Indian flattrack/ boardtrack racer

[highplainsdrifter]

I am currently building a Indian flattrack replica. The bicycle is an early 50's Montgomery Ward Hawthorne straight bar frame. I am building a custom fiberglass tank to fit in between the two top bars. I am going for all brass and copper fittings on this one to give it that antique motorcycle look. I have bought lots of little detail parts to make it look antique. Springer front end w/ custom indian feathers, Indian tank decals, Indian clutch plate decal, Glass fuel filter from a BSA motorcycle, Air cleaner of an old weed eater.... and much more. I will post pics of it in a bicycle stage for thats all I have for now. My question is has anyone out there ever converted a chinese motor kit over to a belt drive? I would love to go this route but not sure how. Any help would be great.

 

[professor]

I am not aware of anyone using a belt like that. I suspect the area is not big enough to fit a large enough pulley to work.

 

[highplainsdrifter]

Thanks for your reply professor. That was my concern is finding a pulley small enough to fit and still have the clutch work in the same manner without major modifications. Ill keep looking maybe the solution will arise.

 

[Mr.B.]

I’d recommend-

First, A vintage 4 stroke- Would best match the style of the bike.

Or 2nd, A Harbor Freight Predator 79cc 4 stroke- Inexpensive and reliable right out of the box.

Either way by the time you make all of the conversions to make the Chinese kit work you wouldn’t be using much of it anyway. And those little 2 strokes make power from rpm’s, not torque which wouldn’t lend it’s self to belt drive anyway.

My 2 cents for free...

-Kirk

 

[highplainsdrifter]

Hey Mr. B.... I recieved your message about the Briggs & Straton. Very cool! Im just getting into the whole MB thing and at this point its a little more fabrication than I have the tools or know how for... but maybe down the road I will try this. I also checked out you Excaliber motorcycle you built.....Awsome looks very real! How did you distress your tank and decals to make them look so old? Sweet leaf spring fork too! Also what kind of motor are you using?

 

[Mr.B.]

Yes, no way around it, it does take a little or perhaps a lot of fabrication to scratch build a drivetrian... :-(

Thanks for your Excalibur ‘09’s comment- The engine is a 1939 Wisconsin Model AK, and the fork springs are from a Model T ford.

I build the tank with rusty sheet metal leaving it on the exterior, and neutralized the rust with Rust-Oleum brand Rust converter. Kream brand tank liner was applied to the interior.

Painted the tank as if new (logos and pinstriping are painted too) and then scuffed it off with steel wool in logical wear patterns. Re-neutralized and then give the whole thing a light matt finish clear coat.

-Kirk

 

[Quenton Guenther]

We offer our Q-Matic drive system with the optional belt drive system.

The output pulley is 2.5" and when connected to the Whizzer rear belt sheave [15"] the secondary ratio is 6.319 X 1.

We have made over 200 Q-Matic drives with the belt output, and most often used with the HF 79 and 99 CC four stroke motors. The ideal ratio is 11.55 X 1 on the HF motors [40 MPH @ 6000 RPMs]. It is even possible to use an adjustable primary pulley to "dial" in the exact ratios desired [can't be adjusted on the "fly", but preset for different pulley O.D.] Our factory test bike with the HF motor has a 9 X 1 ratio and travels at 52 MPH @ 6000 RPMs]

The primary can be altered from 3.02 X 1 to 2.04 X 1 with multiple ratios between [stock Q-Matic primary is 2.735 X 1].

BTW... The Q-Matic belt drive has been tested on many B & S vintage motors, Whizzers, Even connected to a 28 HP B & S Vanguard motor and ran well over 100 MPH on the Dyno.

You can obtain the rear belt sheave from Memorylane-Classic.com for the vintage wheels and from Whizzer USA for the later versions from Taiwan [one fits cross 3 and the other fits cross 4 lace patterns].

We can also offer the clutch drive output in 2.5" and 3.2" sizes.

Have fun,

 

[chainmaker]

The EZ motors would be a good route to go, I used one with a belt drive on my first 4 stroke. That with a hf 79 would get you a dependable ride and you wouldn't have the constant Chinese kit worries.

 

[IbedaYank]

indians never used a curved springer Triumph did starting in 1909