Bike Builders Unite

[Elliot]

Correct; those engines are grotesquely noisy, even with the (apparent) muffler on.
A fellow in my neighborhood tried this, and he kept tearing up rear wheels. He pretty much never rode more than a couple blocks before having to drag it home.
Cool static display, though!

[Rez]

Cool static display, though![/color]

Yeah they don't look that reliable. Did find out they still sell them.

Video of it in action.



http://www.saferwholesale.com/80cc-Dewe ... AnhJ8P8HAQ

[Captain Goddammit]

There's a bunch of 'em, and they aren't all junk. A lot of the reliability depends on who builds it and how well they set the bike up for it.
Mine was awesome, worked great. I only didn't keep it because it wasn't "playa legal".

[Rez]

Mine was awesome, worked great. I only didn't keep it because it wasn't "playa legal".

They look like fun. I'm just itching for a new project. Bike week "Motorcycle/Harley" is coming up out here in a couple months, The old rat version I originally posted looked cool to bounce back between the bars with. But now that I saw it new, it sucked the coolness out of it. haha

[Skuzzy61]

Maybe environmental reasons. Noise and being two stroke, they spew a lovely amount of blue oil burned smoke as well, and while the odor is fine when you are in the pits at a race track, I feel confident stating many would fine that odor distracting, at least.

Of course, what do they say if it is powered by an electric motor while being charged by a gas engine? Ohhhh,..look at me trying to skirt the rules....WOOT!

[Captain Goddammit]

That's an interesting question... now that's thinking like a racer.
You can have a 750-watt electric motor driving a bike or trike.
Certainly you can use a generator to charge an electric bike's batteries. I'm unaware of any rule saying you can't have a gas powered generator on a bike or trike. Hmmmm.....

[Rez]

That's an interesting question... now that's thinking like a racer.
You can have a 750-watt electric motor driving a bike or trike.
Certainly you can use a generator to charge an electric bike's batteries. I'm unaware of any rule saying you can't have a gas powered generator on a bike or trike. Hmmmm.....

It is for powering the LED..

[AntiM]

We have a battery box on our rhoadescar (four wheeled bike) to power the lights. Every now and then, someone at Gate would question it. Do you have a license for that? No, it's a bike. But it has a battery. That's for the lights, it's a bike. But it has a battery. Yes, that's for the lights, it's a bike. But... it has a battery. Yes. For the lights.

It was amusing, and we were getting worried she'd make us unload the damned thing. I think she was either new, or very tired.

The gas powered bike? Nope. Not unless you put a discreet electric assist on it, and disable the gas engine, just have that for looks. Then you an argue with Gate to your heart's content.

[Captain Goddammit]

I'm pretty sure you could have the gas engine in place and running as long as it didn't physically propel the bike.
One Of my favorite things I ever saw at burning man was about 15 years ago; a guy was just walking down the esplanade with a board over his shoulder that had a little gas engine on it, running, doing nothing but making noise. I loved it!

[unjonharley]

At the Steam Up, I saw a gas-alternator.. The gas engine was the size of a scooter motor connected directly to the alternator.. They also looked factory made.. Bout the size of a basketball or smaller.

[Rez]

a guy was just walking down the esplanade with a board over his shoulder that had a little gas engine on it, running, doing nothing but making noise. I loved it!

I was kinda thinking about putting wheels on a lawn chair and have someone with gas push me around.

[Elliot]

...
...a guy was just walking down the esplanade with a board over his shoulder that had a little gas engine on it, running, doing nothing but making noise. I loved it!

I like it too, because I'm almost certain I know what the fellow had in mind.

So I spent this afternoon biting my tongue -- and typing-fingers -- and NOT posting any photo I found by googling "ghetto-blaster". Maybe I have it under control now.

So I will just say.... "Sound art." (As opposed to music.)

[Rez]

I like it too, because I'm almost certain I know what the fellow had in mind.

So I spent this afternoon biting my tongue -- and typing-fingers -- and NOT posting any photo I found by googling "ghetto-blaster". Maybe I have it under control now.

So I will just say.... "Sound art." (As opposed to music.) [/color]

Elliot I found your Bike

boom bike 2.jpg

[Elliot]

Every bicycle with at least one cable comes from the factory with a serious defect: the absence of steering stops.

The steering can turn all the way around, tearing and kinking the cables. Neighborhood urchins have brought me bikes that were utterly hogtied with cables wrapped 360 degrees around.


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Here’s an example, where the front brake cable is about to get kinked and torn under the frame.

So… let’s fix this.



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I had some of these square U-bolts left over from whatnot.



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Kludged together a comically crude fixture.



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Set fixture in vice with a scrap of pipe.



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Tightened vice.



