Irish John
New Member
I have started at least a couple of threads since 2008 asking if anyone had used a Felt Heritage Cruiser for a 4-stroke in-frame mount but nobody had ever tried it. I finally bought a Felt Heritage from the USA and air freighted it to Australia for Aus$900 all up. That is less than the Schwinn D7 used to retail at and it is a better bike. This Felt model isn't imported into Australia and if it was it would retail at about $1600 - $1700 so I got a bargain.
It is a really lovely bike and it can fit the Honda into the frame but it is a very close fit. My CAD drawings of 3 years ago told me that the fit would be very tight and maybe impossible by a couple of mm and I am pleased my drawings were pretty spot on. I can even use the new Hoot non-adjustable engine tray I have had lying around for years from a kit that was too bad to utilize.
I am really pleased to say that it is possible to get a 4-stroke motor into the frame but I want to use the EZ gearbox and that entails using a 56T rear wheel sprocket which has a larger diameter than the standard 48T I have always used with the older Grubee gearboxes. Although I can make the old set-up work I think that the 56T sprocket will give me a drive train problem because the rear V-brakes are mounted on the underside of the seat stays and the seat stays are more low profile than most Cantilevered beach cruiser frames. I attach a picture to show the bike in its splendid detail.
I will be trying to get the EZ GB and a 56T rear sprocket to work but I may have to use one of my old Schwinns for the EZ rig.
What a shame because this bike is almost the perfect cruiser for motorising. There is an extra 37mm between the seat tube and the handlebar stem compared to the classic cantilevered Schwinns and this extra room makes all the difference in the world to riding comfort believe me. Also the wheelbase is longer and the handlebars are higher which make for the best riding position I have ever encountered on a motored bicycle and I've built dozens of motored bikes using many different models. It is even roomier than the Electra.
The biggest drawback to the Grubee GT1 cruiser (apart from its unnecessarily heavy steel frame construction) was the pokiness of the frame dimensions - the distance between the centre of the seat tube and the centre of the head tube was just too tight and those few millimeters made it pokey to ride.
The strong points of the Felt Heritage are as follows:
Front and rear V-brakes;
Springer fork with V-brake;
Superbly comfortable bottom molded saddle;
7 speed rear derailleur (Shimano Acera) gears with hub that allows standard sprocket and clamp;
Will take a clamshell sprocket mount;
Comes with fenders and torpedo light;
36 spoke wheels with 50mm wide strong rims;
Exquisite paint finish and two vials of touch-up paint supplied;
Top tube will allow standard tank mount;
One piece Ashtabula crank that makes fitting the wide one piece easier and you can reuse the same bottom bracket bearings;
Skip tooth chainring!;
Good quick brick tyres 26 X 2.125;
12g stainless steel spokes (although my one had 14g spokes for some reason);
Alloy frame which is light yet very strong;
Supremely comfy riding position;
Beautiful alloy hubs.
The drawbacks are:
No rear rack included;
V-brake bosses are on underside of seat stays and these will almost certainly impede the drive train with a 56T sprocket but OK for a 48tooth sprocket;
Alloy downtube is a bit ellipsed which makes standard fixing of front of engine tray a bit harder although it is possible to get the clamping bracket on.
I will add to this thread with pictures as I progress with the build. I am aiming to use an EZ gearbox with 56T but may have to use a Grubee mark2 with a 48T. I'm not interested in the Grubee 4G because it is too wide and I'm not sure it is geared properly yet. I tried it 2 years ago and it proved a disaster. I'm using a HuaSheng motor instead of my usual Honda preference.
I find it hard to believe I'm the only person who has tried to motorise this model of Felt.
It is a really lovely bike and it can fit the Honda into the frame but it is a very close fit. My CAD drawings of 3 years ago told me that the fit would be very tight and maybe impossible by a couple of mm and I am pleased my drawings were pretty spot on. I can even use the new Hoot non-adjustable engine tray I have had lying around for years from a kit that was too bad to utilize.
I am really pleased to say that it is possible to get a 4-stroke motor into the frame but I want to use the EZ gearbox and that entails using a 56T rear wheel sprocket which has a larger diameter than the standard 48T I have always used with the older Grubee gearboxes. Although I can make the old set-up work I think that the 56T sprocket will give me a drive train problem because the rear V-brakes are mounted on the underside of the seat stays and the seat stays are more low profile than most Cantilevered beach cruiser frames. I attach a picture to show the bike in its splendid detail.
I will be trying to get the EZ GB and a 56T rear sprocket to work but I may have to use one of my old Schwinns for the EZ rig.
What a shame because this bike is almost the perfect cruiser for motorising. There is an extra 37mm between the seat tube and the handlebar stem compared to the classic cantilevered Schwinns and this extra room makes all the difference in the world to riding comfort believe me. Also the wheelbase is longer and the handlebars are higher which make for the best riding position I have ever encountered on a motored bicycle and I've built dozens of motored bikes using many different models. It is even roomier than the Electra.
The biggest drawback to the Grubee GT1 cruiser (apart from its unnecessarily heavy steel frame construction) was the pokiness of the frame dimensions - the distance between the centre of the seat tube and the centre of the head tube was just too tight and those few millimeters made it pokey to ride.
The strong points of the Felt Heritage are as follows:
Front and rear V-brakes;
Springer fork with V-brake;
Superbly comfortable bottom molded saddle;
7 speed rear derailleur (Shimano Acera) gears with hub that allows standard sprocket and clamp;
Will take a clamshell sprocket mount;
Comes with fenders and torpedo light;
36 spoke wheels with 50mm wide strong rims;
Exquisite paint finish and two vials of touch-up paint supplied;
Top tube will allow standard tank mount;
One piece Ashtabula crank that makes fitting the wide one piece easier and you can reuse the same bottom bracket bearings;
Skip tooth chainring!;
Good quick brick tyres 26 X 2.125;
12g stainless steel spokes (although my one had 14g spokes for some reason);
Alloy frame which is light yet very strong;
Supremely comfy riding position;
Beautiful alloy hubs.
The drawbacks are:
No rear rack included;
V-brake bosses are on underside of seat stays and these will almost certainly impede the drive train with a 56T sprocket but OK for a 48tooth sprocket;
Alloy downtube is a bit ellipsed which makes standard fixing of front of engine tray a bit harder although it is possible to get the clamping bracket on.
I will add to this thread with pictures as I progress with the build. I am aiming to use an EZ gearbox with 56T but may have to use a Grubee mark2 with a 48T. I'm not interested in the Grubee 4G because it is too wide and I'm not sure it is geared properly yet. I tried it 2 years ago and it proved a disaster. I'm using a HuaSheng motor instead of my usual Honda preference.
I find it hard to believe I'm the only person who has tried to motorise this model of Felt.