$8000 breaks down to about $3/hr after parts ... but the education was valuable. The bare motor/assembly had way more eye appeal than the outhouse-looking enclosure. What an intriguing video, Paul.
I used to ride at night home through Syon Park in the UK. The first time the peacock let out a cry from a high wall at close quarters I nearly fell off my bike. Thereafter I took people through there to see if they would get to fall off their bikes.
Steam engines, bricklaying, and adrenaline? The late Fred Dibnah climbing up to work, as he says, to fund his loco motion hobby was captured in a series of interesting videos on UA-cam. Another fascinating gentleman.
I knew about old fearless fred and his way over loaded land rover that carried all his ladders, but I never knew it was to fund a steam hobby. What a legend.
I did not know your channel before your break, but I am so very glad your back!! My Mother in law was diagnosed with Multiple Myleoma in 2008. She has had 2 stem cell transplants, and is doing very well these days at 82. Those transplants where, well, let me say she is a tough lady. Best of luck sir! I love your team's work!!
"this is my shop!!Jules Verne is behind the camera " I`m captain Nemo on the Cyclo-gizmo never been happier by the look of it ! fantastic! a tandem model will provide additional services of a stoker, and a trailer full of firewood to keep it rolling along, it has potential ,,
Hello Paul, I really enjoyed your honest explanation of the way you worked through this project, steam bike, why not? The only thing troubling me was where to put the tea! ( living in the U.K. we take these things very seriously!). Note to self, add small tap in boiler to allow teapot to be filled! Thank you, to both Mitch and yourself. Best wishes Kevin. 🫖
This is a brilliant project and a brave one to take on. Having messed with steam engines a bit I think a critical bit is the blast pipe which is where the exhaust from the engine goes through into the chimney. If you get the blast pipe right you draw a lot of air through the fire and hence hot air up the boiler tubes to create steam. I say this because if the fire door is getting really hot then the heat is not going up through the boiler. You might also benefit from a small superheater and valve gear that allows what is called notching back so when you are cruising it uses less steam. Nevertheless you have made a very good start and just need some fine tuning.
Allan, thanks for watching and commenting. I haven't seen the bike for 14 years. It went to Indiana where Dick lived. Dick died, and his wife sold it. I have no idea where it is now...
Hi! Love the videos, I watch them all and I learn so much! I would love to see a video on how Paul cleans parts and engines and such, everything seems so clean. In my shop my parts are always greasy and dirty despite my best efforts with a brush and degreaser. It may seem simple but it's the little thing I glean from these videos that stick with me. Also, I felt educated enough to repair a bent up bicycle for my friend last week. So thank you Mitch and Paul!
I want to thank you for the amazing information you provide to your viewers. This is fascinating material. I appreciate all of your efforts. Many thanks!
Another great project! You might be interested to see an amazing steam bicycle made not so long ago in the UK, its on UA-cam entitled The ruscombe gentleman's steam bicycle, it's design addresses pretty much all of the downsides of such a project.
Be careful to fully consider the weight of that water tank. That will be so heavy and so high you may occasionally struggle to keep from dropping that bike, you might consider a pair of a very low-slung horizontal large-diameter pipes maybe 4-5 inches up from the street
Back in the early 1900's there was a Lot of discussion about whether it was going to be steam, internal combustion, or electric power for vehicles. A lot of the smart money bet on Steam.
I keep hearing a peacock in the background. Great build, I would bet most people have never seen this type of build or the solid rubber tires being made either.
Hi Paul & Mitch, What a great project! I love steam engines myself - and would love to have a steam bike. The risks are definitely present with a steam boiler and engine. And I'd be sure to do the design and fabrication work with the supervision of a true "Steam Engineer" who understands all of the parameters of designing a steam system. Thanks so much for showing us!!!
You may not be a steam expert, but you sir, are an artist! I'm a retired sterilizer tech that worked in various hospitals and for Sterris, so I know a little about steam.
What a great project. I would love to make a steam machine of some type one day. I bet it took over double the hours originally thought. It sure looks like a fiddly job.
