Treadmill Re-Purposed Into Motorcycle Bump Starter.

[rocket]

I started to post about this re-purposing project over in the Motorcycle section but I think it needs it's own build page.
I broke my Right Achilles Tendon 2+ years ago and have not ridden any of my 4 BSA motorcycles since. They start easy with the kick starter when warm, but after sitting a few months, they can be a bear to start. Here are a few examples. Most on the market sell in the $1,000.00 range.

This old tread mill was being thrown out by my daughter during one of her last home sales. I drug it home and it's been in my barn for several years. I left the upper portion in the dumpster and just brought home the roller base.

Moving on to the disassembly I discovered the motor is 125 VDC and I think it had died a terrible death. So the only thing I decided to use was the rollers and shafts. They are a 2.5" rollers, that ring like a driveshaft tube. They use a 3/4" shaft with internal bearings, So unlike most of the M/C starters, I won't be using Pillow Block , or flange style bearings. I just need to figure out how to chain drive the rollers externally.

All disassembled. More to come.

 

[rocket]

The Treadmill frame turned out to be aluminum rectangle tubing with a steel motor plate bolted to it. At first I thought the entire thing was steel and easy to cut up and weld. Since I don't weld aluminum I had to bolt it all together. After cutting and notching a pair of upper trusses, I used 1/4" flat stainless inside to attach to pieces together.

Then the steel motor plate was narrowed and the bottom frame rails were bolted back onto the motor plate to fit 12" rollers instead of the 24" that the treadmill used.

I used two sections of aluminum tubing with internal threaded aluminum rods to hold the two rails together.

The upper trusses were then bolted to the bottom rails. I also cut 1/4" aluminum plates to carry the bearing shafts and sandwich the truss and bottom plates for strength. The urethane pads on the front are now moved to the back, with appliance adjustable glides up front.

I stripped it all back down and shot some Acrylic Enamel Gunmetal Grey that was left over from my CJ5 project.

The motor plate is removable if I decide to change motors in the future.

I also added wheels to the back behind the motor, they will only touch the ground when the unit is picked up to roll around like a hand truck.

When in use it will sit on urethane rubber pads. ( seen in earlier pics)
Thanks for looking, more to come.

 

[rocket]

This week several parts showed up I had ordered. I got the Bearings I needed, the full set of sprockets and two 2.5" x 2" chunks of 6061 Aluminum round stock to turn the sprocket/bearing hub out of. Motor drive sprocket, two matching roller driven sprockets and one bearing Idler sprocket.

The sprockets came from Surplus Supply, bearings from eBay and the aluminum from Amazon of all places. they had a better and cheaper selection of aluminum stock for machining than any where else I looked. The aluminum will be turned to fit into the rollers I salvaged from the treadmill. Then bored for the bearings and then a shoulder will be turned on the opposite ends to accept the sprockets.

The roller sprockets turned out to be fully hardened instead of just the teeth. So back to Amazon to order a couple of
1/4" M42 Cobalt drill bits to dry and get through these things, I was able to center punch them for the bolt pattern where they will be bolted to the aluminum hubs. so I don't think they will give Cobalt drills too much trouble.

I got one end turned to fit a short piece of the rollers I had cut off to make sure I had a good fit.

Then I drilled for a starting hole to bore the center for the bearings.

And then I did it all over again.

That was enough for one evening.
Rocket out for now.

 

[rocket]

Got back on the lathe this afternoon. I cut the counter bore for the bearings and got a pretty nice snug fit on both of them. A dab of Green Locktite sleave retainer and they'll never move. I had originally drilled them 7/8" for plenty of clearance for the 3/4" shaft. Today a drilled a 1 1/4 hole to start the bore. which was 1.5" and finished with a carbide boring tool.

.
Then did it all over again.

I next flipped them over and turned down the sprocket side to 1.625, cut off the excess and slipped the sprockets on.
It was then I realized the sprockets were a tad to small and the roller chain side plates would rub. I had ordered 18 tooth sprockets because the tech drawings showed them at 3.5" overall diameter and my aluminum hubs are 2.5" the easy fix was to just cut another 1/8 x 1/8" notch for the side plates to run in.



