Snowbike pics II
Posted 11-05-2010 at 08:46 PM by rb550four
This is what the snowbike looks like today. It's not finished yet but, I'm hoping to be riding a Honda 550 four on the ice this December. The beginnings of this build is under my snowbike blog. I'd be interested to know what other riders think. I'm a big boy so if you hate it,I can take it but I'd like to know why ,perhaps I can make modifications that would improve this machine in some way,so don't be bashful.
This is the only ride that I could think of where I can go totally Gonzo and not be ticketed or fear other traffic , and this means I can ride in upstate N.Y. all year long!
Total Comments 29
Comments
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You are not right, in a good way.
Headllight seems pointed too far up. Clearance issues?
You going to paint the thing one color?
Does it have brakes?Posted 11-06-2010 at 05:54 AM by HondaJim 
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Honda Jim,you are right ,the headlight is pointed in an up position,after I finish wiring I'll make a headlight mount that will allow clearance for adjustment. As for the paint, I just shot on what was left over from another bike, I could use some inspiration,what do you think would be decent color choice? I'm open to suggestions.
I'm hoping to have the skidoo disc brakes mounted on the same custom intermediate driveshaft that will incorporate both chain drives at the original position of the battery, fuse panel and other electric stuff. I may have to minimize the rotor size for clearance and run the risk of cooking the first one to see how it works.there is a thought of dual disks should plan A fail.
And really ,my entire stable's colors came from the same pallet and I could use some fresh ideas. What do you have in mind?Posted 11-06-2010 at 04:35 PM by rb550four 
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Well, since it's in the snow I wouldn't paint it white! I think it would look good if the bike and the frame were all the same color. Either all red, or better yet, all yellow.
Posted 11-08-2010 at 02:41 PM by HondaJim
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HJ ,yeah white would look cool in a showroom but hard to find outside.I'm thinking that I may leave the color alone until the maiden voyage and rigorous testing is through (so I can reweld the broken spots and make changes). Your idea about either red or yellow got me to thinkin, orange. Some nice, nonmetalflake I'm lookin for attention general Lee type of bright orange? Or is that a little much? It can wait till spring I suppose...plenty of time. Got some gears hooked up tonight and realized the gearing will have to change..1 revolution on the drive gear @ tranny= 1 foot of track movement.The cycle wheel travels just less than 4 ft on the same rev.,I'm thinkin torque up the wazoo but low top end, and that will have to change. No sense to putting NOS on a machine that has a low top end speed ya know.Just don't know how much change until maiden run.Not sure about studded track yet,have to see how it handles.
Posted 11-10-2010 at 07:39 PM by rb550four
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Okay, so I went to the snowmobile parts store,no luck finding a double sprocket or chain for the old snowmobile part of snowbike,I was wanting to regear the drive so I could get more top end speed.But,this is also my honda headquarters,and the suggestion was made to change the honda drive gears,good call.I was running a 17 to 17 tooth one to one set up there ,and turns out there are 15 and 18 tooth sprockets available. This sounds like a good start , ordered them and chain tentioners.Feelin better about all this, it may even work.The ignition switch came in today,drilled a new mount hole under the seat in the diamond plate box connected the wires the way they were on a junk 550 I have laying around as I have no wiring diagram for a 5 wire set up the 78 550 k requires.
hooked up the battery and only have headlight WTF ? nothing else? no smoking or sparking wires to tell me that something is hooked in wrong? Then it occurred to me , perhaps that junked bike was junked because they connected the wires on that ignition wrong, shit like this happens all the time. So I'm expecting to go through the wires again,PITA but has to be done. There is one wire I suspect to be a ground in the new key switch, perhaps we'll fool around with that first as I was satisfied with the harness last week.Maybe that'll work,wouldn't it be nice if it was all that simple?Posted 11-13-2010 at 06:20 PM by rb550four
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You know I've been thinking that a honda 750 may have had a 5 pin switch one in the center and 2 stacked on each side. I'm thinking ....
Posted 11-13-2010 at 06:26 PM by rb550four
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You know, sometimes I forget that motorcycles aren't magic ,they are machines and not that hard to figure out.so I put the switch terminals on a multimeter to find the2 sets of pins that complete one circuit and then the other pair that do the same ,the last is the ground...DUH. plug in the red to black ,the brown to brown and the last goes to ground. Another panic over nothing ....dumbass. Anyways , the points are all lit up so they can be timed tonight and the rest of the switches get checked one by one. Even still, the magic that are motorcycles can override my mechanical good sense.Maybe they really are magic.
Posted 11-15-2010 at 12:29 PM by rb550four
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IIIITTTT'S AAAAAALIVE !!
Posted 11-15-2010 at 08:55 PM by rb550four
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The fresh engine seems to be running right. Gears are on the way from wherever it is that gears come from, so I 'm poking around the switches and stuff ...blinkers, I don't need no stinkin blinkers. Don't need no stinkin horn,mirrors,or brakelights either. But I did put on a taillight and some little bullet shaped marker lights just for fun,adjusted the headlight and started to enclose the battery/wiring box under the seat so's it don't get packed full of snow. Just some piddly stuff to keep busy with while I wait for gears. Maybe I should go and paint the house or something.