If ure not an expert! U made a hellva nice job that anybody would be proud of !! Love the idea of steam and didnt realise how complicated it all was ! But beautifully fininshed ! I think the expence was under a bit !! Haha ❤️
Great video Paul. Early in my career there were several reciprocating steam pumps in use in the refinery I worked in. I had lots of fun learning how they worked, and after servicing them was always pleased to see I'd done it right when they fired back up. This bike is wonderful engineering by you and your collaborators. It looked great. Would be cool to hear and see it chuffing along.
Distilled water likely to prevent scale buildup in the boiler from minerals in tap water, Espresso machines also like distilled water to prevent scale.
One of the big problems you have is the exhaust from the engine exiting into the chimney the way it does. If you had angled the exhaust to follow the draught of the chimney the used steam would increase your fires draft. brilliant video and again cracking nice work, thank you.
Yes, it it quite common to design the exhaust as a nozzle to produce 'forced draft' by Venturi effect, on a locomotive this is called a 'blast ring' and something s lot of design goes into.
@@paulbrodie Water is a very poor lubricant, so steamengines usually have an oilerelement to it, in order to keep funktioning. It goes for both stationarys, trains and ships, they let some oil in the steamcirkut to lubricate from within.
Man iam from Brazil, and found the channel this week ( Iam a farmer and its raining a lot here haha). Iam impressed with the habilit Mitch for passing the vision of the Paul. So nice guys, keeps the job great!
Great work with the water pressure test, Paul. Extremely safe. I had a hyperbaric chamber let go once, at 87,000 PSI, and nothing happened. It simply lost pressure. A genuine life saver to those who take your example.
@@paulbrodie I have to clarify, as some will question, it was a HPP machine. A 'High pressure processing' machine. These things work at three times the pressure of the Marianas trench. Unlike the standard hyperbaric chamber, this is to destroy all life for cold pasteurization purposes. Worth noting, before the questions come in.
My steam bike has a Strelinger engine and I have two different boilers for it. One is a Doble Detroit vertical grid water tube unit and the other is a Babcock style D-Return. Both fired by kerosene using a roaring burner. I drive through an Albion 3-speed hand shift unit (mostly for neutral so I can warm it up as I don’t have any snifters on the cylinder). I don’t use gauge glass valves but rather reflex gauges.
@@paulbrodie I’m lazy so I use a Detroit Diesel fuel oil priming pump driven by an eccentric. “Top Box” you mean the Smoke Box? I use a steam blower on my canoe (17’ Grumman aluminum). This looks sort of Roperesque.
I was surprised to see a "spoon brake" used and thought where have I seen that recently. It was on an electric Razor brand scooter similar to lots of ordinary push type scooter boards.
I had the pleasure to see one of these running a few years ago at a bike show in Coombs here on Vancouver Island. It seemed to have very good torque for the size of it, and it was amazing how quiet it was. I got to go for a ride of a Stanley steamer soon after and it was kind of frightening how fast it was for a hay wagon, no not really it was really nicely made.
That’s pretty cool. Instantly have visions of a steam bike made to look like a Scott flying squirrel with a two cylinder compound steam engine. Maybe in a few years…
Ha. I remember that from your blog back then. The videos do convey so much more but could you imagine the length of a series on building that one, one of the other bikes, or the Excelsior, and without Mitch along? Great stuff!
Wow, what a stunningly beautiful piece of Steampunk art! And it worked?? That's just gravy. Reminds me of The Time Machine, the original one. Embarrassing (and true) story on hand brakes: Many many many MANY years ago, when I was 12, I got a fancy dancy new Sears mid-weight bicycle, with 3 speeds, and hand brakes (no coaster). I was amazed at how incredibly well they worked. I practiced and practiced to see just how fast I could go, and how close I could get to something, slamming on front and rear brakes, and stop before crashing. After I decided I'd mastered that, I rode my bike downtown (small Southern town, with the Court House, and square in the middle of town), and we had a drug store on that square where all the teens hung out, having cherry cokes and all. I got up a good head of steam (pun intended), turned the corner right in front of the drug store as fast as I could go, raging up behind a taxi cab stopped to pick up a passenger. I could see the cabby looking back at me through the rear view, and my intention was to race up right on his bumper and come to an abrupt stop inches from his back bumper, scare the beejeezus out of him, while impressing my friends. It was wet that day. I had zero experience with handbrakes in wet. The cabby saw me screaming up behind his car, grab the hand brakes and..... nothing-zip-nada-zero ..... until I slammed full speed into the back of the cab, went flying down the trunk, over the top, and ended up on the car's hood. Bent the front rim, bent the forks back inside the neck so the bike wouldn't steer, and with ALL my classmates inside looking out, watching. That was 60 years ago, and I remember every minute detail like it was yesterday. Looking forward to your next video.
