Kimjon

Playing around with the proportions. I want to pay homage to the original, by keeping the look it had. I've seen some homemade variants of these using gravity fed fuel tanks stuck on top in the past that just kinda miss the mark style wise. It's a fine line getting something proportionately correct...fingers crossed it will look the part when finished?

Welded up the engine mount: Then fitted this to the frame And finally popped the motor on for and overall first impression. So far, so good.

So onto the build: Engine will be a pocket bike 49cc motor. I have a few of these now, parts are cheap and easy to get and they're pretty good motors for the money. I started by cutting up the pivot mount, just visible behind the wheel. Then I cut the engine mount out of the donor pocket bike also purchased from trademe for $30. I brought the pocket bike for the motor, but the extra bits like this also come in handy and can save a lot of work.

Anyone with a keen eye will notice a few parts are missing, but for $23.50 what do you expect? However I see this as an opportunity to improve a few things that the original design didn't quite get right. 1) The original was only 22.5cc, it still did 20mph...but there's room for improvement. 2) The original had a tension cable that moved the motor directly onto the rear wheel, where a knurled friction drive would make contact with the rear tyre to drive it. This system wears out tyres, and slips in the wet. I'm going to look at a chain drive alternative. Those are the main improvements I'll be looking to address, other stuff is just for fun.

Fast forward about 40 years and unfortunately I still can't justify/afford to rock up to a shop and buy a brand new one, however this fabulous opportunity presented itself on trademe. Now I know what you're thinking, but sadly I had to pay extra for the coffee cup...it wasn't included in the $23.50 I paid for it.

Hard act to follow @Muncie with a fucking V-twin on a goped!!!, but if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...then this is my lame arse attempt. So, ever since I was a kid I've wanted one of these It was called the "Bigfoot" and to a little boy growing up on a bush block with no concrete within about 5km, it appealed to me as something I could rip around the gravel driveway on. However the excessive price tag ment it stayed a dream, as I never got one (rightfully so, these things were something like $1500 to buy in NZ during the 1980's).

Cool, its yours. Pm me for details

I put this side, but never found a use for it... if it's of use to you, you're welcome to have it?

Goes good eh! Gotta be happy with that result.

Badass!!!

Then tidy it up and paint: And finally learn to ride it, which was way easier than expected... Now off to save the world!!!

The two bikes although the same brand were different sizes, so I had to remove about 15mm from the frame on all three sides: Then tack it together to check alignment: Yep, rough enough!

After finishing the drift trike, I needed a quick and achievable project to take on for an easy win. Talking to an avid cyclist friend of mine, he casually asked if I'd heard of "tall bikes save the world"? "WTF are you on about", was my reply! But when home I googled it and then couldn't stop thinking about it...so:

Carburetor turned up...it's huge! Going to have to rethink this, probably have to make up a long runner/manifold to reposition it, as there's no room where the current one is.

Hurry up and finish it...I'm keen for a race

Okay, you've probably seen this link...but just in case: It sat in the corner (to borrow my best friends quote) next to the electronic keyboard and the karate suit for a while. Then one morning I woke up and thought fuck it - and rode it down the road about 3km and back. Man it was fun, such a unique ride, so much fun with smiles from ear to ear and average speed of 75kph. Since then I've ordered a much bigger Miukni carburetor off eBay, waiting on delivery, should be an improvement Kj

Cool, looks fun

@Muncie what size motor were the carbs off?

Here's the wiring diagram I also put a couple bypass switches in so I can manually override each fan separately if I suspect my vehicle might enter "a state of sustained loss of traction" where the engine may get hot, I can manually turn the fans on prior to giving it some jandal!

I fitted a (either EA or AU, can't remember) ford falcon fan to mine. Apparently they are the shizzle when it comes to electric fans, pumping out twice the air anything Repco would sell you. I had to cut it up a bit to make it fit, but got there in the end.

I haven't specifically tried that one, be interested to hear how it works out for you? On a goped, I once drilled out the main bore to the next size up right through the carb, manifold and cylinder head. It was quiet successful, but that style of carburetor has high and low adjustments for fuel mix ratios...so they are easy to tune.

Motor does just under 9000rpm...cheap Chinese rev counter was wrong. I put reflective tape on flywheel and clocked it with a laser. Slightly relieved, as the numbers just weren't adding up before.

Hi Pete Glad you like it, as I felt bad cutting it up to begin with, but I had a vision (and an angle grinder plus welder ). I've had it up to 70kph, but it hits the wall about there and won't go any faster. The carb is running super rich, and I'm going to have to double check revs, but my tacho says I'm only getting 3500 under load (its possible im on wrong setting, but don't think so???, well that's if the Chinese to English translation is correct in the manual???). My gearing is much taller than yours was, so I think it's a combination of high gears and bad tuning...but fuck it, going to run it like that and worry about fixing issues another day. Cheers Kim

One last photo, in all its sexiness Kj

I've had it up and down the road a few times now...goes good! Still has more in it, as the tune isn't perfect yet (far from) and a bigger carburetor would be ideal...but I'm smiling :-). I even had time to tie and solder the spokes (a bit rough) And make a safety guard for the cvt driven pulley, just in case it brakes free of the motor. That should do it for now.