everytime I think I change my mind...

This current build is going to be very different from anything I have built, or anyone else as far as I know. The idea is that the electric motor freewheels most of the time. It is my understanding that the freewheeling motor if engages slightly will actually charge the battery or batteries. The only time the engine comes into play is when I am tired or the hill is steep enough to be uncomfortable. Then I just throttle ups and off it goes. Since the pedals turn with the engine there is no temptation to run on the engine alone. I am going to be pedaling no matter how much throttle I uses. I hope it works out so that I enjoy the bike experience again. It would be fun to be able to just sit back and take it easy without riding like on a mini motorcycle.

I could ride the bike trail near my house for the experience and then ride it home up some pretty nasty hills with the same amount of effort as riding on the flat ground. It will just be the great equalizer for those of us in hilly terrain. At least that is my hope. The way it is going to be set up, it probably won't even look like a power bike. I know it damn sure won't sound like one.

The question now is how many rpms will I need to make it work the way I want. I can run the bike on 12 or 24 volts. 12 vots will give me 1500 rpms 24 volts will give me double. I have a controller and a throttle so it should work out that I can ease the power on to get to a comfortable level.

Well that is my thinking at the moment.

One more time

I have to wait for the postman for one more thing so I am spending my time on the gas bikes that need to be finished as well. I have the homelite bike engine firing now. It was already been rigged so it is ready to ride when the weather finally cooperates.

Tomorrow if not tonight I will begin on the 42cc chainsaw enginge/ scooter wheel friction drive frame.

waiting on the mailman

I have a couple of things I need before I can go on. I got a couple of things though so I have some things I can do. I'll let you know if I actually do anything at all.

rain rain go away

its supposed to rain so I am going to have to find something to do in the shop today. I need to finish the motor mount for the first test of the ebike. I need to weld an L bracket onto the frame I have already. I had hoped to secure the motor with pipe bands but I can't seem to get it squre. i am going to try and L bracket welded to the mount I already welded to the bike frame. this mount is proving to be a pain. I might just have to wait for the other parts to arrive and do a rear rack mount.

way too many..

I have way too many projects half finished.

I have the homelite build, the 42 build and now the ebike build all working at the same time. or actually none of them work. Should be an interesting few days ahead. I want to finsih some of these projects for sure.

What I decided.

I'm going to get away from the gasoline bikes a while. Instead i am going to build an electric bike. I have started brainstorming it now. I am going to pick up a bike frame tomorrow. In exchange I will toss out the old huffy I have laying about.

sick to death of them

I finally reached the end of my patience with gasoline bikes. I know I have enjoyed the challenge but the homelite and the 42 bike have just worn me out. I am going to pack them away tomorrow and go back to building electric bikes. I still have all my motors. I had enough batteries to test but I am going to buy longer life batteries this time. I spent a ton on gasoline bikes, I could have bought batteries to run from here to California for the coast of those engines.

It never was about the money. It was always about staying busy and my keeping my mind active. The bikes in general have been very beneficial for me. My balance is better and so it my self image. I lost some weight and I had some fun and about a year of entertainment. I still need a dependable bike to ride the the bank or to the hardware store so that is my plan.

crapo

I got a shorter distance than last time. I dropped the motor and it bogged down. It's the same reason I switched out the original carb. I put on a different one when I got back and now it won't run either. I'm sure I have flooded it now. Im going to wait a while then give it a shot. I found a big chunk missing from my sparkplug wire that might also be the problem. It ran as a saw but won't run as a bike engine. I don't know, I'm about to give up on these bikes and go back to electric. I have a lot of new skills I can put into the electric bikes.

i test rode it

It runs like crap. Actually I can't say that for sure. I got about half a mile and had trouble with the lift rod. I came home and reworked it. I might give it another try now.

trying to cure the ailing

I mixed up a couple of ounces of carb cleaner and gas and I'm pulling it through the carb. Since the engine is hard to use as It is now, I'm going to pull it through a few times each day till I get it mounted then see. If it isn't going to work, I have plenty of carbs around.

it still runs

Well the 42 engine runs. I can't really test the carb because the engine isn't attached to anything and it is very unstable. Most of the chainsaw housing is gone so it is hard to keep in place. Plus im not sure about my kill switch. If I have it mounted and the kill doesn't work, I can pull the spark plug. Loose like this if I try that I'm most likely going to get a hand full of hot engine.