Thanks for sharing another fantastic story and congratulations on the project!! Did you consider bending the steam exhaust tube inside the chimney so it lined up with the smoke direction? If not, I think that might have helped draw combustion air through the burner by entraining the smoke. Just a thought ... Thanks again!!
An interesting exersize in historical steam. Have you since considered a more modern, lightweight steam engine to retrofit on an existing bike? Using a flash boiler and lpg as a realistic faster fuel, build a 3 cylinder radial engine of no more than 50cc displacement. I don't have a lathe or milling machine so can't really go further than brainstorming stage. Also use a condenser to reuse the water, aiming for a sealed unit steam engine.
Hey Mitch! Is it possible to add a small pop-up picture of a peacock every time the peacocks from Paul's garden scream? 😁
I suppose that is possible 🤔
@@mitchellnurseproductions Haha oke great! A possibility has the potential to become reality... 🤞
...and add a counter as well! Then we can rank the episodes...that was a 6 Peacock...which is obviously better than a 3 Peacock... 🙂
@@jeffkeen6943 😂
I second this motion. My wife laughed when she heard that call.
Thank you for another tour of "Inside Paul Brodie's Head" or "Wednesday with Paul Brodie" !!!
Always inspiring! Thanks!
Thank you Thomas!
2:50 Based on locomotive nomenclature, I'd call that the smokebox. Your grin while riding the bike says it all. Great build, well done!
As an ex B.R. fireman of the early 60's I second that "smokebox"
Thanks Gerry. Yes, Smokebox sounds good to me!
Vote three for smoke box. Now with a damper, to control the rate of burn of the fire.
$8000 breaks down to about $3/hr after parts ... but the education was valuable. The bare motor/assembly had way more eye appeal than the outhouse-looking enclosure. What an intriguing video, Paul.
Thanks Richard. Yes, my hourly rate was a bit low.
"So if it's raining and you're going downhill, good luck."
❤️🔥
So true.
That dang peacock! Always startles me, I love it. You should show him.
We did show Peter. Did you not watch that video?
I used to ride at night home through Syon Park in the UK. The first time the peacock let out a cry from a high wall at close quarters I nearly fell off my bike. Thereafter I took people through there to see if they would get to fall off their bikes.
@@paulbrodie I guess not... uh, show him more!
@@SubTroppo You sound like a great friend.
Steam engines, bricklaying, and adrenaline? The late Fred Dibnah climbing up to work, as he says, to fund his loco motion hobby was captured in a series of interesting videos on UA-cam.
Another fascinating gentleman.
I knew about old fearless fred and his way over loaded land rover that carried all his ladders, but I never knew it was to fund a steam hobby. What a legend.
I was gona mention this!
Just incredible! I’m amazed that roller/swage joint in the firebox didn’t need soldering - very cool!
Thanks Julian.
Good heavens... An incredible project.
Thanks Bill 🙂
Such a great project. You were just fabricating it. Then lessons learned... How cool is that!
Thank for watching!
I did not know your channel before your break, but I am so very glad your back!! My Mother in law was diagnosed with Multiple Myleoma in 2008. She has had 2 stem cell transplants, and is doing very well these days at 82. Those transplants where, well, let me say she is a tough lady. Best of luck sir!
I love your team's work!!
Thank you. Yes, I am scheduled for a stem cell transplant, so let's hope I do as well as your Mother in law.
