Kuwahara Ranger

calab

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Dec 10, 2013
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I am converting this Kuwahara Ranger: 23.5 - 24" frame with 26" wheels but its a tad too high with my Townie Electra seat, the distance between the rails and the bottom of the seat is just the distance I would need plus a tad more. I can put up with it, but its a bit of a tippy toe situation. Looking for the same seat but shorter deck height, would have been nicer if it was a 22" frame. Seat post is 25.3mm not the 25.7mm I had as well that did not fit. The seat has the old school, cheap clamping, two bolt mechanism, bog standard. The integrated posts might be something to look at, but that money out, not money in.




InkedKuwahara Ranger - Yr unknown.jpg




Backstory is I paid $30 for the frame without wheels, from a community bicycle shop, makes me feel good supporting them, though I could have held out for longer looking for discarded bikes but few and far between in big sizes, at most I was willing to drop $100 from the online classified marketplaces of the interwebs.

Steel with workable shifters that shifted but the housing was frayed, pedalable, brakes fixable with easy adjustment, cantilever :( but easily swapable with the 4 pair of v-brakes and countless v-brake levers (different pull ratios)
Thing was I do not need to pile 2 more wheels onto the pile I am trying to get rid of so I saved $10 from $40. Get rid of means, throw away the bad and semi bad, keep the good ones but reasonable, like 2 sets of 26 and one set of 700. Sane and rational, not two dozen. I got 8 handlebars, 5 big tote boxes of ebike and bike stuff. May need to grab the controller bin, might have broke my cont, think its just a phase touching steel or phases touching. Hope its not controller, just phases on using silicone wire. ta moved enough today to make it a 98.5% epic day, not 100% like the past month.

Something interesting I found was old school lips that were bolted down, metal tabs that need to be undone in order to take the front wheel off.

The rear dropouts look easy to make ta's for. Nice flat surface with two bolt holes per side.

The black phase wires were hk silicone, not a smart move on my part. Now I know where all my silicone wire went. Was looking for it the other day.

I ordered some ptfe teflon out of cali, he sells guitar stuff (pots, switches), reputable fella. When a shipment went astray, he stepped up.... thats the shit one remembers. Two-fer, I didnt say a word.
 

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I havent checked the stamp yet for the year, but I like the game of chasing the year down.
1986-1989 but most likely an 86 or 87, only based on the stylish Ranger lettering.




Sad times for the hub motor, I thought it was the hobbyking silicone wire frayed at the exit because of the visible damage but it was a stretched phase wire inside the hub due to axle rotation. I got it all apart, down to the first wire attached to each of the 3 windings.

Last symptoms were jerkiness and continually back and forth about 1" at the 26" tread. I could ride it slowly, but the hub would move with only 1 ta causing the wheel to touch the chain stay. Two ta's would have bypassed the problem or just a ta that was snug. No e-brake used, might go harder steel this time around, tool steel if I can get flat plate might end up damaging the axle. This time I will do a plunge cut for the notch instead of the open ended notch which did flare out due to a slight rotation of the axle.




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The next day edit - The fix but with good thick heat shrink and one with glue inside.





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All in all it took about 2 hrs fixing and watching Jay Leno's Garage. Silicone wire isnt the best choice, but thats all I had and I needed it fixed right away. Whats I put in is probably teflon ptfe but 14awg, tons of room in the Leaf 1500w axle, could even slide in some heat shrink at the exit when all three phases installed.


Torque arms are next
 
How tall are you how much do you weigh.
I have a huge giant frame that's 24 in and I also have a 23 and a 25.2 I always ride the 23 inch frame. All MTB
On those front brakes I put those newer side pull brakes on v brakes are called and I put kool stop pads on them dual color.
What were you thinking about doing with your brakes ?
 
I rode for 80.50 miles or 129 clicks today, butts a tad sore but not to bad for a Townie seat.
I am packing the pounds back on lately so 255lbs, 6'3 and the seat is moulding to me now and I gained a better heel stance.
Very pleasant ride, its about epic ride #44 or there abouts, in a row.

I still might relace the Leaf into a 24" but I already have a new 26" rim waiting.

I hate that its rigid, it really does need a suspension fork, hopefully its not obsolete 1" threaded suspension forks.
 
If you have less than a "fistful" of seatpost showing on a bike with a level top tube, you're using a bike that's too big for you, or else placing the seat too low.

That bike predates suspension, and it will screw up the bike's geometry and make it even taller if you retrofit it with a squish fork.

The Electra Townie saddle is one of my very favorites, exceeded slightly by the Electra Cruiser saddle which is pretty much the same but without the Lycra patch in the middle.
 
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