New member here sharing my 1973 Brute Cycle project.

#1
Hello to all here. Your site is well organized & has a lot of great information & pics. I thought I'd add some more to all of that. It was pretty rough when it fell into my hands. I didn't want to alter anything that couldn't be reversed. I owned a Tri-Sport years ago and really miss it. So, using mostly parts that were laying around, this is it so far. I'm going to attempt to get it street legal when it's finished. The goal is to make a 4 season trike. I have 3 different pairs of rear tires that I plan on swapping back & forth, depending on where I choose to ride. I also have a front fork mountable ski for riding it the snow. I purchased a Comet 40 set-up but I'm now considering running a 428 J-Lo (also known as a 440 Rockwell or Cuyuna) from a 1978 Scorpion Whip snowmobile. I changed out the 5/8" jack-shaft to a 3/4". All new bearings are installed along with various KZ650 Kawasaki parts & a Suzuki RM125 fuel tank, along with a plastic office chair for a seat. The 16" ape-hangers are from another project & a Jap-bike luggage rack. Ask me anything... just don't beat me up too much for going custom. I haven't thrown anything away & haven't done anything that can't be reversed. Enjoy!
 

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pomfish

Well-Known Member
#2
Looks Badazz,
Liking it!

Have a Scorpion 440 Whip as well, just wondering how you are going to get the exhaust fitted that close to the seat?
 
#4
The engine that you see in the last two pictures is not bolted down & has actually slid forward about 2" from where it would be mounted on a custom mount plate. If you didn't notice, this Brute has the spring-pivot suspension between the seat & fuel tank. That all means that I'll have to fabricate the entire exhaust with the pivot clearance in mind. As a side note- if anyone knows how many were made with this center-pivoting suspension, I'd really like to know. I read somewhere on this site that there was also a "Super Brute". Not sure if maybe that's what this one is or not. The internet is fairly scant on pics & information for the line of Brute models. The body does have two very faded "BRUTE CYCLE" decals low on the front edge of the Blue fiberglass seat-tub body. Did the Super Brute have "Super Brute" decals or did all of the different models just say Brute Cycle? Maybe someone here knows. ???
 
#5
Looks Badazz,
Liking it!

Have a Scorpion 440 Whip as well, just wondering how you are going to get the exhaust fitted that close to the seat?
Hey, thanks. This 440 only has 923 sled miles & LOTS of compression so, I'd love to put it to use this way. It's clean enough to wear on a chain around your neck; lol!! How's your 440 been as far as dependability?
 
#8
Hey, thanks. I'm happy to hear you like it, instead of me taking a typographical beating for the direction I'm taking it, lol. By the way, did you notice the improved ground clearance? About 4+" in the rear & the same or so up front. Rear axle lift plates were needed for clearance of the 60 tooth sprocket. The rear tires are 25.5" tall on 12" rims & the front end is off of some unknown-to-me 80-ish cc mini-bike. The front wheel is a 14" with a 4" Italian drum brake, cable drive speedo-type & 36 spokes. A big improvement from the stock one. Still, I'd love to know what the whole front end is from./QUOTE]
 

wjustice

Well-Known Member
#11
Keep a good eye on engine temps if you run that engine. I had a free air engine on mine for a bit and it would overheat quickly. I have an Alsport and the bodies are wider but I still watch it. Most trikes that came with snowmobile style engines used fan cooled.
 

pomfish

Well-Known Member
#12
Hey, thanks. This 440 only has 923 sled miles & LOTS of compression so, I'd love to put it to use this way. It's clean enough to wear on a chain around your neck; lol!! How's your 440 been as far as dependability?
Mine runs well but does bog after getting hot.
Big thing is they are known to get dried/worn crank seals.
So they will run great until they really warm up and then they start sucking air through the seals and bog down.
May want to run this one up to temp and somehow get it under load and see if it suffers the problem.
That brand of engines are favored by the ultralight plane crowd so there are lots of parts available.
 
