Propane Powered Rat Bike

It started life as a 1984 1200 Honda Goldwing Aspencade. It had been wrecked and the previous owner had removed the front farring and had started it as a bagged bobber. I traded for it back in July, 2010. This is what it looked like when I got it.



It did'nt look too bad until I got hold of it. This thing had more wires and stuff than anything I've ever seen.



Yes, thats a GM altanator. The rectifier was missing from the charging system and who knows what else was wrong with it. Now I can get one anywhere for cheap.

Next, I took the cutting torch to it and cut in half and stretched it 10 inches to make room for a huge 33.5 lb propane forklift cylinder.


Speacial touch to the welds.


Did'nt do any speacial planning, just started cutting and welding. I could have put a smaller 20lb tank on but, bigger is better.


This was it one late evening just after gettin it running.





It will run 92mph in 2nd gear.



I rode it several days without a rear fender or much other stuff. I almost left it like it was, I liked it alot just raw. It was surley a conversation bit.

Here are some more pics with rear fender and some satin black paint.



Also some pics of the carburation. I kept the original 4 carbs and intake. I removed the cv slides from each carb then built an adaptor box to bolt to the tops of the 2 carbs into one propane mixer. This alowed me to use the original throttle linkage and throtlle bodys from the original carbs. The original breather box was removed and blocked with a plate.





Here are some pictures of it finished (for now anyway). I laced on some leather I got at the flea market to fill in the gaps in the frame stretch. I plan on putting a high polish on the alluminum cylinder soon if I can quit riding it long enough. I think that the weather will take care of that soon enough.


Finished for now with polished tank.

Thats ****in crazy man I'd like to make a trike out of something like that

Great project! Really different.

Wasn't sure about it until that last pic. The polished tank and the leather makes it all come together. Different and cool.

That thing is really cool.
What kind of range do you get with that tank? Is the miles per gallon about the same as gas?

I have a buddy with a 83' 1100 and been helping him on fixing it up after sitting for to long,so Ive gotton familiar with these bikes.
How did they cut a hole and mount that pulley on the crank cam belt?Kinda of cool idea, a PTO of sorts.

sneakysnake said:

I have a buddy with a 83' 1100 and been helping him on fixing it up after sitting for to long,so Ive gotton familiar with these bikes.
How did they cut a hole and mount that pulley on the crank cam belt?Kinda of cool idea, a PTO of sorts.

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I just pulled the timing covers off and trimmed them to expose the crankshaft. Then put in a longer bolt and a bushing between bolt and new pulley and tightened it up. I mess around on a site called Naked Goldwing Club. Some guy is having some of the pulleys made at this moment. Here is a link to what he has made. http://ngwclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=38195 It looks way better than what I have on mine. I think his conversion is called a poor boy alternator conversion.

8literbeater said:

That thing is really cool.
What kind of range do you get with that tank? Is the miles per gallon about the same as gas?

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I can go around 300 miles on the tank. It seems to be about 10% less miles per gallon but 20 to 30% cheaper.

It wasn't really about the milage, it was just one of those wild hairs. I still like it alot. It runs so smooth.

Outside the box stuff especially on bikes is so very cool. Nice project.

That is definitely a unique concept!!! I like it.