Would love to ride this bike down Huntington Beach someday.
Silver King Unchained: BELT DRIVE....What a ride~!
- Thread starter OddJob
- Start date
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Yeah, haven't posted a project in a while, but have won a few contests over the years. In fact, a link from there to RRB is what got me started here.
You might recognize my username; OddJob.
When checking your name out I realized that I was already following you over there...Yeah, haven't posted a project in a while, but have won a few contests over the years. In fact, a link from there to RRB is what got me started here.
You might recognize my username; OddJob.
Day 27 Update
It's the start of the Memorial Day holiday weekend here in the north country. OJ and Mrs. Job (as @The Renaissance Man likes to call her!) will be heading up to the north woods in an hour or so. First trek of the season to the campsite, which means getting all the systems up and running, recreational vehicles functioning, possibly some chainsaw work if there are any downed trees blocking our way. We did have a couple of extreme high wind storms this Spring, so I'm crossing my fingers, toes, legs; everything I've got!
I've got some belt tension ideas in the mix for SKU, will try those once I get back. My current rat version holds the wheel in place just fine, but bottoms out before I get all tension on the belt that I'm looking for.
In the meantime, here's a clip of one of the great crooners of all time, 'belting out' a tune.....
"..... I get no kick, from champagne. But I, get a belt, out of you...."
It's the start of the Memorial Day holiday weekend here in the north country. OJ and Mrs. Job (as @The Renaissance Man likes to call her!) will be heading up to the north woods in an hour or so. First trek of the season to the campsite, which means getting all the systems up and running, recreational vehicles functioning, possibly some chainsaw work if there are any downed trees blocking our way. We did have a couple of extreme high wind storms this Spring, so I'm crossing my fingers, toes, legs; everything I've got!
I've got some belt tension ideas in the mix for SKU, will try those once I get back. My current rat version holds the wheel in place just fine, but bottoms out before I get all tension on the belt that I'm looking for.
In the meantime, here's a clip of one of the great crooners of all time, 'belting out' a tune.....
"..... I get no kick, from champagne. But I, get a belt, out of you...."
SWEET! I love that fork.
Update from the boondocks.
They say you can't get a good pizza in the middle of nowhere. And the pizza cutter is vintage 1989, before they started the PZT-1, PZT-2, etc. Handlebars broke off at some point in the last 33 yrs. Still slices za like none other.
They say you can't get a good pizza in the middle of nowhere. And the pizza cutter is vintage 1989, before they started the PZT-1, PZT-2, etc. Handlebars broke off at some point in the last 33 yrs. Still slices za like none other.
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Day 29 Update on SKU
I'm on duty at the bike shop tomorrow, so we came home this afternoon. Got everything cleaned up and had a couple moments in the BACK40 before throwing the burgers on the grill.
My rat rod chain line tension devices held the wheel in place great, but they bottomed out before I got the belt really tight. My man Todd , head wrench dog at ye olde shoppe, said that my belt needed 'cinching'. Since the belt around my waist is hopeless, I figured I'd order up some real live tension devices and see what they could do to put some snap in this drive belt.
Certain bike parts are still hard to come by via the shop, so I ordered these off Amazon. They were waiting on the front step when we rolled in today.
I installed them and boy did they tighten things up in the back end! Had just enough time to jump on the bike and try a small hill at the end of our street.....no popping and skipping on the belt / cogs / drive ring! I think we've solved that issue.
I also installed the grips that I had colorized earlier in the week. Shoe polished the leather and smoke anodized the bright chrome lock rings. I think they will work with the rims. Couple more 'brownies' coming up for SKU...
RaT oN~!
I'm on duty at the bike shop tomorrow, so we came home this afternoon. Got everything cleaned up and had a couple moments in the BACK40 before throwing the burgers on the grill.
My rat rod chain line tension devices held the wheel in place great, but they bottomed out before I got the belt really tight. My man Todd , head wrench dog at ye olde shoppe, said that my belt needed 'cinching'. Since the belt around my waist is hopeless, I figured I'd order up some real live tension devices and see what they could do to put some snap in this drive belt.
Certain bike parts are still hard to come by via the shop, so I ordered these off Amazon. They were waiting on the front step when we rolled in today.
I installed them and boy did they tighten things up in the back end! Had just enough time to jump on the bike and try a small hill at the end of our street.....no popping and skipping on the belt / cogs / drive ring! I think we've solved that issue.
I also installed the grips that I had colorized earlier in the week. Shoe polished the leather and smoke anodized the bright chrome lock rings. I think they will work with the rims. Couple more 'brownies' coming up for SKU...