Next step is to drill the mounting bolt holes in the hardened sprockets. I hope the M42 Cobalt does the trick. Then drill and tap each of the hubs for the Allen mounting bolts.


Rocket out. Till the next time.

 

[Stakebed]

Chilling the hubs and heating the sprockets for an interference fit would not have worked?

 

[rocket]

Chilling the hubs and heating the sprockets for an interference fit would not have worked?

Maybe, Joe, @Stakebed if I was a Real Machinist. Instead of a wannabe hack, with a 1942 Lathe that's looser than a goose.
I can only get So Close with a Harbor Freight Digital Caliper, and a loose spindle bushing. If I can get within a couple thou, I dance for joy.
And as far as I know, most motorcycle sprockets are bolted onto the aluminum hubs.

 

[rocket]

I got all the bearing spacers made and rollers cut to fit. All locked together with set screw collars. The rollers will be held in the framework by the set screw collars set into the gusset plate carriers. More pictures of the mounting coming tomorrow.

Sprockets still need to be drilled for the Allen bolts and the hubs have yet to drilled and tapped

I did get a pretty good pattern on the rollers with the knurling tool for traction.

One step at a time. "Keep Moving Forward.

 

[rocket]

The M42 Cobalt drill bits showed up today. Drilled the sprockets like Black Oxide bits through aluminum.

Then drilled and tapped the hubs and bolted the sprockets on.

Then re-assembled the hubs to the rollers, with bearing spacers and set screw collars.

I then drilled and tapped through the rollers into the hubs and bolted them together with Allen bolts.

The antique GE KC 1.5HP motor got cleaned up and a fresh coat of paint.

Then everything got laid out for final assembly tomorrow


Here is an example of part of my CAD Program (carboard assisted design). This one didn't make the cut.

 

[rocket]

When I got started thinking about this project, this was the Roller Starter I liked the best. But at $1,000.00, I ain't buying it.

Today it kind of all came together. Of course it took way longer than I thought. Some holes had to be redrilled to get the alignment better between the rollers.

Then the motor mount plate needed to be moved for better chain alignment also

Then I ended up adding another 1/2" all thread and aluminum tube under the top roller to stop any potential spreading of the top truss.

I don't have as much (wrap) on the top roller sprocket and chain as I would have liked. The chain tensioner will be on the bottom slack side of the chain. I guess if there turns out to be an issue, I can add another tensioner between the motor and top roller sprocket.

I didn't get any pictures of the tensioner arm being milled earlier this week, but here it is.

Tensioner looks to fit best near the motor under the top roller. I still need to build an angle bracket to bolt it to.

After the chain tensioner is mounted, I still need to make a chain guard, and wheel guides. Don't need theses sprockets and chains chewing up tires.


Thanks for looking

 

[rocket]

I got the chain tensioner bracket built today and final chain adjustment done.

Then did a test run on the bench, everything looked to be a go, Including the 500 CC single siting patiently in the background.

I used the overhead hoist to lower it to the ground and did another test run. It worked, nothing flew apart.


But No Joy!. It's spinning too fast and the 1.5 HP antique motor ain't gonna cut it. I could drop down from the 16 took motor sprocket to 11 teeth and it would be better, and work on some bikes. But I think I just need to order a Compressor Duty 5 HP new motor and gear it down at the same time.

Oh Well. You win some and loose some. And sometimes you choose between the two.

"Keep Moving Forward"

 

[rocket]

Right now I'm looking at 3 HP, 3.7 HP and the 5 HP SPL compressor motors on Amazon and Ebay. Anyone have any experience with the Vevor China Corp motors?

 

[Inferno]

@rocket, could you add an adjustable speed controller to reduce the motor RPM?

 

[rocket]

@rocket, could you add an adjustable speed controller to reduce the motor RPM?

