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Stu has given us a comprehensive view of his bike creation, and I’ve enjoyed it.

Inspired by Mike Wickiser and Stu, I went to www.BikeBerry.com and ordered up a "Men’s Stealth Beach Cruiser” and a “66/80cc Flying Horse Silver Angle Fire Bicycle Engine." The two came as a do-it-yourself assembly kit.

I toted the kits to the basement and began work. BikeBerry’s site has a lot of informative videos and I needed them. After lots of frustration I emerged at the end with a bike that runs!

The bike has a dry weight of 55 pounds (23 front, 32 rear, as measured on the bathroom scale), which made it an awkward carry back up the stairs from the basement.

The engine runs a bit ragged now, but I am told that this is normal for a new engine. Mike confirms this.

I took a few rides up and down the block, decided that it was in running order, and off to the Library. The bike was admired by several regular biker library patrons. So all can observe and admire, here are a couple of pictures.






I intend no measuring, except for maybe some experimental stuff. The Upper Arlington 5 Mile course is handy by, and I've measured it several times. The race started back in 1982, and I got around to measuring it in 1984. It’s originally certified as OH 84001PR, and was cosigned by Ted Corbitt, as I was still a baby measurer then. It was recertified as OH06001PR with no changes. When the weather gets better I hope to do it again. Good course - lots of turns, and a nice uphill and downhill.

It's been used every year since 1982 on Memorial Day.

I got the bike because I'd rather ride this way than pedal. It's fun.The library is a mile away and the Post Office is 1.5 miles away, with a hill on the way back. I hit each destination 3 to 4 times per week. My old bike is a 27 inch frame, and built for efficient (hunched over) pedaling. With the new bike I can stay in the seat and put both feet on the ground, and the upright posture is great, especially with the cushy tires and fatass sprung seat.
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Two steps forward, one step back.

Upon completion of the assembly of the bike, I noticed that the kill switch was balky. It wouldn’t turn off the engine except when given repeated energetic pushes, and sometimes I had to apply the brake and release the clutch, which stalled the engine. Messy but it worked.

After repeated rides up and down Kirkham Road, and one trip to the library, I noticed that the engine was not responding well when full throttle was briefly applied. The spark plug was oily too. I decided that the carburetion gas mix was too rich and I reset the needle valve to a position one notch leaner. This produced much better performance.

I was riding up and down reveling in the improved performance when I saw friend Rick walking his dog. I pulled up, killed the engine with a firm push of the kill switch, and had a chat with Rick. After the conversation was over I pedaled away, and popped the clutch. No response. Repeated tries to start the engine have all failed.

I must admit to a bit of disappointment. I had thought I was on my way, but instead am dead in the water.

What’s next?

1) Redo all the wiring connections with soldered joints. The push-on connectors supplied with the kit are lame. When the kill switch is disconnected, check it with the multimeter to see whether it connects and disconnects.

2) Temporarily replace the kill switch with a solid wire. If the bike runs, buy and install a new but different kill switch.

I’m glad it’s winter, as my former sense of urgency has died down. The bike is in the cold garage, and the various delays have given me a sense of what’s going on.
Yesterday I did what Stu suggested. I wired up the engine omitting the kill switch. It fired up nicely and ran well for a couple of passes up and down Kirkham Road.

Emboldened, I set off for the Library. At about 1/2 mile out the engine died and I was unsuccessful in getting it restarted.

So I hiked up the seat a bit and pedaled home. The pedaling was easy. At one point I was making a u-turn on a side street, just scootering the bike with one foot down, and I fell over sideways, gaining a couple of sore ribs.

I admit to some discouragement, and intend to back off for a few days.

Maybe the next step should be to put the fuel mix back where it was.

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