HEAVY METAL: The Re-Cycle

SpyGuy · Oct 7, 2009

Well, it's been a long time since I've been here, but it ain't because I wasn't busy ....

Recently, I decided to put my welding skills to the test (I've actually been on this project a couple of weeks) and build myself a pocketbike. The catch is, it's not just any pocketbike. This is all custom-built from scrap metal I had just laying around, plus parts from several junker bikes and gopeds.

So it begins ..... the Re-Cycle.

Height: 20" at handlebars, 15" at seat
Length: 28"
Width: 8"
Wheels: 4" goped wheels
Drivetrain: 47cc pocketbike engine with CVT

Required:
-Needs to be short enough to fit under the tonneau cover of my truck so it can be fully closed and locked - max 16".
-Front end easily removable to accomplish this, perhaps removeable handlebars.
-Use pocketbike engine and goped wheels for drivetrain - #25 chain.
-EXTRA CHALLENGE: make it all from recycled metal laying around. Only purchased items can be drivetrain and wheels.

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...elding Stuff/The Re-Cycle/01-Thebeginning.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...ing Stuff/The Re-Cycle/02-Anhourorsolater.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...ing Stuff/The Re-Cycle/04-Anhourorsolater.jpg

The frame is made of four tire irons welded together, the inside of the wrench ends filled with - what else? - car lugnuts. The engine plate used to be part of an office keyboard track, with a curved slot cut out for carburetor clearance, and the crossmembers on the frame were bicycle kickstands.

The head tube is a small section of pipe with car lugnuts on either end, and a large 1/4" gusset plate to tie it into the arms of the frame.

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/... Welding Stuff/The Re-Cycle/10-topofframe.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...tuff/The Re-Cycle/12-Topofframesetinplace.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...Cycle/15-Frameweldedengineandrearwheelmoc.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...Cycle/14-Frameweldedengineandrearwheelmoc.jpg

Comparison - that's a full-size Cag/Daytona frame the bike is sitting next to:

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...Cycle/16-Comparisonagainstfull-sizedCagfr.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...Cycle/18-Comparisonagainstfull-sizedCagfr.jpg

(** Note: Earlier photos show a different head tube, made from a small section of 3/8" water pipe inside two sleeves, attached to one arm of a 3-piece bicycle crank. This design didn't work out very well, as the pipes wouldn't take a good weld and hold together.

After several hours of frustration and easily-broken welds - not to mention enough cussing to make a sailor blush :furious2:

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...Cycle/42-Fullmockupcanyoubelievethosearet.jpg

Just to give y'all some reference points on this bike to show how REALLY small it is ...
-From the ground to the top of the head frame is between 12"-13". In comparison, a standard vehicle license plate is 12" from side to side.
-Each of those wheels stands 9" tall, from ground to top of tire. A standard stock Cag/Daytona tire/wheel combo is over 11".
-The top of the gas cap on the yellow bike (btw, that's a Cag) sits at 22" from the ground. My handlebars are 2" shorter.

Future plans for the bike include brake and throttle levers, upper engine mount, brake bracket mount, shorty exhaust pipe with goped can, footpegs, and kickstand. Gusset plates for additional frame strength are also in the making.

To be continued .....

kazkepox · Oct 7, 2009

none of the pics work...

SpyGuy · Oct 10, 2009

All links repaired .... sorry, I goofed.

kazkepox · Oct 10, 2009

Very neat looking!

lemegacool · Oct 10, 2009

LOL the frame is made with wheel nuts wrenches!!! AWESOME!!! very neat looking for something made with scrap!!! also is the ransmission's really a cvt or just a chain reducer...

Kenny_McCormic · Oct 10, 2009

Needs a dollar bill on the seat or something, or park it next to a full size motorcycle.

newrider3 · Oct 10, 2009

Looks sweet! Overall design is awesome, but if I were you I would go over all those welds once you get more practice and can run a nice (strong) bead. Ironically enough, I just started a similar type of "random crap laying around build" out of boredom.

Also, where did you get so many tire irons? haha

SpyGuy · Oct 11, 2009

Kenny_McCormic said:
Needs a dollar bill on the seat or something, or park it next to a full size motorcycle.

Funny you should mention that .... I did a couple of "comparison shots" with a very common item.

