HEAVY METAL: The Re-Cycle
October 12, 2009 by SpyGuy
So it begins ….. the Re-Cycle.
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…ttankengin.jpg
Height: 20" at handlebars, 15" at seat
Length: 28"
Width: 8"
Wheels: 4" goped wheels
Drivetrain: 47cc pocketbike engine with CVT
Required:
-Needs to be short enough to fit under the tonneau cover of my truck so it can be fully closed and locked - max 16".
-Front end easily removable to accomplish this, perhaps removeable handlebars.
-Use pocketbike engine and goped wheels for drivetrain - #25 chain.
-EXTRA CHALLENGE: make it all from recycled metal laying around. Only purchased items can be drivetrain and wheels.
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…ebeginning.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…rorsolater.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…rorsolater.jpg
The frame is made of four tire irons welded together, the inside of the wrench ends filled with - what else? - car lugnuts. The engine plate used to be part of an office keyboard track, with a curved slot cut out for carburetor clearance, and the crossmembers on the frame were bicycle kickstands.
The head tube is a small section of pipe with car lugnuts on either end, and a large 1/4" gusset plate to tie it into the arms of the frame.
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…topofframe.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…setinplace.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp127/SpyGuy/Welding%20And%
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…arwheelmoc.jpg
Comparison - that’s a full-size Cag/Daytona frame the bike is sitting next to:
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…sizedCagfr.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…sizedCagfr.jpg
(** Note: Earlier photos show a different head tube, made from a small section of 3/8" water pipe inside two sleeves, attached to one arm of a 3-piece bicycle crank. This design didn’t work out very well, as the pipes wouldn’t take a good weld and hold together. After several hours of frustration and easily-broken welds - not to mention enough cussing to make a sailor blush - out came the cutting wheel. **)
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…themistake.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…hthispiece.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…orheadtube.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…setinplace.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…ubeinplace.jpg
The rear wheel mounts are cut-down training wheel mounts. A funny thing about goped wheels - the axles are fastened INSIDE the wheels, and can’t be slid out like regular pb wheels (or if they have, I haven’t found out how yet.) To accomodate this, slots were cut in the axle mounts with a 4" angle grinder and cutting wheel.
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…kets-aintm.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…elbrackets.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…ngwheelset.jpg
The front forks are also tire irons, with 1/4" steel plate for triple trees, and chopped-down training wheel mounts, doing the same trick with the slot. (Been using a LOT of cutting wheels - that 1/4" plate is tough stuff!)
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…ngtheforks.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…elystraigh.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…wheelmount.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…ngtheforks.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…eadjusting.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…ingonforks.jpg
(Yah, I know, the front forks aren’t gonna turn with that big plate like that. I just didn’t get a picture of the bottom end cut out yet.)
Hey, starting to look like a bike now! 
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…slikeabike.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…slikeabike.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…eelsmockup.jpg
Well, let’s drag out one of the Cags, and see what we’ve got here …..
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…l-sizedCag.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…l-sizedCag.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…l-sizedCag.jpg
Gas tank is a stock Cag/Dayona tank, secured with a big ol’ hose clamp in pure redneck style. Yup, that IS a bicycle seat! The pipe it’s mounted on used to be a set of mountain bike handlebars, cut and notched to fit on the new frame, and supported by a really big nut.
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…tankmockup.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…ttankengin.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…ttankengin.jpg
Kinda hard to believe those are the same size wheels, huh?
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p…ethosearet.jpg
Future plans for the bike include brake and throttle levers, upper engine mount, brake bracket mount, shorty exhaust pipe with goped can, footpegs, and kickstand. Gusset plates for additional frame strength are also in the making.
To be continued …..
