eastside's non-car build thread

It seems like several people are doing "catchall" threads, and I like the idea.  Here's a link to one of my older builds:  Radio Flyer wagons.

Tonight, I got started on a minibike frame I've had for several years, that I want to do an old school style build on.

Needed a color that would stand out a bit:

Once it's finished, I think I have all the parts needed to get it running, including an old Briggs and Stratton flathead 5 HP engine.  If I can fit it, I'll be trying to bring it to the challenge this year as a pit bike.

A ways back, I picked up a parts kit for a used frame I had.  Too many pieces were incompatible, so I just stashed the kit until now.  They should work fine with this frame, though.

Todays goal is to have it assembled.  Might not be running, but at the very least, all the parts together should take up less space than all the parts apart.

This is as far as it gets for now:

There's about 1/2" misalignment between the clutch and the rear sprocket, even with the clutch on the driveshaft as far in as possible:

The engine is already far enough to the right side that I do not want to cut new mounting slots in the engine plate, not to mention that might end up with some of them right above the frame.  I think there is enough room to move the rear wheel 1/2" to the left, if I cut down the brake mount a bit more.  I'll need new bushings, though.  I have some bushing material, but with stay-at-home orders, I really can't run over to a friend's place to use their bandsaw and lathe to cut them to the right size.  All I have is my cheap HF metal saw, and a grinder, and it'll be rough to get a nice 90 degree cut on that.  I couldn't find one of the size I need online (5/8" ID x 2 3/8"), but am thinking of just getting a 1/2" or two 1/4" spacers to lengthen that side, even if you aren't supposed to stack bushings.  The other side needs to go down to 3/4" inch, so at least that one is easy to get.  Could also go to 2.5" and 5/8" spacers, but will need to take some measurements to make sure that'll fly, both with the rear frame and with locking the clutch onto the driveshaft.

Another more expensive option would be to go get a 6.5 HP Predator engine and hope it'll fit better

Yup, reminds me of Rupp.

Axle spacers showed up in the mail today.  May take a break from cleaning up the garage to install them and try to finish assembling the minibike.  I have an air filter on order, too, but since this is an old Briggs flathead, I suspect it would run if I did anything short of dumping sand down the carb.

JAGwinn said:

Yup, reminds me of Rupp.

Wouldn't surprise me if the frame is a clone.

The new bushings came in, so I got back to work.  Sprockets line up wonderfully now, but now there is a different issue.  The when crossing from below to above the frame, the chain is only about 1/16" from the frame.  Seems way too close, and likely to hit it while the engine is running.  Not to mention, since the frame narrows as it goes forward, and I fitted everything with the engine in rearmost position, it'll get worse as the chain stretches.

One solution is to move the engine over, but I still really don't want to do that.  I've got several ideas as to how to handle this, just need to ponder it for a bit:

1. Raise the engine with some washers.  That should give it a bit of clearance, but probably not enough on its own.
2. Cut out (and reinforce) the frame.  Really don't want to do this, as I was hoping to avoid messing with the grinder and welder.  This was supposed to be an "easy" project to take a break from the difficulties I've run into working on cars lately.
3. Get a smaller sprocket.  It has a 72 tooth sprocket right now, as the goal was good acceleration, with a low top speed.  Maybe going down to a 60 tooth (or smaller) sprocket will move the point the chain crosses up farther back where the frame is wider.
4. Get a jackshaft.  This gets back to the not wanting to weld, but it may be easier than hacking up the frame.  Might look goofy on such a small bike, though.

I'm leaning towards a combination of 1 and 3, but want to sleep on it, before I start buying more parts.

Ordered a 60 tooth sprocket.  That should increase clearance, since it should be about 17% smaller diameter.  We'll see if that is enough, or if I have to do anything else.

Smaller sprocket showed up in the mail today.  Will see if I can get this built and running tonight.

Installed the new sprocket tonight, but messed up the chain.  My impatience did me in this time.  I have two chain breakers.  One was too small, and the other seemed large, but like it might work.  Turns out it was too large.  It's now stuck to the chain, and the link i was trying to detach is definitely deformed a bit.  I have a new chain and breaker on order, but it looks like it might be a week before they show up.

