HEAVY METAL: The Re-Cycle

SpyGuy · Oct 7, 2009

Well, it's been a while since I've been here, but it ain't because I haven't been busy .....

A while back, I picked up the plans for the Tom Thumb, thought it would be a cool project to try. Recently, I decided to put my welding skills to the test (I've actually been on this project a couple of weeks) and try to build one myself. The catch is, it's not just any Tom Thumb. 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.

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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.

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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.

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http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp127/SpyGuy/Welding And%
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Comparison - that's a full-size Cag/Daytona frame the bike is sitting next to:

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(** 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 :censure::cursing:- out came the cutting wheel. :grind:**)

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The rear wheel mounts are cut-down training wheel mounts. A funny thing about goped wheels - the axles are fastened INSIDE the wheels, and can't be slid out like regular pb wheels (or if they have, I haven't found out how yet.) To accomodate this, slots were cut in the axle mounts with a 4" angle grinder and cutting wheel.

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The front forks are also tire irons, with 1/4" steel plate for triple trees, and chopped-down training wheel mounts, doing the same trick with the slot. (Been using a LOT of cutting wheels - that 1/4" plate is tough stuff!)

Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket
Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket
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(Yah, I know, the front forks aren't gonna turn with that big plate like that. I just didn't get a picture of the bottom end cut out yet.)

Hey, starting to look like a bike now! :thumbsup:

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Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket
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Well, let's drag out one of the Cags, and see what we've got here .....

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Yup, those are tire irons in the picture, too - exactly what I used to build this little beast.

Gas tank is a stock Cag/Daytona tank, secured with a big ol' hose clamp in pure redneck style. Yup, that IS a bicycle seat! The pipe it's mounted on used to be a set of mountain bike handlebars, cut and notched to fit on the new frame, and supported by a really big nut.

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Kinda hard to believe those are the same size wheels, huh?

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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 ..... :smile:

born loser · Oct 8, 2009

you have a ton of pictures to fix.:sadcrying4:
But it sounds like a good project.:thumbsup:
I built a smallish bike from scrap and a free 3.5 Briggs and that thing goes scary-fast for me. Its alot of fun.

Get the pics fixed so i can see it.:hammer: :scooter:

:hammer:

Strigoi · Oct 8, 2009

none of the pics work.

SpyGuy · Oct 8, 2009

Sorry, boys, I blew it on the pics .... Let's try this again, this time without the commentary ...

Minibender · Oct 8, 2009

Cool I want to see a road test pic:thumbsup:
Judging by the size of your hand it will be a Kodac moment :scooter:

I always wanted to try one of those little buggers but I don't fold up that small anymore it would be an ugly crash:doah:

jeep2003 · Oct 8, 2009

how much does it weigh? nice use of normally useless wrenches. I have about 20 of those damn things laying around also

SpyGuy · Oct 8, 2009

Right now I'd say close on to 40 pounds as it sits ..... still have a little more work to do before I actually fire it up, like pegs, a few gussets, etc. The engine is coming out of a wrecked pb - that one's an empty case - and am going to use levers for both throttle and brake, mainly 'cuz I can't fit a twist-throttle over the end of those bars. (I think I kinda overdid it on the front end, kinda heavy .... solid, though.) I dropped a car lugnut into the end of each bar before welding it - I got a coffee can full of 'em at a thrift store a while back, and since I needed to fill the ends of the tire irons before welding ....

If I had to do it over again (which I actually might, using something different for the frame), I'd make it a shade longer, and set the seat right down on the frame above the rear wheel, like one of those mini-choppers in the MC section. ... make it as low as possible and still rideable. Proably use pb wheels for that one, though ...

Thanks for the comments, guys! I'll keep you updated on the build with more pictures.

Mr X · Oct 9, 2009

i like it, very clever use of materials

SpyGuy · Oct 11, 2009

Did a few more things to the bike today, wanted to share ....

Reference photo - a standard-sized license plate is 12" long:

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

Now, standing on end next to the bike:

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

Difference in wheel sizes:

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. The top of my rear frame is about level with the top of the pb's rear tire, maybe a shade lower.

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

----------------------------------------------------------------
Did some work on the bike today, not much, just some cutting, grinding, and a little welding. A shot of the front forks - I needed to make the rear of the plates more triangular so I could turn the bike easily:

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

And a shot from the front:

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

Made a minor miscalculation on the height of the lower triple tree, had it too low and it was scraping the tire. Five minutes and several cuts later :hack:, problem solved.

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

Mounted up the footpegs today - 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 handles from a fireplace set, you're right! Those rings were originally the top parts of the handles. I found a couple of bolts that threaded into the handles, then welded the bolts to the frame and screwed the handles on, along with a couple of jam nuts to keep the pegs properly set. They DO stick out a little far - look Ma, no kickstand needed! - but can still be unscrewed 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

Strigoi · Oct 11, 2009

start using the

hardleydavidsein · Oct 11, 2009

Great work. I think that qualifies as modern art!

SpyGuy · Oct 12, 2009

Strigoi said:

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:

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:

And on the bike:

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 ...

)

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.

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.

Randy · Oct 19, 2009

:thumbsup:

gunnar101 · Oct 19, 2009

sweeet:thumbsup:

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 damn, 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.

Minibender · Oct 22, 2009

Let's see a pic of it in action.:thumbsup:

SpyGuy · Oct 22, 2009

Minor problem with that ..... no one around to take a "running" picture ..... May be able to get one in another week or so, having a mini track meet at a motorcycle repair shop parking lot on the 31st.

I'm going to mess around with the brake handle a little more, see if I can get it set right so it won't twirl around the handlebar. Might have to put another one on there. I'm just surprised at the amount of power this little thing has ... that CVT pulls like a damn train.

And just so y'all know, this isn't entirely over ........ might be something else interesting coming in the next week .....

gunnar101 · Oct 22, 2009

cool what are you going to do for paint

george3 · Oct 23, 2009

What if you get a flat? all the lug wrenches are welded together. The bars look kind of kool

HEAVY METAL: The Re-Cycle

SpyGuy

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born loser

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Strigoi

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