NEWBIE to forum

[try1897]

Hi and welcome, My first motorized was a Sears Free Spirit friction drive on the front wheel with a on/off lever as a clutch. It would pull me along at 20 or so. It was alot of fun and turned alot of heads riding around town. It was from the early 60 if I recall . There are several different brands based on the same disign . Happy motoring Tom in WV

 

[Esteban]

I am very familiar with those Free Spirits, etc. I recently bought 2 new ones in their original boxes, & resold them. I like the way mine works much better, though. Very hard to beat the simplicity of a friction drive, if you live in an area with few hills, & the rider isn't very heavy.

 

[try1897]

Hi Again, Actually I weighed about 230lbs. at the time and found that it didn't do too bad. Your right about the hills I hadd to help the engine quite a bit but all in all it ran OK. I did do some experiments with different drive wheels. The original one was quite worn so I made my own out of different things including small scotter wheels etc. I was essentially changing gear ratios with different diameters. It was alot of fun . I sold the bike for a 100 dollar bill at a bluegrass festival to a guy that just had to have it. And at the time I really needed rent money so ..... That happens to alot of my stuff............... Tom in WV

 

[psuggmog]

I have a tanaka/sears free spirit on one of my bikes but it needs a new fuel pump. There is a guy who sells the info needed to fix for $25 but I don't have the spare change right now. I have been thinking of trying a different carb with a float bowl and a gravity feed fuel tank. Try1897 do you have any info about fixing fuel pumps on these engines. It is a little assembly with diaphrams that seem to run off vacuum pulses off the engine. I have the original book from sears but it doesnt give any solutions other than buying a new pump which as far as I know aren't available anymore. I got this engine from a man who made his own mounts and used it as a rear wheel drive motor.