Old Raleigh frame-mounted 2-stroke build

I've been after a frame like this for ages, as the angles of the tubing are more in-line with the HT mounts and also because my engines have been slowly digging their way through the downtubes of my aluminum frames. I have an almost identical Raleigh frame back in England, but it's not worth the cost to send it over. This one is American-made from chromoly steel and I picked it up for less than $250 (not bad for a foreign bike in Brazil) with some brand-new wheels on it that I can put on a bike that I'm renovating to sell.

So far I've added some triple-clamp forks and a modified pannier rack; all the other components are just to get an idea of what it'll look like. This week I'll go to my mate's house and get the rest of the bits I'm storing there. I'm looking forward to being able to mount the engine without the large-downtube adapters so that the engine sits lower in the frame and is hopefully a little more secure too.

 

[Imthegrt1]

What that front end come off of?

 

[Ollie]

The forks are just some cheap ones I bought separately.

 

[Ollie]

Here's the finished bike:



The carburetor is leaking fuel so I need to get that sorted, but I've ridden it a bit by turning the fuel valve off and on periodically and it's a nice ride. The motorbike box as a back-rest is especially comfy. The rear wheel is missing quite a few spokes though, I'm thinking of replacing that with a coaster-brake wheel at some point.

 

[Ollie]

I've now got a new 'performance' carburetor, a loud bell, 36h wheels with 12g spokes, street tyres, a derailleur so my chain stops slipping off, and had to ditch the pannier rack due to the derailleur getting in the way:

 

[wheelbender6]

You can sometimes replace individual spokes, but you usually have to remove the gear set and motor sprocket to do so. The broken spoke problem usually comes back.
Since you have strong coastal winds and big hills near Rio, you may be better off keeping the shifter and gears.
You motorbike otherwise looks very sturdy and fun.

 

[Ollie]

Hey wheelbender, thanks for your comments.

I don't have a shifter, I have to change gear manually, but you're right that it suits the terrain more to have a choice of gears.

All the spokes that have broken in the past have been the ones on the motor sprocket side, so they couldn't be easily replaced.

I've accepted that my rear wheel is a component that needs to be occasionally replaced, like rubber grips or brake pads.