It did start on gas from the carb that I pumped in with the bulb. Whether that carb will suck gas on that engine is the question. But I did learn something useful from all these tests. When you read in an adv for a used engine that it will start but only runs a few seconds, most likely the carb is in need of a diaphragm.

almost ready to test.

The 42 engine is almost ready for it's next test. I have the maybe bad carb on it, the used plug is installed, the recoil starter is back on it held on with just two large screws, the gas tank from a Ryobi weed whacker is waiting to be attached. After that I will add gas and give it a try.

This franken-engine just might explode lol...

It looks as though the weather is going to cooperate with a test ride for the homelite bike. I hope so it has been too long since I have ridden.

I am going to work on the 42 engine while I wait for the ride. I need to attach the recoil starter and rig a gas tank. After that I will probably be switching carbs till I find one that will run. I put the original carb back on the engine. You might remember it is the one that would not work on the homelite engine. If it won't work on the 42 bike I'm going to trash it. I have way too many dead carbs laying around. I am never going to rebuild them. It's time to test then toss carbs. Sounds like a bar game instead of toss the midget, it would be toss the carbs and see which ones stick to the crap wall.

sooo many posts

There reason there are so many posts today is there is so much time and so little to do.

I went out and found the recoil for the 42engine. I will be able to make a few adjustments and then reset it I think. That I might do a little late today. Just finding it and finding that there is enough of the case left to either bolt it too or epoxy it is a relief.

I test ran it

I test ran the engine and it did fine. Even better after I adjusted the carb linkage. That carb does not have an idle adjustment so I just adjusted the cable to keep it from retuning fully. That seems to work for now. I might epoxy a bit of plastic on it somewhere to make a throttle stop.

I am turning my attention to the 42bike to see if I can get it to start again. It ran the day I broke the shaft so it should run now. I just have to rig a starter onto it now so that I can try it. I usually wrap a rope around the drive wheel but I can't do that now that I have just a sprocket on the short drive shaft. I'm going to have to find a way to start it from the flywheel side.

I have a lot of recoil starters laying about I will have to rig something up.

carb final results sorta

as I expected when I raised the carb the gas stayed in the line but the carb still wouldn't pull it through. Now it ran on the larger engine but would not run on the smaller one. I have no idea if it will run on the large one again or not. I'm going to give it a try later. Maybe even today.

I put a smaller carb with built in bulb and choke. I haven't started it yet but I'm pretty confident that it will work.

carb experiments today..

I moved the gas tank closer to the engine and it still runs out of gas after a few seconds of running on that gas that was pumped in. it is pretty cold so I'm taking a warm up break before I go back to it.

I am going to try one more position on the gas tank before I move on to a different carb. I haven't elevated the gas tank above the carb yet. If it is just a weak diaphragm not a dead one, that might do the trick. Those of you who have siphoned gas know that if the tank is higher once you get the gas flowing it will continue to flow. I'm hoping that will do the trick.

If it doesn't i will be trying to go with the simplest carb I have first. I have one with a built in bulb and choke. That would be the carb of choice if the big one is a bust.

Gina's bike Walter

Monday morning broke cold and hard, but Walter was determined to work on the bike. After ten minutes in the unheated shop, Walter headed to the Home Depot in search of some kind of heater. He didn't care much for the thought of an open flame around gasoline engines so he settled for an electric ceramic space heater. It provided just enough heat to warm his hands.

Since Walter had learned how to dress for the cold during his winter bike rides, he was layered up to the point that he resembled the Pillsbury Doughboy. He sat on a stool from his old garage shop as he made his plans for the bike. The Saw he bought was easy to convert to a bicycle engine. There was a side panel and once it was off the clutch was visible. He would loved to have used the clutch, but from what he read the engine lift, like the one on Gina's bike, would be the easiest thing to build.

He forgot all about the cold and even lunch as he worked on the engine mount. It was a lot more difficult to figure out than he had expected. There were a lot of starts and stops to redo it along the way, but late in the afternoon he had the frame assembled. After test fitting the engine Walter stopped for the day. He carried the frame from the shop, but left the engine inside. He locked up then went into the house to eat his second meal of the day.

The microwave dinner wasn't bad but it was extremely bland. He wrote spice in big letters on his shopping list. It was to become a habit for Walter. He began to make lists for himself. Most likely he should have been doing it for years, but during his depression it was just one more thing that got overlooked.

Walter knew what he wanted to do with the engine frame so I left it by the front door when he went to sleep that evening.

Hope against all hope.

