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Eccentric

Eccentric

Mister Wizard
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
14,224
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Location
Northwestern Wyoming
I was driving through town yesterday and saw some greasy vagrant-lookin' dude (we have more than a few) shuffling along the sidewalk on his pack and bag laden bicycle. As he got past me he lifted his feet and the bike took off. I heard a deep throaty two stroke growl (that didn't sound like the weekwacker scooters the yutes around here run). I looked in the right side mirror and saw that had he had an 041 Stihl mounted on the back, and it was driving the rear wheel with a chain!!! :eek: :eek:

I couldn't look long enough to see the details of the conversion. From what I saw the powerhead looked complete. I couldn't tell what kind of chain/sprocket setup he had either. I've seen conversions like this before, but it's always involved a hacked up weedwacker, Homelite Super-2, or little old poulan/craftsman saw. Hopefully I can see him again so I can flag him down and buy him lunch and examine his ride. Got to keep the beater digital camera in the pickup...
 
Ask around!

Eccentric said:
I was driving through town yesterday and saw some greasy vagrant-lookin' dude (we have more than a few) shuffling along the sidewalk on his pack and bag laden bicycle. As he got past me he lifted his feet and the bike took off. I heard a deep throaty two stroke growl (that didn't sound like the weekwacker scooters the yutes around here run). I looked in the right side mirror and saw that had he had an 041 Stihl mounted on the back, and it was driving the rear wheel with a chain!!! :eek: :eek:

I couldn't look long enough to see the details of the conversion. From what I saw the powerhead looked complete. I couldn't tell what kind of chain/sprocket setup he had either. I've seen conversions like this before, but it's always involved a hacked up weedwacker, Homelite Super-2, or little old poulan/craftsman saw. Hopefully I can see him again so I can flag him down and buy him lunch and examine his ride. Got to keep the beater digital camera in the pickup...
Click to expand...

Odds are pretty good he's a member of this site. :hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange:
 
Some would be surprised with some of the life stories from some of the greaseballs. Just my guess, but would say that most are were they are out of choice. Some are social dropouts, just trusted with more life - load then they thought they could bare.

When I worked in aviation , getting off work mid-morning , Denver's old airport drew a lot of transients. Giving a few of them rides, (I drove about 90 miles of inner-state everyday) I would have to say that my life is richer for having meet a few, very interesting , some brilliant people.
 
I attemted something similar when I was about 10 with a old Homelite and a Huffy. Too bad I didn't have the knowledge or skill back then. Hmmmmmm.........Husky...Huffy...:monkey:
 
I have tried when I was younger hahaha. To get the best results with this type of project you need to figure out how many rpms the foot power can produce and try to match that in your final drive. I would have to say a gear reducer is almost mandatory because of the high rpms of the crank on the chainsaw. I don't know the exact math but I would say you could maybe pedal 3-400rpms (estimate) in a middle gear so your chainsaws final drive would need to be reduced to about 300rpm and that is to the front of let's say a 12 speed bike with that setup you would have the 12 speeds to get everything moving properly and keep the engine in the right rpm range to get the most torque and horsepower from the engine but after all the work it would take, I would say maybe a couple of weeks of fabrication and trial and error you could buy a used motorcycle for pretty darn close to the same price and have 10 times the performance, but I am up to the challenge only if someone else wants to try too. I think if you get the parts from the dump and get the chainsaw engine running cheap you could pull it off for about say 1-300 bucks. I am just going on what I think is right at the moment but I think a chainsaw powered bike could be very fast and efficient if done right.
 
Saw one once that was a small mac running a roller that rode on the top of the back tire. Bike was still pedal operated, kick into gear at speed, really flew........
 
PWB said:
Saw one once that was a small mac running a roller that rode on the top of the back tire. Bike was still pedal operated, kick into gear at speed, really flew........
Click to expand...

That would have to be the simplest and most reliable set up. Just have a lever that raises or lowers the motor carriage on to the wheel.
 
with a chain drive i think yould need a very large rear sprocket to get the motor up on the pipe , or a jack shaft setup with the right gearing. thats why they use the friction drive. small rubber spindle driving a large bicycle tire.
 
ShoerFast said:
Some would be surprised with some of the life stories from some of the greaseballs. Just my guess, but would say that most are were they are out of choice. Some are social dropouts, just trusted with more life - load then they thought they could bare..................
Click to expand...

The smartest man I ever knew was a "grease ball" He was a true tool and die maker that worked for free. He saw no need for wealth. If someone paid him that was fine but he never charged a penny. He was taken advantage of by some but most appeciated his wisdom. I grew up listening to his stories and trying to learn as much as I could. The truly sad part is he died quietly a few years. His death passed by quietly as he had not been able to help anyone in a few years. It went along with the old saying "what have you done for me lately". After he passed on the final kick in the shorts was his machine shop sits unused and falling apart while his fathers art work that he saved for 85 years sold for over $500,000. The profits went to another "grease ball" that lived with him the last few years. Please remember not to judge a book by it's cover

Bill
 
Bill G said:
Please remember not to judge a book by it's cover

Bill
Click to expand...
Truer words have never been spoken.


That friction drive contraption that ran a bicycle was called "Chicken power".I think it was made by McCulloch and was advertised as having the equivalent power of a mildly excited hen ,flapping her wings.

A 4 HP chainsaw engine would make a bicycle fly.I had a 2.5HP Briggs on a bicycle frame with go kart tires that would cruise all day at 24 miles per hour,getting roughly 100 miles per gallon.In 1963 it took 7 cents worth of regular or 9 cents worth of high test to fill it up.:hmm3grin2orange:
 
When I was a kid all we ever wanted was the SOLEX engine on the back or front of the bike... has an abrasive type wheel that contacted the tire rubber - could get about 15 mph on a good day...

If you were really rich (as a kid) you could buy the entire VeloSolex motorized Bicycle...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solex
 
Last edited:
Figures , a bum with a Stihl, we all know he won't be going very far.

Should have had a Husky on it ...:rock:
 

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