Schwinn OCC bike with video to come.

[David Buschur]

Hi guys,

I can't believe the size of the community here interested in motorizing their bikes. It's crazy! haha

I own a company that builds very fast turbo charged 4 cylinder cars. A few years ago my wife and kids bought me a new Schwinn OCC chopper bike. I used it for riding around the pits at the race tracks, street rod shows etc. I also had a small 4 stroke ATV I bought for running around the pits at the race track. The ATV was too small to pull a car if we needed to so I bought a slightly larger one to use and the small one got parked. I attempted to sell it a few times for $400 but nobody wanted it.

Well last week I was cleaning out our dyno observation room where I had the little ATV parked and decided to take the engine off and put it on the Schwinn bike. I had no idea other people were doing this type of thing.

The engine I believe is a 90cc, I can't remember for sure. It says 97ml on the base of the jug. Electric start, 4 stroke, auto trans.

I didn't want to detroy the bike since it was a gift from my wife/kids so I salvaged every part from it (well at first anyway). I took the crank pedal off and inserted a piece of 1.5" stainless tube through the old hole and then welded the two pedals still on the cranks to it for foot rests. I cut the stationary seat tube out so the engine would fit and then decided on a new seat height and just welded the seat back in solid. The old brackets that held the engine to the ATV I cut off and simply bent two of them and welded them into the bike. The two rear mounts I used the old ATV mounts but had to use two pieces of 3/8" ss round bar stock with them to mount the rear of the engine.

I reversed the wheel so the sprocket was on the left side instead of the right and then took the sprocket off the rear of the ATV, machined the center of it out to fit over the old piece that held the sprocket on the Schwinn and welded it solid. I was able to use the ATV's thumb throttle.

I found this site by searching for a metric chain for it as the ATV's chain was about a foot short. I also needed to find a gas tank.

I have the bike running, electric start with a push button and just an on/off switch.

The first day we rode it, the stock brake on the Schwinn wouldn't come close to stopping it. I then took the rotor, caliper, brake hose and brake handle off the ATV, fit right on the Schwinn. I had to machine the small hub for the rear wheel which I TIG welded to the wheel and then TIG welded the rotor to that. Came out *****in'. Now it will lock the brake up at any speed.

I finished all the wiring today but I am still waiting on a few more parts, the gas tank hasn't come in yet and the battery on the ATV was shot. I ordered a new battery.

The battery and all the wiring will be mounted under the seat. Next week I am going to finish the project by building an enclosure for around the bottom of the seat to hide the wiring/battery and the on/off switch and the push button start will be on that cover.

I also still need to mount the gas tank. Right now I have the gas tank off the ATV zip tied to the front of the handle bars.

I only have maybe 8 hours in this entire project. It came out so good I am considering doing another one.

I have one question I was wondering if any of you could help me with. I'd like to put some stronger spokes in the rear wheel. I noticed I have two broken ones already (you'll see why when you see the video I am going to post). Does anyone offer stronger spokes for this wheel?

We put our GPS on the bike today with duct tape just to get an idea how fast it was. Two of the guys that work for me tried it. One weighs about 240pounds and the other is around 175. 240 pounds went 38 mph, the 175 pounder went 44 mph. If I was a crappy father I'd have let my 80 pound son try it

There is a video of us "breaking it in" going up on Youtube as I type this. When it is done loading I will post a link to the video here. It will remind most of you of "******* the movie"

Thanks for any help you can give me on the spokes.

David Buschur

 

[Alaskavan]

David, new members are supposed to post an intro in the intro section before posting in the forums. That said, I am running an ATV engine on my trike. I had The Wheelmaster build a back wheel for me. He used 10g spokes. It's solid. He guarantees his work, and I recommend it.
Here's a link where we were talking about spoke probs:
http://www.motoredbikes.com/showthread.php?p=98734#post98734

 

[David Buschur]

Thanks for the link, I contacted him about building a rim for me.

I saw the section for introductions but didn't know it was mandatory. I wanted to talk about building a bike and not about myself.

David

 

[Alaskavan]

The intro is for saying hi. A good custom in my opinion. Also, it gives an idea of the skills level of the new Member. That can make a big difference. Many times new Members jump in and start talking about a build without giving us any idea of their skills or experience. In your case, this post itself indicates that you are familiar with a wrench and a welder. I look forward to seeing pics/vids.

 

[David Buschur]

OK fair enough. I understand. I guess I did all that in my first post, just in the wrong section.

I am still waiting on the video. Jarrod, one of my employees (and the big guy getting pulled by the bike on the shop stool in the video) was uploading it at the end of the day today. He said he was going to shoot me a PM when he actually had it on Youtube.

BTW, thanks for the link again. I just bought a new tires/wheel/tube and contacted the fella about making me a 10 gauge spoked rim.

I've also found a company that sells parts for the ATV I used and ordered another new spocket and rotor for it. This is the change I wanted to make anyway so it will work out really good.

I'm half tempted to buy another bike from Ebay and go pick up another complete cheap ATV to build another. I think I could build another for under $700 using a new ATV and a new bike, this time us the 110cc engine Should be able to get one of these up to 60 mph! A little turbo would be killer too..................I can't do anything 1/2 way.

 

[Alaskavan]

You can buy the Lifan (Honda) clones for a reasonable price here:
http://www.hooperimports.com/dept.aspx?dept_id=02

They also are good for parts. I've received quick service from them.

 

[David Buschur]

Those are good looking engines but by the time you buy the engine, wiring harness, battery, rectifier, etc., etc., it adds up really fast.

Check this out link out: http://www.atvdiscounter.com/ATVs/Size/110cc-22777/3938290-ATV-61/ProductInfo.aspx

I had bought this ATV about 3 years or so ago. Buying the entire ATV I was able to get every single part I needed, you can get these for about $499 anywhere. I'd guess even cheaper in person in cash. The one picture is 110cc. The exhaust on them run up. I simply cut the exhaust in a few places and TIG welded it back together on my bike. Now it runs down low under the bike. It is SUPER quiet. The throttle and hydraulic rear brake work perfectly on the bike handle bars. I just took the rubber grips off, put them on and then put the normal grips back on. I'll tell you, for ME, the job was so easy it was like it was all meant to work together. The wiring harness took some time to eliminate everything not needed, cut it so it was just long enough to mount under the seat and then solder/heat shrink back together.

As I said, the only thing I had to buy was a chain and gas tank. A friend that works at our local machine shop took what was left of the ATV to use parts for his kids at home. Nothing really went to waste.

Still no video. Sorry, I can't wait to see the dumb thing myself. We were doing a lot of clowning around.

 

[David Buschur]

Finally, we have our video up. Hope you find it entertaining.

I am still waiting on my new battery to show up and the gas tank. It's almost complete though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eTAOATfb14

 

[eltatertoto]

nice donut at the end!

 

[Alaskavan]

What size sprocket are you runnuing on it? A 48t with my 20" wheels is geared way too low.