I hope it get to ride today,. It has been way too long since I rode the bike. I'm going to take a look at a few things with the 42 bike today as well.

didn't touch it today

I spent the day working on my sister's computer. So I didn't work on the bike at all. Tomorrow I'm going to shoot some pictures of the bike at least. It also might be ridable in the afternoon.

pretty much done

The new build it pretty much done now. I don't care much for it but I guess it will grow on me. The engine seems to be twisted a little. It might just play havoc with the front tire. I'll just have to ride it to see. I do think I'm going to like the pull rod better than the cable lift.

welding welding who's done the welding now

Okay I welded my first bit of welding without also bolting it. The confidence is much better now. The welds are not pretty and probably some overkill there but it seems to be holding just fine. I'll know more after I use it a while.

Did I say overkill I used almost a whole rod to weld about ten inches of seam. I went over it numerous times since it didn't look like I got it all. I think I am running the bead too fast. It seems to skip. I have some splatter as well since the arc is probably too far away at times. But I'm getting there.

It Snowed early

I woke up to a scene I'm not familiar with, snow on the grass. Yes we do get snow here. Maybe a handful of times after the first of the year. Maybe one in december one a generation but snow in November is as rare as a black cabinet member in the obabma whitehouse.

So the welding I planned ot do will have to wait. I was warned to never try welding when the ground was wet under my feet. I weld outside since I am told there are dangerous fumes and sparks flying everywhere. So I'll just sit here and drink coffee till the sunshine does works its magic.

backward step

I went back to the round canteen gas tank. Then of course the carb that worked last week stopped working. Couldn't even get it to take gas. But I wasn't happy with it anyway so I switched it out for the carb from the 42cc bike. It might actually do better. I will be waiting to see. I got the engine to start with it, but then I just shut it down. I want everything to be working when I start the engine again.

I will be working tomorrow on a different kind of lift for the bike. It isn't a cable or a lever it's a pull bar lift. I'll have to make some pictures after I get it working. One thing I am going to have to do is force myself to lower the engine gently. That might have been the death blow for the 42bike. Just dropping the engine rather than gently engaging it.

I have been bolting and welding every so far but tomorrow I'm going to just weld a handle on my lift rod. I'll see if I have gotten any better.

today it's gas tanks

I have the throttle curing as I write this. One more step and it's done. My next problem is what to use for a gas tank and where to locate it. I have too many options this time.

I have a ryobi tank that is flat, i have the homelite tank that is also flat but sits upring instead of horizontal, I have a tall water bottle I converted and a short water bottle that I can convert easily. I also have one made from a carb cleaner can that is larger than any of the others. Probably too large.

When I finish the throttle I will have to take a look. I also need to shoot some paint on the front fork and engine frame.

moving along

I go the engine frame welded, the engine mounted, and some of the rigging done. The engine is on the bike at this time. The suicide clutch is set up and works it seems.

I need to set the throttle cable, set up the gas tank, attach the kill switch, and test ride the bike.

Then I am going to see if I can resurrect one of the 31cc ww engines. That should be interesting.

project one

Project one for today is to redo the welds on my engine frame. However since it is 24 degrees and probably that in the shop as well, I won't be doing it till after lunch. I might be able to run out and test fit the engine before I continue welding but thats about all I will be doing.

it's way too cold to ride it anyway.

i did some welding

I did some welding on the bike and then I looked it up on the net to see what I was doing wrong. Tomorrow I will see if I can fix it. I'm pretty sure that I can.

I braved the cold

Out my shop it was barely above freezing i'm sure. but I changed the front wheel of the suspension bike and pulled the engine from the scout bike. It was an okay bike but the suspension is a better bike all around. I did pull the front end so I could put a hard fork on there. i am going to mount and engine on the front of the bike and I wanted the forks not to move... So there you are.

NO wonder

the jungle scout bike is a underpowered dog. I just found out the chainsaw engine is only 25cc. Who would have thought anyone would make such and underpwered saw. Damn

learned my lesson finally...

I will never buy another engine on ebay. The one that came today was junk absolutely. Usually I can make them run this one had a broken rod connector. It is beyond help. From now on I buy on craig's list or not at all.

Gina's bike Walter

At noon on Sunday Walter pulled into the walmart parking lot. There were only two items on his list from Walmart that morning. A bicycle suitable for a chain saw engine to be mounted upon. The items to make the mount would have to come from the Home Depot or some other place like it.

Walter bought the largest chain saw the store carried. It was 42cc and a terrible shade of green. It didn't matter it was what he wanted and he could afford it. Then Walter went in search of a bicycle. What he found was something called a comfort bike. It had the rear wheel of an old coaster bike and the front wheel hand brake. Since he planned to put the engine on the rear the braking system would be just fine for him. The idea was not to pedal too much so the rear coaster type wheel would work as well.

