Airhead Tech Pages
Airhead Tech Pages
R-Powered Snowblower
by Tom Keen
(saved and rediscovered by David E.B. Smith davidebsmith@culinary-capers.com)
A holiday classic that's right up there with It's a Wonderful Life ....
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Subject: BMW: R100-Snowblower
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Some of you may be interested in the R100 - Snowblower conversion I
just completed. The "R-Blower"
Last week all the unusually heavy snow, middle age, no riding time
and a general psychosis inspired me to pull out the tool box and come
up with a great solution to snow removal. I don't suggest this
project to everyone but if you can do basic mechanical work on your
bike and have some time, give it a whirl.
I noticed on the news that there was an unusually heavy demand for
new snow blowers here in Ohio. We dont get much snow and the 15
inches of the white stuff that has fallen here in the last week was
causing folks to dip into their savings and buy snowblowers. I'm
cheap and have teenagers and never felt the need for a snowblower,
but after couple of hours shoveling the stuff and I was ready to
take the plunge also.
I shopped around but all the snowblowers in southern Ohio had been
sold. I finally found a dealer who had an old one that had been
traded in, and he was willing to let me have it, "for a song." $50
later, I was home with a industrial type snowblower - 36" bucket and
with a blown Briggs and Stratton engine. I got the dead engine off it
and was just about to start making a few calls to find a new engine
when I notice my old motorcycle, sitting in the corner of the garage.
That wonderfull engine was just sitting there on the bike. Two jugs,
air cooled, almost indestructible ... a great piece of engineering.
It seemed, at the time, perfectly reasonable, to take the engine off
the bike and put in on the snow blower.
It took about an hour to get the R engine out of the bike. I bolted
the transmission back on and set in on top of the snow blower and
amazingly, it looked good. And it fit, if if mounted horizontally.
I drilled out new holes for engine mounts and cut pieces of angle iron
that were bolted onto the blower's . I cut a larger hole for the oil pan
of the engine to drop into and let the engine rest on top to the blower.
A trip to the car parts store and I had a heavy duty pulley which
I machined out to fit over the output shaft on the transimission.
It was a matter of trial and error but I found a belt that fit,
connecting the new pulley to the snow blower. Standing back from my
creation and admiring my work, I realized that all I had to do now
was move the battery, fuses etc and rig up something to hold a little
gas and I was ready to blow the snow off Knecht Dr. and into the next
county.
I used duct tape and fastened a plastic, one gallon milk container to
the blower and ran a piece of fuel line down to the carbs. Then, I
removed the hand controls from the bike and stuck them on the new
snowblower, running the cables to the clutch and carbs. I fabricated
little clamps to secure them to the handle bars and at various points
on the deck of the machine... The last step was putting the battery
and various electric components to the snowblower. I used a mesh,
potato sack, mini jumper cables, and duct tape to accomplish this.
And it was Done! (Ive left out a few details here, wiring harness etc
so as not to burden you with details)
It looked really good to me. All that engine on top of that big old
snowblower ... I could always come back and install a more
attractive alternative to the duct tape and the milk jug fuel tank.
With the help of a couple of neighbors, I pushed the new R-Blower to
the edge of the drive, pulled in on the clutch, flipped the choke
open and hit the starter button. "VRAAAAMMMAMMM" went the engine. I
had forgotten how loud these things could be without an exhaust
system. Snow instantly evaporated on the side of the machine where
the exhaust ports were pointed. Dog howled; cats and small children
ran for their lives. But it ran... god I love these engines!
I manually pushed the shift lever down and slowly
let out the clutch. The blower's auger begin to spin, really fast. I
pushed the blower's gear lever into the lowest setting and at idle we
lurched forward. The Rblower slammed into the first 4 foot drift
across the drive and "VVRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM"
"SHWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH" ... it inhaled that drift
and shot a blast of snow towards my neighbors house that had to be at
least 50 feet high.