#13
Keep a good eye on engine temps if you run that engine. I had a free air engine on mine for a bit and it would overheat quickly. I have an Alsport and the bodies are wider but I still watch it. Most trikes that came with snowmobile style engines used fan cooled.
I plan on replacing the seals the crank before running the engine. There's no lack of information or parts online for it , that's for sure. This is a fan-cooled engine. I own an ultralight airplane that originally came with one of these motors on it but was replaced with a 377 Rotax. The JLo motor they say had too much power and would blow the clutch apart on the prop shaft. I can see a scar on part of the frame where this actually happened to mine. I am going to add a scoop where the fan is that will face forward and let extra air in when the trike is rolling. I also replaced the original carburetor with a large Mikuni ultralight airplane carburetor. I will be test running the engine testing for overeating issues after the carb is tuned. I expect the jetting on the carburetor should be fairly close as a match to the engine. Ultralight Pilots are very aware when it comes to carb tuning and overheating as most Ultra Lights are usually flown in warm weather. I will soon post a few pics of the engine. And thanks for the heads up.
 
#14
Here's see pictures of the engine that I'm considering using. There's also a couple pictures of the main air frame for my ultralight with the rotax on top of it.
 

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#16
Hello to all here. Your site is well organized & has a lot of great information & pics. I thought I'd add some more to all of that. It was pretty rough when it fell into my hands. I didn't want to alter anything that couldn't be reversed. I owned a Tri-Sport years ago and really miss it. So, using mostly parts that were laying around, this is it so far. I'm going to attempt to get it street legal when it's finished. The goal is to make a 4 season trike. I have 3 different pairs of rear tires that I plan on swapping back & forth, depending on where I choose to ride. I also have a front fork mountable ski for riding it the snow. I purchased a Comet 40 set-up but I'm now considering running a 428 J-Lo (also known as a 440 Rockwell or Cuyuna) from a 1978 Scorpion Whip snowmobile. I changed out the 5/8" jack-shaft to a 3/4". All new bearings are installed along with various KZ650 Kawasaki parts & a Suzuki RM125 fuel tank, along with a plastic office chair for a seat. The 16" ape-hangers are from another project & a Jap-bike luggage rack. Ask me anything... just don't beat me up too much for going custom. I haven't thrown anything away & haven't done anything that can't be reversed. Enjoy!
 
#17
Hey there R.E. Wallace. your project looks to becoming out great! I am restoring my 76 2 seater Brutecycle. Its mostly for my wife and dog to ride when we go to car shows. I noticed your floorplate is in decent condition. Is there anyway of persuading you to let go of it? For a price obviously. Or could I literally somehow get a mold of it so I can fix mine? Mine has the center pivot spring too.
 
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#18
Hey there R.E. Wallace. your project looks to becoming out great! I am restoring my 76 2 seater Brutecycle. Its mostly for my wife and dog to ride when we go to car shows. I noticed your floorplate is in decent condition. Is there anyway of persuading you to let go of it? For a price obviously. Or could I literally somehow get a mold of it so I can fix mine? Mine has the center pivot spring too.
 
#19
Rod- The floor pan or "plate" is in good condition aside from the chip in the right front corner (there's snow on it in the picture but the floor pan is black) & I still have it & also the original body (seat tub). I'd let both parts go for $100 together. I have no use for either one of them & understand that there aren't many of them to be had. I'd aslo trade them for a pair of rotors & calipers for my rear brakes. Without them, my project is currently on hold. Here's a couple update pics of my Brute Cycle build. 20200315_205548.jpg 20200523_092523.jpg 20200523_092601.jpg 20200409_153408.jpg Good luck & let me know. - R.E.
 
#20
The engine that you see in the last two pictures is not bolted down & has actually slid forward about 2" from where it would be mounted on a custom mount plate. If you didn't notice, this Brute has the spring-pivot suspension between the seat & fuel tank. That all means that I'll have to fabricate the entire exhaust with the pivot clearance in mind. As a side note- if anyone knows how many were made with this center-pivoting suspension, I'd really like to know. I read somewhere on this site that there was also a "Super Brute". Not sure if maybe that's what this one is or not. The internet is fairly scant on pics & information for the line of Brute models. The body does have two very faded "BRUTE CYCLE" decals low on the front edge of the Blue fiberglass seat-tub body. Did the Super Brute have "Super Brute" decals or did all of the different models just say Brute Cycle? Maybe someone here knows. ???
Rod- The floor pan or "plate" is in good condition aside from the chip in the right front corner (there's snow on it in the picture but the floor pan is black) & I still have it & also the original body (seat tub). I'd let both parts go for $100 together. I have no use for either one of them & understand that there aren't many of them to be had. I'd aslo trade them for a pair of rotors & calipers for my rear brakes. Without them, my project is currently on hold. Here's a couple update pics of my Brute Cycle build. View attachment 263036 View attachment 263037 View attachment 263038 View attachment 263039 Good luck & let me know. - R.E.
 
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