Homemade Roadster with Motorcycle Engine
By mounting a 5-hp. motorcycle engine on a frame built of 2 by 4-in. stuff, and rigging the outfit on running gear made of gas-pipe axles, old buggy springs, and motorcycle wheels, I made the light roadster shown in the photograph, at small cost. It develops 30 miles an hour easily, carrying only the driver, and has carried five persons. The frame is suspended from the springs, with an underslung effect, on the front axle. The power is transmitted by a friction drive, consisting of a fiber contact pulley, obtained from an old commercial car, and a disk used as a cutter on a plow.
This Friction-Drive Cyclecar was Built in Spare Time by a Mechanic, Using Largely Makeshift Material
The front axle is of 1-in. gas pipe fitted with suitable-size solid nipples, and washers, at the bearings. The steering knuckle was made of steel shafting turned down to fit a pipe tee, set in the axle. The drive shaft is ⁷⁄₈ in. in diameter, and has a ball thrust bearing on the end. Sprocket gearing gives a ratio of 6 to 1, on high speed.—E. L. Munsen, La Conner, Wash.