Reference photo - note that the length of this standard-size license plate is 12":

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/.../The Re-Cycle/43-Measurementforcomparison.jpg

Now, let's stand it up on end next to the bike:

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/.../The Re-Cycle/44-Measurementforcomparison.jpg

Difference between wheel heights:

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/... Welding Stuff/The Re-Cycle/45-Wheelsizes.jpg

Head to head on my truck bed:

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/... Welding Stuff/The Re-Cycle/46-Headtohead.jpg

Tail to tail:

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/... Welding Stuff/The Re-Cycle/47-Tailtotail.jpg

SpyGuy · Oct 11, 2009

Did a little more work on the bike today - nothing major, just some cutting, grinding, a little welding.

Had to trim those plates down on the rear so i could turn the bike easily:

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...e-Cycle/48-Workingontheforkstrimmingedges.jpg

And from the front:

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...Cycle/49-Workingontheforksslotforfrontwhe.jpg

The slot in the lower triple tree was because of a minor screw-up on my part. I miscalculated the height of the tire, and it was rubbing against the bottom of the steel plate - not good for traction! Five minutes later, problem solved.

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...The Re-Cycle/50-Nowtheyclearthefrontwheel.jpg

New set of pegs - can anyone guess what they are?

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...ding Stuff/The Re-Cycle/52-Newpegsinplace.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...ding Stuff/The Re-Cycle/53-Newpegsinplace.jpg

If you guessed the ends from a fireplace set, you're right! I welded bolts to the frame and screwed the pegs on, along with jam nuts to keep them properly set where I wanted them. No need for a kickstand now .... The pegs DO stick out a little far, but can still unscrew for storage.

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...t/My Welding Stuff/The Re-Cycle/54-Mockup.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...t/My Welding Stuff/The Re-Cycle/55-Mockup.jpg

LeMegaCool: Yup, that's really a CVT. Picked it up a while back for just this sort of project, only set me back like $40.

Newrider, my usual pattern for the welds is tack, adjust, weld, wire brush, grind down, spot any places I missed, wire brush, grind down. Those are the most solid welds I've done, plus, a gusset plate or two here and there is making sure this thing is STRONG, dude. (Already dropped it off my welding table several times with no sign of cracking or damage, too! LOL) I picked up all the irons at thrift stores and junk shops, and have several sources for free metal. Would I do this project again? Yes. Using the knowledge I'm gaining from this one, my next frame would be a lot better, and much easier.

02mx-5 · Oct 12, 2009

THAT IS AWESOME! Ive skipped past this thread everyday because the first time i tried the pictures didnt work. OMG! That is so cool how you used tire irons. Wheres you get so many?

SpyGuy · Oct 12, 2009

I go around to various thrift shops and junk stores, and usually they have a few laying around. I just picked them up and waitied for something to use them on. I have like 30 of them .... I also get the star lug wrenches to use as bases for projects.

I don't know what happened with the pictures first time around ... just glad I was able to fix everything so you guys could see it.

Most of the welding is done. Now I just need to grind down some welds and do some general cleanup, then begin working on the drivetrain - have to measure out the chain and cut it to length before I can set up the brakes. Doing the throttle and brake lever is going to be interesting, since the bars are thinner that normal-sized handlebars.

02mx-5 · Oct 12, 2009

hey spy guy, are you a member over at pocketbike planet?

SpyGuy · Oct 12, 2009

Yup ... you are, too.

SpyGuy · Oct 19, 2009

Been a little while since I've posted, so I thought I'd bring y'all up to date on the Re-Cycle:

Since the last time I posted, I've done several other things to the bike. I needed to fit a brake bracket on the rear so I would have some way of stopping this little beast. The bracket on the axle was stock, so I fabbed up a tab on the frame to bolt up the crossbar:

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...ding Stuff/The Re-Cycle/58-Rearbrakesetup.jpg

Now, I needed an exhaust pipe. A regular pocketbike pipe wouldn't fit, as those run over the top of the engine, and the mototrized bicycle pipe I had hung way too low, and would be more of a stand to pick up the rear of the frame. The goped can exhaust I had would work, BUT ... the bolt holes were just slightly off, maybe about 1/4"-1/2" from the ones in the cylinder. great .......... now I have to fab one. Using an old trashed pb exhaust pipe, I sliced off the header end, then welded a large washer to the stubby pipe. Nuts were added on either side to attach the goped can exhaust.

