The Flying Pigeon Project

Tour de Dandong

What happens when 25 Canadians stage a race on motorized roadsters through rural China to the North Korean Border? A lot of fun apparently.

Craig Engleson, should know as he was the "Tour de Dandong" organizer. Starting in the resort town of Dalian, the tour wound it's way over 2.5 days to Dandong on the North Korean border and the "Broken Bridge". This is probably as close a most westerners ever get to Kim Jung Il without being imprisoned.

Bikes of Tianjin

Back in Dec, I took a trip with some work colleagues to Tianjin, which is the home of the Flying Pigeon. A perfect time to check out the bike scene. It proved to be a bit disappointing. I was expecting the streets to be swarming with Pigeons, but this was not the case. Still I managed to find some interesting bikes.

First there was this Flying Pigeon with a fore-car. Never seen that before. The flat tires gives some indication that it has not been used in a while.

Then there was this Pigeon with perfect patina. It belonged to a policeman who is just out of frame.

So...you think your seat is uncomfortable? How about this pizza slice of leather! Found this on a cargo trike. Bu xu fu!!

Probably the most interesting bike was this motorized bike. It has a modified twin loop frame, telescopic forks from a moped and a rear swing arm. Still has ye old standard copy of a Honda 50 motor for an engine. I suspect this bike started life as a Forever. I say this because he small toolbox under the seat said Forever, but I have no other clues. The owner said it took him 4 years to make. He was all dandied up with cap and coat to go for a ride but was extremely camera shy!

Motorized Bicycles

Let's say you want a little more power POWER in your Pigeon, a little more FORCE in your Forever, how would you go about getting it? One way is with a motor. An old rod brake bicycle makes a prime candidate for motorizing.The frame is tough and can put up with a lot of stress. A favorite method is to mount a small 2 stoke motor in a 22" diamond frame bike. As chance should have it, I was able to photograph two such conversions with in a half hour of each other in the historic and newly revitalized Hepingmen area of Beijing. You can see that these  conversions were done quite sometime ago. One is a Forever and the engine is currently non-functional, but it still makes a useful platform for selling sugary snacks.

The other bike is a Phoenix and the drive train looks to be in working order. The bike is started with a pedal start which cranks the engine. The running engine then drives the rear wheel from the LEFT side while the right side chain freewheels.

Another way to motorize your bike would be to use a "Hongdu" motor. This is an almost exact copy (licensed or otherwise) of the old French Velosolex motor. This mounts on the fork and drives the front wheel directly through a friction roller. The normal front tire is replaced with one with a flat profile. The advantage of this setup is you still can pedal the back wheel. Typically though this is seldom seen on bikes, but more often seen on trikes.

As an end note, anyone attempting one of these conversions would be hard pressed to justify it financially: A new electric bicycle can be had for as little as 200 RMB, less than a Pigeon. Plus, they are far more durable and reliable...perhaps that is why these conversions seem so "old school"