in the transition to a new, much more amazing, frame for the derbi, it was time to case match and do some porting. i didn’t feel like splitting the cases and doing a full rebuild. to avoid aluminum shavings all up in my crank and bearings i used some play dough and plastic wrap. obvserve…
step 1: use the new base gasket to mark the material you want to take away.
step 2: cut a piece of plastic wrap to fit inside the crankcase sleeve. poke a hole for the conrod and slide it in. the plastic wrap makes it easy to pull all the play dough out in one swoop.
step 3: play dough time! mash it in and make sure there aren’t any cracks.
step 4. grind away. a huge part of successful case matching is making sure you have the right bits. my favorite for aluminum are dremel’s high speed cutting bits. i like to use the largest cylinder one they make (aluminum melts at it’s hands), and a smaller cone shaped one to smooth in the rounded bits.
then i clean up and smooth out with a cone shaped stone bit. finished product!
step 5: clean up time. i used some of the left over play dough to dab at the aluminum shavings so i didn’t have a bunch of floating chunks lying around when i took the play dough out. after that just dig around the edges and grab ahold of the plastic wrap and pull everything out. i did a quick spray of brake parts cleaner just to be sure i got everything out. annnd ship shape!
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Tags: case matching, derbi, metrakit, pyramid reed, race bike
SEIZETOWN and a new pipe
in a partial trade for the tsm, ben from switcHANDsignal sent me a new derbi metrakit pipe. i had a feeling the 75cc zen was holding me back, and HOLY CRAP was i right. the bike was entirely transformed. easy wheelie torque and a ton more top end (8+ mph). the zen pipe was just waaay too big for the 65cc kit. lesson learned. here are some comparison photos.
zen on top, metrakit on bottom. smaller/longer header for this setup = MOAR POWAR
EXTREME LENGTH
so it also turns out i was a bit lean running the new pipe. i was riding over to nates to weld up an exhaust mount (more on that later) and was taking it easy…but couldn’t resist the power and opened it up. sure enough, after about 30 seconds it locked up into a 45′ skid. i coasted it to nates garage and took the head off to find this.
what’s with the exhaust port arrow pointing sideways? anyone know?
little/no damage! there was no feelable damage on the cylinder wall and the rings were fine. i’ve never seized a bike before this kit, and i’ve gotten off easy with this one so far. at nates i upjetted 5 sizes, added a gnarly pitbike air filter, and took off for a cold ride with some bandits down the ohio river. turns out i didn’t upjet enough though. i was cruising along and nate passed me on his 50+ morini powered pacer, so i opened it up to pass him back. right after i pulled by him i locked up into another, more terrifying seize skid that had my rear tire swerving all over and smoking. i let it cool down again for a couple minutes and it fired right back up fine. i’ve got to upjet a bit more before bombourbon, but other than that this bike is good to go! finally feeling the derbi power and loving it.
Filed under: bandits, derbi | 5 Comments
Tags: bombourbon, derbi, metrakit, seize
nate’s tri-ped mocar
nate made a huge craigslist score last week. he chased down a cryptic post an hour away looking for what looked to be a morini powered trike. when he got there he was surprise by something WAY more badass.
it’s a minirelli v1 powered tri-ped. supposedly only 500 ever made. it’s a LOT of fun to ride, especially with side by side passengers. now i know how much fun phil and fellow blogeeto fleeters have been having riding side by side (by side) on his hobbit trike. too bad these bikes live on opposite coasts, a three man trike race would be hilarious.
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Tags: minarelli, mocar, nate bandit, tri-ped, trike
zack bandit’s moped blog
you may know him from such fame as “MY MOPED’S ON FIRE!”, or as the owner of the charelli or if you’re lucky, as zombie zack. well zack has a fancy new moped blog about his garelli monza gt: http://www.zackolson.net/ check it out, there’s some cool garelli tech happening over there.