Comments
Last edited by 013137 : 10-07-2009 at 08:41 PM.
http://go.pocketbikeplanet.com/?id=6...l-sizedCag.jpg
http://go.pocketbikeplanet.com/?id=6...l-sizedCag.jpg
http://go.pocketbikeplanet.com/?id=6...l-sizedCag.jpg
I know you guys are having a hard time wrapping your heads around it, but this thing is d@mn small. The top of the frame over the rear wheel is like MAYBE 1" above the tread. Those goped wheels from the ground to the top of the wheel are 9" - by comparison, a Cag wheel and tire is 11", and the license plate on your car is 12" side to side. The top of the head tube sits somewhere between 12"-13" when the bike is mocked up as you see it. I'll see about getting more pictures tomorrow, see if I can get the tape measure in there for you ...
Last edited by CAM2 : 10-07-2009 at 11:36 PM.
Right now, the Re-Cycle is maybe a shade heavier than a stock Cag, mainly because it's all iron. I'm hoping that the CVT and gearing on the rear (running a 55t back there) will help get me going okay... I did make slow passes on the welds to make sure I had decent penetration, but my machine is only a little 110v 90-amp MIG. It's nice and solid, though - already dropped the frame several times, and nothing cracked. Good thing about the build is that I only have a little more to add to it, like pegs, upper mount, exhaust ... not much more weight. I know in the pictures my welds look awful - I hadn't ground 'em down yet.
I may wind up doing another frame like this down the line, but this is my "practice" for now. Next one is probably going to be the same size, maybe a shade longer so I can put the seat even lower - gonna see about a regular-style minibike seat for it, instead of the bicycle seat. I'm also considering pb wheels for the next one.
Last edited by CAM2 : 10-08-2009 at 05:49 PM.
I DID mess up a little on the bottom triple tree. Turns out the center section needs to be shaved back to clear the tire - oops! Ah, well, bound to be mistakes here and there .... I may need to make a slice in the bottom of the bars and jack them forward a little bit, give myself a little more room. As for mounting the levers ..... that's going to be a challenge. The tire irons are a smaller diameter than bike handlebars, so I'm thinking about using a spacer between the levers and the bars. Brake lever is going to be a spare I had laying around, and I'm leaning towards a modified BMX brake lever to use for the throttle.
Glad to know the CVT will provide plenty of get-up-and-go - I was kinda worried about that .... I'd thought about doing a jackshaft setup a while back, but wasn't entirely sure how to set it up properly, plus the CTV moves the chain inboard a little more than a stock clutch housing.
A few more mind-boggling pics on how small this sucker is ...:
Reference photo - this license plate is 12" long, as evidenced by the tape measure.
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...comparison.jpg
Now, standing it on end next to the bike .....:
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...comparison.jpg
I told you those wheels were small!
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...Wheelsizes.jpg
Head to head on my truck bed.
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...Headtohead.jpg
Tail to tail.
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...Tailtotail.jpg
Had to carve the rear of those plates off so I could turn the bike:
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...mmingedges.jpg
And from the front:
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...orfrontwhe.jpg
You're probably wondering about the slot in the lower triple tree. Turns out, when I set up the front end, I misjudged where the wheel sat in relation to the lower plate, and it rubbed the tire. Five minutes later, problem solved. Not much clearance, admittedly, but enough for my purposes.
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...frontwheel.jpg
My new pegs - meathooks!
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...ooksNowait.jpg
Uh, wait .....
Okay, those aren't my new pegs, but they ARE real meathooks. Gonna save 'em for another project down the line, or I may wind up grinding down the points and welding some nuts to them for some totally cool pegs.
Speaking of pegs, though, check these out. These are the handle ends from a fireplace set I had laying around. I found a pair of bolts that fit the threads, and then added a set of jam nuts to keep the pegs properly set where I wanted them. A couple of solid welds later .... :
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...egsinplace.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...egsinplace.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p.../54-Mockup.jpg
No need for a kickstand here - those pegs are quite sufficient:
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p.../55-Mockup.jpg
The new pegs DO stick out quite a bit, but it makes things a little easier with the handlebars. Plus, I can still unscrew the pegs for storage, if need be.