Hi Paul, that is one crazy project, I love watching your problem solving, your a clever engineer, thanks for the inspiration. Kind regards Wayne
Wayne, thanks for watching and commenting :)
just luv watching your adventures, very captivating and informal,,,
Glad you like them!
You look so young in the picture. Judging by that smile, that ride has left an indelible mark in your memory. Nice to see.
Yes, I was a little younger then. I do smile a bit.. Thanks for watching!
I am speechless, custom build redefined…🎉
Thanks Peter :)
Absolutely brilliant!
You're just full of surprises, aren't you.
Kudos!
Thank you very much 🙂
i loved the picture of you "Steam Rollin" at the end!! awesome job
Thank you Mitch!
Perfect ,,, what more could anyone desire ,,,
maybe a portrait of Mighty Mitch ,,, but other than that ???
Awesome project and well executed - the smile on your face says it all. Thanks for the history.
Fantastic you keep a record of your projects and to share them with us all. Thank you 👍 A true artisan
Thanks. Yes, I have been a photographer for 47 years.
This is just insane, I couldn't imagine how difficult this would be to ride, let alone to also enjoy a nice scenery... LoL
@@gpw203 - For Sure, he works really fast and sometimes he makes multiple parts after the camera stops..... LoL
This is poetry. Take us for a ride.
I've seen the future! and it's powered by steam!
Thank you Paul & Mitch! Paul, you are just plain gifted.
Thank you Alan 🙂
"this is my shop!!Jules Verne is behind the camera "
I`m captain Nemo on the Cyclo-gizmo never been
happier by the look of it ! fantastic! a tandem model
will provide additional services of a stoker, and a trailer
full of firewood to keep it rolling along, it has potential ,,
...don't give him ideas... 🙂
@@jeffkeen6943 lolz,,, your right Jeff, these two are just an inspiration
Yes, if you look hard enough there is always an upside.
This is total madness. I love it.
Hello Paul, I really enjoyed your honest explanation of the way you worked through this project, steam bike, why not?
The only thing troubling me was where to put the tea! ( living in the U.K. we take these things very seriously!). Note to self, add small tap in boiler to allow teapot to be filled!
Thank you, to both Mitch and yourself.
Best wishes Kevin. 🫖
Thanks Kevin. Yes, I do sometimes like a good cup of tea!
Very, very impressive. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
This is a brilliant project and a brave one to take on. Having messed with steam engines a bit I think a critical bit is the blast pipe which is where the exhaust from the engine goes through into the chimney. If you get the blast pipe right you draw a lot of air through the fire and hence hot air up the boiler tubes to create steam. I say this because if the fire door is getting really hot then the heat is not going up through the boiler. You might also benefit from a small superheater and valve gear that allows what is called notching back so when you are cruising it uses less steam. Nevertheless you have made a very good start and just need some fine tuning.
Allan, thanks for watching and commenting. I haven't seen the bike for 14 years. It went to Indiana where Dick lived. Dick died, and his wife sold it. I have no idea where it is now...
Phenomenal! You are a genius.
Thanks. Too kind.
What a beautiful bit of kit. Love the vid.
Thank you Joe.
I am in my bike phase right now so every video you release is super interesting.
Thank you Martin.
Whacky and beautiful. That’s not always a good combination, but it is in this case. 😁
Thanks hordboy.
Hi! Love the videos, I watch them all and I learn so much! I would love to see a video on how Paul cleans parts and engines and such, everything seems so clean. In my shop my parts are always greasy and dirty despite my best efforts with a brush and degreaser. It may seem simple but it's the little thing I glean from these videos that stick with me.
Also, I felt educated enough to repair a bent up bicycle for my friend last week. So thank you Mitch and Paul!
Thanks Adam. One way I keep my shop clean is to keep all the grinding and belt sanding outside the shop. It really does make a difference.
Steam is scary stuff. You are crazier than I imagined. 🤣
I was younger then.
We have an engineeer here in nz who has built the same bike from the ground up. It goes along beautifully.
