P-Bike Complete

 Managed to fire up the p-bike yesterday:

1. There was something wrong with the throttle mechanism, as it raced away and the only way to control the engine speed was by tapping the kill switch, which obviously isn't the orthodox manner in which to control speed - it was like riding a bucking bronco to start with. Something was obviously making the carburettor piston stick open. I had to dismantle the carburettor, unhook the throttle cable and start from scratch.
2. The choke was incredibly loose and kept flipping up (a common fault), so I opened up the filter, roughened up the choke flap to provide more friction, tightened the nut and removed the sponge filter completely. A lot of users maintain it serves little purpose on a £80, 2-stroke motor.
3. The clutch is incredibly stiff. Not sure why - I've had the lever and pin out several times, but it just seems to be a stiff return spring on the clutch plate itself. Hopefully it will loosen with time use.

Overall, it works just fine, although I will need to reposition a few levers and re-run some cables and I have yet to fit the chainguard - which will be difficult as there's not much room to manoeuvre. The fuel line also needs upgrading to something less flimsy (braided fuel line on order), but overall I'm happy with the result. It still requires a bit more setup tuning, but not a lot. Brakes could do with an upgrade too.

Next job is to find out what the legalities are before taking it on the road. I'll obviously need a helmet and probably moped insurance, which I'm sure I can add to my existing motorcycle policy for pennies. Not sure though what other regulations I'll need to obey, if any.

I would really like to make another of these, but using a really retro bike, like the Wildfire. Having done it once, I'm sure I could build another in a single afternoon.