White meat or dark?

[upshifter]

I ordered two engine kits from GasBike, and so far, I'm satisfied with them. As I said on this forum, I'm building a stealth bike to blend in with its surroundings as much as possible without looking like it carries an engine.

I painted one engine black, with Barbecue black paint, and left the other one as is. Black heat resistant paint is good for around here, because aluminum corrodes quickly from the salt air; I live near the Ocean.

 

[cooltoy]

Stealth is good, I'd be interested in what you do, other than paint the engine.
I find that the muffler is the hard part because it sticks out front, any ideas?

 

[upshifter]

Cooltoy, I haven't worked it all out yet. My good Giant Iguana mountain bike has a chrome-molly frame, and I don't want to experiment with it. But, a friend is giving me a cheap old mountain bike. I'll build stealth to that.

Perhaps the exhaust system could be routed into the forward down-tube of the frame, and exhaust out the bottom under the engine some way?

The fuel tank could be replaced with say a small container or several containers connected together. One might use hip-flasks, a converted small fire extinguisher bottle, or something else hidden in saddle bags or in other strap-on bags? Even a quart of fuel is enough to take these bikes a long way.

The chain sprocket would be harder to see if it were black instead of chrome. I don't like chrome very much anyway; it sux.

I'm sure that these ideas, or some others will help me to build the "Nighthawk" stealth bike.

 

[zackwyldefan]

interesting. learning new evryday or more like everytime i log in.

 

[cooltoy]

Interesting idea with the exhaust going into the downtube. There is one guy who turned his head around with the muffler coming out the rear, with the carb at the front. On my last bike I kept the gas tank on a rear rack just under the seat. It was inside one of those zippered insulated lunch pouches. The gas line came out a few inches from the carb. I always had people ask me where the gas tank was.
I've got a PK80 in the box and am waiting for the jackshaft kit I ordered from sickbikeparts . My plan is to put it on my electric bike without touching the electric drive which uses a rear sprocket. In town I can use the electric and on the dirt roads, I can use the gas. Electric bikes are strange looking with odd looking things hanging off them so I think I have more options when it comes to stealth. How about a battery that is really a gas tank? Or a large battery that is really a cover to hide your motor?
My project will start as soon as that jackshaft gets here and I'll take pics.

 

[upshifter]

Cooltoy,

Thanks for the interesting information. I guess that I'm not the only one interested in stealth.

I just finished installing the rear sprocket, and it was a chore. This is my first one. No matter how I tried, after getting all the bolts in, I could not center it properly. It would slip off center a little no matter what I did. So, after fighting it for about 2 hours, I finally got a good centered installation. I learned an interesting trick to keep it centered. That method is not in any of the various instructions that I downloaded.

Anyway, this first bike will not be the stealth bike. I'm going to experiment with that cheaper bike I mentioned. The cheaper bike has a one piece crank hanger assembly, but since it's getting a motor it won't make any difference. The frame is mild alloy steel, and can easily be welded if I want to modify the down tube for the exhaust system.

Please keep me posted with more stealth information. I'm really interested in pictures of your project.

 

[mikem]

Engine Paint

Stealth or not the black looks cool. Hope you'll let us know how well the paint holds up on the engine. Looking forward to pictures of both bikes.
Happy New Year!

 

[upshifter]

I've painted several motorcycle engines. In fact, I painted a 4 cylinder Yamaha engine and all four carburetors. It looked excellent.

It dries quickly, and is easy to touch up. I like "Hammerite High Heat Spray Enamel". It takes constant temperatures of 750 F to 800 F, and intermittent exposures of 1200 F. There is some high temperature paint cheaper than Hammerite, but I like all kinds of Hammerite paint better than any other.

Regular Hammerite Rust Cap paint has microscopic flakes of glass, and those flakes prevent rust better than any paint I know of. The flakes form a layer of protection. I live near the beach and the salt air is hard on everything. Hammerite will make you want to throw rocks at Rustoleum and other rust paints; none of those others work near the coast; Hammerite does. Hammerite doesn't fare well with spilled gasoline unless it has dried for several months. The older it gets, the harder it gets, and more resistant to scrapes and solvents.

 

[mikem]

Hammerite

Thanks upshifter. I'll remember that. I don't think I've seen that brand here in Michigan though.

 

[ZnsaneRyder]

Love the stealth idea! A black engine would be harder to notice on the bicycle.