It's ALIVE!!! (Twin Star video)

[orange4boy]

Nice ride. Will be living vicariously as the auranthetics are off the road for the winter.

I love simple fixes. Motorbike...$100. Profiting off other peoples mechanical ignorance...Priceless

[Christ]

Originally Posted by orange4boy

Nice ride. Will be living vicariously as the auranthetics are off the road for the winter.

Thanks to you, my friend, I'm doing some EOC in the minivan. I suppose I can let you life-leech off my bike, in return! :P

Keep in mind, that I won't be able to do much on it this Winter, until I can get everything (legally) sorted out on it. Unfortunately, the kid I bought it from hasn't returned my calls as far as getting a title for it, so I'll end up having to go another route, which really kills any plans of riding it legally on the warmer days of Winter and into Spring.

Meanwhile, I'll just work on it as I have the gumption to do something, and when my Son allows me to have a free minute while the Wife is at school.

[orange4boy]

Life-leech. Have to add that to my resume. heh.

Better watch out. I'm getting addicted to EOC. It has gotten to the point where having the engine on just feels wrong.

[Christ]

That's how I am in the wife's Saturn. Of course, I know that running the engine in her car is wrong, since it's so far out of spec and something's not working correctly. I just run the hell out of it for a few seconds, and turn it off whenever possible.

[MadisonMPG]

I had a Ford Aerostar van, best human/cargo transport van EVER.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by MadisonMPG

I had a Ford Aerostar van, best human/cargo transport van EVER.

Until you put a 440 with a 6 pack in the back of one. Then, you can't carry crap. The firewall ends up at the back of the front seats, so that doesn't leave much room for anything.

I wish I could have driven that van... too bad it wasn't mine.

[Tygen1]

No joy on the 12v stator for that bike. I just don't have anything that matches up... You might try a CM400 from that same era, but I doubt it will be cost effective...
If it's Eco-Motor Cycling your after, then there are some better options out there. Smaller, lighter, narrower tires. Think 90cc horizontal with a step-over pressed steel frame. Get's 90mpg with the throttle pined. There are some nice chinese engine options that can take them up to 140cc and greater HP potential than your 185. Just some thoughts...

[Christ]

Originally Posted by Tygen1

No joy on the 12v stator for that bike. I just don't have anything that matches up... You might try a CM400 from that same era, but I doubt it will be cost effective...
If it's Eco-Motor Cycling your after, then there are some better options out there. Smaller, lighter, narrower tires. Think 90cc horizontal with a step-over pressed steel frame. Get's 90mpg with the throttle pined. There are some nice chinese engine options that can take them up to 140cc and greater HP potential than your 185. Just some thoughts...

Ok, let's focus more on upping the output of the 6V system, then. Can we work on that?

I really want to play around w/ the 185 a bit to get my small engine fingers about me before I go really moving on to anything else. I'm almost certain based on past experience with other motors that there is just ALOT of efficiency to be unlocked with this engine, and I've seen reports of 75-80MPG with careful operation, although EPA estimates it in the mid-late 60's.

I'm thinking with some gear changes, aero enhancements, and a few engine tweaks, I can probably see 90's or quite possibly 100's with it, for very little invested, and still have a decent commutah! with some old skool style to boot. The tires on it are about as thin as they come, too... they're only 3.60/16 on the back and I think 3.40/17 on the front.

While working on this bike, I'm going to focus on lightening it up (like it needs it) and tuning the motor for better low-speed grunt (it can handle 30 in 4th gear already. I can almost take off/accelerate from 2nd to 3rd with a 2-step takeoff.)

I want to be able to carry a small load with it without it feeling like I'm back on a pedal bike again, handle decently (a function of the rider, mostly), and still be smooth and efficient. I'm sure there are bikes that could do this, but not for what I paid for this one... and the resale value on a restored one just isn't high enough to warrant reselling to get something else, especially now that I have to "get a title" for it. Damn kids...

[Christ]

Can I use a Lithium variant battery on this bike?

I can fit a 1" x 3.5" x 7" pack under the seat, but I'm worried that the alternator won't be able to charge the battery properly... I'm hoping for 2x6V 1" x 3.5" x 3.5", so I can wire them in parallel for now, then in series to make 12V once I've gotten the upgrade parts.

Any idea anyone?

Also - I've found joy in my title search, and it's not going to cost me an arm and a leg!

[jjackstone]

Christ,

Just finished reading through this post. Possibly I missed the reason you wanted to bring this up to a 12 volt system. Was that just to be able to use standard automotive LED's? Also you'd obviously need to toss in a 12 Volt headlight. If you measured the output of your rectifier and it is as high as 8 volts, then the system is probably charging properly.

I bought my wife a cm200t about 18 years ago to learn on and that bike regularly returned 70 mpg with no mods. Now she's riding a Honda 650 that still gets her around 50-60 mpg.

As far as the lithium idea goes, probably not a good one. Lithium cells in general need to be charged within a specific range depending on their particular type of chemical makeup. Some like being charged a little above 4V(per cell), some prefer around 3.6V/cell. A standard charger would probably toast them. However, you might just disconnect the whole charging system, use a couple of Dewalt 36V batteries paralleled up, get a DC to DC converter to step back down to 12 volts and then pull the batteries to charge them in the standard Dewalt charger. Just another possibility.
JJ