Excellent! New Zealand has some very talented engineers and fabricators! 😉
What a friggin legend!
Thanks Man!
Wow very interesting project Paul made my day 😁😁🤘🤘
Thanks Karl.
Paul & Mitch; what a story!
Thank you Arjan.
Love this, thanks for sharing!
Thank you.
This is such a cool video, PAUL!!!!
Thank you Robert 😉
Beautifully made mechanical art!
Thank you T monelo.
You're always up for a challenge. Well done, lots of valuable information learned.
Thank you Joe.
Neat project, and I can see how it blew the budget.
Paul, I think the cladding wood is teak rather than oak.
I want to thank you for the amazing information you provide to your viewers. This is fascinating material. I appreciate all of your efforts. Many thanks!
Thank you David 🙂
Nice...very enjoyed with your creativity sir...😀👍
Thank you Budy.
Another great project! You might be interested to see an amazing steam bicycle made not so long ago in the UK, its on UA-cam entitled The ruscombe gentleman's steam bicycle, it's design addresses pretty much all of the downsides of such a project.
Thanks Lydwood. I will check it out.
Hi, I'm Paul Brodeeeee!
Love this channel Sir!
Your intro/introduction is unique the way you introduce yourself and the LEGENDARY Mitch!!!
It's true. Mitch has been working very hard to establish his Legendary status. Thanks for watching!
Your skill never fails to amaze me 👍
Thanks Lee.
Hey Mitch, you need to get Paul and this bike or some of his bikes into Jay Leno’s UA-cam channel and into his shop.
What an amazing project. Beautifully made
Thanks Ian.
Steam Chest is the name I heard as a kid. Wonder about a fitting name for your two wheel counterpart.
Unbelievable workmanship. Well done
Thank you.
Awesome again. The smile at the end says it all.
Thanks Charlie.
Paul - "I think is't looking like a pretty sharp machine!", Peter - "Al right, Yah, yah, yah, yah, yah!"
Be careful to fully consider the weight of that water tank. That will be so heavy and so high you may occasionally struggle to keep from dropping that bike, you might consider a pair of a very low-slung horizontal large-diameter pipes maybe 4-5 inches up from the street
I built that bike for a customer probably 15 years ago. He died, and his wife sold it....
whooa you have done some very interesting stuff over the years Paul. love coming along on the Journey. Cheers Dave from Australia
Thanks Dave, all the way from Australia!
Bikes however you will know about, great story Paul, just part of the well rounded experience love it
Thank you.
Great work on your side for this amazing project!
Thank you Tow 😉
Absolutely awesome!!!
Thanks Neil. Glad you think so!
this motorcycle is awesome! you are a master. also first
Thank you Seafire.
That is a mechanical work of art...
Thanks Fred!
whether it worked well or not you did a nice job, I think if steam motorcycles ever worked well we would still be riding them.
Back in the early 1900's there was a Lot of discussion about whether it was going to be steam, internal combustion, or electric power for vehicles. A lot of the smart money bet on Steam.
@@paulbrodie yes, I’ve read a lot and watched documentaries about that time period, I think I would have fit in there better.
A work of art.
Thanks Andrew.
What a great project! Thanks for sharing that!
Hi Vlad! Thanks.
I'd call that upper chamber a "steam dome"- lets the steam liberated from the water collect for use. Cool bike!
Thanks Greg. The proper term, I found out, is a Steam Box.
Wirklich sehr interessant!
Bitte mehr Storys von früheren Projekten 😀
Liebe Grüße aus Deutschland ♥️♥️♥️
Thanks for watching!
I keep hearing a peacock in the background. Great build, I would bet most people have never seen this type of build or the solid rubber tires being made either.
Thanks Marty. I keep hearing a peacock too!
Hi Paul & Mitch, What a great project! I love steam engines myself - and would love to have a steam bike. The risks are definitely present with a steam boiler and engine. And I'd be sure to do the design and fabrication work with the supervision of a true "Steam Engineer" who understands all of the parameters of designing a steam system. Thanks so much for showing us!!!
Thanks Tom. Sounds like you are Keen for Steam!
