After riding a bit over the Summer, the primary drive chain was getting ruined in less time than ever. The last one had about 20 miles on it and was blued in spots, that's getting hot! Going to give up on the Honda and pulled the engine ready to cut off the lower tube and start fresh. The thought ocurred to me that any other project bike or go-cart will need to be belt driven, try and give it one more chance.
Found a three inch alloy pulley in the stash with a 1/2" pilot, drilled it out to 9/16" and then reamed/honed it to the oddball metric size Honda used instead of 5/8", 15.8mm maybe. Filed a keyway and was most of the way there, at least eliminating the feeler gauge shim from the chain drive. Got lucky and managed to get a 5-1/4" pulley to fit on the jackshaft to maintain the necessary speed reduction to my V-plex clutch. Got a belt to just barely fit over the pulleys with some tension. Fairly thin belt, but from what I have read, a thin belt will transfer torque if run at a high speed.
Early results seemed to show promise, with a slight loss of tension as expected from a belt broken in. Got out the rat tail file and made some adjustment slots in the engine mount. Problem solved. Rode it around Greas-a-rama, a local rat rod car show over Labor Day Weekend at the Boulevard Drive-in. Things went well, putting around while Dad ran his motorized wheel chair. Flat ground, no load, no speed to speak of, mongrel cycle did all right. Tried riding up the hill when I got home and could easily tell the belt was slipping. Belt was further down in the grooves than new. A slight misalignment on something so short coupled had worn the fabric off of one side of the belt.
At Greas-a-Rama, I was invited to bring the cobb job to the Mods vs Rockers show at the local City Market "Art of the Machine Series". Sounds fancier than it really was, about half regular scooters and some vintage British motorcycles with the rest just standard fare. Not a single fish-tail parka in the bunch, or anything with too many lights or mirrors. Mine did not fit with either, but got the usual head scratcing and questions of "Why so many belts?" or just "Why?". Would include a link but the filter at work won't let me open "cult or gang activity" hilarious! Nice show, will attend again if they have another. Promoter is somewhat ambitious in his attendence figures IMHO, but that's his right, and job for that matter.
Had to do something to get it to run just a little longer, and too cheap to buy another new belt. Got out a piece of aluminum plate and made this belt tensioner. Worked well enough, perhaps too well. Bearing wore a serious groove in the jackshft from the added side load. Probably not good on the engine bearings either. Hack it off and start fresh.
Wife never did like the looks of the Honda, she thought I should play up the steam punk aspect with polished brass and copper. I'm just not an artist, and that is what it takes to pull that off well. Did give it a rattle can paint job of Rustoleum Dark Bronze. Less coral snake, I like it a little better.
Found a three inch alloy pulley in the stash with a 1/2" pilot, drilled it out to 9/16" and then reamed/honed it to the oddball metric size Honda used instead of 5/8", 15.8mm maybe. Filed a keyway and was most of the way there, at least eliminating the feeler gauge shim from the chain drive. Got lucky and managed to get a 5-1/4" pulley to fit on the jackshaft to maintain the necessary speed reduction to my V-plex clutch. Got a belt to just barely fit over the pulleys with some tension. Fairly thin belt, but from what I have read, a thin belt will transfer torque if run at a high speed.
Early results seemed to show promise, with a slight loss of tension as expected from a belt broken in. Got out the rat tail file and made some adjustment slots in the engine mount. Problem solved. Rode it around Greas-a-rama, a local rat rod car show over Labor Day Weekend at the Boulevard Drive-in. Things went well, putting around while Dad ran his motorized wheel chair. Flat ground, no load, no speed to speak of, mongrel cycle did all right. Tried riding up the hill when I got home and could easily tell the belt was slipping. Belt was further down in the grooves than new. A slight misalignment on something so short coupled had worn the fabric off of one side of the belt.
At Greas-a-Rama, I was invited to bring the cobb job to the Mods vs Rockers show at the local City Market "Art of the Machine Series". Sounds fancier than it really was, about half regular scooters and some vintage British motorcycles with the rest just standard fare. Not a single fish-tail parka in the bunch, or anything with too many lights or mirrors. Mine did not fit with either, but got the usual head scratcing and questions of "Why so many belts?" or just "Why?". Would include a link but the filter at work won't let me open "cult or gang activity" hilarious! Nice show, will attend again if they have another. Promoter is somewhat ambitious in his attendence figures IMHO, but that's his right, and job for that matter.
Had to do something to get it to run just a little longer, and too cheap to buy another new belt. Got out a piece of aluminum plate and made this belt tensioner. Worked well enough, perhaps too well. Bearing wore a serious groove in the jackshft from the added side load. Probably not good on the engine bearings either. Hack it off and start fresh.
Wife never did like the looks of the Honda, she thought I should play up the steam punk aspect with polished brass and copper. I'm just not an artist, and that is what it takes to pull that off well. Did give it a rattle can paint job of Rustoleum Dark Bronze. Less coral snake, I like it a little better.