The bike was heavier than Gina's bike since the steel tubes were larger. All in all the bike looked sturdy. He would have preferred a suspension bike but someone on the forum had a bad experience with one of those with an engine mounted on it. Walter loaded his car then drove home.

At home he unloaded the car to the shed then went into the house to change. A few minutes later in his work clothes Walter began to design his own engine mount. He used the designs from the forum as a beginning, then moved on to add his personal touches.

With a list of parts he drove to the Home Depot just before it closed for the evening. When his days shopping ended Walter has spent a whopping three hundred dollars and change. He hoped that his attempt at bike building wouldn't turn into a disaster but he feared that it might.

He went to bed Sunday night with nothing more than shopping accomplished. His plan was to start fresh Monday morning and to complete the frame building that same day. He might not complete the bike in one day, but he thought for sure he could get the frame assembled.

today I plan to get he jungle scout running again. Well at least to see what it will do. After that I may have to do some more work on the carb but for now it is almost there for testing.

I need to finish the suicide clutch, rig the throttle and fish the filter out of the gas tank and run a new line.

When the 31cc WW arrives I'm thinking front wheel drive on the test bike. It never had a front wheel drive. That should be interesting.

back to work

I spent the day happily reworking the mount for the jungle scout bike. I think the stopped up air filter was the problem. I will be finishing it up tomorrow and testing it I hope.

i rode it

now I want to shoot it. The homelite engine just don't want to pull me up the hills. I think the carb needs adjusting. I will have to do that when I am feeling better about it. Frankly at the moment I would put a wrench through it.

That funky bike I built and the engine are a good match neither of them seems to be much good. I hope it is just that the carb needs adjusting but I'm not counting on it.The weather is supposed too be clear and colder this week. I'll try to adjust the carb and see if it does any better. I know the idle is too high, I'm not sure about anything else. It takes gas fine as long as it isn't under pressure it accelerated well. When I rode it the bike did poorly overall. Nasty acceleration on the tire. and it had a rhythmic bump but it couldn't be from the drive it was going way to fast for that. Im going to have to investigate that as well.

Gina's bike walter

On Saturday he checked the forum and found that he had even more things to read. He spent all his spare time on Saturday researching his new project. At the end of the day Walter wasn't sure whether he was better off for all the reading or not. He had made his decision. He decided that first thing Sunday morning he would be shopping for a chain saw and bicycle to put it on.

It was after dark when Walter made his decision. His normal dinner hour was long passed unnoticed since he had lost himself in the research. There was nothing in the house he could fix in a hurry, and the crowded restaurants had no appeal for a man eating alone. Walter made a quick decision, then drove off in his automobile.

He went into the grocery store to buy frozen microwave dinners but as men often do he pickup many other things as well. Since he was not on the bike, he loaded up. He even stopped by the deli for one of their pizzas. He had eaten the pizza before and knew that it was almost as good as the ones delivered to his house.

The pizza was still warm when he got home, even after putting away the frozen food. The warm pizza and icy Coke satisfied his apatite for food, but did nothing for his loneliness. Walter realized for the first time since moving that he was still alone. The thought made him sad but it didn't drive him into a deep funk as it might have before his interest in the bikes began.

new way of thinking

I was kicking around ideas with my friend leslie last night and we came up with the idea of using the rear coaster brake hub as a drive wheel for a friction drive bike. All I need is to be able to mount a sprocket to the wheel of a weed eater engine and its a go. Now I need to find a sprocket or find out how to mount one from the rear of a bike to the engine.

Todays project.

gina's bike walter

The big ole chain saw sounded promising. Walter got back on the net to search for a chain saw at the local stores. He found a 42cc chain saw at Walmart for a hundred and a fifty dollars. It sounded like a lot till he considered that a months gas and insurance premium on his car ran as much. The motorized bike would use less than a gallon of gas and no insurance at all in that same month's time. The same would be true every month for as long as Walter could stand it.

Walter found a Chinese engine kit on the internet and looked it over carefully. He even read a lot about it and found that it would be difficult to install for someone with Walter's lack of skill. Walter liked the simplicity of Gina's bike. He really did think that he could build one like it himself.

