66/80cc China Gril powered beach cruiser

[Meawosh]

Hi.
3 years ago, I bought cheap china Huffy like beach cruiser. It is 26", steel frame wiht classic lines, 3 speed Nexus hub wiht coaster brake. As bike it is crumped, not to comfy and cheap made. For start, I cut of Vbrake at front fork, got new handle bars - wide moon style, moved shifter under the seat and few other things. After 3 years i decided to convert it to petrol powered 2 stroke, know as China Girl. It is 66/80cc, I got it from polish version of ebay and started to tinker with it. After 4 months, I replaced lots of stuff, made nearly 500 km on it and I absolutely love every swcond riding it. Build is on the go as I plan to finish it for next season. For now i got modern Monark style fork, vintage style led headlamp, lovely little back light, back mirror for overal safety reasons, analog speedo and odometer and few more. Engine got new Dellorto 14 SHA style carb with cone filter and NGK spark plug. Need to aort clutxh cos it is the weakest link right now. What are the plans?
Paint it red matt, white 26x2.0 tires with kevlar inserts, 34mm alu double wall rims with strenghtend holes for spokes and stainles spokes. Ruff Wrangler seat, platform pedals. Organized cables, engine in black enamel high temp paint. I post some pics in next post later on.

 

[Meawosh]

How it looked like, and how it is now. Parts are looking tired, frame is scratched, it starts to look like early rat form, but it will be shiny. For now Im slapping parts to see if they look good (4 me) or work or both. In the winter I start to make it look nice and hopefuly i finish by mid spring 2020

 

[toro1978]

Not bad. My only criticism would be the tank, I really dislike this type, especially on frames with "tank space".
But otherwise pretty cool. I love the fender with the rear light. The front end looks great, the tacho and the headlamp go very well together.

 

[Meawosh]

Thx toro1978. I dont mind the tank. I ve got no skills or tools to made my own and mount between top tube and cantilevers. And I like to leave this space unfilled. Maybe in distatnt future I start to think about something more custom, but for now it stays as it is.

 

[Meawosh]

Today started at mounting front fender. I dont even have vice, so it is all crafting. Drilled a hole in fender and screw the mount to it. Then started to bend it. You can see I ve got decison to made to hide it in the fork or make it visible more. And some photo art stuff

 

[toro1978]

I got an used vise for cheap at a flea market a while ago and it was a great purchase. It made everything so much easier, it has a table clamp, not bolted so it has its limitations, but I love it. No power tools though, gotta be prepared to sweat a little, but all for a good cause in the end.

 

[deorman]

Welcome aboard.

 

[wheelbender6]

I like that tail light too.
-The easiest replacement for the kit fuel tank is a tank from a small motorcycle or an actual pedal moped. The Yamaha enduro tanks from the 70s and 80s look really cool.
-I didn't realize that the kit supplied motor sprocket would fit a Nexus 3 speed. Cool.

 

[Meawosh]

I like that tail light too.
-The easiest replacement for the kit fuel tank is a tank from a small motorcycle or an actual pedal moped. The Yamaha enduro tanks from the 70s and 80s look really cool.
-I didn't realize that the kit supplied motor sprocket would fit a Nexus 3 speed. Cool.

It wouldnt. I need to enlarge the hole. Because coster brake arm is attached to brake cover, you need to take it out first, install sprocket and put the brake cover back on. Not too much fuss. Sprocker has lots of meat, so rebore it few mills to larger diameter wont make it any weaker.

 

[Hukah]

It wouldnt. I need to enlarge the hole. Because coster brake arm is attached to brake cover, you need to take it out first, install sprocket and put the brake cover back on. Not too much fuss. Sprocker has lots of meat, so rebore it few mills to larger diameter wont make it any weaker.

Are the Chinese motors getting better?
I'm concerned it will be a cheap mess.
Is that the case, or what do you think?

Thanks for sharing your experience with this. I hope to do the same soon.

 

[mikeeebikey]

I just leave the dust shield off, going to rebuild it about once a month of riding anyway.
And I will not use cheapo imports, bendix, shimano or suntour CB's only!

 

[Meawosh]

I just leave the dust shield off, going to rebuild it about once a month of riding anyway.
And I will not use cheapo imports, bendix, shimano or suntour CB's only!

What needs a rebuild every month? My Nexus 3 hub? No way. It is my only breaking solution, and I dont have any problems with it

 

[Meawosh]

Hi guys, long time no see. After quite hard 2 years for me, it is time to continue my project. Sadly, I need to spend time replacing my old China Doll for new one. This time I'm going to make engine as good as possible, before first crank up. I bought new unit, wich is much better made than the omd one. M8 frame studs, better screws all around, hex bolts for case and covers. I already did split crank case, for new SKF bearings, transfer and ports matching and polishing. I will polish the head underneath it and top of the piston as well, to prevent carbon to build up. Wristpin bearing from Minarelli 70. Will make 3 spring pressure plate, like DLH one, but using as many original bits as posiible. Bit of a drawback, but heck. Make her ride again, than back to make her pretty Check the pics.

 

[Meawosh]

Polishing complete. Next is exhaust and intake ports, to remove castings. Exhaust will be polished as good as possible. Intake will be smoothed out but without mirror finish.
After hole cylinder package is done, next will be transfers. Need to open up them slightly, instal everything and check squish gap.
And if someone could give some numbers for squish I will be grateful. No need to be to aggressive. Its purpose is cruising and reliability not some crazy vmax or rpms.

 

[Meawosh]

Cylinder ports are done. Started with stone on my dremel tool, then sanded with 80, 120, 240 then water and 320, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2500. Need to hit it with polishing compound and dremel again. Sanding block from sushi stick

 

[Meawosh]

Cases are done

 

[Meawosh]

Nice progress there. SKFs found their new home. Cases are closed again. Used some RTV on cases and intake for better sealment. Exhaust is shortened a bit and has holes drilled for better flow. Head is on its place, and hole engine sits in the frame. I found better steering handle wich gives more BT look than old, very wide moon. Getting closer

 

[Meawosh]

No words needed. She's a runner.
So I got her running, made two trips for about 20 minutes each. My first thoughts are good, but we got some teething problems.
She's to lean. No crazy lean, but plusg is grayish and she's bogging at 40 kph. No air filter doesn't help either. New jets are on their way, cos she sucks air like crackhead ho for a dose. New jets are on their way, so hope to fix it soon. She lacks some grunt from low rpms but pucks a consistent punch at the middle. That was a goal, to make her long distance cruiser, but will look to find some extra oomph at the bottom range, after break in.
Runs at 30:1 semi for now, and will switch to good synthetic after break in.
From other things, rear hub is shot. Lots of play. Front rim needs some truing. Throttle cable is way to long and I have issues with carb not to return to fully closed, or poor throttle response, when make cable longer. New, shorter one is ordered, so hope it will resolve this problem. Bb is trashed, clutch works as supposed, need some work at chain tensioner.
So far so (almost) good.
Nearly forgot. New CDI was toasted from start, glad I kept old one to get her running. Seller will send me new CDI next week.
That's it for now.

 

[Meawosh]

Update:
Got new throttle cable, wich is much shorter than the one from set. Throttle response is fast and smooth right now. Got some ignition timing issues, so I readjusted magnet on woodruff key. There is still some issues with jetting, but now I have whole set of jets to find sweetspot.
Reinstalled speedo, it looks neat right now. Still breaking her in.

 

[Meawosh]