DanTheDIYGuy
Member
- Local time
- 1:01 PM
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2016
- Messages
- 98
I assembled this bike that I bought from a bike shop. It has an unfortunate feature, the seatstays bow inward by design. Here are photos of my homemade sprocket bracket to attach to the disc brake hub, and the unfortunate (yet highly successful) chain alignment set up that I have been forced to use. It's just not practical nor worthwhile for me to try the other options (trust me, I've given them a shot!)
A few things:
-I need to properly mount the tank, this is a temporary solution
-I am well aware that it is not advisable to use a chain tensioner on the drive side of the chain, I need this to gain proper clearance (and a smaller sprocket reduces my torque too much to go that route
-I know the number of tensioners looks silly, most of them have a good amount of slack to reduce friction and are only being used to maintain a safe chain alignment and prevent derailment (I've been through enough accidents that this is a worthwhile thing to do)
-I would prefer a jackshaft setup for security reasons, I prefer having a rock-solid or very safe chainline, and the current setup requires me to use multiple tensioners to "align" the chain so as to prevent it from eating through the aluminum seatstay
There are some other improvements that I haven't come up with yet, but I am looking into them. I'm fortunate enough to have a back wheel that is compatible with both rim brakes and disc brakes, so I went with the disc brake hub mounting solution. I've never had success with a rag joint, and the CNC milled hub adapters work okay, but not as well as this thing does. I've never been so comfortable with a sprocket setup before, this is fantastic! As far as I know, nobody else has documented a 4-stroke with these issues. In fact, this isn't purely a 4-stroke problem, I'd experience the same thing with a 2-stroke.
Feel free to ask questions about it. Here are some close-up photos of particulars.
This last picture really captures the essence of my struggle. The chain rises about a half inch too high without an idler pulley to keep it low. I did my best to find a heavy-duty solution that would safely and effectively guide the chain in terms of up and down motion, and will last a long time and resist wear. I used some motorcycle idler wheels to "capture" the chain in the flanges of ye olde tensioner wheel. That wheel does the work of keeping the chain from moving side-to-side. I have noticed a slight pull to the right in the chainline that is likely fixable by doing some minor shimming of my sprocket. I haven't determined if I want to go to all that trouble.
The bike has so far excelled at off-road riding in my rough pasture. I am putting it through some rough shakedown rides in the hopes that I can highlight the weaknesses and address them before I go road riding. Thankfully I have a pasture to test in, so if I get thrown off I shouldn't get hurt. Last build had a steel axle break on the front wheel. Completely out of my control, and it ruined the whole build. Thankfully that wheel was loyal to me all the way down to 3ish mph. It gave everything it had before catastrophically failing and causing its untimely demise.
A few things:
-I need to properly mount the tank, this is a temporary solution
-I am well aware that it is not advisable to use a chain tensioner on the drive side of the chain, I need this to gain proper clearance (and a smaller sprocket reduces my torque too much to go that route
-I know the number of tensioners looks silly, most of them have a good amount of slack to reduce friction and are only being used to maintain a safe chain alignment and prevent derailment (I've been through enough accidents that this is a worthwhile thing to do)
-I would prefer a jackshaft setup for security reasons, I prefer having a rock-solid or very safe chainline, and the current setup requires me to use multiple tensioners to "align" the chain so as to prevent it from eating through the aluminum seatstay
There are some other improvements that I haven't come up with yet, but I am looking into them. I'm fortunate enough to have a back wheel that is compatible with both rim brakes and disc brakes, so I went with the disc brake hub mounting solution. I've never had success with a rag joint, and the CNC milled hub adapters work okay, but not as well as this thing does. I've never been so comfortable with a sprocket setup before, this is fantastic! As far as I know, nobody else has documented a 4-stroke with these issues. In fact, this isn't purely a 4-stroke problem, I'd experience the same thing with a 2-stroke.
Feel free to ask questions about it. Here are some close-up photos of particulars.
This last picture really captures the essence of my struggle. The chain rises about a half inch too high without an idler pulley to keep it low. I did my best to find a heavy-duty solution that would safely and effectively guide the chain in terms of up and down motion, and will last a long time and resist wear. I used some motorcycle idler wheels to "capture" the chain in the flanges of ye olde tensioner wheel. That wheel does the work of keeping the chain from moving side-to-side. I have noticed a slight pull to the right in the chainline that is likely fixable by doing some minor shimming of my sprocket. I haven't determined if I want to go to all that trouble.
The bike has so far excelled at off-road riding in my rough pasture. I am putting it through some rough shakedown rides in the hopes that I can highlight the weaknesses and address them before I go road riding. Thankfully I have a pasture to test in, so if I get thrown off I shouldn't get hurt. Last build had a steel axle break on the front wheel. Completely out of my control, and it ruined the whole build. Thankfully that wheel was loyal to me all the way down to 3ish mph. It gave everything it had before catastrophically failing and causing its untimely demise.
