I will look into respoking the wheels, and like you said, taking a link out of the chain might work, but I’ve tried that a little and surprisingly one link makes more than a half inch difference in slack. If I take one out then where the mounting of the rear wheel sits, it is basically falling off the edge of the mounting slot. @KristijanL I would like to know more about the two stroke on wood gas and the Oiler you made. Tyler
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I really like the design of the simple fire dirt bike that I posted above, does anybody know more about that project? Thanks, Tyler.
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The honda above looks a lot like the one built by a fellow who occasionally posts here. I cant think of his name though.
I,m not sure if they are available for bicycle chain or not, but for larger size roller chain you can buy half links. Wrth a look.
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The chain is I think considered a small motorcycle chain or a heavy duty bicycle chain, but I know there is a half link available online somewhere. It is a 415 size chain. TG
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I hear my name mentioned. Correct, l chargased a 49cc two stroke. And it worked wary well! Knowing what l know now regarding gasification, l could avoid many mistakes and make it a useable machine. If you ever decide to woodgas it l will be glad to help you.
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Tyler: Martin Payne here, creator of MP’s Motofier. Let me know how I can help you!
One late, important Lesson Learned: The bike ran so well at the Mother Earth News event, a few years ago, that I decided I would never put gasoline in it, again. (I had just cleaned gasoline gunk out of the tank, and replaced the filter valve, so I was disgusted with gasoline.) Anyway, I put the bike away, didn’t try to run it for a while. When I went to kick start it, it wouldn’t kick, engine was stuck. With a little more force I heard a “pop” and it came free! Real free. As in no compression.
So, the water-saturated wood gas from the charcoal gasifier had rusted the steel piston rings during the time it was sitting. One needs to run the engine on gasoline, or LP, or fog it, or flush it somehow, after running woodgas (if it will sit up for a while).
Holler if I can help!
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I’ve had the same thing with a 13hp Honda. I sprayed some penetrating oil through the spark plug hole, let it sit and then loosened up the piston
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Thanks, is there a “kit” or plans available for the style charcoal gasifier you put on it? I was also thinking of some bigger motorcycles with a side car that is dedicated to a charcoal gasifier (or possibly wood but less likely). Do you think this could be scaled up a little and used in that manner? What miles per pound or miles per gallon of charcoal do you get with this little bike? And what is the top speed? Thanks, Tyler.
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There was a guy on here a few years ago who intended to do a motorbike sidecar thing.
Francois Pal posted pics of WWII gasified bikes I believe. Kristijan helped a neighbour do a vintage looking bike conversion too, if I’m not mistaken.
But these projects have all been one off. If there was anything standard, it would probably be from WWII Europe.
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Tyler: No “kit” available, I built this from scratch. But the gasifier itself is real simple. The rest is plumbing. It’s a Simple-Fire, after all! You can find plans on this site, I believe. I once retyped them for Gary Gilmore.
Hint: I found that kitchen sink drain pipe works really well for the inlet piping.
Hint: Leave the woodgas wide open, adjust the mixture with the air, your throttle remains in the carb/handgrip.
I would love to have had a Ural’s sidecar to convert, but had this XR100 on hand. Not a very practical conversion, but was fun. Like a circus clown on a tiny bicycle. Yes, a Ural et al would be great.
Consumption: It’s in that link Bruce sent, but it’s 2.6 lb/hr, or 3.25 gal/hr with 1.25 lb/gallon Menke hardwood charcoal. The bike gets about 10 mi/lb, or 12.5 mi/gallon of Menke charcoal.
About a 2 hr runtime, maintaining like 4" minimum charcoal above the nozzle (for insulation, and before the vessel gets too hot). About 50 miles at 25 mph.
Top speed: uphill or downhill? See the MP’s Motofier YouTube. About half horsepower, I believe. Would be more if I could adjust the timing.
Scale up? Maybe a one inch nozzle but otherwise the same basic design, and just use a taller vessel for more charcoal capacity, like one of Gary’s grease drums.
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Tyler, I would suggest building a tensioner mount that attaches in two places…like on both the lower and upper frame rails. Maybe an arch or a square U-shaped bracket that could then hold the tensioner roller/gear. That would eliminate your “twisting” problem I think. It might add a pound or two to total weight, but would likely be worth it if it keeps you from crashing another wheel.
looking good. Welcome to the community. Billy North
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I have considered that a little, and I haven’t gotten to buying parts I need for it. I definitely will get one eventually. Thanks, Tyler.
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Tyler; When my shop burned up I just through all the tools in my chest into buckets. I spent some time today looking through them for my chain breaker. No luck. Since you have taken the crank off your bike and only have one chain to contend with, I don’t know why you aren’t breaking the chain and taking out how ever long a section you need to to get the chain to fit tight. If the mouth of the slot the rear axle fits into is facing the front, you start with the tight chain right at the mouth and you will be able to tighten the chain as it stretches, towards the back of the bike. The opposite is true if the mouth of the slot faces the back of the bike. The axle starts out tight where the slot ends towards the front and again as the chain stretches, you move it towards the back.TomC
PS Are you old enough to ride a motorized bike and don’t you need a license plate on it. My personal opinion here is; if you want to get into woodgas, get a riding lawn mower and convert it to woodgas. Several of the older fellows all start with riding lawn mowers. You will learn a lot, and your folks might be happy that you will volunteer to mow the yard while making trial runs with you "gasifiera’
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The slot is at an angle, too awkward of an angle for it to practically make much difference in the slack of the chain. If I could I would provide pictures but I am as of now in Kentucky for my brothers baseball tournament. Here is a picture of what is ideal for my setup, but what I have is in the picture below:
This is what I have: 
Thanks, tyler
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Oh and what style gasifier should I use for a lawn mower? I am going to purchase Wayne’s book soon enough, and I think it was Bill Schiller that had a mini wk gasifier? Correct me if I’m wrong.
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Yes, I built a mini WK with a 6" fire tube. I used it for a 15 hp Kohler which is about 450cc. I haven’t tried any engine bigger or smaller for the gasifier but I imagine I have some room to go bigger or smaller.
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Ok, I was also thinking if I have it built, I could use it for multiple things like a lawn mower or generator.
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Main thing now is get the book with membership and a welder. I just got to get a nicer welder so I can focus more on the gasifiers and not troubleshooting welder problems. I was thinking a titanium 170 amp 120/240 volt mig welder.
