Build a Motorized Bicycle Plans

[Sianelle]

http://www.vintageprojects.com/mini-bike/power-bike.html

I've been aware of these plans for sometime now, - I was wondering if any forum member had ever used them to build themselves a bike.

 

[JemmaUK]

I havent used them - surprise lol

but i like some of the ideas on them - although there is a lot of welding involved to parts that might warp, mainly the pieces you dont want to warp *sigh*. Its interesting that the older bikes, both manufacturer rigs and homebrew all seem to use belt drive systems. Using a welded on wheel is a nice idea but it worries me how close the belt drive would be to the ground and muck being thrown up - I can see worn belts and contamination way too quickly for my liking...

I must admit I would love to find the engine they use in the illustrations - that angled fin head/cylinder cooling fin design looks quite classy

How are you getting on with the plans for yours?

hope you are well

Jemma xx

 

[Sianelle]

Hi Jemma, in that photo of some of my Villiers engines I posted recently there was this slant fin engine lurking half hidden by another engine....

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/5858/villiersdetailuj0.jpg

This is my favourite engine and it's the one that I will be using to motorise my old Phillips roadster bicycle. I must agree that the engine that they used in the 'how to' article is very desirable, but I'd imagine B&S engines of that age are hard to find (sigh).
There's things that I don't agree with in the article too, but like you I was interested by the use of a bicycle rim for the belt drive. I'm considering trying this out, but I think I would want to follow the method used by the builder of this Villiers powered bicycle......

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/1822/flyingmerkelreplicaof1.jpg