Forums | MacLife

Jdude · 2008-07-09 6:35 pm

Turns out the kits I initially looked at are cheap chinese junk. I have decided to go with this 4 cyl staton motor. The engine is made in Japan and the rest of the kit is made in USA.

Uncreativename, that is a sweet looking bike.

Thanks for the warning about pedaling. If I have to pedal without motor assist, I will be sure to completely disconnect the friction drive mechanism.

uncreativename · 2008-07-10 1:11 am

Ha, yeah, long story about that girl being under the moped.

You tend to meet pretty crazy people around 530 in the morning riding home through a very hipster part of town.

I just ordered a 160cc 20hp engine from England. It was the only place that made performance parts custom for that bike. Stock engine is 49cc 2.89hp. Pretty weak. But the bike is over engineered anyways, it has big disc brakes and full suspension. It was made to handle more than the crawling 33mph it was limited to. Should be fun.

Pariah · 2008-07-10 5:52 am

uncreativename wrote:
I ordered a beach cruiser that has a motor on it from http://www.spookytoothcycles.com and it was pretty cool. It was a lot heavier than I expected with all the motor parts bolted on. What I didn't like about these were that it was only one gear. If you are traveling at 30mph, it is at a very high whine of the engine and you wish you can throw it in 2nd gear. With the 2 stroke engines, you always have to fill it up with the 2 stroke oil mix with gasoline, that means, you can never fill up at a gas station unless you have the bottles of oil with you.

The other thing that did very much suck was one time, I was riding about 5 miles away from my apartment and I ran out of fuel. Pedaling these are way way heavy, feels like you are riding up a SF hill against the wind. Clutching out of the motor doesn't disengage it from moving the piston up and down. Doing that with no fuel/oil messed up my engine, it seized and was never able to get it started again. There are also no shops around town, bike shops, nor motorcycle shops that want to work on it. I am not stuck with a 400 dollar paperweight.

The following summer, I bought a moped. Im loving that. It still gets 100mpg. It is also 4 stroke, which means I can fuel up anywhere.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v99/j … /pong6.jpg
That's my ride, up in front. Not the Vespa.

That Y frame model is badass. What brand is that?
I am thinking of getting something scooter-like and that looks awesome.

Pariah · 2008-07-10 6:00 am

Also I need to add that as someone who has worked in a bike store as a mechanic and has seen low end motorized bikes come in with broken frames and wheels. I would strongly suggest doing this mod to a good quality MTB.
Bikes under $500 or so are simply not sturdy enough to deal with the extra weight and speed that a motor adds.
That's why I wouldnt even consider one of those home brewed conversions when the total project cost ends up being as much or more than a real scooter. Doing it as a hobby is one thing but for practical transportation I'd go with a scooter instead.

jeff-o · 2008-07-10 9:24 am

Pariah wrote:
Also I need to add that as someone who has worked in a bike store as a mechanic and has seen low end motorized bikes come in with broken frames and wheels. I would strongly suggest doing this mod to a good quality MTB.
Bikes under $500 or so are simply not sturdy enough to deal with the extra weight and speed that a motor adds.
That's why I wouldnt even consider one of those home brewed conversions when the total project cost ends up being as much or more than a real scooter. Doing it as a hobby is one thing but for practical transportation I'd go with a scooter instead.

Agreed; you need a big beefy steel frame, nothing less will do.

Jdude · 2008-07-10 4:08 pm

Pariah wrote:
Also I need to add that as someone who has worked in a bike store as a mechanic and has seen low end motorized bikes come in with broken frames and wheels. I would strongly suggest doing this mod to a good quality MTB.
Bikes under $500 or so are simply not sturdy enough to deal with the extra weight and speed that a motor adds.
That's why I wouldnt even consider one of those home brewed conversions when the total project cost ends up being as much or more than a real scooter. Doing it as a hobby is one thing but for practical transportation I'd go with a scooter instead.

MTB I assume means mountain bike?
I will be using a Pacific express with an aluminum frame. It is an entry level mountain bike. I will be using the stronger of the mount kits available.
The motor is a friction drive, which means it spins a steel bar against the rear tire to make me move. The kit is built for this purpose. It is not a homebrew, I am not mechanically inclined enough for that. It weighs 14 pounds.

