Drive Wheel Clearance

This fork was made according to plans. But the plans didn't take into consideration putting a wheel in there with a drive-ring on it for a GEBE engine. I thought I had about 1/4" clearance, but it turns out that I only have 3/16" clearance between the drive-ring and the fork. So, it is workable ... provided nothing goes wrong. I think that next time I will make the front end of the fork about an inch wider than called for in the plans. That would give an extra 1/2" on each side.

Maybe that is too much. Perhaps only 1/2" wider at the front ... giving an extra 1/4" on each side. ( 1/4 + 3/16 = 7/16") That sounds better now that I think about it ... don't want to make it too wide if you are mounting a "V"-brake on the rear wheel (what with posts and all that).

Engine-Frame Problems

I got in this nice 2-stroke, single-cyclinder motor from Bob at BlueCollarBikes. The first problem I noticed was that the diameter of the front tube was too large ... so the bolts wouldn't slip around it and there would be problems bolting the engine to the front tube.

The seat tube was okay to bolt the rear of the engine to ... but it doesn't look like I will be able to attach the carburetor to the engine (see that little tube touching the top bar? That's where the carb attaches.) ... just not enough room inside the frame.

There is this old Peugeot sitting around ... and the frame tubes are the right diameters ... and the engine will fit inside the frame (complete with carburetor) ... but for some reason the pedals don't have enough spread between them (which means they will hit the case ...) and not go all the way around. I've got emails out (to motor bike aficionados) looking for solutions to these problems. Maybe I'll have to go to the flea-market and buy an old single-speed bike ...