Villiers beach cruiser

[harry76]

No, but i did run it on a wooden stationary stand i built...... i got the engine and i was told it didnt get spark, so i removed the flywheel and cleaned the points etc and then it fired right up.

 

[cobrafreak]

Sounds like you need a new coil. Considering it's age it's a wonder it fired up at all. What happens to old coils is the copper wire that is wound around the magnet has a lacquer coating and the coating breaks down over time and shorts itself out. Old electric guitar pickups do this. The only solution is to either rewind the coil with new wire, which is a lot better than the original equipment wire or replace the coil. I'm sure your coil is grounding out with the block thus shocking you.

 

[harry76]

I'm not surprised that it started, the motor was actually in exceptional condition, it obviously hadn't had a hard life. Thanks for the advice, I will see if I can get replacement coils for it..... Is there anyway I can check the coil? Will I see the deterioration of the lacquer?

Someone else pointed out a possible cause on another website, they alerted me to the close proximity of my ignition lead and throttle cable. I will reroute my throttle cable just to be on the safeside...... Thanks Cobrafreak

 

[harry76]

I havent had time to get too much done.

I had to fix my kickstarter, heres the before pic, but i just realised i forgot to show an after pic....

But heres an axle adjuster that i made up...I made the bracket to slide in the dropout slot....

I didnt have a tap, so for the other part of the bracket i drilled a hole big enough for a nut and welded it in....

 

[harry76]

The end result works well....

 

[cobrafreak]

If you heat treat those chain adjuster brackets they won't likely bend on you in the future. Get them to glow red with a propane torch and cool them in water. It rearranges the molecules in the steel matrix for much more strength.

 

[stocksucks]

Looks really good.

 

[AKB]

If you heat treat those chain adjuster brackets they won't likely bend on you in the future. Get them to glow red with a propane torch and cool them in water. It rearranges the molecules in the steel matrix for much more strength.

Actually I think that ends up making it more brittle. If memory serves, you need to get it red hot like you said then dunk it in water. But then after it has fully cooled, you need to heat it up again and let it cool slowly. At least I think that is how it goes. I may be missing a step in there somewhere..

 

[cobrafreak]

I learned the technique from a blacksmith. You get the mild steel red hot and then you cool it fast to make it harder steel than before. If you go white hot you just ruined the steel as you consumed the carbon in it. If you do it a second time the steel will get softer than the first heat treating. (this is not necessarily a bad thing. Every application has it's need for a different hardness of steel) It's also how they heat treat AK-47 receivers that are sheet metal. You do all your bending, drilling, and fitting. When it's all done either find someone with a kiln to heat treat it or use a torch, or bury it in a pile of BBQ charcoal until it is red then cool it. It changes the mild steel to spring steel. Now to make the holes stronger you torch heat the hole area till it's blue and then air cool. This will keep the hardness of the whole part but give the working area of the part resistance to impacts. Now hard steel is more brittle than mild steel, but that is the cost of having strong steel. If you hit a bearing race with a hammer it will crack in two. If you hit a mild steel ring with a hammer it will bend out of shape. The bearing race is brittle, but stronger. The chain adjuster is a good candidate for heat treating because it is bent mild steel. Since it's bent it is weakened and if it ever breaks it will break where the bends are. Heat treating it will make it stronger than before. I don't think the adjusters are a part that would take a direct impact. They are just locks for axles.

 

[harry76]

I havent done much this week. I did order my new high quality primary belt but havent received it yet. I did make a new shifter as i made the other one a little skinny in working it out. I got my gate mounts welded to the tank. I welded in a petcock mount. And i have a day off tommorrow so i plan to do my tank liner.

 

[AKB]

Awesome 8)

 

[harry76]

Thanks man, im slowly getting there.

I finally found some 1/2" pedals that i liked and is a big improvement over the plastic pedals. As these pedal were new i just ran them over the wire wheel to make them look a little beat up.

Today im lining my tank. Then wait a few days to dry, and by then my primary belt should be here and i can try to get it running again. And in the meantime i can get all the finishing touches (that seem to take way longer then ever expected lol) done.

I may also get a smaller front pulley and have a thread turned into it, and a primary belt to suit just to try a lower gearing. And as i have another Villiers motor the same it wont go to waste.

 

[AKB]

Cool pedals. If you ever want to age them more you can always bury them in the back yard for a little while :wink: And I think you need to talk to a machine shop about turning those two Villiers engines into a V-twin.. That would be awesome! 8)

 

[harry76]

CamNZ from motorbicycling.com (villiers board track racer/DIY section) is doing a build a bike with 2 of these engines inline, but not a v configuration.

 

[harry76]

I sealed my tank today and did the tank for my "Whippet" build at the same time. Hopefully it works. I also made a rear stand, i just need to tidy up the welds.

 

[cobrafreak]

Will you have the ability to remove the rear wheel for a flat repair and keep the center stand on the bike still?

 

[harry76]

Yes i can.... now ive looked at the picture i provided its hard to tell, but the stand bracket is actually welded to the underside of the dropout, i may just weld in a little extrra support

 

[AKB]

Still not done yet? Geez

 

[harry76]

Today i finished up my stand, and refitted my sealed tank which thankfully doesnt have any leaks, but my old petcock is leaking a little from the tap...... i put the bike up on the stand and started it and for some reason this time the primary was slipping so i decided to take it for a ride.

I think its geared too high, i did manage to take off under its own power, i have to slip the clutch to keep the revs up, and if i tried to push the clutch right in the revs would drop off. I could get up to a certain speed (not very fast) but then couldnt get past that as the revs would drop away, and even if i pedalled to assist it didnt seem to help.

But until i get my smaller front pulley tommorow and try and get another belt to suit its hard to make a judgement. Is it geared too high? Is it a problem with the engine? Was the primary belt slipping?

I guess i will wait until i test the new pulley and belt and go from there.

 

[Beau]

Try restricting the intake a bit. These engines don't want a lot of air. Put some tape over the filter housing and see what it does for you.

You also need to figure out what your ratio is. To do this, mark you drive gear and set the mark on the bottom pointing towards the ground. Put the valve stem of you tire at the bottom so it it near the ground. Then push the bike and count how many time your drive gear moves with one revolution of the wheel. It will give you some sort of idea rather than just buying parts.