Front Drive Question

The pipe kicks in at midrange, but its greatest power increase is at maximum rpm. In fact, max rpm is greatly extended.

When I installed my first Mits engine, the stock muffler acted as a governor. As soon as I installed the expansion pipe, maximum rpm was unimpeded.

No other hp improvements, although I do have new HP Walbro carbs and custom-made intake manifolds made for both Mits.

The TLE43 Mits engine is pretty quiet. With the ADA S1 pipe installed, it is even quieter at all rpms.
 
The pipe kicks in at midrange, but its greatest power increase is at maximum rpm. In fact, max rpm is greatly extended.

When I installed my first Mits engine, the stock muffler acted as a governor. As soon as I installed the expansion pipe, maximum rpm was unimpeded.

No other hp improvements, although I do have new HP Walbro carbs and custom-made intake manifolds made for both Mits.

The TLE43 Mits engine is pretty quiet. With the ADA S1 pipe installed, it is even quieter at all rpms.

It made it quieter than stock? Do you happen to have a video of the engine running anywhere? And it gained you a little power, too? Interesting...where's the best place to buy one of these pipes?


Thanks 5-7,

Warner
 
Hawaii Ed shot my video on youtube, dubbed "The Dragon Lady".

Yes, the ADA S1 pipe with silencer sounds quieter than a stock muffler, especially at idle. Cops don't seem to notice. On the front engine I used 36" of rubber exhaust tubing and no silencer(muffler).

ADA pipes can be found at www.davesmotors.com

Mits engines have the larger exhaust bolt flange, which also fits my GP460 engines.
 
Today I have the rim pulley ready to go. I cut all the spokes from an old Mavic Crossmax wheel I had laying around. The hoop is ceramic coated & the spokes & nipples were seized after a few yrs of use & another 10 yrs of sitting. I prepped one sidewall by sanding it thoroughly so the JB Weld will stick well. JB Weld can be used on Aluminum & Ceramic so it should set up well to the aluminum front wheel of the bicycle. I ordered the engine pulley & JB weld.
I had a neat idea for a throttle. I was going to use another brake lever but felt like there would be too many levers on the handlebars. I have an old set of Grip Shift X-Ray shifters laying around. If you remove the metal clip inside (the detent) which makes it click into each gear, you have a smooth twisting throttle that fits perfectly on the bicycle handlebars. The bike uses Shimano rapid fire shifters so it wont interfere with normal shifting since I plan on pedaling too. The bike I'm using for this project is a Rocky Mountain RM7 freeride/downhill bike. It has 7" of travel front & rear & motocross looking rear shock/linkage & swingarm. The bike is 42 lbs before the engine & modifications...
 
lowracer, could I make a suggestion?

:unsure:Would you consider using at least four pop-rivets to secure the rim pulley, along with your JB WELD?
 
5-7Heaven, I may end up needing to drill join these two rims together w/ bolts or rivets but wanted to avoid altering the integrity of the wheel carrying the tire & tube. I may end up using some high pressure slicks when road riding w/this machine. I'll give the JB Weld a shot & if it fails, I'll need to move on to plan 'B'. From what I've researched, the glued parts are going to hold very well. I once owned an AVD Windcheetah trike & it had a completely bonded frame. I rode the trike hard for a few years & even ended up full fairing it into a speedy velomobile with no glue/frame failure incident.
 
Lowracer:
Honestly I want to be supportive, but I don't get the JB Weld working. I've thought about this post and want to avoid sounding negative. If you insist on using it, here's what I would suggest for extra strength. Lay down a bead of it first and while still wet, overlay a fiberglass or light stainless screen material on top and another layer of JB Weld. That additional material would add great strength. Like reinforcement rods in concrete. I have some of the light fiberglass scrim they use for Dryvit I could send you.
If you have problems with the epoxy sagging as it drys, a trick would be to keep the rim rotating while drying.
Mike
 
mlcorson, Thanks for your offer & your probably right about adding strength but I gotta try it on its own. I copied some info from the JB Weld site:

Properties (psi)
Tensile Strength: 3960
Adhesion: 1800
Flex Strength: 7320
Tensile Lap Shear: 1040
Shrinkage: 0.0%
Resistant to: 500° F

I also remember reading about a guy years ago who built a recumbent bicycle by cutting up a few bmx bikes & using this stuff to hold it all together in lieu of welding & it worked.
I guess I'll be the forum JB Weld 'Guinea Pig' & if it works well, others may be able to get creative with it. I also intend to build the supports & engine mount using aluminum bar, JB weld & a few nuts & bolts...
 
For the past week I have been down in the basement hand drilling, hacksawing, measuring, recutting & redrilling. Some nights I would wake up with a new revelation brainstorm on how to make it all fit together better. I dont have a 'workshop' & my work area looks more like a place for a dog to go potty than a shop (a few newspapers laid under a fishing tackle box turned toolbox which I saw & drill upon...The newspapers catching the filings for the trash)...LOL
I finally have my front drive project mostly complete. The few things left are installing the notched 79" V-Belt which is on order from McMaster-Carr & using Loctite on all the nuts & bolts. Also gotta remember to put oil & gas in the Robin E035. The front motor is attached to my 2nd generation heavier duty mount using fat 15" steel bar. My 1st attempt was a flimsy piece of aluminum bar that would have flexed & snapped. I'm working on mounting a belt tensioner that I fabricated from a skateboard wheel & a rectangular piece of steel. I had the dilemma of getting a bicycle gear cable attached from a brake lever (throttle) to the Robin E035's throttle assembly. There are no screw down cable fasteners on the Robin, so I ended up filing down a brass spoke nipple until it fit the small throttle slot & then cut the spoke nipple in half. The cable fits through the nipple & the nipple is needle nosed into the slot, which is then crimped. I used a bit of JB weld on the piece of cable behind the crimp to prevent the cable from pull through the crimp. We'll see how it holds up...This whole project took only 2 trips to Lowes & 2 McMaster-Carr orders. The engine came from Staton. If I ever get the Picture upload thing figured out, I'll try to take & post some pics. -Alex-
 
mlcorson, Thanks for your offer & your probably right about adding strength but I gotta try it on its own. I copied some info from the JB Weld site:

Properties (psi)
Tensile Strength: 3960
Adhesion: 1800
Flex Strength: 7320
Tensile Lap Shear: 1040
Shrinkage: 0.0%
Resistant to: 500° F

I also remember reading about a guy years ago who built a recumbent bicycle by cutting up a few bmx bikes & using this stuff to hold it all together in lieu of welding & it worked.
I guess I'll be the forum JB Weld 'Guinea Pig' & if it works well, others may be able to get creative with it. I also intend to build the supports & engine mount using aluminum bar, JB weld & a few nuts & bolts...

I know you're expectations of the JB Weld performance are high, and it is pretty amazing stuff. However, I have seen it fail in situations that are a LOT less stressful than what you are using it for. There was a patch on a built up VW transmission - yeah, MINE, where it wasn't under much stress at all, and it just kind of "fell out". So the whole trans (and axles and all, the way the old swingaxle beetles are set up) had to be pulled out and replaced.

I understand you wanting to try this and see if it fails....which is a reasonable approach....but think about the consequences if it DOES fail? There's a real good chance it'll happen at speed, and there's also a real good chance it will lock up your front wheel when/if it fails. You're a brave man. A mad scientist! Hahaha. Good Luck and I hope it all works out great and NEVER fails.....be careful!

Warner
 
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