For 2 weeks running, by the Rescuing Grace of Grog (h/t), the MB diaries ashes have been spread more than 24 hours.
bamabikeguy continues to regale us about his tinkerer's obsession with two-wheeled, internal combustion contraptions in Intro to Motorized Bicycles Part III- Efficient Engines. (grog)
However, it is a series, dedicated portions must be technically and boringly mundane. Taking a cue from Binford's "Tool Time", the only thing that will rescue THIS chapter are snazzy pictures and wild proclamations.
"By the time you read Chapter 10 (or 52??!), you WILL be able to build one of these !!!"
"Intro to Motorized Bicycles" quest is to put the r-evolution in a step by step order, so any interested hobbyist can be flawlessly up and running in a few hours, with a confidence that allows for trouble-free rides. I'm still learning tips and tricks, by keeping this in a semi-chronological sequence, by listing my missteps and wasted purchases, you can leapfrog to the head of the pack, be an expert after that very first MB build.
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It is similar to planning, then executing, an east to west trek across Kansas, with detours along the way. You don't need a compass when using the sunrise and sunset as a guide, but then again, when opportunity arises, you might just venture into Nebraska.
"Shop Equipment & Tools" is such an sudden surprise putsch, covering the 4 main purchases I made once the fun began.
(Apologies for the topic substitution, last week I ordered the recumbent 26 speed, but that diary is at least two weeks away !)Want to see a recumbent, in a few feet of Omaha snow? In July?!? Click here!
To recap:
Intro to Motorized Bicycles Part I: We are IN the Bailout Bill is the overview, highlighting how employees and employers can take advantage of a Federal monthly reimbursement to motorize a bike, starting in 2009.
Intro to Motorized Bicycles Part II- Cruiser Bikes tells how it took me 7 builds to find my favorite bike models, and why coaster brakes don't work.
Intro to Motorized Bicycles Part III- Efficient Engines outlines the two current engines that are flying off supplier shelves, not only with GEBE's belt driven systems, but chain drives as well.
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Motorized bikes have the Saudi Sultans & Exxon scared, (if Americans ever wake up.)
My college friends have a betting pool going, "what takes Crabby out?" Buick Cutlass, a Freightliner headed east, senior citizen with failing eyesight, etc...
Funny thing is, at our gatherings, many had been a part of our storm windows/doors enterprising from 1978-84.
We put up over 15,000 custom built windows (in three designer colors), and claim we may have helped make Brown's Ferry Nuclear plant obsolete, kept it offline for decades. Carter's Energy Conservation program, especially the 7 year interest free loan to insulate homes, was an idea that worked. Riding around the area, I see hundreds of those polyvinyl weatherstripped windows still doing their job.
And it took 20 years for me to find another energy saving breakthrough. When locals wonder how gas prices nosedived, I go ahead and take some credit. That's because, since 2005, use of MB's have taken tens of thousands of cars off the road.
Thanksgiving's "shopping on a Wednesday" instead of Friday threw all the milk/bread rationing out of whack, so an 18 mile round trip to get a loaf of sliced white last Saturday, cost me about 10 ounces of fuel, the terrorists do NOT get any "ammunition money" from my buying habits or our nation's holiday scheduling.
(fyi: That green model on the left is a $2,600 Nitrogen Bike, & I dunno what that red scooter thing is on the right, but the news item said he retailed them for $1,000.) AND, for you thrill nutz, some Canadian teenagers have a double Unicycle that hits 40 mph on batteries!!!
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WE ARE NOW IN SPRING/SUMMER 2006
As the economy tightens, you might find yourself at flea markets, yard sales, discount warehouses, or nosing around Uncle Ned's garage at Christmas.
You may already own the ONLY required shop device, or could accidentally find it like I did, a $5 rusty looking bargain, stumbled upon at a neighborhood garage sale.
You will need a bench vise for bending, hacksawing and drilling. This will become very evident when the "Installation" chapters appear.
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SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED TO GRIND
This was an early purchase, back in 2005. And frankly, NOT as necessary as it used to be. As the evolution has proceeded, 90 degree angles for the front strap, which attach to the fender braces, have been developed and are a standard part of the kit.
I paid $38 for my double-wheeled unit, have seen a single wheel for $20, in fact, bought one for my brother's birthday gift, so he can sharpen his lawn mower blade.
If you see the potential for building 5 motorized bikes for family and friends, then a low cost unit is advisable.
