Staton/Subaru + Trek 1st Build
- Thread starter shiftless
- Start date
Ugh.. setbacks.. my geometry was a little off. Now I need to fill and redrill a few holes. Gee maybe NEXT weekend I can finish it? 
Anyway, here's where I'm going with the Y-brackets. You can see how there's only one dinky little screw above the axle to hold the bracket on, that's why I slotted the bottom so the bracket can be pinched behind the axle nut.
Anyway, here's where I'm going with the Y-brackets. You can see how there's only one dinky little screw above the axle to hold the bracket on, that's why I slotted the bottom so the bracket can be pinched behind the axle nut.
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Excuse me mlcorson, how does your 16 tooth left hand threaded freewheel on the left side of the staton hub hold up to the power of the robin-subaru EHO35? Do you drive the system hard and have you ever had to replace the freewheel due to failure? I've never heard of any problems with the freewheel, I'm just curious. Thankyou.
Zean, hopefully I will also find out how well the Staton 16-tooth freewheel holds up to the EHO35, my guess is that it will hold up pretty well.
All right folks, its problem and solution time
Problem #1. Good grief, either the motor mount holes were out of alignment when I got them, or I warped the bejabbers out of the channel iron when I used a plasma cutter to hog out the middle to make room for the brake. The result was, the front motor mount was both out of level AND skewed funny (yaw angle). Solution: Fill and redrill/grind the holes several times until I had both angles right. Kind of a PITA but I got it right.
Problem #2. I took off for work this morning, under pedal power of course, with the Y-brackets installed. I noticed the caliper brake was rubbing... the wheel must be out of alignment. Turns out I did a poor job of radiusing the bottom of the brackets where they mate with the axle. All of the load was passing through the brackets instead of the frame dropouts. Solution: Flip the bike over and with the brackets installed, take a small grinding stone to them until it scuffs the frame paint.. that is, the brackets are exactly flush with the dropouts. Now the brackets and frame will transmit their loads equally to the axle.
All right folks, its problem and solution time
Problem #1. Good grief, either the motor mount holes were out of alignment when I got them, or I warped the bejabbers out of the channel iron when I used a plasma cutter to hog out the middle to make room for the brake. The result was, the front motor mount was both out of level AND skewed funny (yaw angle). Solution: Fill and redrill/grind the holes several times until I had both angles right. Kind of a PITA but I got it right.
Problem #2. I took off for work this morning, under pedal power of course, with the Y-brackets installed. I noticed the caliper brake was rubbing... the wheel must be out of alignment. Turns out I did a poor job of radiusing the bottom of the brackets where they mate with the axle. All of the load was passing through the brackets instead of the frame dropouts. Solution: Flip the bike over and with the brackets installed, take a small grinding stone to them until it scuffs the frame paint.. that is, the brackets are exactly flush with the dropouts. Now the brackets and frame will transmit their loads equally to the axle.
Oh man, this thing is really coming together now. Once I had the lateral position of the engine figured out, I made some spacers out of 1/2" copper pipe to keep everything centered.
Rear spacer:
Front spacers:
And one of those Y-brackets I'm so proud of
So now all I have to do is hook up the chain and throttle. And maybe put the seat on. Society calls, but I should finally get to ride this MB tomorrow.
Rear spacer:
Front spacers:
And one of those Y-brackets I'm so proud of
So now all I have to do is hook up the chain and throttle. And maybe put the seat on. Society calls, but I should finally get to ride this MB tomorrow.
It runs!
Got the Subaru/Staton running today.. heeeheheee!
Gearing is PLENTY short, I don't feel like the engine is lugging or I'm burning the clutch, ever. When the 11-tooth sprocket wears out (or sooner) I'll get a 12-tooth sprocket.
I ran out of luck on the "half link" problem, and had to jack up the rear of the engine more than I like, but I think in a few weeks the chain will stretch enough to remove a full link.
