Dorothy, Heald VT-7 (anything goes) project ...

#61
The shock rubbers are not the determining factor in seat movement right to left. The hinge is loose and you can tighten it to the pin to help or even eliminate the wiggle.

You will heed to remove the seat and turn the hinge straight up. Use the biggest hammer you can find, 5 or 6 pounds, as a backer under the hinge. Use a good punch and a 2 or 3 pound hammer to roll the hinge back tight to the pin. Easy to do as long as you have help.

Doug
Normally I might agree but the hinge is very tight .. I had to douche it with PB Blaster it get it to move when I got the bike.
In this case the lower rubbers have had oil leaking on them from the shock for so many years the rubber swelled up and is just spongy .. the upper rubbers are fine tho.
 
#62
Normally I might agree but the hinge is very tight .. I had to douche it with PB Blaster it get it to move when I got the bike.
In this case the lower rubbers have had oil leaking on them from the shock for so many years the rubber swelled up and is just spongy .. the upper rubbers are fine tho.
I know my green SB is a little sloppy side to side and I traced it to the hinge pin.... Figured yours would be the same. I know this is to simple but are the bolts tight in the hinge?

My observation of the seat function is that the shocks only hold the seat up. There really is no way without triangulation that the shocks could control side to side. The hinge is the wiggle point. The rubber deterioration would just make the shock mushy feeling. :shrug:

Doug
 

delray

Well-Known Member
#63
cool sixpac440, glad that work for you...:thumbsup:
when you get to that point where your ready test it at low cruise speed you will know if you need a different pilot jet.
more then likely you will need to change it. with that motor built the way it is and you jetting it some more. i would think it would act little lean at low speed. when you start to get into built motors it becomes a whole different ball game and a mikuni
carb has alot different adjustments to fine tune it to your application.......:thumbsup:
also once you get it tune correct you should be able to pull it on the first pull and fire up.........yes a tecumseh start's on the first pull.....:laugh:
i made a short video on my ohh-tecumseh with a mikuni/clone carb.
even with the dyno 255 cam and all the extra performance things i did to it. the bike still fires on the first pull....:thumbsup:
https://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/tecumseh/131688-tecumseh-ohh-build-6.html#post1122413
 
Last edited:
#64
I know my green SB is a little sloppy side to side and I traced it to the hinge pin.... Figured yours would be the same. I know this is to simple but are the bolts tight in the hinge?

My observation of the seat function is that the shocks only hold the seat up. There really is no way without triangulation that the shocks could control side to side. The hinge is the wiggle point. The rubber deterioration would just make the shock mushy feeling. :shrug:

Doug
Well crapsnacks Doug, you were right!
Tom and I were out in the garage ... I reached under and sure enough one of the seat bolts was finger loose .. I bet the others aren't far behind!

Kudos amigo!!
 
#66
Too tall gearing has been an issue ... Tom suggested going twice the clutch teeth ... so I got a 24 tooth plate sprocket. Its a fairly inexpensive way to home in on the gear ratio I will want ... Being a plate its intended to be just welded to a 5/8 shaft ...
I have a 12 tooth with a slot for a key ... I'm going to mate the 2 sprockets.

The plate sprocket was centered in the mill with a 5/8 dowel.


A 1" carbide put a new hole in it.


The hole was chamfered to help mate the parts flat.


The plate is about an inch.


The 12 tooth is a bit bigger.


The 12 tooth was spun down to match the plate.


We got a good fit and bolted the 2 together.


Gob on some mild rod and she is stuck!


The back side wont need any weld.


I will install it tomorrow and see what's what!!
 
#67
I got the 24 tooth sprocket installed on the jack shaft and re checked alignment, its perfect ...


That pic was taken after a short ride, the mounting plate was cleaned off and you can see where the new chain is chewing into the 3D Clutch sprocket and leaving a metal trail ..


Using delray's "how to start a hi compression motor without ripping out tendons" video [video=youtube;Di9nn2kSKp0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di9nn2kSKp0&feature=youtu.be[/video] I find this H50 Tec starts on the first pull!

I installed a Tiny Tach. It reads hours run when the motor is off and RMP when the motor is running.
The screen looks good, this pic makes it look hard to see through, it is not ...


I take it for a run ... the gearing is much better but maybe still too tall for me .. My neighbor had his late 60's Yamaha moped out and I paced him going down our street. My mini got to 6500 RMP and started starving for gas, I'm thinking I need to open the jet another step. The Yamaha said 27mph, that's about right ...
I have a sand hill on my block, I've ridden up and down it many times on many bikes. You can feel the torque going up it at a clip but it bogs to the point of stalling if you go up at 5 to 8 (?) mph ... I was able to ride the clutch and get it up the hill.
It has all the power of my old VT-10 and likely more if it was running closer to it's power band.

I was feeling a little frisky and did a rolling wheelie. I was going 5 MPH, pulled in the clutch, brought the revs up a bit, not a lot, dumped the clutch, the rest was slo-mo ....
The front end is coming up fast, the back tire is glued to the pavement pushing the bike forward, my clutch hand has not connected with the clutch grip, my 290lbs is not moving with the bike, I get unceremoniously deposited in the road as the bike goes a few feet on its back wheel as the front is coming down, it rolls another couple feet and falls over on its right side, runs for a couple seconds, stalls and starts leaking gas out of the Mikuni.
The happened in the space of 5 seconds tops ...

Ouch ...
 
