Noob in Sacto 4 Stroke steel Electra Cruiser pains and gains!

davido

New Member
Local time
12:35 PM
Joined
May 30, 2013
Messages
4
Location
United States
Hello everyone, I have been riding my Huasheng 4stroke for about 3 weeks now. Mounted on a 2010 steel framed Electra Cruiser with only the coaster brake (for the first week) and no suspension!
I commute 10 miles roundtrip on a bumpy, non-bike friendly road. Wow. What a test for this 42 y.o. body... I'm 6'1", 200 lbs, and the rear sprocket was advertised as 56 tooth. (pulled my trailer with kid up Roseville Pkwy fine)
First hurdle was the standard engine mount, which was short as I figured it would be. I used a shock body from a 1/5 scale RC truck to make it fit. Worked
BUT Not well.
First problem on the initial start up was that the throttle cable wasn't long enough, or so I thought. When I set up the throttle and cable, I put off my dislike of the cable pulling the carb valve a bit too far while not running the engine. Not good.
When I ran the engine in our warm air with the choke on, it sputtered, so I cut the choke, and the darn thing ran like it saw a ghost! Somehow I held the bike (like 80 lbs now) and it took off while I stood firm and I remembered the childhood days of flying the airplane in a circle...
I found that the throttle grip wouldn't return the cable to a neutral position, so it was modified with success
When that happened, the engine torqued that crappy motor mount solution of mine and the chain jumped and jammed into a bunch of those beautiful stainless steel spokes in the rear wheel, which, killed the engine!
I thought immediately that I blew out some kind of one-way bearing that I heard would fail so easily. Needing the bike for commuting, I walked it home and slept on it and in the morning, I got the chain loose and then the motor idled fine, without the choke, (never use the choke here in NorCal now) and rode it to my first day of employment in 4 months.
YAY?...
Then the coaster brake was loose. tightened properly and added a cheap Tektro front brake from a local shop.
Then I added the upgraded motor mount from Bicycle-Engines (dot com, on their site as a black V-frame mounting kit)
That engine mount is perfect without mods for my longer frame bike. But, it pushed the engine forward, which, even with a stretched chain, needed a new chain!
New chain installed, now, the gas tank starts leaking! Don't overtighten the gas tank, especially on a curved frame... and on a rigid frame with no suspension! (vibrations kill)
The right rear stud started leaking, slowly but surely and no putty will fix mine. I tried the Magnum stuff for gas tanks, but its just like JBWeld, and it leaked, even after tightening the tank and re-applying.
Now, my current wish list is:
A spring loaded bearing-chain idler that's made of urethane, a rear-mounted 3/4 gallon gas tank, a 48 tooth sprocket for a bit more speed, or a jack-shafted Nu-Vinci setup... Of course I'd need a re-inforced front springer fork or Mountain Bike suspension fork re-doooooooooooooo. Ugh and
JEEZ
Pics to follow
David
 
The gearbox is the standard one that has a one way bearing and a chain in it. Not sure what it's called. I'm hoping it lasts until I can afford a belt driven one!
 
Yeah, the coaster brake is nearly useless, after i added the front padded brake, i haven't used the coaster much.
Today something grenaded from the engine area. First i thought it was the pull start because the engine was still running good. When I arrived at work, I saw a small rod fall, which i assumed is part of a needle bearing of some kind. Pull started it and was ok, still making a racket until i rode home from work and something shot out with force. After that, it ran fine, quiet and strong... pulled off the starter cover and couldn't see any apparent damage. WTF. Maybe something shot out of the muffler? Any ideas are welcome...
 
Back
Top