He stumbled onto a forum which specialized in the china bike kits while he was researching them. The forum also had a thread for people who built home made bikes. Walter found several entries for friction drive bicycles. Before he bought anything he spent the rest of that Friday just reading about them. it was pretty late in the afternoon when he finished reading all the entries. Several people posted in that area but two of them were the most prolific. One was a man a few hundred miles away. The other was a woman of all things. She was also several hundred miles away. The forum had contact information for both. Walter sent them both an email before he rode Gina's bike out to dinner.

The man answered sending along a very generic set of instructions for the manufacturing of an engine mount. Walter realized that the mount wouldn't be difficult to build but it would be challenging. The plans had everything he needed except that they needed to be taylored to the engine. A trip to the hardware store was in order but he decided that it should wait for the next day.

The woman's email showed up just before bedtime. She offered any advice he needed and suggested he contact the man who had sent him the set of plans for advice as well. He replied to her then sat down to watch late night TV.

The tonight show was a bore, so he tried the computer instead. He checked ebay for chain saws and found a brand new saw just like the one he was planning to purchase from Walmart. By the time he added in the shipping it was going to cost twenty dollars more on ebay. Walter chuckled at that then moved on to the forum for motorized bicycles.

Walter made a post in the homemade bike area of the forum. He introduced himself and explained what he planned to do, then he went to bed.

comtemplating new build

I just won a non working engine on ebay. If I can get it to run, I have to decide what to do with it. I have the full suspension bike I would love to use it on but that bike broke off the drive shaft of the chainsaw engine. I am sure it would have no problem popping the shaft on the small blower engine.

I have the engine from the poulan on the other good bike I have. I guess I will remove it and put the Blower engine on it. If I can make it work that is. I think I will do that reed valve adaptation then use the big carb and see what the bike will do. That engine and the homelite are about the same size and with the adaptation they might run the same. I will have to be more careful with the gasket on this one though. Also before I mount it I am going to make some changes to that frame so that there isn't any stress on the engine case. Or at least minimize it.

Im not gonna pay a lot for this muffler

It wasn't the muffler but I had to cut it open to get it off the bike. I still can't start it so I moved on to finish up the homelite bike. I didn't get to test it yet but it is at least 89% complete. Now I need to figure out how to move the seat back about two or three inches.

Yesterday when I was young

I spent the day yesterday messin with the poulan engine that wont start. I also bought a homelight chainsaw to use on the 20" hybred if I can. If not I will just buy a bike for it.

I asked for help and the guys suggested a few things. I tried them all yesterday. Last night my friend Shoes suggested that the muffler might be clogged. It was at that point that out of the fog of a brain being squeezed I remember the bike blew some of the muffler off just as it failed. It has never fun since. The muffler could very well be the problem.

First thing today the muffler comes off that bike. If it runs i have to give some thought to a new one. I am also going to clean the muffler on the homelite regardless.

still dont get it

Well I got the WW bike to run long enough to shake itself apart. So much for that one. I am going to devise a better mount for the engine the next time I do one. I also welded the engine mount pieces together for the next one to fit into the frame.

I still don't have the chainsaw bike up and running. I have the carbs working for it but it still won't start. I think I have a vacuum leak somewhere. I am going to take the bike apart tomorrow to look for one.

Monday monday

I got some good advice last night. I think I know what is wrong with the chiansaw bike. the common element with both carbs on the bike was the fuel system. I think I have a leak in one of the lines. Air getting in. I crimped it during installation of the fuel tank. We shall see.

Also Im going to clean up the manifold and try some formagasket on the rear for the WW.

another zero day. Unbelieveable.

I still cant get either of the bikes to run. both of them want to run but it's carb problems. I just don't know what they are. I am pretty sure the WW had an air leak from the manifold gasket.

The chainsaw I am still working on making the 42carb work on it 33 bike. It should work I had it running for a while but it just wouldnt do right.

todays project

Today is family day so I will have a short workday. My plan is to get the WW finished and then to work on starting the chainsaw bike. Not so ambitious as it sounds. The WW needs to have the engine lift system made and the throttle connected. It isn't a large job.

I think now that the problem with the chainsaw bike is that the gas tank I built wasn't vented. I think that because I changed the carb and it did the same thing. Then I poured some gas down the pug hole and it fired up. The plug was dry before so I know it wasn't getting any gas. I'm pretty sure it was the gas tank.

I have the WW almost ready to try out as well. I need to set up the controls and the hinges but I got the mount welded to the bike frame. So I'm more than halfway there. I also have a bigger carb on the bike with the reed valve adjusted to allow more gas.

not a good day yet

yesterday I worked my butt off then had to undo all i did. Last night I tried redo it and pretty much succeeded. It's noon and I tried to fire up the chainsaw bike that I have left. It runs a bit then it stops. It won't start at all now. I hope it is just flooded.