My shorty exhaust:
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...ff/The Re-Cycle/56-Exhaustpipeandgopedcan.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...ff/The Re-Cycle/57-Exhaustpipeandgopedcan.jpg

And on the bike:
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...g Stuff/The Re-Cycle/59-Exhaustpipeonbike.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...g Stuff/The Re-Cycle/60-Exhaustpipeonbike.jpg

Admittedly, the exhaust pipe hangs a little lower than I'd like, so another even shorter header pipe will be fabbed up.

Now, the chain: First off, I didn't have the correct gearing - turns out when I ordered the CVT, it had a gear with a slightly larger pitch than a normal pb chain (needed a #25 chain, actual order shipped turned out to be something like 8mm). Once I got my new gear shipped, everything went together just fine. (Okay, I lied .... I didn't really pay too much attention to how the old gear went on when I installed the new one. As I went to cut the chain, I suddenly realized that the gear were way off! OMG - what did I do?? Did I screw up on the measurements? I had it all measured and lined up straight! WTF???? After all that work I did, measuring and marking and drilling, now I gotta do it all over again! ... Oh .... installed the CVT gear backwards .. duh ...

)

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...Cycle/61-Throttleandbrakesetupchainfitted.jpg

So here it is as it sits right now. Throttle and brake levers mounted and hooked up, good running engine installed, tank clamped down and lines plumbed, stubby exhaust pipe bolted up. I did goof on the chain - cut it one link too short, but that's a fairly easy fix.

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...Cycle/63-Throttleandbrakesetupchainfitted.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/...Cycle/62-Throttleandbrakesetupchainfitted.jpg

Still need to do a few minor things to it, such as fabbing up an upper engine mount and some work on the brakes, but for now, the hardest part of the build is done. Brake and throttle levers need some tweaking, might have to put spacers underneath the handle so they won't flop around. I'm also thinking of adding a front brake, and running both brakes off the same lever.

SpyGuy · Oct 22, 2009

It's alive ... ALIVE ........ ALIVE !!!!!!!!

Well, today was the day. Poured some gas in the tank, flipped the choke lever up, turned on the gas, gave it four quick pulls, and VROOM! Loose brakes, no killswitch (well, okay, I had a bare wire), wobbled some, carb leaked (don't they all?), but ****, it runs! Woohoo! Took it for a quick spin around my driveway, running circles around the drieway in front of my two-car garage, then took it for a quick run back and forth in front of the house. The CVT provides a surprising amount of torque, and I was able to get up to a decent 10mph with lots of throttle to go (didn't want to go any faster because of the brake issue ....) Not like it's going to run much faster than that, since I mainly made it for a fairgrounds / swap meet cruiser ....

As usual, there are the normal little things here and there that need tweaking and tuning, but for the most part, The Re-Cycle is complete and running.

02mx-5 · Oct 22, 2009

WOW, the carb comes really close to the back tire. Thats awesome that you got it up and running. I think this is by far the coolest thing ive seen built on this site. I mean, viper go karts and things with 6 speed trannys are "cool" but no one ever done this. Tire irons? genius

SpyGuy · Oct 22, 2009

I had to do a lot of careful measuring to get the engine set right in the frame. All I really needed was to have an inch between the air cleaner and the tire tread, so I stuck a couple of really long bolts into the air cleaner, pressed the tire against the heads of the bolts, and took my measurements off that for drilling and grinding. Still needs some minor work, but basically it's finished and running.

SpyGuy · Oct 31, 2009

Been a little while since I've posted ....

She RUNS!!! Took the Re-Cycle out today at a mini track meet, and EVERYBODY was looking at it. Had to replace the carburetor - the old one leaked like a sieve - but three hard pulls were all The Re-Cycle needed to start every time. The CVT made sure I had plenty of power ... the **** thing pulls like a freight train, so it became our little pitbike, running to the other end of the track and back again. I may wind up putting a mini-sidecar on it ... or I may leave that for the Re-Cycle II. Now all I need is a proper killswitch wired up, some general cleanup of welds, and paint, and it'll be done.

Walter Keller · Nov 1, 2009

Reuse way better - Thats a neat build

The term "reuse" is way better than "recycle" - I hate giving the tree huggers any satisfaction. I had to look a couple times to see the "irons" - cool idea

SpyGuy · Nov 1, 2009

Well, the name is kinda a combination of both - "reuse" and "motorcycle." I wasn't thinking tree-hugger when I built it .........

HEAVY METAL: The Re-Cycle

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