You may not be a steam expert, but you sir, are an artist! I'm a retired sterilizer tech that worked in various hospitals and for Sterris, so I know a little about steam.
Thank you.
What a great project. I would love to make a steam machine of some type one day.
I bet it took over double the hours originally thought. It sure looks like a fiddly job.
Yes, a few extra hours for sure!
Wonderful!
Thanks Pete!
The top box with the exhaust would be called the smoke box.
Yes, correct!
If ure not an expert! U made a hellva nice job that anybody would be proud of !! Love the idea of steam and didnt realise how complicated it all was ! But beautifully fininshed ! I think the expence was under a bit !! Haha ❤️
Thank you Ken. Appreciate your comments!
The valve to drain pressure from the boiler, is actually called a blow down valve. The correct term is blowing down the boiler
Thank you.
That is sooooo Cool! As big a pain in the butt to build it seems you did an outstanding job on it
Tom, thank you very much.
So cool, so much gizmoness
Great video Paul. Early in my career there were several reciprocating steam pumps in use in the refinery I worked in. I had lots of fun learning how they worked, and after servicing them was always pleased to see I'd done it right when they fired back up. This bike is wonderful engineering by you and your collaborators. It looked great. Would be cool to hear and see it chuffing along.
Thank you, appreciate your comments.
You never cease to amaze me Paul , great video thanks for posting
Glad you enjoyed it.
Distilled water likely to prevent scale buildup in the boiler from minerals in tap water, Espresso machines also like distilled water to prevent scale.
Superb work and insight into another of your projects👌
Cheers Chris
Thanks Chris!
One of the big problems you have is the exhaust from the engine exiting into the chimney the way it does. If you had angled the exhaust to follow the draught of the chimney the used steam would increase your fires draft. brilliant video and again cracking nice work, thank you.
Thank you Kevin. Yes, there are always ways to make improvements.
Yes, it it quite common to design the exhaust as a nozzle to produce 'forced draft' by Venturi effect, on a locomotive this is called a 'blast ring' and something s lot of design goes into.
What a nice bike, how did you solve the lubrication issue?
Thank you Noah. Lubrication issue? Not sure I follow you.
@@paulbrodie Water is a very poor lubricant, so steamengines usually have an oilerelement to it, in order to keep funktioning. It goes for both stationarys, trains and ships, they let some oil in the steamcirkut to lubricate from within.
Man iam from Brazil, and found the channel this week ( Iam a farmer and its raining a lot here haha). Iam impressed with the habilit Mitch for passing the vision of the Paul. So nice guys, keeps the job great!
Hello Brazil.. Welcome aboard!
Dang! That is so cool!
Thank you Steve!
Superb job.
Thank you! Cheers!
Add a valve cutoff mechanism to give power on hills yet economy on the flat Steam locomotives work on that principle
Yes, you might be correct, but the boiler was a mis-match to the steam engine. That turned out to be a problem...
How very interesting Paul, you never cease to amaze. From pedal to steam to petrol to electric!! Have you even considered a sail or wings??? 😉😂
Thanks. Mostly I like two wheels, on the ground.
Great work with the water pressure test, Paul. Extremely safe. I had a hyperbaric chamber let go once, at 87,000 PSI, and nothing happened. It simply lost pressure. A genuine life saver to those who take your example.
Thanks Marty.
@@paulbrodie I have to clarify, as some will question, it was a HPP machine. A 'High pressure processing' machine. These things work at three times the pressure of the Marianas trench. Unlike the standard hyperbaric chamber, this is to destroy all life for cold pasteurization purposes. Worth noting, before the questions come in.
@@criticalmass181 That's a lot of pressure just to destroy life. Crazy world!
My steam bike has a Strelinger engine and I have two different boilers for it. One is a Doble Detroit vertical grid water tube unit and the other is a Babcock style D-Return. Both fired by kerosene using a roaring burner. I drive through an Albion 3-speed hand shift unit (mostly for neutral so I can warm it up as I don’t have any snifters on the cylinder). I don’t use gauge glass valves but rather reflex gauges.
