Commuting in Chattanooga

Hoyt's Hellcat

New Member
Local time
9:06 AM
Joined
May 16, 2008
Messages
15
Location
Chattanooga, Tn.
Last Tuesday was my first attempt at riding my bike to work. I got about a mile from home when the front motor mounts vibrated loose. The engine rotated backwards the bike basically self destructed. I've parked that bike and purchased a motored bike from a friend. It is a plain beach cruiser with a single speed and a 50cc. Friday I tried again on the new bike and made it just fine.
I estimate that I will be riding about 12 miles a day. I think I may purchase a 36t sprocket and a boost bottle to help me ride more safely in traffic.
Check out the bike that had the motor mount failure at www.hoytshellcat.com
I will be putting the bike back together this time with some form of rubber isolators for the engine.
Does anyone else have such major vibrations that the bike becomes unfriendly to ride?
 
Possible the wierd rear mounting strap on that hellcat is putting too much stress on the front.

IOW you may have better luck with the chengine in a standard V-frame that will absorb its many vibrations.
 
Today marks the end of my first week of motored bike commuting. I have really grown to enjoy these bikes. After the bolts vibrated out on the Hellcat I had a friend offer me his bike at a great price. I now have a bike to commute on and my Hellcat for fun.
This new bike is a standard murray beach cruiser with a 50cc engine. I installed mtb handle bars and seat with a laid back seat post. I actually get to work faster than in my truck. I commute 8-12 miles per day depending on if I go to the gym or not.
It's amazing how many people are so amazed at the bike.
A friend rode next to me in his car and said I maxed out around 25 mph. I would like to change my rear sprocket to acheive a higher cruise speed without having to run at wot. Has anyone had any experience with useing a 36t sprocket and a boost bottle on a daily driven bike?
Lastly I began discussing production of the Hellcat frame and fork kit this week with a friend who is a cnc machinist. If anyone has an idea of a part that they think needs to be made for these bikes let me know. I will consider the possibilities. One such idea is to develope a nice way to isolate the engine vibrations from the bike frame. This seems to be an issue on my stock bike also. All of my mechanical problems have come from too much vibrations causeing thing to come loose. Thanks
 
You might try welding in a seat stay that could catch that rear motor mount. I don't think that would take away from the asthetics of the frame. I like the style of the bike. Since these motors are frame mounted, I doubt that you can completely eliminate the vibes. Maybe some sort of cradle for the motor with some heavy rubber isolaters between the cradle and frame? I have heard of some folks using small pieces of rubber stuck between the cooling fins on the corners of the engine to reduce vibes. I like to check all my mounts for tightness almost every time before a ride. Good luck, and I hope she goes back together fine for ya!!
 
I've been considering the idea of an engine cradle that bolted to a set of rubber isolators. I found that there are alot of business on line who specialize in vibration control products. One product I think I will try out this week is called a bobbin. It is basically a piece of rubber with a threaded shaft sticking out each side. These don't appear to help with a stock frmae bike however. On a commuter bike I believe it is best to cancel as much vibration as possible. Dependability on a daily basis is not an option it's a must and vibration seems to be the main downfall of these engine kit designs. I'll also work on the issue for a stock framer just to help out anyone else have these problems.
 
I love Chattanooga

I went to chattanooga for a Qigong workshop.
It is the coolest place/town ever.
Im came from knoxville and took my bike (non-motored) and had a blast riding around and over the bridge and to Greenlife.
Which is the best grocery store in the world.

I wish I had my new motored GEBE back then ( 2nd motored bike ) (first one was a HT)(it craped out).

I might try to ride down there, it'll be easy on my 40cc Tanaka 2 stroke.
I have a bamboo trailer that I might try to attach to it.

GO CHATTANOOGA!
 
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