At that time I'll take everything apart and prime/paint all the custom parts. Other boring little details remain, like rerouting the throttle cable, chasing down a couple of rattles and hooking up a proper kill switch.
THAT'S ALL, FOLKS!
Got the Subaru/Staton running today.. heeeheheee!
Gearing is PLENTY short, I don't feel like the engine is lugging or I'm burning the clutch, ever. When the 11-tooth sprocket wears out (or sooner) I'll get a 12-tooth sprocket.
I ran out of luck on the "half link" problem, and had to jack up the rear of the engine more than I like, but I think in a few weeks the chain will stretch enough to remove a full link.
At that time I'll take everything apart and prime/paint all the custom parts. Other boring little details remain, like rerouting the throttle cable, chasing down a couple of rattles and hooking up a proper kill switch.
THAT'S ALL, FOLKS!
katoomer
New Member
Yes, On mine I had one very noteable rattle. It ended up being the motor jumps up a little when you hit a bump. Gravity and some friction hold it down. So I just streched a strong bungee cord over the gear box to hold it downward. I know you are very good craftsman and I'd be interested to hear if you have this same little rattle and how you deal with it.
Thanks katoomer, I'll look for that as a possible cause. Just looking at it, I noticed that any jolt that makes the engine hop up will jerk the chain tight.. not good.
I think the problem is mainly with the rear adjusters, because the front ones are more or less held in place by the channel iron. There's almost nothing to keep the rear ones down, and I think with a big enough bump, loose chain, and the adjustment near the end of its travel, one of those suckers could jump out of its post.
So maybe it would be better to have threaded rods solidly welded into the rear support posts, and the rods could pass through a piece of angle iron welded to the other angle irons so it replaces that long bolt across the back. Put a nut over and under the new angle iron and voila, it holds the rear end down.
A quicker/dirtier fix might be to just put some tool-dip on the threaded adjusters so they don't slide so easily in the support posts.
I have a sneaking suspicion at least one rattle is from the copper pipes on the mount bolts.. plenty of slop there to rubberize or fill with silicone.
I think the problem is mainly with the rear adjusters, because the front ones are more or less held in place by the channel iron. There's almost nothing to keep the rear ones down, and I think with a big enough bump, loose chain, and the adjustment near the end of its travel, one of those suckers could jump out of its post.
So maybe it would be better to have threaded rods solidly welded into the rear support posts, and the rods could pass through a piece of angle iron welded to the other angle irons so it replaces that long bolt across the back. Put a nut over and under the new angle iron and voila, it holds the rear end down.
A quicker/dirtier fix might be to just put some tool-dip on the threaded adjusters so they don't slide so easily in the support posts.
I have a sneaking suspicion at least one rattle is from the copper pipes on the mount bolts.. plenty of slop there to rubberize or fill with silicone.
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mlcorson
Member
Looking at your picture, it seems to me you could take out a few links to shorten the chain and you'd have less threaded rod exposed (on the rear) when you tightened up the chain. The threaded rod so far up/out might be a weak spot and would be stronger if it were lower within the support square tube. I hope that makes sense. Just trying to help. I have the same model, but I had to fabricate a mount for the inside drive. I mounted the motor and gear box as low and as close to the tire and frame/seat as I could get. Enjoy your new ride.
-mike
-mike
That makes perfect sense, Mike. I was surprised to see that it took that much raising up. It would take far less raising of the front adjusters, because the sprocket is so far forward. But I'd have to cut stuff off the frame to lower the channel iron thing, so I'm stuck with the rear adjustment only. Once the chain stretches just a hair, I can remove one link (two rollers) and that will drop the rear end all the way down. I am going to make that happen pretty soon, because I don't like the adjusters jacked up like that.
If the engine is indeed hopping, that should stretch out the chain for me in no time. I thought of another solution for that, and it won't require as much welding as the other idea.. more later :beta1:
If the engine is indeed hopping, that should stretch out the chain for me in no time.
I thought of another solution for that, and it won't require as much welding as the other idea.. more later :beta1:
