Another Noob....

[fireplug]

Hello to all,

I'm Rick from SE Ohio, a suburb of West Virginia. Retired fire marshal, avid Harley enthusiast, scuba diver, sprint car fan and gearhead.

I'm about half way into building a BSR. A friend gave me a Predator offset kart frame. We shortened the wheelbase up about 6" and cut down a barstool for a lower cg. Originally had a Briggs 5 horse but switched over to a Honda clone from Harbor Freight. Using a 12" steering wheel and foot controls. Using a Nomar centrifigal clutch, rear disc brake, K&N style air filter, header, ditched the OEM air cleaner and fuel tank. Gathering parts to weld up an aluminum fuel cell. Don't envision doing wheelies and spins, merely wanting something to putt around on at the dirt track. Envision a rear wing/backrest combo with a hidden compartment for a small cooler possibly. I think it will go well with my Stihl gas powered blender!!! :cheers:

[old kid]

sounds good , post some pic's when you get done mixing that smoothie!! :cheers:

[fireplug]

Since last espisode, I've finally gotten some 4.5" schedule 40 aluminum pipe, 2' scrap piece from a local metal supply house for a fuel cell ala mooneyes tank style. Also got weld on aluminum neck and cap, weld in bung for 1/8" npt, adapter to 1/4" barb for kart fuel line, all from chassisshop.com. Just now ordered -3 AN fittings on 24" braided stainless lines and fittings for the brake set up. Just need to finish up some welding, prefinal assembly and test run in, then tear down, paint and reassembly. :thumb:

Just need time, precious time, to get everything done.... Trying to work this in between scuba diving, dirt track racing, work, wife, boston terrier wrangling, get a nap.... :couch:

[c.schulz]

MUST HAVE PICS. But sounds like a great project.


Chris

[fireplug]

Well, here we are so far. As mentioned previously, I used a Predator racing frame and it loves to turn left but not so much to the right!!! Doing lots of bench engineering to figure out how to help that. The left wheel was against the frame at full right lock so we put spacers on the spindle behind the wheel. Now the spindle itself is limited out against the axle.

So far I've had it up to 20-25 mph, and still having trouble with dry mouth from all the grinnin'!!! The pop bottle on the stool leg is the temporary fuel tank. The pulse pump on the engine does a great job of pulling fuel up into the motor and it will do okay until we get the aluminum fuel cell welded up. Anyhow, we're wanting to get some miles on it to get the bugs worked out and then disassemble it for paint. Having a blast so far!!!

[c.schulz]

That is kick ass!! Keep us posted.


Chris

[Heff]

Looks great Fireplug. Hey, is that stihl blender a home made? I`d like to build one but have`nt seen a good plan. Heff

[fireplug]

Yes, like about everything else I do, with a little help from my friends.... I pulled my Stihl FS76 weedeater out a few years ago to start spring weedwacking, fired it up, it ran about 3 minutes and locked up. Took it to my local Stihl mechanic who confirmed it was, indeed, locked up. He asked if I had put in fresh fuel or at least shook up the old fuel before start up. I sheepishly admitted no to both. He said that the oil and gas had seperated over the winter and without the proper mix, bingo, disaster!!! Anyhow, it was ten years old so I bought a new one. I got thinking about it later and my mechanic said it could be rebuilt with a new piston and rings and a clean up on the jug. I then got talking to my pipefitter and welder buddies. The hardest thing was cutting the face off of the motor flat so it would fit on the frame we welded up out of aluminum flat scrap pieces. You need to use an Oster jar as it has the metal female drive. The Stihl takes a piece of 1/4" square stock as a drive shaft. The collar that the jar sits it was machined out of a piece of aluminum pipe. Another buddy donated an old puke can from his drag car for a fuel cell. We reused the Stihl throttle and kill switch handle mounted on a piece of steel pipe the proper size. I added a K&N air filter, given away as a key fob, a fake nitrous kit, some bogus piping, wiring and switches and VIOLA!!!, The Life of The Party was born. I have had numerous offers to sell it. I love to fire it up and watch the heads turn at the neighboring campers when we go to Eldora Speedway for a weekend of racing. Every gearhead around wants to see it up close. I have went an entire weekend without spending any food money by trading margaritas for wings, brats, etc. I think that anyone with a little imagination, talent or friends with talent, can put one together. It's totally fun!!! :thumb:

[Heff]

Nice web page fireplug! Love those Harley pics. That blender is sweet! I`ve got a couple of Harleys myself. `04 Fatboy and my first a `95 Lowrider. Heff

[fireplug]

That's my first Harley on the webpage. It was a 1996 FLHRI Road King in States Blue Pearl. I put 60,000 miles on her in 11 years. Had it in something like 19 states. 3 Daytona Bike Weeks, 2 times at Sturgis. Lots of running around Ohio and West Virginia. I traded it in for a 2007 Screamin' Eagle Ultra in blue. I've only put 15,000 miles on it after I discovered scuba diving late in 2007.

Therein lies the problem, too many toys, now enough time!!!

[fireplug]

Finally got the minute to get some more pics on here. Note the vice grips on the disc brake for my poor man's parking brake and the pop bottle taped to the bar stool leg for a temporary fuel cell. The pulse pump sucks the fuel up the fuel line by simply pulling on the starter rope.

From our test runs we had to replace the springs in the centrifical clutch with heavier springs so the clutch would lock up at a higher rpm and not clatter. I've had it up 20 to 25 mph and am amazed!!! Waiting on my buddy to get the aluminum fuel cell welded up, hopefully yet this week. Another friend is fabbing a front bumper to protect my feet and we're going to come up with a wing mount on the rear. Plan is to hide a cooler inside the wing for a 6 pack of adult beverages. I'm not really thinking wheelie bars as the combination of a longer wheelbase and my 270 lbs. will probably keep all 4 on the ground!!!

Viva La Barstoolio!!!

[fireplug]

We're still in construction mode. Got the front bumper made, waiting on my aluminum welding buddy to get the fuel cell done. Got measurements, parts on the shelf, just gotta get the time to get it done. Another friend offered to donate an old pint of Bahama Blue paint, just have to figure out what activator to use with it. So, hopefully, not too much longer and we'll be ready to tear down, sandblast, paint and reassemble!!! Starting to loose patience!!!

:hot:

[fireplug]

That's right...we're still in wait mode. I retired once and this work stuff still gets in the way of having fun!!! Hopefully not too much longer and we'll have this bad mofo on the asphalt. Starting to lay out plans for my next project, a golf cart with a sprint car theme. Want to do a top wing, nose wing and biggies rear and little fronts. I know it's kind of off the website's intent but anybody with experience on what kind of cart to buy or stay away from, drop me a line. Thanks much.

[Heff]

Hey Fireplug, I`m looking at building a lifted golf cart.I can get a 89 Yamaha in great running cond. for $900 but it seems a little high in price???? I mean it`s 20 years old.Heff

[Hardware]

Lots of Golf cart info here:

www.buggiesgonewild.com (http://www.buggiesgonewild.com)

another great forum.

--Jim