2013 - Volume #37, Issue #5, Page #24
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Teen Built Motorized Bicycle
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With a father who loves to fix things, a well-equipped workshop and a stash of old parts, the teenager only spent $40 for an old 8 hp Tecumseh engine to build it.
Sherwood rebuilt the framework, put in the engine, removed the pedals and put in a 7/8-in. bolt for a shaft. “I put a pulley on one end for the drive and the clutch, which converts to chain drive on the 53-tooth, type 40 sprocket I put over the old 18-speed sprocket.”
He explains he beefed up and rebuilt the center frame to accommodate the engine, which he found while attending an old steam engine show. Altogether the bike weighs about 100 lbs.
The 1-cylinder engine will go about 25 mph and gets 50 to 60 mpg. The only thing Sherwood plans to change is the braking system. The double-padded brakes on the front wear out fast, so he wants to install disc brakes.
“I use it for short distances around 10 miles or so,” Sherwood says, though he doesn’t use it as much now that he has a car.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Glenn Sherwood, 5792 Crystal Springs Rd., Dundee, N.Y. 14837 (ph 607 661-0480; glennsherwood.91@gmail.com).
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