Still have to work on an upper engine mount (found an old one I can use as a template), get all the welds ground down nice, do the brake and throttle handles, put my good engine in it and get the chain set up, plus make a brake bracket mount on the frame.
I'll add it now.
Nick.
Well, hit my first major snag on the bike, sadly. Turns out when I ordered the CVT, it came with the wrong gearing - looks like 8mm chain instead of #25 chain. Didn't really notice it at the time, figured they all came with #25 gearing .... SO, sending off a few emails to differnt places to see if I can either get a #25 gear for the CVT, or barring that, seeing about a new chain, as I already have the other gears. Unfortunately, I can't really set the brake bracket without the chain, so things have ground to a halt for a few days. Kinda sucks, but the downtime will mean I have the time to clean up all the welds and slag that I missed earlier.
(I actually DO have a god set of gears that will fit a CVT and the rear wheel, but seeing as those are on that running goped in the pictures above, I really can't use those .....)
Hopefully, Dave's, SC4L, or PFS will have the correct gearing/chain that I need to get this little thing rolling.
EDIT: There's a dealer in Tucson that used to sell gopeds/pb's before Tucson outlawed them from the streets. (Doesn't matter, mine are for the track or parking lot - city says you can't ride 'em on the streets, doesn't mean ya can't OWN 'em and run on private property ...) Anyway, dude's got several engines in various stages of repair that I may be able to snag at a decent price. If so, I may wind up with a brand-new engine for this thing .... woohoo!
Last edited by SpyGuy : 10-12-2009 at 08:31 PM.
New gear for the CVT is here and on the bike. Freaked out for a sec after installing it, because suddenly the sprocket and the gear didn't line up anymore!!! Oh .... installed it backwards - duh ....
Finally got around to making up a shorty exhaust pipe from part of a busted Cag pipe and a big washer drilled to fit over the end of a goped exhaust can. Can hangs a little low underneath, but still has okay ground clearance. Next pipe will be higher and tilted back a little more towards the back of fthe frame. (Too bad I can't use that pipe I got off one of those motorized bicycles, but it curves down too far and acts more like a stand to lift the rear of the bike off the ground....)
One of my other project bikes (The Zombie) has donated its engine and tank for the Re-Cycle for now until I get another engine repaired and running. CVT bolted straight up, so did the shorty exhaust. Brake and throttle handles are attached to the bars, but not really happy with the way they sit - need to play with them a bit more. Otherwise, the bike is actually complete with a running engine, now just waiting on the chain - ordered a chainbreaker from Dave's, should be here soon. (Already wrecked one link, am NOT going to do it again. I'd rather pay a few bucks and get a tool that'll do the job right the first time.)
Last edited by SpyGuy : 10-16-2009 at 11:47 PM.
Brakes are on the bike and set up. Not real happy with the way they're working, though - I may need to put a different set on the rear, maybe one of the newer Cag rear brakes, and move this one up to the front.
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...brakesetup.jpg
Shorty exhaust pipe with the goped can:
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...ndgopedcan.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...ndgopedcan.jpg
And mounted on the bike:
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...pipeonbike.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...pipeonbike.jpg
The pipe hangs down a little too low for my preference - next one I make will have a shorter header pipe - but for now, everything seems to bolt up correctly.
Chainbreaker came in over the weekend, so I spent a little time with an over-sized Cag chain, cutting it down to fit. I might have missed on a link, though, so need to redo it - I think I cut it one link too short. Otherwise, here it is so far, brand-new chain installed. Gearing right now is an unreal 25/55, but that will change when my 15th and 19th drive gears arrive for more options.
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...hainfitted.jpg
As I said earlier, not too happy with the way the brake and throttle levers are mounted, but for now, they're all wired up and ready to go. Yup, that's a complete running engine in there this time.
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...hainfitted.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...hainfitted.jpg
Still need to make an upper engine mount for it, plus a few other miscellaneous things here and there. For the most part, the hardest work is done.