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To position the piece neatly, I drilled holes in the fork for it. Also, the ends of the U-bolt are bent so they rest against the inside of the fork tubes for strength.



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I did such an awful job of welding that I bondo’ed it over in shame. No excuse.



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And now the steering stop… stops against the frame before anything gets hurt.

A thinner U-bolt ought to be strong enough, but time will tell.
This bike is a loaner/test-mule/teaching-tool that the local hellions do their best to break for me.

[Captain Goddammit]

Every bike? I beg to differ.
And return the nit-pick.

[Elliot]

You are correct again, my Good Captain! I struggled with that claim, since I know there are exceptions. But I failed to come up with suitable wording. Now, of course, being more awake, I see I could easily have included something like "with some exceptions".

You show us two such exceptions. I have two more: Some bicycles now have the fork made like motorcycle forks, so those work just like your springer. And then there are the "tangle-free" BMX stunt bikes, with a complex system that allows the steering to spin all the way around. I'll get photos in a minute.

(Those "tangle-free" ones are also "brake-free" after a short time. Waaayyy too much friction. A certain store chain sells them to anyone without any purchase guidance, and kids have no idea what they have and never use the feature. And ride around without brakes. Nuts.)

[unjonharley]

Just install a center pull brake.. done..

[Captain Goddammit]

The thing that allows continuous fork rotation without twisting the brake cable is called gyro in the BMX world. I like it.
Here's my own Dyno with springer forks, and my Yamaha BMX with shock forks.

[Elliot]

Yup, that's a motorcycle type fork.
And I have a few in the barn:



They even put foam rubber on the fork legs where they stop against the frame. Good design.






Here is a “tangle free” bike, also called "gyro", I now learned.
The rear brake cable splits into two cables, which pull on a disc, which pulls on a second disc with a bearing between them – kind’a like a lazy susan bearing – which pulls on two cables, which merge into one cable going to the brake. Way too many moving parts.
The front brake cable goes down thru the steering stem – the quill bolt is hollow – and then makes a 180 degree turn back up to the brake. All that tight bending, and water-&-dirt collects in the U-shape. A few weeks and that cable is frozen solid.
This design should be bought only by riders who know exactly what sort of stunts they want to perform and what mechanism is needed for that specific purpose, and this is what they actually need. Selling this design to "anybody" is a safety hazard, because the brakes will soon cease to function for lack of meticulous maintenance.

[Meat Hunter]

When I removed all three of the fenders on my electrified trike and I noticed that my front wheel would pivot all the way around and kink the electrical and brake cables like you guys mentioned.

Without knowing it beforehand, I solved the problem when I installed my front basket. The basket now acts as my rotation stopper.

Even a blind hog finds and acorn every now and then.

[Elliot]

Yea, a fender or other hardware can serve as steering stop.
I could make something that bolts on. But I don't want to use the caliper brake mounting bolt because then the forces on the steering stop would likely affect the brake function.

By the way, this is the bike I’m giving the Good Captain for his next custom project:



A much abused bike, suitable for chopping.





And the Drag Slik (Schwinn’s spelling) tire he may or may not use on this bike.

Genuine Authentic Schwinn Stuff made in Chicago.

[Captain Goddammit]

Just the frame and maybe the cranks is all I'll use, gut the thing if you like.
Is that snake skin??

[Elliot]

There are four or five kinds of plastic adhesive tape all over it. But the price is right.

[tatonka]

[Elliot]

Problem.
Quite common on Playa bikes, if not always so extreme. But it doesn’t take much damage for the chain to derail.




Typical cause.
Most of these are damaged in transport, methinks. Here it is posed on the edge of a pickup-truck tailgate – a “good” place for this to happen.





Prevention.
It’s simply a piece of EMT (conduit) welded to the frame. I can improve on this one, but I just wanted to show you the concept.

[maladroit]

OK but if you have a guard welded there, you can't do any more sweet chainring grinds over passed-out darkwads?

[AntiM]

A spiked guard?

[sadie]

OK but if you have a guard welded there, you can't do any more sweet chainring grinds over passed-out darkwads?

A spiked guard?

*spits coffee*

[Canoe]

Masha, your drawing shows a design that used to be quite common -- except they were on the rear wheel. (And I would not put it on the front, in case it should swing down at speed and...) I don’t know if you can buy one now, but it would be easy to fabricate. For the Playa, I would make it wider than these.

Build around 3/4 down the page.
http://bodgesoc.blogspot.ca/search/labe ... 3A%20Stand

[Elliot]

What a sweet restoration project!
Yes, I remember seeing such stands on motorcycles.
And years ago, I had to hire a machine shop to cut one side off a length of box tubing, like this guy did! But they did it with a band saw.