Schwinn speedometer install on a pocketbike...

[sAsLEX]

[QUOTE=mr_penguin;1118432]

I mostly installed our speedometer out of curiosity but...



I have found that it is also a very useful tool for measuring things such as Speed (RPM) gains (or losses ) from recent upgrades or jetting changes, Mileage info, Lap times, Differences between the top speeds of different weight riders, The time of day...

With this simple $10.00 Schwinn 'bicycle' speedometer, I can now easily SEE exactly what our bike is capable of and exactly what any changes I have made did to the top speed of it... The 'proof is in the pudding' and this tool WILL let you easily see if you have done any good or not with any 'mods' you have made to your pocketbike.

I loved the quality of the Schwinn speedometer but there are a few things that NEED to be changed for this to properly work on a pocketbike wheel and be both safe and accurate.



First thing to do is to throw the original magnet found in the package into the garbage as fast as you can. This is a garbage quality magnet of the weakest order and Schwinn suggests a gap of only 1mm between the magnet and the pickup sensor... IMHO, That is WAY to close of a gap and this stock magnet has NO balls. It will barely pick up a handfull of paperclips and this is likely why Schwinn says to use a 1mm gap. This magnet is also designed to fit a wheel with 'spokes' and pocketbikes generally do not have these, so mounting this magnet WILL be a PITA at best...
I chose to use a few rare earth magnets on our install. These magnets are powerful enough to pull the friggin iron out of your blood (ok, so maybe not quite that strong...) and will easily allow you to run a much larger gap between the magnet and sensor with NO issues at all...

Next thing to get is some JBWeld... This stuff rocks and just a drop or 2 placed in the correct places WILL secure the sensor to the fork in such a way that you will have NO issues with things coming loose and possibly causing a mess or an accident...

I also used the JBWeld to secure our magnets to the wheel and have had NO issues with them either loosening or trying to come off. Awesome product for sure IMHO.

If you will check out the pics below, You will find some shots of our magnets and sensor assembly mounted on the wheel/fork, Pics of the Speedometer installed on the handlebars, and a better pic of the really cool 'Skull and Bones' valvestem caps that we run on our bike...

FWIW, These 'Skull and Bones' valvecaps added approximately .000267 MPH to the top speed of our bike due to the pure intimidation factor that they posess... Other riders see these caps and won't even fire their bikes up now if they are racing with us...


Hi where did you find one of these speedo's for $10 ?.

When I last looked I spotted these things for around $40..

I would like to put one on my b1 rep..

I'd really like a rev counter and water temp display to....

Regrads
Ian

He is american......... though our dollar is now pretty strong against the USD...

[IamCornholio]

[Hi where did you find one of these speedo's for $10 ?.

When I last looked I spotted these things for around $40..

I would like to put one on my b1 rep..

I'd really like a rev counter and water temp display to....

Regrads
Ian

I found this particular one at Walmart but these (and many other useful parts for these size bikes) can also be found at your local mountainbike or BMX shops.

I found better quality brake levers and got a few cable replacements at our local BMX bicycle shop for cheap.

The rare earth magnets like I used can be had from any local alarm company. (They use magnets like these commonly as door sensors and such.) Many 'cool' alarm guys will just give you a pile for free if you ask them nicely... This is how I got mine.

As for the rev counter... If all you are looking to do is check your max rpm while riding at WOT, You can calculate that without a tachometer if you know your gearing specs and have an accurate speedometer to measure your top speed.

Here is a speed calculator for you friend... Enjoy!

http://www.minimotogarage.com/ecm_speed_calc.html


If you do a thread in this section of KB, please post up some pics of your B1 Mr_penguin... I would absolutely love to see your ride friend.



IamCornholio

[mr_penguin]

Here's a photo of my b1 replica bike i've only had it a short time
and are still sorting out it's issues...

I have taken it for a few short rides and it's been a blast really put
a big smile on my face !

Can't wait to put it on a kart track but it's not ready for that yet.

As for the bicycle speedo's i have looked at two here and none will work
with a small wheel dia of around 30cm !

I will keep looking tho

Thanks for the details on polishing it was a very good read, I always had problems with the paper clogging up never did I think about doing this under a running tap !.

Regards
Mr Penguin