Need a Skyhawk 111 Expert

[Irish John]

You already answered your own question. You sheared the teeth off when
you engaged the engine at high rpms.
I doubt if that is covered by a guarantee........

Bicycle-Engines.com is the only supplier of these kits and parts

He didn't say he engaged the gears at high rpm Forbisher. Your quote comes from another thread and it still doesn't say the gears were engaged at anything other than low revs. The gearbox can be engaged at low revs when the bike is statioery but it's much better when the wheels are turning. It can also be engaged at high revs if the bike is freewheeling really fast. If you engage at high revs when stationary the key in the sprocket shaft shears first because it is the thinnest key. The other two keys should also shear before the teeth disintegrate. This is a case of a defective piece of casting in the first gear wheel. The centrifugal clutches in the Grubee and the Hoot are identical and from the same government factory but the clutch bells are very different and the hoot clutch bell wont work on a Grubee cos the teeth are different. The Hoot clutch bell and first gear wheel actually won't work at all because it is a highly flawed design as we all know and that is why nobody buys it and nobody sells it after they've had their first shipment.
Also the clutch works the same either way around and swapping it around keeps the wear even on the pads.
It is the easiest thing in the world to drop the engager at too high rpm and the box is designed to sheer the key before the gear wheel chews itself to pieces.
Keeping the engager permanently engaged is OK but the motor can stall on long downhills and that is why I usually disengage on really long downhills.

 

[dougsr.874]

Today I received and installed a new clutch assembly kit....I have it permanently engaged. Now to see how long this new one lasts.

 

[MotorBicycleRacing]

Today I received and installed a new clutch assembly kit....I have it permanently engaged. Now to see how long this new one lasts.

Great to get you back on the road

Did they warranty the broken part?
Did you have to pay?
Was it defective?

Please give us a little more detail about the whole incident
and how you were treated.

 

[dougsr.874]

Thanks for the interest. I talked to Jeremy, he seems to be a nice guy...I did not try to bullcrap him...You know, I really dont know if I caused the problem or if it was defective....So, I paid for the new parts....he did state that if it happened again he would make the parts good. So as I said before, in the future I will keep it engaged constantly so I know it's not me that caused the problem....

 

[Danny3xd]

Just had the same thing happen. I was engaged and doing around 25 MPH. It is a brand new stage3 with about 30 or 40 miles on it. I have a stage one at a Machine shop and am having hex gears made to replace the %%$#& spur gears. So dang frustrated. This GB was to replace a stage 1 that was problematic.

 

[Irish John]

Just had the same thing happen. I was engaged and doing around 25 MPH. It is a brand new stage3 with about 30 or 40 miles on it. I have a stage one at a Machine shop and am having hex gears made to replace the %%$#& spur gears. So dang frustrated. This GB was to replace a stage 1 that was problematic.

That looks like a casting problem on a bad batch of Stage 3 GBs. The fact that it is the second time it has happened seems to support this as the most likely reason. If you were a young kid and I suspected you'd been doing wheelies it would have snapped your keys long before your gearwheel teeth.
I'm afraid this looks like a classic case of Chinese Quality Fade. Jeremy needs to replace the gear wheel and clutch bell with one from a different batch because that batch is probably all the same. I'm glad you posted those pictures because the Sydney importer asked me the other day what I thought of the Stage 3 GB and now I can tell him to stick with Stage 2s.

 

[HoughMade]

Wow- That's wild. I have had a stage II for over 2 years and I just had it apart a couple of weeks ago- looks like new.

 

[Irish John]

HoughMade, after 7000 kms I found the gearbox as good as new except the bell housing and bushing were worn and there was enough lateral play when the bell housing was on the shaft to warrant it being replaced - $30 Aus for a new bell housing, bushing and shaft key and the gearbox is like new again. The bushing was OK but the bell housing was worn a few microns on the inside of the centre hole and lateral play is probably not a good thing for the rest of the GB. I have also noticed that of the 5 spare bushings I have one fits the old bell tightly so I could actually use it again. I've also found, to a point of near certainty, that the whining of a particular gearbox seems to be directly related to how close the fit is between bell housing and bushing. Gearboxes with a looser fit seem to whine less.
Regarding the Stage3 GB above I think it has to be a bad metal mix prior to casting.

 

[HoughMade]

I agree- a materials issue- not a design issue.

 

[Danny3xd]

Is really good to hear you both have had good fortune. Gives me hope. Has any one successfully used a stronger spring yet? Or is drilling still the prefered Method for chatter silencing?