Got it together and kind of running today.  There does seem to be a bit of chain bind at some point, but I’m not sure where.  Also, the engine does not run anywhere near as well as it did last time I had it going.  I’ll spend a little time messing with it, but it’s tempting to just grab a 6.5 HP Predator and be done with it.  Or sell it and cut my losses so I have time to work on other projects.

Got the engine to the point where it was consistently running today.  Wrecked it hard on the test run.  Two knees and an elbow skinned.  I think I am too old for this.  Gonna put it up for sale.

In reply to eastsideTim :

Oh damn!  What happened?  Have a little more grunt than you were expecting?  I take it that's still a "no" on the motorcycle engine, then?

Yeah, definite no on the motorcycle engine.  I probably shouldn’t get anything that wheelies too easily, as it was definitely a panic moment that I did not react to well.

I was riding a friends mini moto bike and decided to do a cool burnout/donut thing to do a 180 turn in a tight space. At 40 years old that seemed like a good idea for some reason. I turned the wheel and hit the gas and it gripped, dropped me and the bike, and kept the throttle pegged for a few seconds before I finally managed to let go of it and shut off the bike. It only took me a few seconds to get it upright and started again but my dignity will never recover. I don't think anyone else saw me do it but I saw me do it.

Thread revival time.  I really like motor scooters, but I kind of lost my nerve to ride them on the street a ways back.  I finally hit the point where I was going to give it a try again...in 2020.  When hospitals started filling up, though, I decided it was a risk I didn't want to take.  Now that things have settled down some, I shuffled a couple of scooters around in the garage so I can actually get to them.  The plan is to get them running, get out on the road, and see how I feel about riding.  If I just don't feel it's worth the risk, then I'll put one or more of them up for sale.

Scooter 1:  2006 Genuine Buddy 125 with a 150cc swap.  I have a new battery bought 2 years ago on a shelf for it.  Need to find it, and put it on a float charger and see if it'll still work.  I think I'll drain the old gas, check and possibly change the oil, throw a charged battery on it, and see what happens.  It was a little hard starting in the past, but once running, ran fine.  I do also have a 155c engine with a big valve head and an aggressive cam that could get swapped into it if I keep it.

Scooter 2:  2006 Honda Big Ruckus.  This was my unicorn, and I bought it shortly before I gave up riding, so hadn't put a ton of miles on it.  Prior owner rode it a lot, though, so it has over 40K miles.  The water cooled Honda scooters are known for running forever.  Need to find out if the battery is dead, and if so, snag a replacement.  Same as with the Buddy, I think I'll pump the old gas out, check/change oil, and see what happens.  One concern I have with it is it does use a fuel pump instead of gravity feed, so it could be gummed up and need replacement.

Scooter 3:  unpictured - 1989 Honda Elite E - my race bike with a 250cc water cooled swap.  It is still stashed in the back of the garage for now.  I'm tempted to get it running, fix a couple things on the engine, then sell off the engine, or part it out (has a nice clutch and variator that might go for more than the engine alone).  Tempted to keep the chassis for now, as I'd love to do an electric conversion on it, and these are very lightweight, so would be a good ride to put on a hitch carrier and use as a runabout when I'm camping or at the race track.  This is way lower priority than dealing with the other two, though.

Picked up a siphon pump this morning, so I can drain the gas this weekend, and maybe get a bit more work done.  It'll be nice to have a different project to work on when I don't feel like dealing with the S10.

eastsideTim said:

Got the engine to the point where it was consistently running today.  Wrecked it hard on the test run.  Two knees and an elbow skinned.  I think I am too old for this.  Gonna put it up for sale.

 

 

First time I rode one I was at a buddy's house and went to tool around his very sloped yard. What no one told me was just behind a rather large bush in the middle of his yard was his lawn tractor.

Well, his deck was about 12' off of the ground and all my friends were watching and cheering me on so I am getting some. I came around that bush at the perfect line, full speed, just to find that tractor right at the apex of my turn.

I hit the thing hard. Did not damage the bike too much but probably broke my right hand. All my friends and wife saw was me airborne over the bush, feet in the air, flying like The Greatest American Hero. After an appropriate time checking to see if everything moved, I jumped up and let them know I was fine.

In reply to preach (dudeist priest) :

I suspect my landing looked somewhat like one of William Katt's.  Unfortunately, my coveralls were not as indestructible as his super suit. 