Im about sick of bikes. I get this way for a while then things will work good and I will love them again. just have to work through it.

Gina Bike Walter

Friday was a gray day but Walter was feeling very optimistic after his morning shower. Hell he was almost, but not quite, whistling while he mixed up his morning cereal. There was almost a ceremony to the simple breakfast. First he found an old restaurant type bowl that his wife had collected as her everyday dishes. Then he cut off the bottom of a banana. Slicing then dicing a banana is a simple step but a necessary step, after the banana he added a few chopped raisins and dates to the mix. Next he topped that off with a mixture of corn and bran flakes. Walter like mixtures of things in his cereal bowl. He sprinkled on some ground cinnamon, poured on a bit of sugarless pancake syrup, added milk and he had himself a bowl of very complicated cereal. It was packed with different textures and flavors.

That bowl of cereal and his two cups of black coffee got his day started. Walter ate it while at his homemade kitchen table with the slightly oversized TV in the adjacent living area providing him with the morning's usual bleak news.

After his morning cereal and bad news, Walter checked his email. Mixed with the spam were a couple of replies to his questions about which motor to use for his new bike. Even one from the prison where Gina's bike was born.

Dear Mr Mcguire.... My name is Rita Deeds and I was kinda of a friend of your daughters. I knew her only because I built her bike and later I got a burned hand and she treated me. It weren't one of them prison things.

Walter had no idea what one of those prison things was. He did know that the way it sounded in the email 'one of those prison things' wasn't a good thing.

So you have her bike, I'm glad it ain't sittin in no evidence room somewhere. Those bikes need to be rode regular. If you don't do that the carburetors get all gunkie.

If they would let me build bigger bikes, I would build one with a big ole chainsaw engine. I would use basically the same mount but put it on the rear tire. The rest would have to be just figuring it out as I went....

I hope this helps and I was very sad to hear about Gina and specially since it was my bike that got her killed.... Rita..

The email seemed a little less than well written. The bit about the bike getting his daughter killed didn't sit well, since the bike had freed him from his personal prison. Even so he appreciated the thoughtfulness of that Rita person bothering to answer his email.

I'm gonna get me a gun

And shoot that damn bike I bought from my grand daughter. I never wanted it but they wanted me to buy it so they could get it out of the garage. It is a full suspention bike and it looks real cool. But today my good 42cc chainsaw engine broke. Not just broke a little it's toast. the rear wheel kept bumping against the drive wheel on the engine until it broke off the drive shaft. I'm so stupid I didn't realize it would do that. now by golly Iknow.

Gina's Bike walter

Walter, being the good shopper that he was, went first to internet. The first thing he needed was to decide on an engine. Google provided him with a hundred different videos and forums to view. It was a confusing day. It was late in the evening when walter entered the name of the prison camp where Gina's bike was born.

Sure enough google had a listing for their retail sales page. On that page he found not only a bike exactly like Gina's but also a list of mail order bakery products. It seemed to be a strange combination but there it was. Walter searched the page carefully and still overlooked the contact us information twice. The prison really didn't want a bunch of emails it seemed.

Walter sent a rambling email explaining who he was and why he was writing. He asked for a suggestion on what engine to use to build a more gutsy bicycle similar to the bike the prison turned out. After he sent the email, Walter went back to searching the web. He found a very informative forum. It probably had the information he needed. Except that he got lost in all the spidery web trails he was forced to follow in order to glean the information. Walter gave up and went to bed without any plan at all.

It's rainy again

Well the election is over and its a dark day outside. I do hope this isn't a sign of things to come. Cold and dark would not be a good thing, I think.

My mind turns back to bikes. I hope the weather clears and the welding helmet comes. I want to work on a bike and get my mind off the political situation in this country. This is one time I hope that I am wrong about politicians and their hidden agendas.

nothing to do

Its cold and rainy today nothing to do but keep an eye on the elections. I did mangage to put a coat of epoxy on a tank I am building. I have no idea if it will hold or not. Still looking for the auto darkening welding helmet so i can return to work on the scout bike.

gina's bike walter

On Thursday between trips to the store on his bike and trips to the store in his car, he struggled with a plan for his future. He managed to fill his cabinets with canned food for a rainy day. Literally he had shopped for days when he could not ride the bike to the store. In the back of his mind was the idea of changing his lifestyle to eliminate the need for an automobile. It was just a pipe dream, he told himself. Still it was an idea with some merit.