Posted 11-17-2010 at 08:42 PM by rb550four
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Okay, so I'm a little antzy,so I started to paint the fireplace room last night.The UPS guy shows up with the gears today,great! I wonder if UPS guys like to paint.
Posted 11-18-2010 at 07:32 PM by rb550four
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Spackle,sand, bleach the trim ,sand the trim,painters caulk the trim....with those new gears out in the shop, this painting crap seems to be dragging on forever. I have a machine to finish!
My wife has been a real sport about all of this stuff so I'm going to finish the house up first, then finish the bike,and that will keep her happy. She calls the motorcycles my mistress'.She knows where I am and it keeps me out of trouble,wouldn't want to jepordize that way of thinking.Posted 11-19-2010 at 02:53 PM by rb550four
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So I finished the room and ran out to the shop to set up the new gears and solidly mount the power transfer.
when I ordered the gears I also ordered some chain tentioners but they turned out to be too small for this application,theywere1 1/2" and what was needed was 75mm. after much fooling around with spring loading a custom set up, on the shelf was a pair of roller blades and.....you guessed it,the bearings are good and the wheel size is perfect and it's the hockey line so it should wear well.yeah , it's on the machine.Posted 11-23-2010 at 06:30 AM by rb550four
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Made a run to the local machineshop today so I could get thepower tranfer driveshaft turned and fitted to accept the new 14 tooth drive gear. Cliff the machinist says he may have it done by tomorrow,excellent! There is no ice on pond, so there may be some waiting time on the maiden voyage. This leaves some time to check and recheck,it'll all have to be right cause we're gonna run it with no brakes.Smart huh?perhaps they'll be enough time before the big freeze that I 'll figure some brakes out.
This machine is sort of a semi chopped design and i'm already thinking of improvements that can be made on the next machine.yup ,thinkin 550 cafe style lowride,track on an altered swing arm,or maybe a hardtail with the track moved forward,clubman bars,short forks...Posted 11-23-2010 at 08:11 PM by rb550four
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Clifford the machinist is a good man,he called at 2 and told me he's putting on the finishing touches to the gears and shaft,balancing ,I guess. But as luck would have it the 15 windows that I ordered for my house 12 weeks ago shows up in the driveway at 8 this morning and winter is late in coming so I'm peddling as fast as I can to get them installed and won't be able to get to the gears after thanksgiving weekend.
Posted 11-24-2010 at 07:46 PM by rb550four
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It's 7 o'clock and all the windows are finished , loaded the truck with all the tools and if I can muster up some ambition maybe I can get that gear drive together.Yeah, Cliff the machinist called and his work is done, so I picked it up and have been thinking about ever since.
Posted 11-29-2010 at 04:04 PM by rb550four
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I would like to say that the gears are done, instead, my local tow truck man said 5 years ago he was called to a crash, rider was fine, asked if I would like a wrecked '99 Suzuki 250 with 850 miles on it for free. Don't know what that may turn into, fiddled with it a bit, runs alright. maybe a suzuki powered ridin mower for next spring? Gears tomorrow.
Posted 11-30-2010 at 05:14 PM by rb550four
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Tonight I'm sayin that the gears are done.Secondary drive case has been filled with oil.It all looks like it should work. Next it's grease the fittings and and set the seat,install new balljoints and make a steering rod , tighten up the track... and we may be getting a start on some ice the end of this week or next. Just in time for a December ride.
Posted 12-01-2010 at 06:06 PM by rb550four
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Set the seat last night, picked up a couple 12mm x125 dies and some rod to make the steering rod that doesn't come in the size I need, new balljoints are sitting on the bench waitin for me to make the rod. That all may happen tomorrow. It's getting damn cold outside so we may be seeing some ice form on the pond (wish summer was coming instead).
Posted 12-04-2010 at 07:47 PM by rb550four
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I've been working outdoors for the past week, and it's damn cold out there! So cold , that I can't seem to get my ass off the sofa and get out to the garage. The pond seems to be freezing ,maybe an inch, not ready yet. So there should be time to finish the machine and still get a ride in December.
Posted 12-09-2010 at 11:25 AM by rb550four
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The track has been tightened,greased, steering rod made and steering rod ball joints have been installed.I thinking that this machine is about as ready as it'll get for the maiden voyage. Any other finer points will have to come later if I decide that it was a worthwhile project overall. I've been thinking about other ways to produce this type of thing as a less invasive kit for other machines,bolt on type attachments that require no welding( because I suck at it and I'm sure others do too, and especially,the ability to return the machine back to stock condition, that's really important). The pond is still freezing over and not close to being able to handle this machine's weight yet.The guys at Poor Boyz are You Tubing the first run,if I survive it ,I 'll let you know where to find it.
Posted 12-11-2010 at 11:42 AM by rb550four
