Building Day 2

Today's mission is easy (and by easy, I mean hard). We are going to mount the engine into the bicycle frame. Usually, this is no problem since the engine comes with a mount. Unfortunately, the Moon Dog I have selected to use has a thick front mounting bar which the supplied mount does not work with. Reading online, there were some options to consider. The two solutions I found both involve drilling the frame and either using a thick spring for shock resistance or just using washers to fill the gap that will be present. I chose the latter since I could not locate a spring that would work.

I went and bought a 4" long 5/16" hex-bolt, bag of 5/16" washers and some 5/16" lock-washers and hex bolt (see a pattern here?) at Lowes/Home Depot to prepare. I also needed some kind of small plate to go where the engine would have sat had there been a smaller bar. For this, a blind door-jam worked out great and it was actually painted gray to match the engine. Score! Just drill a 5/16 hole in the center and you may have to widen the existing holes on both sides.

Now, to get everything installed, I had to drill some holes. I held the engine sitting on the rear bar while projecting where the the front bolt will have to go through the bar to mount straight. I had a friend make the bar where the holes should be drilled and sat the engine down. Make sure you don't mount it too high so the spark plug/cap will still fit. I could not get the bar drilled with the large bit right away and just gradually moved up through one size larger than 5/16" (sorry, can't remember. 3/8" maybe?).

With the hole there on the frame, we can mount the engine. Put the bolt and washers through the plate and sit it on the engine. Use the supplied metric nuts/washers on the engine bolts that were threaded through the new plate. Tighten with a torque wrench since it may be difficult to do so later. Use your bag of washers to fill the gap that is present and thread the bolt through the hole you drilled.
Use the supplied metric nuts/washers for the other side to secure the side that you did not have to modify with the mounting plate.

With the bolt going through the frame, use washers, lock washers and bolts to secure the side you modified. There are plenty of pictures that show this done more clearly than what I just wrote.

With both the engine mounted and the sproket in the wheel, The two biggest modifications to the bike are done. It feels like I'm about half-way there at this point.

Part Search 1

As I'm building, I keep realizing that I'm going to need certain things. Whenever I ride the bike as it is right now, I realize how uncomfortable the seat the bike came with is. It's as if a man-hating lesbian made the seat. The saddle portion that fits between the legs kind of juts up and crushes my man-parts. Needless to say, this had to go.
Enter the Schwinn Bench Seat. Great reviews on amazon, and no man-crushing involved!

While I was at amazon, I figured I would get a couple other things. I decided to get myself a headlight and a computer.

From what I've read, the headlight is great. Good battery life and very bright. The odometer on the other hand, doesn't always work well. From what I read, the sensors on the computer are a little finicky, but I figure I need something though and it's a cheap alternative.

I should be getting these items within a week or so. None of them are really important now, but I'll want them for sure once I start riding.

Building Day 1

So, now that I have my Moon Dog and Engine, I can start. I'm going by the directions on thatsdax.com for how to assemble their engine. The first step is to mount the rear sproket.
The first thing I do is take the rear tire off the bike frame (which I know will be a pain getting back on. The directions online explain to take one of the two gaskets and cut to go inside the wheel (between the spokes).
With the gasket cut, slide it around the axel (or whatever that is on the weel), but the other gasket on the outside of the spokes, and the sproket furthers outside. Using the bolts, flat washers and lock washers, secure the three pieces with the "half-moon" brackets furthest inside.
It may seem like what I just described was easy. believe me, it was not. It took forever to do. My gaskets were not quite lined up with the holes on the sproket or the half-moon brackets and so it took a long time to align everything. Then, after that, it was extremely difficult to tighten each bolt with the spokes in the way. The whole process took about 1 to 1.5 hours with minor scratches and abrasions on my hands. but hey, it's at least done!

Next up, I'm gonna do something that's not a standard installation step. While I have the tires off, I'm going to reinforce the wheels to try and prevent blowout. I read online that motorized bicycles are prone to blowouts and some people recommended to line the inner rim with duct tape.
I don't know how effective this will be, but it wasn't hard to do and it couldn't hurt. After that was done, I re-mounted the tires and cleaned up my tools. Took the bike for a quick ride and everything seemed to be working the way it should. That's all the sun would allow for me today. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be able to mount the engine.

Hardware Arrives

Well, I ordered my engine parts from thatsdax on June 3rd and they just arrived today. That's over a month. needless to say, I wasn't happy... until I opened that box!
Beautiful, right? Well, it's all there. I will be working on this non-stop (or at least until I screw it up...

More to come tonight.