S
Sianelle
Guest
Alright, - seriously back on subject now.
It's been a while since I played in my workshop what with being ill and everything, but this afternoon I stripped down and looked over a Birmingham Hercules ladies sports frame and forks to see if they would be useful as a basis for this project. In the end I decided against them despite their lovely sturdy construction because the forks were too narrow to squeeze a 50 tooth sprocket into along with a Westwood rimmed front wheel.
Sooooo it's back to the Rudge cycleparts. These Rudge forks I'm using will accept a Sturmey Archer rear wheel hub because they were used in an earlier experiment of mine. This means that I've got a set of good strong forks, a good sized oil lubed hub with decent bearings and a 40 spoke wheel to hang a Villiers engine around. The frame I'm using is a fairly plain lugged NZ built ladies sports frame which fits me better than the Birmingham Hercules frame even though the Hercules frame has quite exquisite lugwork and a much better pedigree. One can't have everything afterall (sigh).
The advantage of using a SA rear hub on a 'traction avant' motor-bicycle is that it's much more simple to fit a drive sprocket. I don't really want to bolt the drive sprocket into the spokes HT fashion if I can help it. The method I want to use involves attaching the 50 tooth sprocket I have onto a standard Sturmey Archer sprocket by means of bolts and some cunningly machined spacers. I will show pictures I promise, but don't rush me at this stage of things.
My plan is to get everything serviced and assembled until I have a rolling frame with brakes, handlebars, seat & etc; - essentially a rideable engineless bicycle. Provided it does actually ride Ok and does everything it should, I will then proceed with the engine installation.
It was my great good fortune to purchase some time ago the motor mount and pulley/sprocket drive for an ancient portable shearing machine. This will become my motor-bicycle's engine mount plate and clutch assembly. I really like the idea of having a combination drive belt and chain drive transmission because the drive belt helps to smooth things out and takes away some of the sudden snatch that can happen with an all chain transmission.
Using this kind of motor mount will also enable me to experiment with fitting other engines should I want to. There was a really nice wee 4 stroke J.A.P. engine made many many years ago, - and I'd be absolutely delighted to find one
The forecast is for rain tomorrow, so I'll be back in my workshop once I get back from church in the morning. Don't despair I will get some film for my camera so I can record progress and let you see what I'm on about.
It's been a while since I played in my workshop what with being ill and everything, but this afternoon I stripped down and looked over a Birmingham Hercules ladies sports frame and forks to see if they would be useful as a basis for this project. In the end I decided against them despite their lovely sturdy construction because the forks were too narrow to squeeze a 50 tooth sprocket into along with a Westwood rimmed front wheel.
Sooooo it's back to the Rudge cycleparts. These Rudge forks I'm using will accept a Sturmey Archer rear wheel hub because they were used in an earlier experiment of mine. This means that I've got a set of good strong forks, a good sized oil lubed hub with decent bearings and a 40 spoke wheel to hang a Villiers engine around. The frame I'm using is a fairly plain lugged NZ built ladies sports frame which fits me better than the Birmingham Hercules frame even though the Hercules frame has quite exquisite lugwork and a much better pedigree. One can't have everything afterall (sigh).
The advantage of using a SA rear hub on a 'traction avant' motor-bicycle is that it's much more simple to fit a drive sprocket. I don't really want to bolt the drive sprocket into the spokes HT fashion if I can help it. The method I want to use involves attaching the 50 tooth sprocket I have onto a standard Sturmey Archer sprocket by means of bolts and some cunningly machined spacers. I will show pictures I promise, but don't rush me at this stage of things.
My plan is to get everything serviced and assembled until I have a rolling frame with brakes, handlebars, seat & etc; - essentially a rideable engineless bicycle. Provided it does actually ride Ok and does everything it should, I will then proceed with the engine installation.
It was my great good fortune to purchase some time ago the motor mount and pulley/sprocket drive for an ancient portable shearing machine. This will become my motor-bicycle's engine mount plate and clutch assembly. I really like the idea of having a combination drive belt and chain drive transmission because the drive belt helps to smooth things out and takes away some of the sudden snatch that can happen with an all chain transmission.
Using this kind of motor mount will also enable me to experiment with fitting other engines should I want to. There was a really nice wee 4 stroke J.A.P. engine made many many years ago, - and I'd be absolutely delighted to find one
The forecast is for rain tomorrow, so I'll be back in my workshop once I get back from church in the morning. Don't despair I will get some film for my camera so I can record progress and let you see what I'm on about.