I had the driveway clear in about 30 mins. The noise attracted folks
from a 5 block area, two TV crews showed up and the R-Blower was an
instant sucess. In the course of that day. I cleared almost all the
driveways and most of the streets in my neighborhood. My pockets were
stuffed with $10 and $20 bills from grateful folks.(I donated this
money to charity, lest anyone think me a ungenerous). And the R-Blower
and I were on the evening news.
Last night we got 5 more inches of snow and as soon as it's light, I
will fire up the beast and do it again.
I would be happy to provide anyone interested in this conversion a
list of parts and specifications. During the down time this summer I
intend to mount a real fuel tank and battery holder, and get a decent
paint job (Im thinking, classic black with hand pinstripping)
Praying for more snow, in Dayton, Ohio.
Tom Keen
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Tom Keen - Dayton, Ohio USA
BMWMOA, IBMWR
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Part II,
Ive already gotten a bunch of questions regarding the R100-Snowblower
conversion project. I'll post an update this evening and provide a
complete description of today events (busted motor mounts, and
unanticipated spline problems) but real quickly, here are answers to
a few of the questions I've recieved:
Jeff Dunkle: "...Have you considered using a smaller engine for the
R-Blower"
Jeff: I would have if I had one, maybe this spring when the engine
goes back into the bike I will shop around for an R50/ engine with
kick start and magneto system.
Roozbeh Chubak " I'd put a seat on it"
Roozbeh: this really isnt practical in my opinion, but I can
understand why some of our older listmembers might appreciate the
comfort
Joe Senner: "do you think a kbike engine would work?"
Joe, well if you want to go to all the trouble of hooking up the
radiator and fairing pieces I guess it would.
Tom C: " I'd think the belt drive would be the weak spot in your system
...your thoughts, please?"
Tom, you are absolutely right... the R-Blower goes through vbelts
quicker than a case of Lonestar through Joe Senner. I am
considering switching to a chain drive system.
Jim Rouch (Dr. Curve) - "To really get the performance maximum out of
that engine you need to put on pumpers and larger valves with teflon
scrapers on the valve stems... and then you have to..... (snip).
Thanks again for the responses to my tech piece, I'll get something
out soon about the vibration problems.
Tom
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Tom Keen - Dayton, Ohio USA
BMWMOA, IBMWR
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Part III
We got another five inches of snow last night and I thought the list
might be interested in an update on today's adventures.
Several problem have surfaced with the R-Blower design.
I had been running the R-Blower very sucessfully for about 30 mins this
afternoon and began to experience really severe vibrations.
The far side of the engine start heaving into the air about four inches
slamming itself up and down on the deck of the blower. A quick
inspection revealed that two of the angle iron motor mounts had torn
loose from the sheet metal deck of the snowblower. I rewelded them
but would suggest anyone attempting this conversion reinforce the entire
snow blower with steel straps welded to form a lattice frame and get the
Lustmeister engine mounting kit with the rubber dampers.
The other thing that happened was totally unexpected... the splines on
the output shaft started to disintegrate. As you recall, I mounted a
pulley on the output shaft. To do this I took the female part of the
spline assembly and welded it to the pulley and put this new piece on
the output spline (male part). I thought that a little freeplay in the
thing would minimize the effects of engine vibration etc. I notice shiny
wear ridges on the spline this afternoon. It appeared that the water
and salt were getting on the splines and drying them out causing the
excessive wear. Here's my solution...
I took a metal fence post and welded it upright to the deck of the
snowblower. When I was finished it stuck up about four feet from the
top of the machine. I then suspended a bottle of gear oil, using a
coat hanger, from the top of the post. I punctured a very small hole
in the bottle of oil, inserted a gromet into the hole and then inserted
an end of a length of small guage plastic tubing through the center of
the
gromet. The other end of the plastic tube was routed to a position
about an inch above the splines and duct taped in place.
