We’ve covered weed whacker bicycles before and you can even buy 66cc conversion kits now. [geoff390] posted a few videos over on YouTube about another motor option. In the first video embedded below, he goes over the basic parts of his bike. The chainsaw motor is mounted to the side of the back tire and a metal drive wheel extending from the chainsaw shaft makes contact with it. The motor assembly is mounted on a hinge and the friction between the drive wheel and the back tire is adjusted with a turnbuckle. He posted a more detailed second video in which he goes over some of the finer details of the bike and some of the issues he’s had.[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeofT8lUmAY%5D
37 thoughts on “Chainsaw Powered Bicycle”
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Awesome!!
Seriously? Another worthless article. I build a similar setup when I was 15, and at least it was chain-driven.
I had something like this about 25 years ago worked great except for I went through a LOT of tires never got around to making up a rubber sleeve to go over the drive spindle.
chainsaw + chain powered device = makes so much sense.
sux. it will go through alot of tires waste of time and money.
This is nothing new. Solex bikes in France were around over 40 years ago. Check this:
http://www.velocruz.com/home.htm
Wtf?
Or, you know… you could just buy a scooter. Less time, less money in the long run… better designed.
I’m not going to even touch on what “Really?” said. Second reply on this thread.
Seriously. Retard + welder = wasted space on hack a day. “because it works like gears” well no **** sherlock. figure that one out all by yourself?
in US such bikes road legal ?
In the US each State IS a sovereign “country”. That’s why car “smog” laws are different in each State and County. Traffic laws are according to the state AND local ordinance. There are noise abatement laws anywhere you go for sure. As for California. A motorized bike, even home made cannot go over 20 MPH or it is a Motor Cycle and then the Vehicle Code kicks in. Fenders, better breaks, etc. In other words you will get away with more in the country than the city lol. Most cops will not Bust a kid for this, but a few pricks will impound and cite.
@therian
In the us it is considered a bicycle as long as the engine is under 50cc and it has pedals. You can still get fined because of noise laws though. so be careful
Not too bad — this bike is a lot better made than other’s I’ve seen. I agree that a rubber sleeve over the drive shaft would held with tire life.
Oh, and again, for those complaining about the quality of the hack: “Put up or shut up.” Either submit better hacks or stop complaining.
This exact design has been around since before computers had bitmaps.
You’ll spend a fortune in tire replacements, and the energy transfer robs what little power the engine produces. There is a better kit that is in a bike wheel hub, but it’s a ~38cc 2 stroke.
There is also an obscure model of 80cc honda 4 stroke engine that is perfect for bikes in weight:output. If I was going to even bother I’d use a centrifugal clutch and go into the chain drive from the back sprocket to have a more efficient system.
The system I just mentioned is clutched to prevent over cycle, works inline with the pedal system, and uses more of the engines energy.
I, for one appreciate the constructive comments.
helping with refinements is what this is all about.
sorry I don’t have anything to add other than that the constructive comments deserve props.
Fuck you all !! I love this !! All it needs is a Adruino controlled efi system!
you could make this 5000x better with some actual forethought and it’d still be inferior to this company’s product where you send in a bicycle and they mount a small engine hubcap to the wheel.
The reason I think this shouldn’t be here isn’t because it’s not up to some particular standard of “hack” or that it’s stupid because it uses a spindle drive, but because it’s not new fresh stuff we haven’t seen before. It’s not a new hack that expands my world, it’s shit I’ve been seeing for years. Next up on Hackaday: “Install VNC on your boss’s computer to freak him out :D”
@TheKhakinator
Agreed, Im waiting for the new hack “How to use your drill” and “Turn water into a solid with the magic of freezing”
Yeah you can buy this in kit form from $110-$200 on the net, the 80cc is I thing $300. I’d get the 80cc engine and make a sprocket clutched drive system.
i like these kind of hacks but i was a bit disappointed with the fact that its a friction motor
dont drive through any puddles with it
bunch of god damn trolls.
If all your going to do is complain, stop coming here then. Make your own site and post whatever you want.
“bunch of god damn trolls”
lmfao
@markyb86: sorry we don’t roll over and play dead when we don’t think something is up to par(go look at the old 8 bit laptop entry for example.) we can’t all agree all the time for the sake of convenience.
It’s like a big piece of shit. next day some guy will show us how he succeed to build a wood wheel, BUT with a brillant idea to add a steal tire to avoid friction. It’s the wonderfull fashion of DIY ! Sometimes it’s awesome sometimes its just a piece of shit)
@TJHooker: that’s fine just don’t be a righteous cunt about it.
