GT5A / Skyhawk Clone build - slowest build in recorded history.

Preamble to this - I have had a basic straight kit-build in the past decade, and an aborted build that was much higher grade, that had i lost interest in/evolved into the build being documented right now.. over a 5 year time-span.

I had stopped 'building' .. but i didn't stop monitoring/buying up parts to progress on another possible build. As such, in putting it all together when the project came back on the bench, i had minimum needed to buy, more a matter of pick and choose. In my frustration over my aborted build, i had built a higher-end eMTB - and some components of that, have also being able to filter down to this project. I have, in all truthfulness, already found my 'regular' ride in the Downhill eMTB. I am doing this project, for an occasional use neighborhood pavement-plonker.

In the meanwhile, the project had idled, as other projects jumped the project queue.. i did get a work bench into the garage, and organized parts so that i could find them, whatever project it might be awaiting... until several months ago being newly inspired, it hopped onto the workbench in this state... a collection of parts flying together in loose formation.

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In addition to the Belt Drive pulley option - one of the last things i had picked up, was 3 or 4 different variations of the 36 tooth sprocket/rotor adapter combo, but for the life of me i couldn't make it work.. I'm going to call that, my own cognitive issue. When i got it on the bench, i was looking at my drive-train options again, i laid them out.. and got a bit of a brainwave on the Belt Drive Pulley. See, i was never really happy with it, in Theory.. it's got no shouldering for belt retention. If alignment or tension is off, you aren't going to have belt retention! I just so happened to have a few 203mm rotors sitting on the bench at the same time, and my mind's eye made a visual connection.

Let us start putting a couple of these things together..

Now, along with a 255mm rotor that i had from Bicycledesigners.com...

This is the renewed Impetus for my Project. I couldn't make it work with 203mm/36 tooth combo, but i'm making the principle work in a way i haven't seen elsewhere... This is all a creative experiment, at this point, using what i have accumulated, minimum additional to purchase. I've already done several donations to Bike Cooperatives, in cleaning the garage of spare parts.. .

 

[HackD]

Might want to level that carb a bit better.

Hummm.. i see what you mean. I do have it on the Centre-stand which tilts it forward around 5 degrees, but still on Angle. Perhaps look at rotating engine in frame a few degrees to the Horizontal. Either that, or ditch/modify the billet intake, rubber manifold it to carburetor on mildly offset frame mount.

More details to eyeball. Thanks.

 

[CrazyDan]

A silicon elbow on the intake will lengthen the intake putting the torque in a lower rpm range, if I remember right. You can time the pipe and intake with different manifold/header lengths, getting mild gains across a broad range, or match the "boosted" rpms on intake and exhaust for a huge hit in a short band.

 

[HackD]

Kind of a slow week, this past week. Mostly spent doing nothing, as i am still recovering after having served as an air-bag, in looping my eMTB at a stop light.. Murphy's Law struck... Torque met the wrong rear Cog.

Anyway, in repairing damage occurring on that bicycle, i had destroyed my chain alignment guide on it. I needed to order a new unit.

What part of it that was undamaged is perfect, to act as a frame-mounted mid-pipe mount. No need for time involved in fabrication for a base clamp, beyond a black respray, to make work.

Sometimes good things come to those who crash out spectacularly. Reuse and Recycle. Small progress, small wins.

 

[HackD]

I sure do love creative, adaptive solutions,

My next task was to deal with permanently mounting the exhaust, as well as getting the electrics installed - mounting method had me scratching my head.

Amazon found the solution - lightbar mounting bullbar clamps.

0ne large one at 2.5" will be used to hang the silencer tip, while the two smaller ones at 1.25" will be used on the handlebars to drop down and use as the basis for my 5" headlight shell.

 

[HackD]

Close, but no cigar... it's just too high, to be 'vintage 1910's' in terms of styling exercise, to work just as it is.. but damn, it's pretty close, in terms of ideal components to work with.

I'll build a simple add-on curved link-bracket to wrap around the headlight back, joining the bracket at the base of the Headlight, to the handlebar drop mounts, in order to drop the headlight shell down and inwards.. an afternoon's worth of more filing..

Sorry for bad lighting/congested environment.. i've got three winter Projects queued up in a 6x9' space in my living room..

 

[Chainlube]

Turn the light upside down, then it will be lower on the frame. Cut a short piece of pipe as a spacer between both mounts, that way you won't bend the mounts and have the light come loose.
Phamoto frames don't look vintage either.

 

[HackD]

Turn the light upside down, then it will be lower on the frame. Cut a short piece of pipe as a spacer between both mounts, that way you won't bend the mounts and have the light come loose.
Phamoto frames don't look vintage either.

I'm going to do it correctly... drop the headlight down and bring in.. i was musing about that 1910's Acetylene Gas Light look, which is a bit of an extreme reach for my retro-modern appearance... by about 5 decades out of play, LOL.

It basically just needs a solid aluminium spine type dog-leg extension of the correct length, which will keep it low profile in appearance, also. The mounts themselves as purchased, are amazingly compatible to my needs in order to bring this to a tidy conclusion, appearance and componentry-wise..

This headlight isn't practically flippable. If the Bezel of the headlight itself was rotatable, i'd consider it... but it isn't, so would bring the Bezel gap to the top .. not really aesthetically pleasing, with significant gappage at the pinch point. There are openings on the under side for wire routing, as well as moisture drain-holes... so definitely a secondary solution choice.

Just going with the flow of my styling cues, and getting her done.

 

[HackD]

This will be close to actual positioning of the drop brackets coming off the handlebar.. much tighter to the headstock and below the steering stem. I will fabricate a couple of plate brackets running underside the bucket to the headlight mount for the '1950s' look. I should be able to lock everything up in terms of non-rotation, once everything is fastened down.

*Edit*Edit*

I might have been over-thinking things here, just adapting one mount to the other - I just noted the headlight bucket's sheet metal mount is cleanly removable, which means i can replace that universal sheet metal bracket with a custom spine-bracket all the way up the back-side of the bracket to the drop mounts.. positioning will be roughly the same..

 

[HackD]

This aspect of the project is now complete.

 

[CrazyDan]

Very nice, but do you ever plan on running a chain on the right?