Using a tube clamp I was able to squeeze the tube down to the
point a single drop of oil, dropped from the end of the tube onto
the splines at the rate of one every five minutes.
This fix works great. the splines are constantly lubed and I have not
noticed any further wear. I believe that this this type of system would
work on those nasty K bike splines but think I would come up with
some sort of salvage system to recover the oil. A small electrical pump
might work well and the bottle of oil could be mounted somewhere
under the seat.
Tom
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Tom Keen - Dayton, Ohio USA
BMWMOA, IBMWR
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PartIV
....
I want to thank you all for the overwelming support and advise about
the R-Blower, my R100-snowblower conversion. Its been gratifying
that my efforts have been so well received. But it is, with a sad
heart, that I must report that the R-Blower is dead and will not likely be
rebuilt in Dayton, Ohio.
About two hours ago, several of the local presidents came by the
house. Apparently, they had been eating chicken wings and sucking
down beer at a local establishment and had decided to come over,
introduce themselves, and see the R-Blower in action. I'm not going
to name these folks. They know who they are. And maybe someday,
they can write their version of the incident.
These two guys and one lady wanted me to start the R-Blower and give
them a demonstration. I led them to the garage and showed them my
creation. Then, we pushed it outside. Since the presidents were a
bit unsteady on their feet, I got out a few folding chairs, setting them
up next to the machine so they could safely watch and listen as I
discussed
the finer points of my design.
"Start that sucker up!" cried President #1
"Yeah! I dont want to hear all this tech crap." yelled president #2
"My husband wants me home by 9 and you are wasting time" said
President #3.
The sun had set by that time, and I was a little nervous about
operating the R-Blower after dark. I had not bothered to mount the
headlamp or running lights. But, I was eager to please and make an
impression on my fellow presidents.... I hit the starter button:
VRRRRAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMM...
Instantly I realized my mistake! Blue and orange flames shot out of
the exhaust ports straight at the face of President #1, who was sitting
about 3 feet away, innocently picking chicken out of his teeth.
I can only image what he saw and thought about when he heard
the first blat of that engine and saw those flames leap out at him.
If time really does slow down in situations like this, President #1
must have seen the exhaust valves sliding up in their guides.
"EEEIYOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!!" He screamed, as the exhaust blasts passed on
either side of his face. And then, as if by magic, his body rose
straight
up from the chair and he was propelled backwards over the low fence at
the
edge of the driveway.
To the best of my recollection (it's a blurr from that point on) I
heard another scream and felt a heavy hit as one the two remaining
Presidents tackled me. I was thrown to the ground. Looking up, I saw
the other president grab the right side controls and fumble for the kill
switch, he turned the throttle instead. VRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMM The sound was deafening as the old R100
engine
hit the red line. I swear - the ground started moving underneath me and
my
vision blurred.
I passed out shortly thereafter from a combination of the noise and the
beating I was receiving from the president who had tackled me...the last
thing I remember was that president's fist coming down as he screamed
something about me burning up the best riding buddy he had ever had.
I'm feeling a better now, my wife is trying to take care of me with
ice and tylenol. It seems to help. As I write this, the R-Blower is
being disassembled by two Dayton Police officers. It was either that
or go downtown with the other presidents. The officers are going to
take the blower section of the R-Blower with them for evidence and
have made a very forcefull suggestion that I put the engine back in
the bike. "Real damm fast".
President #1 is just fine, by the way. His hearing and eyesight is
expected to return to normal. Number #2 and #3 are in the Montgomery
County Jail but I will probablly go down and bail them out tommorrow
morning, eventually I will drop the charges. I just dont have the
heart to see a fellow president in jail, especially when this thing
was my fault: I realize now, that I failed to follow even the most
basic
safety procedures.
Praying for Spring, again,
Tom Keen
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Tom Keen - Dayton, Ohio USA
BMWMOA, IBMWR
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