I'm sure I could, but for $12.00 I can drop down from 16 tooth drive sprocket to 9 tooth. Which reduces the roller speed to 1725 RPM. Which means the 25" motorcycle tire riding on 2.5" rollers is spinning 172 RPM, or 12.78 MPH. Faster than I can run pushing a 450 LBS motorcycle. That drops the speed almost in half. But I still think I need more HP. ALWAYS! Everything needs more HP.

 

[rocket]

Looking at all the Cheap A$$ China Corp motors out there with SPL questionable HP ratings and all running at 3450 RPM. I decided on a used MADE in USA Dayton Industrial Motor. 2 HP @ 1725 RPM. Almost twice the starting torque of the same HP 3450 RPM motor I found it on Facebook Marketplace for $100.00. I had originally specked out the sprocket size, Roller speed and wheel MPH using a 1725 RPM 1 HP motor that I had. I decided it wasn't big enough, so I used a 1.5 HP old GE with half the ID plate unreadable. Only to find out it was a 3450 RPM motor. Spinning way too fast without the starting torque needed. A 4 pole 1725 RPM motor has almost twice the starting torque of a 2 pole 3450 RPM motor from what I've read.
This is the newest version of the motor I bought, sold direct from Grainger. At $773.00. weighs 39 lbs. Smoking deal China Corp/Harbor Freight 3 HP 3450 RPM motor that weighs 29 LBS is $229.99

https://www.grainger.com/product/DAYTON-General-Purpose-Motor-Open-31TR70?analytics=nspNav&opr=NSDSP

This is what I bought. Earlier model than shown in Grainger's catalogue

 

[rocket]

Okay the first re-make of the roller starter.
The 1.5 HP antique motor was spinning at 3450 RPM even geared down slightly I still had a roller speed of 2683 RPM, which would drive a 25" tire at 20 MPH. No way I can push a 450 LB motorcycle that fast. Nor is it needed. Optimal Bump Starting speed is between 5-10 MPH. Here it is spinning way too fast.

The old motor came off today and I re-modeled the motor plate to take a modern #56H base motor mount. The 2HP 1725 RPM motor I bought was already wired for 230V, so all I had to do was reverse wires 5 & 8 to change it to CCW rotation. A quick test run and the motor sounds good.
Mounting the motor was just the first step. Since it is quite a bit larger, I had to raise it a couple inches to clear the frame work.
It does look massive.


I only had an 18 tooth sprocket that fits this motor. Which is a 1-1 ratio to the rollers, with the 1725 RPM will give me a rear wheel speed of 12.83 MPH and I think that's still too fast, so I ordered a 12 tooth sprocket today which will get the rear wheel speed down to 8.55 MPH.

Being a 230 V motor I will need to order a magnetic 2 pole contactor with a 120 volt coil to operate it.



Then the motor mag starter will be activated by a foot treadle switch.

 

[Seabee]

How are you going to tow that thing so you can re-start at "Cars and Coffee?" LOL

 

[rocket]

How are you going to tow that thing so you can re-start at "Cars and Coffee?" LOL

They are only hard to start after sitting for a year or two, or three.

 

[JABJEEP]

Very inspirational! I've been toying with the idea of doing something similar, but hopefully much more simple, to install an overhead garage door opener in my barn. The ceiling angle prevents a simple installation so a jackshaft idler sprocket assembly and strong mount would be the cure. Your aluminum adapters and frame construction gave me some great ideas and inspiration! Thanks for posting all of this!

 

[rocket]

Just checked tracking and the 12 tooth sprocket will be here Tomorow so I can do a test run.
Both the foot switch and the Mag starter contactor will be here Monday.
Packard C220B Contactor 2 Pole 20 Amps 120 Coil Voltage
I made up a 20 ft 10 gauge cord for it today with a Nema 30 amp 220 volt twist lock plug. I guess I need to stop by Home Depot and pick up a 4" square deep, water tight plastic box and cover to put the contactor and wires in..

 

[Seabee]

They are only hard to start after sitting for a year or two, or three.

A REALLY well rebuilt mag did the trick on my A-10's. Both will honestly start 1st kick no matter how long they sit. I do run the carbs out of fuel before storing.