Thanks for commenting.
@@paulbrodie I’m lazy so I use a Detroit Diesel fuel oil priming pump driven by an eccentric. “Top Box” you mean the Smoke Box? I use a steam blower on my canoe (17’ Grumman aluminum). This looks sort of Roperesque.
@@butziporsche8646 Yes, smoke box. I just couldn't remember until I got reminded 🙂
I was surprised to see a "spoon brake" used and thought where have I seen that recently. It was on an electric Razor brand scooter similar to lots of ordinary push type scooter boards.
Yes, the spoon brake has been around for a very long time!
I had the pleasure to see one of these running a few years ago at a bike show in Coombs here on Vancouver Island. It seemed to have very good torque for the size of it, and it was amazing how quiet it was. I got to go for a ride of a Stanley steamer soon after and it was kind of frightening how fast it was for a hay wagon, no not really it was really nicely made.
Thanks for sharing!
Been curious about the Roper for decades and here you went and answered most of them. Totally aghast and speechless and stuff.
Thanks Tim.
Piece of Artwork from another time. Love it. 🦃
Thank you! Cheers!
Fantastic project and story, and the heartbreak of building something that doesn’t work like you thought, I’ve been there and it’s not a nice place 😩
Thanks Mike. I was the fabricator, not the designer, so I didn't feel too bad. I did my best.
That’s pretty cool. Instantly have visions of a steam bike made to look like a Scott flying squirrel with a two cylinder compound steam engine. Maybe in a few years…
Thanks Stephen.
Ha. I remember that from your blog back then. The videos do convey so much more but could you imagine the length of a series on building that one, one of the other bikes, or the Excelsior, and without Mitch along? Great stuff!
Thank you. Yes, Mitch and I are a team.
Wow, what a stunningly beautiful piece of Steampunk art! And it worked?? That's just gravy. Reminds me of The Time Machine, the original one. Embarrassing (and true) story on hand brakes: Many many many MANY years ago, when I was 12, I got a fancy dancy new Sears mid-weight bicycle, with 3 speeds, and hand brakes (no coaster). I was amazed at how incredibly well they worked. I practiced and practiced to see just how fast I could go, and how close I could get to something, slamming on front and rear brakes, and stop before crashing. After I decided I'd mastered that, I rode my bike downtown (small Southern town, with the Court House, and square in the middle of town), and we had a drug store on that square where all the teens hung out, having cherry cokes and all. I got up a good head of steam (pun intended), turned the corner right in front of the drug store as fast as I could go, raging up behind a taxi cab stopped to pick up a passenger. I could see the cabby looking back at me through the rear view, and my intention was to race up right on his bumper and come to an abrupt stop inches from his back bumper, scare the beejeezus out of him, while impressing my friends. It was wet that day. I had zero experience with handbrakes in wet. The cabby saw me screaming up behind his car, grab the hand brakes and..... nothing-zip-nada-zero ..... until I slammed full speed into the back of the cab, went flying down the trunk, over the top, and ended up on the car's hood. Bent the front rim, bent the forks back inside the neck so the bike wouldn't steer, and with ALL my classmates inside looking out, watching. That was 60 years ago, and I remember every minute detail like it was yesterday. Looking forward to your next video.
Thanks Johnnie. You tell a great story! I have a similar story, showing off, and crashing, but yours is better!
Thanks for sharing another fantastic story and congratulations on the project!! Did you consider bending the steam exhaust tube inside the chimney so it lined up with the smoke direction? If not, I think that might have helped draw combustion air through the burner by entraining the smoke. Just a thought ... Thanks again!!
Thank you.
An interesting exersize in historical steam. Have you since considered a more modern, lightweight steam engine to retrofit on an existing bike? Using a flash boiler and lpg as a realistic faster fuel, build a 3 cylinder radial engine of no more than 50cc displacement. I don't have a lathe or milling machine so can't really go further than brainstorming stage. Also use a condenser to reuse the water, aiming for a sealed unit steam engine.
I built this steam bike bike many years ago, and have done nothing with steam in the years following.