Another Newbie

[46er]

Hi Pete,
I did buy a lot of stuff from Dick Steel,probably all the supplies for the first plane I built
came from Dick but what the plane was I have no idea now.
I sure loved going to Dick's house to get supplies.
No Dick Steel plans but I do have a couple of lager glider plans.
I also have a mate in Ballarat that is a champion at control line and may have some good plans.
Regards Ian

[46er]

Osage Orange.
Thanks Hermit I think it has worked.

[46er]

Thanks Hermit,
I still do a bit of panning in the Yarra & Hoddles Creek.
Have yet to make a fortune tho'.
Regards Ian.
PS Will put more pic's on when I get home in a couple of days as the Good Lady is getting a new knee so that she can keep up with me.
Ian

[Hermit]

too many to mention other than the last one, a motorised pushbike with a jack shaft.

Ian, somehow I missed this bit when I first read your post. I HAD one, complete with SBP shift kit and heaps of other accessories, up until last week. I never ride it, so I sold it cheap. A 26" Malvern Star mountain bike with a ZBox 66cc engine, shift kit, dual-pull brake lever, high compression head from Rock Solid Engines in Adelaide,12V moped hi/low headlight with 7ah battery, decent seat and heaps more. Sold it, brand new condition but 2 1/2 years old, for $200 with tons of spares. I even gave it a new gear cluster, with an extra-low first gear - 5mph flat-out in first. Will climb anything.
If I'd realised, it might have been more useful to you, for spares.

I ride a 200W electric now, much nicer and actually legal. I bought both at the same time. Anything above 200W is illegal in NSW. Even a 48cc petrol runs in at over 1000W.

A link to some pics of the bikes, (and home brewing but I don't drink any more so stopped that).: -
nowrasteve's Public Profile on Photobucket.com


I still have two plastic gold pans, large and small, but haven't done anything for many years

[46er]

All I can say is Bugger Hermit,I bought my bike from a 93yo man in Geelong.
The bike had only done about 50 klm and was on a cheap W/worths repco bike for $400.
$400 hurts more, now i know what you sold yours for than when i fell off mine but that's another story.
I purchased a jack shaft from SBP and swapped it all onto my old bike frame .Much better than the Repco.
Would also have loved to have a motor from R Solid but didn't find them till after my purchase.
I put on an extra low gear as well which climbs some awesome hills.
I am having trouble getting much out of the last 1/2 to 1/3 of the throttle so need to do some more fine tuning.
Not that I want to go any faster but would like to get it perking as it should.
Have had it up to 43 kph but from what I read they should do better than that.
Electric's good but hard to get 200klms from a charge or two.
I'll send some pic's of mine plus a mate that is about to start producing electric scooters
and they go well but $2000 is a bit out of reach for me .
Regards Ian

[Hermit]

All I can say is Bugger Hermit,I bought my bike from a 93yo man in Geelong.
The bike had only done about 50 klm and was on a cheap W/worths repco bike for $400.
$400 hurts more, now i know what you sold yours for than when i fell off mine but that's another story.
I purchased a jack shaft from SBP and swapped it all onto my old bike frame .Much better than the Repco.
Would also have loved to have a motor from R Solid but didn't find them till after my purchase.
I put on an extra low gear as well which climbs some awesome hills.
I am having trouble getting much out of the last 1/2 to 1/3 of the throttle so need to do some more fine tuning.
Not that I want to go any faster but would like to get it perking as it should.
Have had it up to 43 kph but from what I read they should do better than that.
Electric's good but hard to get 200klms from a charge or two.
I'll send some pic's of mine plus a mate that is about to start producing electric scooters
and they go well but $2000 is a bit out of reach for me .
Regards Ian

Depending on weight, you should get better than 43kph. With shift kit and a tail wind, I could get 70kph, 80 on a slight downhill. (I only weigh 50kg.)

No, you don't get 200km from a charge on an electric, but how often do you go for 200km rides? Personally, I never need to do more than about 10-15km on a ride. I just plug it in when I get home and it's ready for next time. If I'm going further, I take it on the train and throw the charger in my bag - it's only a plugpack. Electric bikes are legal on trains, petrol ones are not.
Quiet and unobtrusive, very, (very), low maintenance.
Electric bikes aren't as bad as you think. They're here to stay, the petrol ones are on the way out.
That's my spiel done.

Have you seen the MBc motorised bike forum, here: - MotoredBikes.com: Motorized Bicycle Forum - Gas & Electric Bikes ?
Worth a look and the 2-stroke section has some useful tuning info, some written by AussieSteve, who I happen to know very well.
First thing is to check plug colour. If you don't already have one fitted, buy a B5HS or B6HS plug, too. Especially if you have the standard Chinese plug fitted.