#69
ouch, play hard to know your alive?
Funny you would say that ...
Opposite side of my leg from the road rash I have what feels like a Charlie horse ... after sitting for an hour watching a movie I got up and was in pain .. the wife asked if I wanted a Flexural .. I said no, "the pain lets me know I'm alive!"
 

delray

Well-Known Member
#70
hey sixpac440, great that the pull start is helping......:thumbsup:
but it bogs to the point of stalling if you go up at 5 to 8 (?) mph
i believe that might be the low cruise speed i was talking about. you may have to go bigger on your pilot.
trying to remember if that carb comes with a 12.5 or a 15 ?
how do you like that clutch? nice to try a torque converter. it might work better pulling 290 lbs pounds around and get little better top end..too.......:shrug: if the clutch works for you keep it on........:thumbsup:
 
#71
Sunday I was thinking when it stutters and stumbles at 6500 its starving for gas so I drilled out the main again .. but grabbed the wrong bit and ended up at 150 .. crap ... but I took it out anyway to see what I got ... it stumbled about 5800 now ... The clip on the pin that goes in the main jet got moved from its factory position of 1 from the bottom to one from the top ... this put the stumble back at 6500.
I removed the exhaust and the results were the same.
The new air cleaner showed up today so it will have that on next time.
Knowing I schmucked the jet I ordered some today ... a 125 & 130 main and a 17.5 & 20 pilot jet. We will play some more when they come.
I will try the 125 & 17.5 combo first.
I'm not entirely certain the 6500 issue is fuel related ... maybe the valves are floating or the magneto has a problem?
With some luck I may get out to the trails and try it next weekend.

The jury is still out on the clutch. I have yet to try it in the woods.
For street riding it might be fun on a small piss-winding motor, it definitely grabs and locks tight!
But for my bike a TAV on the street may be better ... maybe the trails to, dunno!
 
#72
I will add this thought about the clutch verses the torque converter. Slightly different but basically the same.

When riding trails on my Honda 400EX I find it much more difficult to finesse in a technical situation than when riding my Honda Rancher. Flat ground, dirt roads and the street the 400 EX is the most fun by far but get on the trails and the Rancher is the king.

I used to ride a lot in the Francis Marion National Forest when we lived in Charleston. The 400EX was king of the forest. You could flick it around in the sand and it was easy to ride on the flat land of the low country. The Rancher was boring on the same trails. BUT when we moved to the foothills of the upstate the 400EX hasn't seen 4 or 5 miles of riding in the last 11 years..... The Rancher is used with great regularity now. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to ride a lot of Equestrian trails setting up and taking down Hunter Pace courses. There is no way I would even think about taking the 400EX there.

I know I am comparing 4 wheels to 2 wheels but I think the torque converter makes the most sense for all around, do anything you ask of it riding.

Just my 2cents ........


Doug
 
#73
Hi Doug ...
I knew that a TAV would work great in my application but I was hoping that the clutch might add something extra to the mix.
I wouldn't know for sure what it would be like unless I got one.
If I can sneak some time in this weekend I want to try it in the trails/sand.
But I agree a TAV is the easy choice.
 
#74
Hi Doug ...

But I agree a TAV is the easy choice.
True.... But the easy choice is not always the fun choice.....

It also depends on ones riding ability too. So nobody can make the call but you.

I am curious how it will work for you.

Just a thought..... Could the sand be an issue with contamination? Sticky or stuck function. Or accelerated wear? :shrug:

Doug
 
#76
The motor is waylaid awaiting jets so I thought I would play with the aesthetics ...

Every Heald I've ever seen has the same seat ... I like the seats on OND's build off bike from last year and the Murray Track 2 ... so I got a bobber seat off eBay ... (since these pics I cleaned my lense to get that red crap from showing up in my pics!)


I made a cheezy bracket out of scrap metal with a few holes to play with position ...


I tried the seat back further over the wheel where the back of the stock seat would be .. NOPE!


Closer? Maybe ....


Closest ... Maybe ... gonna need to look at the pics .. higher? Angled more?


Not sure how the seat will ultimately be mounted but it will be sprung ... mono shock?
A rail around the back or some sort of something to keep me from sliding off?
Black fringe??
Hello Kitty Logo?!?

Bla bla bla ...
 
#78
Hi Dave!

My vision is more the seat sticking out in the air appearing to be unsupported rather than compression springs on the bottom.
A mono shock and linkage might be needed.
The seat is just mocked to show position ... better bracketry will be made when I land on something I like.
The current exhaust will be replaced with something else opening that room up.
Altering the frame isn't a problem either, I've considered extending the rear axel back but I don't want to extend the wheel base and sacrifice "flick-ability" in the trails.
Center of gravity is a factor in seat location.

I still need to decide on clutch or TAV, then what to do with fenders ... the rear one in particular, I want it to ride high like a dirt bike, not hug the tire like all Heald fenders.

So lots to think about that will all need to tie in together.

In short I want the bike to look cool but also be 100% functional.
 
#79
There are some aftermarket mono shock set ups for HD available. I looked at them, but thought they'd be bulky on a mini bike. The other thing I looked at doing was incorporating a yard tractor seat spring. Used ones are all over the place. Lastly, I saw several examples of leaf springs used as integral members for seat support on full size bikes, but again on a mini, you just don't have the room. But man are they clean. I couldn't delete the photo. Sorry abt that.
 
#80
Dave, don't delete anything .. its all a continuous story ... my reply makes more sense following yours ... if nothing else this build is about the journey, not the destination, if there even is one ... it's all good in the hood amigo!!

I pondered how to get some movement out of the seat and decided I wanted dampening. So a shock in place somewhere is the way to go ... something like the Murray Track 2?

gonna need to stare at it ...

Got any exhaust ideas?
 
Top