Would you believe I'm planning my next build? (4 Stroke Content)

What about a tank u could make from just about anything with a football bladder holding the fuel....same principal as airships.
A chopped HT tank using only the filler mechanism would make a good start.
 
Schwinn Cruiser

I have a brand new Schwinn Alloy Seven cruiser for my frame-mounted 4-stroke project. The springer forks do look just great but they aren't what they used to be and are too flimsy I reckon for a motorised bike. I decided against them even though I love the look. Now I'm wondering what engine and chain and gearbox set-up to install. I don't want any chinese engines so it will be a Japanese motor I reckon. Does anyone have any suggestions? Can I use a motor bigger than a 50cc Honda? I just want the bike to be reliable and cruise quietly at about 35mph. There's nothing wrong with rack-mounted motors but I just don't like the look. V-mounted in the frame is the only way I want to go and I want the bike to freewheel if the motor seizes suddenly stops. Safety and reliability are paramount but looks are a close second. I'd appreciate any advice cos I've only ever built 2-stroke frame mounted bikes and this will be my first 4-stroke.


after a year.5 of riding, building, experimenting, etc...i wouldn't trade anything off at the expense of braking. as far as i know, the only suspension setup that accepts a rim-brake is a mtb-style fork with the crossbracing. the springer itself has no place to install any kind of brake, but that's ok because a drum-brake requires no special fork. i figured i'd pipe in before you got all yer parts together and then discovered the "bad news" about the springer.

your concept of "coaster/2 rim-brakes/dual-lever" is brilliant because of the redundancy...which is lacking in a "2 rim-brake/dual lever" setup...altho i myself used that setup (and loved it), i can no longer recommend it after MotorBikeMike chased us around the board pointing out the redundancy issue. the setup works, but it does so at the rider's (full-time) risk.

i think (strictly my opinion) you might find the stock "scwhinn-style" springer to be just a tad squooshy at 30mph...and it might be even more squooshy with a brake, who knows? i've had the chance to compare these to an original (mid 60's) scwhinn springer, & there is no comparison...the after-market version doesn't come close.

i'll just leave it at that for now...did this help? more questions?
 
Query about kits you mention

I see you are talking about 2 kits. I figured these are the Grubee versus the something dog kit? I too want to build a 4-stroke with gears that free wheels if the chain or motor seize up. Sheik Yabouti sounds like he knows about these things or at least the points he mentions are the points I too would be asking. I want reliability first, 35mph cruising speed second, and quality all round. I don't much care about cost if I can get quality (as few Chinese bits as possible and certainly no Chinese bolts or nuts). A really good gearbox that won't break etc.
Can anyone suggest what I should go for. I've bought a Schwinn Alloy Seven cruiser to use for the kit. Oh yes, I want a long exhaust and not the short ones that look just like those Chinese 2-stroke kit exhausts.
How many gears do these kits have and is the engine running at full revs at 35 mph on the flat. I travel long distances at 35mph and I want an engine that can handle that at less than full revs. Is a Whizzer any good for my purposes?
Help me please if you think you can. Thanks, Irish John
 
I haven't tried making a tank. Getting it perfectly sealed could be tough.

Yeah, Kreem or Red-Kote are supposed to pretty much take care of that. They'll coat the inside of the tank and make it entirely fuelproof (supposedly). I decided that I'm going to make it regardless, I'm going all out on this build.
 
I see you are talking about 2 kits. I figured these are the Grubee versus the something dog kit? I too want to build a 4-stroke with gears that free wheels if the chain or motor seize up. Sheik Yabouti sounds like he knows about these things or at least the points he mentions are the points I too would be asking. I want reliability first, 35mph cruising speed second, and quality all round. I don't much care about cost if I can get quality (as few Chinese bits as possible and certainly no Chinese bolts or nuts). A really good gearbox that won't break etc.
Can anyone suggest what I should go for. I've bought a Schwinn Alloy Seven cruiser to use for the kit. Oh yes, I want a long exhaust and not the short ones that look just like those Chinese 2-stroke kit exhausts.
How many gears do these kits have and is the engine running at full revs at 35 mph on the flat. I travel long distances at 35mph and I want an engine that can handle that at less than full revs. Is a Whizzer any good for my purposes?
Help me please if you think you can. Thanks, Irish John

If you want the top of the top, then get the Grubee mounting kit from www.bicycle-engines.com and get a horizontal Honda engine at www.smallenginewarehouse.com
 
irish john...it looks to me as if you should be running your own project-topic with your questions and comments...hijacking someone else's isn't cool. sheik's obviously willing to help ya, but i don't wanna see his project turn into yours...hey, we get to gabbing about something else and it happens before you know it, and that's why i have to speak up...carry on :)
 
Thanks Augi, although Irish John does bring up a good point about the springer. I've already considered the "squirrely" nature of a springer at high speeds, and changes are that I might replace the spring later down the road with either a spring covering a dummy spacer. It'd keep the cool springer look, but the dummy spacer would make it a solid, non-suspension fork.

Just some brainstorms.

If you haven't seen my bike paint thread, then I want to inform everybody reading that I am going to get my frame powdercoated Satin black.
 
yes, the springer discussion was spot-on...i was referring to john's first good batch of informed questions, it would make a great OP for a project :)

hey! we've been kicking the idea of powder around, too. $150 locally :cool:
 
Back
Top