@damien, the problem with that is the concept of reinventing the wheel is kinda cool (where this thread is not). Someone has already reinvented the car tire. Very cool design, uses the same traction but rubber springs… or something instead of air.
Saw it on Futuretech. Can’t remember the name of it tho. I tried to pull up a link.
@anonymous “Bunch of damn trolls”
Sometimes I really believe that Hack ‘A’ Day posts stuff like this just so they can get trolls. Stuff like this isn’t going to turn anyone, interested in most things on the site, off. But, I’m damn sure it made a whole lot more people than just the one’s who’ve posted so far, to go “WTF WERE THEY THINKING!”
Lame. How about checking out endless-sphere.com/forums
They have more innovative custom ebike than this wheel eater. Not only that there is the battery section in which they’re designing a Lithium battery BMS system. At the same time we’re hacking up powertool battery to run ebikes, now that truely deserve an article on hackaday.
look if you have something better then go post that or STFU!
My impression was that this was Hackaday, not Innovationaday. Maybe this is not new technology or technique, but it’s certainly a hack. I don’t get what people are complaining about.
The fabrication is all custom. Some of it it pretty smart – like using brake cable for the accelerator since most frames have cable bosses incorporated into the frames. And it seems that all the complainers about friction drive overlook the fact that his design was a quick, easy way to motorize the bike and keep use of the pedals, a good idea if the rig breaks or he runs out of fuel.
I’m glad some of you can buy a kit for $200, but how is that a hack? This rig could probably be built for about $40 in yard sale finds, or for free if you have a well-stocked yard shed. Yes, it will wear through tires quickly but this looks like a budget/fun project, and around here, you can get free tires from the local dump all day long.
I dunno when the posters on this site got all negative, but it’s a bummer. If you don’t like a hack, you could be a heck of a lot more constructive in your criticism, or move on to the next article. I didn’t read a single complaint on this page that couldn’t have been phrased constructively. How about supporting the hack community instead of putting people down?
Kudos to Geoff390, I think this was a pretty interesting project.
I thought it was clever how he maintained pressure between the spindle and wheel. A door hinge and turnbuckle is a very solid design.His throttle control was pretty spiffy as well.
Also, for a lot of chainsaws a spindle would actually be a very decent way to power it considering that modern chainsaws run at about 12-13000 RPM. So, say his bike has a 16 inch tire and the spindle is 1.5 inch in diameter that gives him a 10.67:1 ratio and a theoretical speed of 53.6 mph@12000rpm although losses included he probably can get up to 30mph. Not too bad.
tjhooker wasn’t being a righteous cunt, he just stated the fact that this is nothing new or particularly interesting (it’s as old as the gasoline engine) and you can buy kits to do it way better.
“If all your going to do is complain, stop coming here then. Make your own site and post whatever you want.”
translation:
“waah waah all i want is a 24/7 circlejerk about how everything posted on hackaday is totally awesome and should never endure criticism”
It’s called “science”. We (as hackers and scientists) are critiquing it, and rightfully so, because it’s one of the most stale and boring things seen on this site in a good long time. Also, because the design is total crap and has been around for almost as long as the internal combustion engine.
just as a FYI, if you move >25 mph or so you can put a SMV tag (Orange reflective triangles) on dang near anything.
“or, you know… you could just buy a scooter”
“and you can buy kits to do it way better”
these sentences can be applied to almost every hack on this site, but that isn’t the point. i don’t care if i can buy a good quality headphone amp, or an ipod charger that runs on aa batteries. this site exists to show how to make such things yourself. you’re talking about hackaday as if it were digg or gizmodo, which it certainly isn’t. if you don’t like the content presented here, either submit articles you think are worthwhile, or leave.
So much negativity.
The machine is crap, no doubt about it but it works and the young man that built it had fun and learned somthing. good for him!
It’s called “science”. We (as hackers and scientists) are critiquing it, and rightfully so, because it’s one of the most stale and boring things seen on this site in a good long time. Also, because the design is total crap and has been around for almost as long as the internal combustion engine.
Posted at 1:45 pm on Jul 13th, 2009 by octelcogopod
Duh, a typical nerd comment.. Nerds suck!
it is cool for a kid, although I have seen the weedwacker put on a RC Car and it goes 60+ mph. Coll little contraption for a kid.
If ignore about it’s a saw and could be harmful for kids, it might be an energetic toy.