On Friday he tried to ride his bike across town. It was his longest trip up to that time. A couple of the hills kicked his butt. Walter came to a startling realization. He was not as young as he used to be so the bike thing might not be practical after all. That realization might have knocked him back into a deep funk except he was more optimistic than he had been even a couple of months before.

Instead of withdrawing into a shell and bemoaning his shortcomings, Walter took stock of his new life. Fact one: Walter was only 58 years old and already retired. Fact two: he was reasonably healthy. As a matter of fact since taking up the daily bike ride he had lost eight pounds. He could stand to lose more, but it was a start. Not only was it a start it was painless. He still ate the same things he always ate. He was getting regular, though limited, exercise on the bike. That and he shopped a little more carefully because it was more difficult to get to the store on the bike. Fact three: he wasn't wealthy but he also did not need to have profit enter into his plan for a new life. Mostly because he didn't live extravagantly, nor did he wish to do so. Fact four: Walter was not only intelligent, he was adaptable. Being adaptable might be the biggest advantage in a lifestyle change. Walter was open to new ideas which could only help.

The one thing weighing on Walter's mind was simply that, if he wanted to go to bikes only, Gina's bike just wasn't powerful enough. So Walter, being adaptable, began to wonder if the design of Gina's bike was also adaptable. Since Gina's bike was based on a simple friction drive system, there was no reason that it couldn't be modified to accept a more powerful engine.

At first Walter thought about replacing the engine with a more powerful one. After more thought he decided that to do so would be a bad idea. Gina's bike was front wheel drive. Front wheel drive needed a light weight engine he decided. A larger engine would be heavier he decided. However all the basic principles of Gina's bike would work just fine on any bike with any engine. He would just need to be open minded in his adaptation of the basics.

new carb cleaner gas tank..

I turned an empty carb cleaner can into a gas tank this morning. It took about an hour and most of that was searching for something to use as a lid. I expect I will rig a filter into my premix bottle and filter it into the gas tanks so that I can use them without a filter. The smaller opening makes it difficult to get a filter inside. I am not convinced that the inline filter wasn't part of my problem with the carb on the 33 bike.

believe it or not

Its 54 degrees at 4am here. I know what the hell am I doing up at 4am. Well I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. Since i can't sleep. I thought I would fool around here instead.

I expect that I will be sleepy later on and go back to bed. It's one of the few advantages of being retired.

I don't want to work on the new bike till the welder is ready so it gets a rest till later in the week. I need to go to the film lab later this morning so I'm glad the weather will cooperate. The 42bike is good for that kind of thing.

all in all this will probably be a goof off day.

been a ridin'

I have had the 42cc bike all over today. I even did some tension adjustments and that thing will really move out now. I had the 1/2 drive on the bike and it skips like mad. It does require less pedaling to get it going on it's own, but the speed is way way down.

Since I don't like the 1/2 in at all, I covered it with pvc pipe to add a quarter inch to it at least. I also made up a sand mix for it. If that wears off to quickly I might give fine sandpaper a go.

The epoxie I used was not jb weld. I had another brand laying about thought I would use it up. I'll let you know how it does.

Gina's Bike Walter

Walter did stop by Walmart for a TV. The cheapest thing he could find was a $300 HDTV probably made in Korea. He called from his cell phone to have the cable account moved from the big house to the small house. He was told that the last owners of the house had cable service so it was a matter of making the switch at the office. He would have cable by the time he arrived home. As a matter of fact all the utilities had been left in tact. Walter was tankful for that.

With the power on it had meant coffee and a hot shower that morning Walter didn't buy any more furniture because he wanted to see what he could do with the doors he had purchased.

The one thing walter did not have was internet access. He canceled his DSL because it would be days before it could be installed. He decided to go with dial up service instead. Yes it was slow but he had no plans to do anything in a hurry.


Walter manoeuvered Gina's bike from the shed, then headed out for a ride before dark. It was a new neighborhood so his new neighbors stared at him. On the bike he had time to smile and wave at them. He used the bike to explore his new environment. Walter made a mental note to buy some cheap dog biscuits. It would probably be a good idea to make friends with the local K9s.

Since he lived just a couple of miles from his old neighborhood, he could easily get to the fast food joint where he usually stopped during his ride. He had a burger and diet cola while seated at one of their tables.

"You usually don't come in." the young black woman said from behind the counter.

"I just moved and I don't have any furniture yet." Walter was all smiles as he spoke.

