens up and slides off. Do the same to put new ones on. The soap drys, and is no longer slippery. Just like tires on tractors or cars.

 

[Sidewinder Jerry]

What burning a 1/4 inch at the end of a cable to get oil residue off is going to weaken the whole cable and kill somebody? It only takes a couple of seconds to heat it up with a torch. I've never had one break or come undone. You could probably teach others a lot if you fix your bad attitude. If you do run a business I'd hate to think how you treat your employees. I'm not the only on here you've gotten nasty with. Just learn to have a little respect for others. If somebody is doing something wrong, do you think they'll listen to you if you're talking trash to them.

 

[IbedaYank]

carb cleaner works well also the little tube slides right in beside the screwdriver slick as a greased pig
some soaps have wax wich can allow the grip to twist

 

[IbedaYank]

for the others that have not went to just hack it togather U
most cables break just before the barrel.. IE the part you solder on handlebars side of the cable
by heating to red hot you make it weaker ... aka will break under less stress just what your trying to avoid. The goal here is to make a stronger cable not weaker.

 

[Sidewinder Jerry]

I'll explain the burn technique so that its clear. Cables often have a little crimp at the end of them so the end doesn't fray apart. If that crimp comes off you can burn the oil residue off about a 1/4 inch of the end. The very end of the cable is the only place you should ever do this. Then use an acid core solder to solder the end so it doesn't fray apart. If you're going to attach something to the cable then you'll have to clean it good with a degreaser. Then solder on what you need to attach. If a cable breaks I don't try to repair it I just go buy a new one. If the little crimp comes off the end of the cable then I'll solder it so it won't fray apart. This is all I was talking about doing. If I said something which is confusing then ask me to better explain what I said. I'm willing to give the same amount of respect I get. I'm here to learn and pass on what I know. I'm not here to fight but I won't back down from one either.

 

[IbedaYank]

now where are those little crimp on things SOMEBODY was talking about???
oh yeah if making cables from bulk parts there is NONE!!! Would help if knew what was talking about in first place!!

 

[Chain Driven]

So guys, its been a while, what with me having a demanding job and 100 other projects, but some progress finally been made. Still with the problem of having a very long, very grabby, and very spongy throttle cable, I gathered enough to make an attempt at giving the end-making a go. Shown in the picture (which is hopefully gonna load up), I've got a ceramic terminal block. Already shown here is where I used a Dremel diamond wheel to cut a slot into the block. Having a slot instead of a hole is important, explained below.



It has a lot of holes but one in particular (rather, one of the two that have this shape) works well for acting as a mold, already with a nice little hole in top for feeding in the material to be melted. The larger part of the hole in the bottom was capped off using a coke can cut-out (the tab that gets pushed down in the can when you open it [not the thumb tab]), and that peice being held in place by wrapping a 4x folded piece of foil around the whole block. There is a slot (not a hole) for inserting the cable and pulling the whole thing out once its done. For anybody who might be wanting to do this, its important to have a slot rather than a hole because you dont wanna have to break your mold to get the cable back out. The slot is only half the depth of the hole, so that when you push the cable against the end of the slot, the cable is centered in the hole.



To avoid getting soot and whatnot all over the cable (which will prevent anything from sticking), I decided to set this on one of the small front coils of my electric stove rather than any sort of torch or anything with a flame. This might could be done with a gas stove but I imagine it would be really difficult.



Before starting, I put a shield (made from previous said cola can) in front of the cable to prevent things from heating up too much next to the rubber and lining of the cable.



Then it was time to light'er on fahr. Having it on high might have been a bit overkill, I never measured or looked up how hot those coils get on high, but it came out fine. I fed my metal in through the small hole in the top - it was hard to get going at first but got flowing good after the initial melting in the bottom. Yall probably wanna wear gloves when messing around that heat. Preferably something that wont melt or catch fire. FYI wouldn't try stove mitts (I didn't, thats just a caution). Also as you can see, it was a pretty good idea to have that heat shield there, the cable stayed (mostly) cool and nothing melted.



This here was how it looked BEFORE doing any polishing up, I thought it came out pretty well! Only a little trimming up is needed where the slot was. Everything wanted to stick just a tad due to the roughness of the ceramic's surface, but a little tapping with a screwdriver knocked it right out.



I finished up by trimming the little slot stud off with my Dremel tool, and that was it, the rest was already the perfect shape, and happened to be the right size too! Lucky for me I made a really good estimate of how much cable needed to be sticking out of the end, cuz I forgot all about measuring it first before lopping the thing in half. So now I got me a nice, correct length cable with a sturdier sleeve (taken from the brake cables I got, for those who read the first posts) and a good Teflon lining. Still needs some grease due to the extreme curve of that elbow that comes off the throttle handle, but that'll be taken care of soon.

 

[Fabian]

I have found your post to be most informative.