Coaster brakes.. Oh boy

[Cisco]

going four times the speed of a pedal pusher

I beg to differ. We were speed demons on our Schwinns. Perhaps coaster breaks are made cheaper these days.

packed the entire hub with Lucas Red & Tacky

I agree. When your hub is smoking and grease is dripping out, its time to repack it.

 

[DAMIEN1307]

I beg to differ.

I beg to differ as well...lol...The more knowledgeable among us here im sure will chime in and tell you the very same thing here,

Coaster brakes...they are just not designed for what we do with them.

 

[Cisco]

I would love to find a 26" Schwinn Typhoon in good condition. That would make a great motorized bike ;-)

 

[Karl Snarl]

I in no way use the coaster as a main brake. Just not enough stopping power with out a lock up for a main brake in my head. I use it to cut some speed for turns ( saving the pads a little) and for emergency slow downs when both hand brakes aint enough. Which is very rare, i keep my eyes open and look out for crazy cagers.

 

[All4-1]

The problem with the mags is I don't have the cash to order mags and a disk brake kit. That's run me about 200$ from what I've seen. I only have that much into the bike total as of now 140 for engine kit and 100 for the bike ( got it new/used from an older fellow who said it was too heavy) so another 200 for wheels and brakes, on top of the other parts I am saving for already- my Lord. This thing is never going to be finished and up to spec at this rate.
I'm on a limited income here- this is why I got into the motor bicycle hobby. Not to be dropping stacks of money..
So realistically for what I want to do im looking at another 500 or more in parts.
Just not what I was expecting to be doing. Wow.

 

[All4-1]

Maybe I should build this one for about 40mph top end and keep it tame and reliable. Then down the road I can build another for my lofty goals after I have a good solid all around cruiser and save my money up

 

[Karl Snarl]

The problem with the mags is I don't have the cash to order mags and a disk brake kit. That's run me about 200$ from what I've seen. I only have that much into the bike total as of now 140 for engine kit and 100 for the bike ( got it new/used from an older fellow who said it was too heavy) so another 200 for wheels and brakes, on top of the other parts I am saving for already- my Lord. This thing is never going to be finished and up to spec at this rate.
I'm on a limited income here- this is why I got into the motor bicycle hobby. Not to be dropping stacks of money..
So realistically for what I want to do im looking at another 500 or more in parts.
Just not what I was expecting to be doing. Wow.

Do what I do. Get a simple bike up and going to ride and enjoy. Then collect all you can. Yard sales, ebay, amazon, any deals you can find. Snag them up and stack it back. With ebay, sellers will offer good buyers ( good ebay score) all kinds of deals, knowing they will get paid and you'll be happy. If I go to long without buying from CDH on ebay, I'll get a notification, an it's always for something I want too. lol. It's like they know if they flash it in front of my face, it reminds me, I'm going to buy it. Works with me 99% of the time too. lol. I hit yard sales and flea markets hunting for scores. A lot of the stuff I might not use for a year or two, but it's there when I do get around to it. I've got 4 CG motors, 2 tiller motors, and a pocket bike engine just waiting for bodies. I have a stack of bikes I need to dig through and see what's good and what needs to be turned into scrap. The bikes cost me $32, for all 6 of them. The motors, well I got some good deals on them and the tiller motors came off of used equipment and I was told they don't run. They run just fine when you put gas in them and make sure the oil is over the shut off sensor. lol. They cost me a 12 pack of bud ice and welding the wheel back on my buddies kids gokart. Stack up, an then you will have so many projects going, you'll be in heaven in the shop.


oh and I drank 4 of those beers while I was welding, so really an 8 pack. lol

 

[DAMIEN1307]

YEP...Unless he is prepared to put in the money and effort that i did with mine, as well as mechanical skill, that is the best way out for him...DAMIEN

 

[Rank Amatuer]

I was told while building this bike that the coaster brake would probably fail. I just really enjoyed the feel with it and felt I could transfer weight more efficiently.
Today the back wheel locked up- it snapped the drive chain and now won't even let me push the bike home without lifting the back wheel off the ground because the back wheel won't spin.

Is there really no good way to run a back pedal brake system? I want that more than anything but looks like I will have to mount a handlebar lever controlled brake- which I dont think would be as efficient and comfortable for my preference.

I have a few other bikes around and could pull the brakes off of them but my bike(hyper bike company cruiser) didn't come with friction brakes so id also have to figure out how to mount them

Has no-one found a way to reliably run coaster brakes? It just feels so much more intuitive to me.
I'm considering mag wheels but 150$ is pretty steep
Any suggestions to atleast get a few more months out of my rear wheel coaster setup?

I had two builds - both on cheap cruisers with coaster brakes. I was in the process of getting the parts for a hand brake system because I had ruined the rear hub on my first build because of the coaster brakes, and I did not trust the coaster brakes on my second build.

Before I could complete the transition from coaster brakes to hand brakes (was going to leave rear hub alone and simply not use the coaster brakes and instead use the hand brakes) I was riding and a car turned in front of me. My coaster brakes locked up and essentially failed and I had to ditch the bike (went over handle bars etc).

Smashed up my shoulder and leg pretty bad. Bike was totaled. Should have been wearing a helmet - but was not - so could have been worse.

Anyway, decided to give this hobby up because I have 5 kids to feed and can't afford to get killed or injured on these things (even if it is my fault and because I am stupid when I ride).

I'm taking my 2 stroke engines and repurposing them as generators.

My advice to newbies (from one newbie to another): wear a helmet and don't install on a cruiser with a coaster brake. Spend a little extra on a better bike with hand brakes.

 

[Karl Snarl]

I had two builds - both on cheap cruisers with coaster brakes. I was in the process of getting the parts for a hand brake system because I had ruined the rear hub on my first build because of the coaster brakes, and I did not trust the coaster brakes on my second build. Before I could complete the transition from coaster brakes to hand brakes (was going to leave rear hub alone and simply not use the coaster brakes and instead use the hand brakes) I was riding and a car turned in front of me. My coaster brakes locked up and essentially failed and I had to ditch the bike (went over handle bars etc). Smashed up my shoulder and leg pretty bad. Bike was totaled. Should have been wearing a helmet - but was not - so could have been worse. Anyway, decided to give this hobby up because I have 5 kids to feed and can't afford to get killed or injured on these things (even if it is my fault and because I am stupid when I ride). Taking 2 stroke engines and repurposing them as generators. My advice to newbies (from one newbie to another): wear a helmet and don't install on a cruiser with a coaster brake. Spend a little extra on a better bike with hand brakes.

No problems with my kick brake. Been riding it almost a year. I also maintain mine and don't rely on it as a sole brake. It is the E-Brake now.

Before ever doing anything dangerous, always understand what you are doing. It's not the brake, it's the pilot.

Mine have been trouble free except once, I used a little to much grease and the drive cone was slipping.