RaT oN~!
Were the alloy dropouts too thick to fit in the channels in the tensioners?
Could you not have installed longer machine screws in the original tensioners ?
Yep. I knew they probably wouldn't fit when I ordered them. But with the pressure on the tensioner, and the axle nut holding it all in, they aren't going anywhere. These are cast aluminum frames remember, not high tensile steel or hydroformed aluminum frames. They made up for the lack of strength by adding mass and surface area. The width of the duralium dropout is 8.6mm. The channel width of the tensioner is 7.75. Nearly a full millimeter.
The distance between the axle and the end of the dropout on the frame is quite short, which is what made my version not work the first time. And, these belts only come in about 3 lengths for this 'pitch' and number of 'teeth'. The other two belt sizes were either way short or way too long for my 'chain stay length'. Such are the woes of custom, one-off, building.
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It isn't the length of the machine screw that was the issue in this case. It is the short distance between the axle and the back of the frame drop out. What I could have tried was putting a washer(s) behind the dropouts, between the cable end shaft and the dropout to increase the distance. But I would have had to flatten one edge of the washer, and with the size of the machine screw, it wouldn't have left much for 'bite' and strength. And there wasn't much wiggle room. The design of these alloy ones allowed me to use the natural tensioning of the screw to adjust the wheel, instead of the static distance, if that makes any sense?
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It's funny how the amazing revelation of the fact that adding these alloy tensioners completely solved my 'skipping' problem and took away my most pressing problem, got lost on some viewers because of minute details. 
Believe me, I think these things through to the end. Just because sometimes it happens fast, doesn't mean it was easy. Oftentimes, it gets worked through in many iterations in my head long before it hits paper, or physical application.
Revel in the joy with me, fellow rat rodders! That's where the true heart of building these bikes lies!
RaT oN~!
Believe me, I think these things through to the end. Just because sometimes it happens fast, doesn't mean it was easy. Oftentimes, it gets worked through in many iterations in my head long before it hits paper, or physical application.
Revel in the joy with me, fellow rat rodders! That's where the true heart of building these bikes lies!
RaT oN~!
Sounds familiar Mr Job. I wake up at night thinking of how to make stuff too. Usually it's bike related, but sometimes it's wooden toys for the grandkids.
The idea of using BMX chain tensioners has been floating around in my head since I realized no locally sources, modern threaded bolts would work to replace the gnarly old factory original tension screws.
The idea of using BMX chain tensioners has been floating around in my head since I realized no locally sources, modern threaded bolts would work to replace the gnarly old factory original tension screws.
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Awesome grips!
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Yeah, too bad i got the brown fenders Lee.. HA!! HA!!!
Day 32 Update
Well, it's June 1, and other than a little mod I have in mind for the pedals, Silver King Unchained is pretty much done. Some of you who are new to this site might say,
" What? Don't we have three more months left?!?"
Yes, yes we do. But my time will be very limited for the rest of the summer with 2 weddings, 7 music gigs, and 3 long weekend trips all ready on the schedule. I was hoping to finish this build in the first month, and have pretty much reached my goal. And this is not unusual for OJ speed; I'm usually done in the first month or so.
It's a great rider, and the belt drive is functioning like a champ now that I have the belt fully tightened! I will be posting some ride vids here and the pedal mod in the days and weeks ahead.
And of course, I will continue to moderate the forum and cheer on the rest of you!
Well, it's June 1, and other than a little mod I have in mind for the pedals, Silver King Unchained is pretty much done. Some of you who are new to this site might say,
" What? Don't we have three more months left?!?"
Yes, yes we do. But my time will be very limited for the rest of the summer with 2 weddings, 7 music gigs, and 3 long weekend trips all ready on the schedule. I was hoping to finish this build in the first month, and have pretty much reached my goal. And this is not unusual for OJ speed; I'm usually done in the first month or so.
It's a great rider, and the belt drive is functioning like a champ now that I have the belt fully tightened! I will be posting some ride vids here and the pedal mod in the days and weeks ahead.
And of course, I will continue to moderate the forum and cheer on the rest of you!
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love Frank. Our wedding dance song was “the best is yet to come”.…. And I once brought down the house at a karaoke singing “That’s Life” while out with a bunch of my business clients and colleagues. (My first and only attempt at singing in public) ….. it was a pretty young crowd, so I’m not sure how many people present had ever heard the song before. - and, as I’m a far cry from the millennial crowd, I think I was somewhat of a novelty taking the mic’!
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Looks like heaven to me!
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