Is your's 48cc or 66cc?

[46er]

Your right Hermit, who does 200 klms on a ride but it sounds good,to me anyway.I don't particularly want to do 70kph but know it should do better than 43kph.

I have fitted theB6HS plug and I'm sure mine is the 66cc only by the piston measurements.The plug looks pretty good but might need to seal a few air leaks.Will do more tuning when I get a bit more time.

I am on the MotoredBikes site and do enjoy reading AussieSteve's comments which are very well put and informative.

Had I been lucky enough to get your bike i certainly wouldn't have used it for spares, more likely to have used mine for spares.

Did you have the standard HT carby? as i have tried to get a better one but no luck yet.

[Hermit]

Your right Hermit, who does 200 klms on a ride but it sounds good,to me anyway.I don't particularly want to do 70kph but know it should do better than 43kph.

I have fitted theB6HS plug and I'm sure mine is the 66cc only by the piston measurements.The plug looks pretty good but might need to seal a few air leaks.Will do more tuning when I get a bit more time.

I am on the MotoredBikes site and do enjoy reading AussieSteve's comments which are very well put and informative.

Had I been lucky enough to get your bike i certainly wouldn't have used it for spares, more likely to have used mine for spares.

Did you have the standard HT carby? as i have tried to get a better one but no luck yet.

Regarding the air leaks, I finished up buying an after-market alloy intake, same shape as the original, then cut a groove and fitted an 'O' ring. Others just sit an 'O' ring in the opening, push the carb on and hope for the best. That won't guarantee a good seal.
As I said in those stickies, go by your plug colour. If it's whitish/grey, then the mixture is lean and you most likely have an air leak. Also, the lean mix will cause the engine to idle high.

Often, when these engines won't rev right out, it's due to a rich mixture. Again, plug colour - it will be blackish with a rich mixture.
Raising/lowering the slide needle, (up for richer, down for leaner), is the only mixture adjustment on those things short of re-jetting. That's exactly what I had to do to get mine running right, especially after fitting the high-compression head. Rock Solid Engines sell a range of jets. Tony is pretty helpful.
From memory, I think that Jim and Paul at SBP sell jets as well. They were planning to start stocking them. I stopped riding that bike due to health - couldn't kick it over any more without puffing like a steam train for 10 minutes afterwards.

I stuck with the standard carb and re-jetted, as mentioned. Also took to the inlet side of the carb with a Dremel and opened/smoothed things out. The CNS and other carbs on the market aren't worth the trouble. They don't tune properly on these engines. I've heard of some successes with re-jetted chainsaw carbs, but it's a bit hit and miss.

I bought a SBP expansion chamber at one point, too, but it was too loud, so I went back to the stock exhaust, but drilled the innards to slightly reduce back pressure.
Porting and polishing helps, too, though I didn't go too far with that.


Hope this helps, Ian.

[46er]

Thanks for the info Hermit,

I'm glad you mentioned the expansion chamber as had thought I might get one but if they are noisier then I wont bother.

Will look into plug colour, re-jetting and and a better inlet manifold as it doesn't look too good where the carby fits on.Just need to find the time now that I'm retired.

Where did you you get your after market inlet manifold from Hermit?

[Hermit]

Thanks for the info Hermit,

I'm glad you mentioned the expansion chamber as had thought I might get one but if they are noisier then I wont bother.

Will look into plug colour, re-jetting and and a better inlet manifold as it doesn't look too good where the carby fits on.Just need to find the time now that I'm retired.

Where did you you get your after market inlet manifold from Hermit?

Boy, that took some searching. I got it from Rock Solid Engines, $10, far better than the original welded steel one. It's on the middle of the page here: - Spare Parts

Here's the thread on the inlet tube modification. Also has the supplier for the rubber 'O' rings, Fitch Rubber. If you use another type, ensure it's petrol-resistant.
NT carby/inlet leaks - a reliable solution - MotoredBikes.com: Motorized Bicycle Forum

[46er]

Thanks for that Hermit,sorry to put you to all that trouble but very much appreciated.
Will give me something to do when I get a bit more time.

[46er]

A few finished items

[Allan at Wallan]

Good work Ian, glad to see you managed to
post some pics.

Like the creativity with the worms and the apples.

Allan.

[crowie]

A few finished items

Just beautiful....well done!

[46er]

Thanks for that Crowie,
Regards Ian