"Well you will fill your new place with junk soon enough," She said it as though she were and expert of household junk.

"No doubt at all about that," he replied.

Walter watched TV that night while sitting on the futon with his back against the wall. He decided that he was too old for sleeping on the floor. He slept just fine, it was the getting up and down that was hard on him. In Walter's case getting down to the futon was more of a controlled crash landing than anything else. The hard floor was probably good for his back but it was not especially comfortable.

Tuesday passed in a flurry of activity. The doors and lumber arrived. Walter decided that since he had eaten his breakfast standing over the sink, a kitchen table would be the first order of business. He used the 2x4s from the surplus store and the brackets he had bought at the hardware store to construct two saw horses the right width and height to turn the door into a kitchen table. he placed the table in the open space across from the appliances. He in effect used the table to define the space.

Then he made a similar but shorter table using three saw horses and the narrowest of the doors. He pushed it against the living room wall. On that one he placed the infamous futon, folded so that it rested on the door/table and against the wall.. A third door was sawed in half to make two end tables. they were higher than the sofa/futon/old door. They in effect became the sofa's arms. The new raw cuts on the end tables went against the wall to hide them. With strapping hinges from the hardware store Walter used two of the doors in each corner of the side wall to make closets.

Tuesday and the doors were all gone, but Walter had accomplished what he set out to do. He was more than a little proud of his accomplishments. It had been hard work but the little house was beginning to take on a new personality.

Tuesday evening he put away his clothes in the two new closets. He made a note to go look for lamps for his end tables, chairs of some kind, and for a real bed that next day. The old doors had defined how Walter would decorate the space. He had more than enough money for his project. The money came from the sale of his big house furniture. Walter made the things not out of necessity but out of a desire to be a bigger part of the new place.

On Wednesday Walter found a mattress outlet who would deliver his bed the next day. Everybody seemed to deliver the next day. From them he purchased a box springs mattress and steel bed frame. Walmart provided the lamps for the tables and also one corner floor lamp. From their furniture department he also bought a knocked down entertainment center and student's desk for this computer. From a different part of the store he purchased a fiberglass modernistic chair in a hideous red color.

He assembled furniture on Wednesday afternoon and into the evening. The directions were written by someone who used english as a second language. They were a nightmare but eventually it all came together. Walter sat at in his fiberglass chair, at his knock together kids desk, while he slowly surfed the internet for ideas. After all he had a few good years left, he needed a plan. Walter went to bed three hours later without a plan.

I can hardly wait

for the welding helmet to get here. I want to weld the receiver plate to the scout bike. When that is done I can mount the engine. After I find out if the engine will run, I can take it for a test ride.

The scout type bike is ideal for me to build. It used to take me a couple of days to build a similar bike. It took two bikes to build one and it still will but now I can build one With just one or two change instead of a half dozen. After that accident, I might go with a 24" front wheel. I have least two of those laying about. I do like the look of the scout the way it is.

Saturday afternoon.

I didn't get to ride yet. I am going to take a shower change than then ride. I did build a new bike that will get the 33 chainsaw engine I think. The WW bike is giving me a carb fit. I expect i will either have to buy a carb or trash it and go for something bigger on that bike. I'm going to let that cook a while.

I should add to this that the new bike I built has already dumped me on my ass once. I was on my first test run with it.. No motor thank god. I was pedaling in the drive when I hit a broke piece of pavement. The pavement had broken down leaving a sort of ramp effect. When I hit it the front of the bike lifted up and I slide off the back of the bike. Hit right square on my tail bone. I didn't break anything thank god. I have no idea how they put a cast on ones's tail bone.

Anyway I plan to do some more prep on that bike tomorrow get it read to weld when the welding helmet gets here next week I hope.

come saturday morning again

Since it is supposed to be warm today, I'm going to at least ride the bike today. I am still testing the 42bike for tension. I might ride up and get myself a turnbuckle for it. It could use one for sure.

I really need it either get a better carb for the WW bike or switch the 33 chainsaw to it. It won't idle and I couldn't get it started yesterday for some reason. It would be easier to just fix it than to switch the engines so I will probably go that route.

I think for the chainsaw I will just wait till I try modifying a 20" bike. I like the idea of a power bike that short. I have tried it before but I never tried it by changing the front forks. I think that might be the final attempt at a 20 inch conversion.

I have plenty a front wheel in both 26 and 24 inch sizes. I can put a 26" fork on then if the wheel gets too close to the frame I can swith the wheel for a 24". The trick will be if the forks are the same connection size.