(I'll even make a sin-filled confession, when a barn bike gets dropped off for motorization, and I absolutely can't get one of the brake pads to line back up, I'll take that 'lil booger to the grinder and shave rubber, take a tad off the offending corner.)
Finding one at a garage sale, knowing what you now know, it is a good thing to have. If you don't have one, you can file/rasp away the small amounts of aluminum or steel as long as you have item #1, the bench vise.
It's a dual use item, handy for garden clippers, cutters, hoes and machetes.
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THE BIKE NEEDS TO BE SUSPENDED IN AIR
The first 10 bikes I built, including Rocinante, were held off the ground with a "hook". It was simply recycling a gardening 3 pronged fork with 2 prongs missing, and bolting it to a shop cabinet top. Similar Flintstone gadgets can be built out of many adequate foot long attachments.
Jack, with those 30 bikes scattered about, uses a "bike storage hoist", (nothing but a pulley and rope), folks buy them to dangle bikes from the garage rafters. When Jack has to flip it over for wheel work, he simply hangs it upside down. He said it ran him $15 at K-Mart.
Me? I bought a basic bike stand, for $109. Models run anywhere from $80-350, but the PCS-9 Deluxe Home, described as "entry level for the home mechanic" has served me well. The clamp rotates 360 degrees, which is the minimum requirement, but it also folds up to get out of the way when not in use.
There are bench mount repair clamps in my J&B Importers catalog, look like nothing more than a glorified garden prong, imho. I saw a neat wall mounted clamp at a bike shop in Florida, it stood out about a 2 feet, but that isn't offered by J&B.
A good bike stand MIGHT be one of those items you could find available "used", locally. Or an item you could arrange to borrow for that important first build ! When I get to the installation chapter, I'm going to show pictures of an upside down bike, so plan ahead.
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MY FIRST AIR PUMP WAS ONE OF THOSE $10 STAND UP JOBS
Right out of the Little Rascals movies. It did okay, before I started using the heavier puncture proof tubes. The tires have to "seat" into the rims, and if they don't, they must be deflated, squeezed a bit, then pumped up again. Three or four times trying to whack that mole in the summer heat, gets a bit frustrating.
(I also have two portable bike pumps to carry along for the rides, neither work well nor fit the nozzle on my air mattress. Nowadays, I carry a small can of repair air, ziptied behind my seat post.)
I bought a small electric air compressor, from Northern Tool and Equipment, at just the right moment, before a flood of bikes started stacking up on the carport. Mine cost about $60 in 2006, but the product page doesn't show the exact model now.
Again, this is a multi-use item, I always keep my car tires properly inflated to maximize fuel efficiency, and have a gun nozzle to blow off the tiles on the kitchen gas wall heater each year.
An small electric unit is more than enough to do these jobs.
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FINAL WORDS ON TOOLS
I overheated my Black & Decker drill this summer, smoke pouring out midway through some steel mounts. Visiting some pawn shops the next day, I found a lightweight, but very industrially capable, Hitachi drill for $50. Not having to search for the chuck key is an absent minded tinkerers dream !
Dremel's are sure overpriced ! A nice item to have when cutting fenders, or grinding the edge from a protruding bolt, but really low on the hobbyist's shopping list.
10, 11 and 15 mm box wrenches, a 6-in-1 screwdriver, a handy Allen's wrench tool found at bike shops, some lithium grease, and a few other items are in my traveling repair kit. Repairs on the road are very rare, so much so, I hardly ever carry the black bag full of tools when riding locally. (Note I color my box wrenches and sockets with red/blue/black and grey electrical tape, no squinting to read the sizes for me !)
Hand tools and specific drill bit sizes will be part of the Installation story. But folks can find plenty of useful items around the house. This homemade "wheel stand" was a shoe shine box built in my Cub Scout days, my mom throws NOTHING away.
I added these items slowly, as needed, and if I did it again, the grinder would have been a single wheel, purchased after the air compressor. But it came in handy, when bikes started really piling up in the carport workspace.
Right up until that cheapie Black & Decker drill started smoking in my hand, I had just about everything needed to do the job.
In the Part I Intro I mentioned wanting Santa to bring a bench model abrasion miter saw, but if there isn't a reasonably priced one found in my Pawn Shopping, hack saw blades can be bought in bulk.
Besides, vigorously hacksawing steel is good for the biceps, I guess !
Thank you for reading !! Please ask anything you'd like, while I carry over a few items from my e-mails, down into the comment section !