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Tags: blog, garelli, monza gt, zack bandit, zombie zack
on the chopping block: the tsm
i’ve decided to sell the tsm. i haven’t had it that long, but i’ve realized i have an abundance of moped projects and lack of cash/time. combine that with the opportunity to get an awesome motorcycle (yamaha 350 r5) and something had to give. the tsm was going to be the biggest money pit i have, and is also the bike i can get the most for. so it makes the most sense to let go. plans of a sick franken super tsm have to be laid to rest, but it’s for the best. i’m going to post it on moped army, but let me know if you’re interested.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabeberghuis/3815381656/in/set-72157622021133400/
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bourbon banditos
no tuning in this post, instead some pictures from our weds night ride. there was a decent turn out with 20+ people, with special guest QUATTO!
maggie leading the ride downtown
markryan, sue, nate and maggie right before blast off
and rev dubs (aka jeremy bandit) SICK magnum recently coverted to mini. there is a ton of detail and perfection poured into this bike. he’s truely a whiz with aesthetics. and it’s a ripper to boot.
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Tags: bourbon bandits, louisville, magnum, mini magnum
custom derbi intake and new carb
after kitting and piping the derbi (65 pyramid reed metra and 75cc zen pipe) i tried running it with the carb and intake i already had, a 15mm sha and the stock intake dremeled out to 14.5. it really sucked, and was obvious i needed MOAR CARBURATION. so i ordered an 18vm mikuni. it’s an awesome carb, takes dellorto jets, easy to access screw adjustments, good build quality.
only problem i had was figuring out an intake for it. i was going to have nate help me weld one up at the garage, but before i went and bought aluminum stock he had an idea. there was a 19mm express intake he got in a box of stuff from IRE (pretty sure it was made by IRE Rick) that had enough room to drill holes for the derbi bolt pattern.
stock intake on the left, express made derbi intake on the right
the intake as is didn’t leave enough room for any carb mounting options…
so we chopped the top off and attached some radiator hose instead…
then turned the mikuni from a clamp on style to spigot mount…
and everything mounted together quite nicely.
i’m in the middle of tuning my variator (more on that later) and some more jetting. this bike is getting close to being a blaster!
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…the brute force way. markryan needed a stock magnum cylinder. ryan and sue had one, but it was stuck on a completely destroyed za50. enter our tutorial: watch nate’s scientific method for getting a cylinder free from the sinister hands of seizetown.
STEP 1: smash the bejeezus out of the piston trying to force in through the cylinder
*note* be sure to implode through the piston dome to wristpin for maximum transfer of energy
STEP 2: wiggle the cylinder to get some freedom and movement, then use brute force to start twisting it. sit back and wait for the awesome to happen.
enjoy your results
STEP 3: continue to bash the piston out of the cylinder, clean it up and run it.
in some derbi news, i got a mikuni 18vm carb for the derbi, made an intake (out of an old express intake) and got it running. post about that in the future.
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Tags: derbi, how to, mopeds, seized moped
ghost ride the trip
in a couple of hours markryan and i load up his car and head north, grand rapids bound! i’m going a few days before the rally kicks off to spend some time with family and old friends. tomorrow and friday will involve relaxed hanging out at my parents pool during the day with some more bandits and bemis blasters. i’m super stoked for this rally. it’s going to be great to be back in my hometown for a weekend and the ghost riders have an awesome rally brewing.
i’ll leave you with a glimpse of the city via some photos i took last fall.
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Tags: ghost ride, ghost ride the whip, grand rapids, road trip
on the shire
after fastifying the derbi, i was put in a predicament. i no longer had a stock bike. kitted mopeds are awesome, but there’s a joy that comes with riding a stocker you forget when you only have kitted mopeds. they also take near zero maintenance and are a fun/safe option to bomb around on as a bar bike.
so the search went out. i thought about building up the extra e50 and #2 cylinder that i have…but building a bike from scraps is a bitch, and i’d like my stocker to be variated. that’s when i saw a “blue rolling hobbit” on the buy sell forum and pounced. but blue hobbit??…was it a camino? oh no my friends, it’s something much better then that. i’d like you to meet what will soon be george washington. a star spangled hobbit that would make this guy proud.
it kept getting better
i love bikes with character, and this one is oooozing with it. i’ve got a pa50I bottom end coming that will get a ported stock pa50II top end, notched vario, stock pa50II carb/intake setup and a pipe, probably proma circuit.
Filed under: hobbit | Leave a Comment
Tags: 50, 50cc funbike, honda hobbit, MERIKAAH, peter clemo
Flickr Photos
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