G'day from Melbourne, Australia

BradJ80

New Member
Local time
1:11 AM
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
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8
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Hi Folks,

My name is Brad Jensen, I'm an electronic engineer living and working in Melbourne, Australia and have a keen interest in engines: petrol, steam and electric and their applications.

I recently purchased a 48cc kit from MBB imports in Sydney from their Ebay store...
http://stores.ebay.com.au/MBB-IMPORTS

I have spent the past 2 wees fitting it to my 24" Malvern Star mountain bike. The information and advice on this forum has been invaluable, and I have learnt so much in such a short time. Especially the noob guide:
http://www.motoredbikes.com/showthread.php?t=11986

I have signed up to this forum to hopefully help others as much as others have helped me!

I am lucky enough to work for a company which has a fully equipped machine shop with access to lathes, milling machine, welding eqipment etc, which has made the installation of this kit a breeze. Having access to these resources has allowed me to make custom engine mounts and lengthen and modify the exhaust.
It's up and running and ready for it's first long(ish) ride. I hope to post some pics soon.

This weekend I hope to head out for a few hours and start breaking in the motor.

Will let you know how it all goes.
Brad
 
G'day Brad,

I joined the forum this week as well - have also learnt a lot in a shot space of time. What I wouldn't give to have access to some of the equipment you have in the workshop to make custom engine mounts etc. Post up pics of your build!

I've done about 10k's on my bike now (most on my bike trainer in the back yard because it was p*ssing down all day) and I've noticed the head bolts get loose quickly. So make sure you take a torque wrench with you if you are going far from home - I'm hoping mine will settle down once the gaskets are bedded in properly and I can venture further for longer without having to re tighten them. Otherwise everything else seems to be holding together fine (I used a lot of loctite).

Andrew

Perth, WA
 
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Thanks Andrew for the tips.

So I went for a 42km ride on the weekend, with great success. I headed along a sealed road for approx 6km before embarking on a relatively steep climb over 12km on a graded dirt road.

Minimal pedal assist to get up the winding terrain without the motor straining too hard. Excellent power and response on the flat sealed road. Really looking forward to when the motor has run in nicely.

Everything remained tight after the ride.

The biggest improvement I found was installing a Bosch W8A spark plug set to 0.6mm gap. Added a ryco paper fuel filter. Everything else is as per the kit.

Here's some pics of my custom engine mount, and the bike.

Brad
 

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Yeah, I used to ride a lot on the road and put the skinny tyres on it to help with reducing rolling resistance.
Soon will be fitting something more suitable for off-road track use.
 
Hi brad,

Make your way up to ballarat and we'll go for a ride :eek:

I'd like some more details/pics on your front mount

regards

Ozi
 
The front mount is a two-piece design that uses the studs for the drink bottle holder on the lower piece to bolt to the frame.

I used M5 Countersunk Stainless Steel screws to hold the lower piece to the frame. I used 222 threadlocker loctite on the screws.

This lower piece has a cut-away section to clear the stock engine mount saddle clamp and bolts.

The upper piece is a piece of round aluminium turned down to ~19mm for the stock engine mount to clamp to.

At the other end of the upper piece I machined a flat so it sits flush against the lower piece. Two M6 stainless socket head cap screws hold the two pieces together. Also 222 loctite used liberally.

Here's a better pic. I'd have to pull everything apart to show you the individual pieces... when I get time.

The best thing about using the drink bottle mount is no holes have been drilled into the frame of the bike.
 

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