A little progress.  Got the gas siphoned from the Big Ruckus, and it actually didn't look too bad.  Put a little fresh gas in it and tried to start it up.  The battery would not hold enough of a charge to turn the starter, so I've ordered a new one that should arrive this week.

The Buddy's tank was empty.  I suspect whatever had been in there evaporated, so I just tossed about 1/4 of a gallon in.  Tried to get it started, and it would run on starter fluid, but wouldn't stay running.  Pulled the carb, and the pilot jet may have been gummed up a bit, so I pulled it and the main jet and soaked them in carb cleaner for a while.  Did get it back together, but not in time to see if that did the trick or not.  The gas that was in the bowl was pretty gnarly, but I didn't see any of the white powder that I have seen before when alcohol evaporates away.  The bowl gasket is looking pretty bad, too, so I may need to snag a rebuild kit if this doesn't work.  There is a chance the vacuum petcock has failed, but my foggy memory of that says they usually fail open.  Another option would be to just throw the "hot rod" engine in and see how it does.  I think I have a re-jetted carb laying around somewhere that should work well with it.

And just witnessed an accident this morning that would have absolutely creamed a person on a scooter.  Pretty sure I just want to keep a scooter as a camp/race track bike.  The Big Ruckus will be going up for sale soon, whether I can get it running or not, and I may hold onto the Buddy until I can get something lighter weight running.

I want one of those crazy Japanese trunk scooters but they are a million dollars. Same with the old CT70s and 90s from Honda. A pair of those on the back of my Westfalia would have been period correct and very cool to have camping.

preach (dudeist priest) said:

I want one of those crazy Japanese trunk scooters but they are a million dollars. Same with the old CT70s and 90s from Honda. A pair of those on the back of my Westfalia would have been period correct and very cool to have camping.

A Motocompo would be awesome, but, yeah, prices on them have gone nuts.  I've been trying to get another GRM board member to sell me their CT90 for years.  No luck so far.  If I sell the scooters for enough, I might be able to justify a Trail 125, if I can actually find one in stock.

Good-ish news.  The Big Ruckus will be going to its prior owner.  I cut them a very good deal on it, so I'm not going to get near as much as I want out of it, but at least I don't have to do any work on it, and the sale will be quick and easy.

Since the last post, the Big Ruckus is gone, I got the Buddy running after another carb cleaning, but the needle stuck and now I need to do an oil change to get the gas out of the crankcase.  I gave in and ordered a generic GY6 carb, too, so at some point I'll be able to get it back up and running.  Due to the insane prices I am seeing for old Honda 50cc scooters, I am tempted to destroy the Buddy's value and see how much weight I can cut out of it to convert it to a pit bike,rather than return my race bike to stock-ish form.

Turns out a GY6 carb doesn't fit a Buddy just right.  I suspect if I swapped intake manifolds, it'd work just fine.  I did find a spare carb in my stash, though, and installed it.   Did get the Buddy running, and took it for a ride a little ways back, but it started having misfiring issues and a backfire or two, and generally running bad.  Still ran well enough for me to get it home.  Been looking at the carbs, both the one I swapped to and the one I pulled off, and can't find anything obvious.  I'm reminded a of a quote I saw years ago - "90% of all carburetor problems are ignition problems."  I should have at least one spare coil and CDI box in my stash, so later today, I'll run out to the storage locker and look for them.

As fun as the ride was, I think I still need to sell it.  Look for it to turn up on the For Sale forum, whether I get it dialed in or not.  That'll get me down to just my race scooter, and a junker Spree I bought for the engine.  Once that is put together, it should work as a nice light weight pit bike.

Replacement CDI and Coil did not do the trick.  Pulled the plug and checked it, too.  I pulled the cam cover, and checked valve clearances.  Intake was fine, exhaust was on the low side, but still should be good.  Pulled the carb again, rechecked the idle and main jets, and backed out the idle air screw.  I've hit the point where I can get it to start after a hit of starter fluid, and fast idle, but when I try to adjust the idle speed down, it bogs and dies.  Been doing this all by ear, so it's possible I'm trying to get it to idle too slow, but since it doesn't want to start without starter fluid, I doubt it.

In doing some searching, in at least one case, someone was having idle problems, and replaced the stator, and that fixed their problem.  Seems an odd fix.  Debating tearing into my rebuilt engine to grab the stator off it, but not really motivated to do that right now.