Tallgeese · 2008-07-10 4:13 pm

uncreativename wrote:
Ha, yeah, long story about that girl being under the moped.

You tend to meet pretty crazy people around 530 in the morning riding home through a very hipster part of town.

So we can happily imagine a hipster being run over by Vespas?

JediKnightChewie · 2008-07-10 4:56 pm

Tallgeese wrote:
Jdude wrote:
On a military installation only, and they don't care so long as appropriate safety gear is worn. No license required but I already have motorcycle safety training.
If you're on a military installation, there should be no problem showering at the gym after arrival.

Assuming the gym is not on the opposite end of post.

Ride to post > shower before work > get back on the bike to go to work > still show up at work sweaty.

Ive never worked particularly close to a gym on any of the bases Ive been at, and Ive really only been to the small ones.

Jdude · 2008-07-10 5:33 pm

I found out this morning the gym available to me is quite crowded in the morning. It seems that people who live off post have a very long commute.

As a side note I do not smell nice when I sweat. This is a gift to my coworkers as much as it is to me.

uncreativename · 2008-07-10 6:13 pm

Pariah wrote:
That Y frame model is badass. What brand is that?
I am thinking of getting something scooter-like and that looks awesome.

Sachs Madass 50cc

They are now making a 125cc version, but those are a bit hard to find.

Performance parts can be found at www.ooracing.com

Tomberlin is the company that imports them from Germany.

toadkiller · 2008-07-10 10:11 pm

Move closer to work and pedal.

Jdude · 2008-07-10 10:26 pm

toadkiller wrote:
Move closer to work and pedal.

If only life were that easy. I am not even going to attempt to sell my house in this market. I have a nice fixed rate APR, no changing payments, no balloons, and a note that I can afford. I know my bill for the next 27 years will not change, barring tax rates.
Why should I take a few thousand dollar move and engender financial upheaval, just to be a few miles closer to work to pedal? It would take me 2 or 3 years to recover the losses incurred. That is a bit excessive just to save a few bucks on gas.

uncreativename · 2008-07-12 2:23 pm

For real man... after you get your cool bike, you can join a gang like this one.

Jdude · 2008-07-12 5:17 pm

The guy on the right in black. Does he have a backpack full of bricks or something?

Jdude · 2008-07-12 5:20 pm

Do I have to walk funny and do synchronized finger snapping? I won't join your bicycle gang unless I can keep my hair gel.

Pariah · 2008-07-16 8:29 pm

uncreativename wrote:
Pariah wrote:
That Y frame model is badass. What brand is that?
I am thinking of getting something scooter-like and that looks awesome.
Sachs Madass 50cc

They are now making a 125cc version, but those are a bit hard to find.

Performance parts can be found at www.ooracing.com

Tomberlin is the company that imports them from Germany.

Sweet, that's right in my price range too!!

:::::::::::starts saving pennies::::::::::::

Jdude · 2008-07-16 9:52 pm

I just finished putting the motor on a few minutes ago. Tomorrow I am going to do a test run. If I never post again, have a moderator change my name to Jdude (RIP) and my signature to "damn moron".
-Jdude

user · 2008-07-17 8:23 am

There's a joke in there somewhere but I just can't quite put my finger on it.

ephemeron · 2008-07-17 10:57 am

Jdude wrote:
I just finished putting the motor on a few minutes ago. Tomorrow I am going to do a test run. If I never post again, have a moderator change my name to Jdude (RIP) and my signature to "damn moron".
-Jdude

Assuming you survived, care to post some pictures?

Jdude · 2008-07-17 11:02 am

I will be happy to. Test run is at 5 pm Central. Expect pics around 2 hours after that or a sudden lack of posting.

Forums | MacLife

#26 2008-07-09 6:35 pm

Re: Bicycle engine

#27 2008-07-10 1:11 am

Re: Bicycle engine

#28 2008-07-10 5:52 am

Re: Bicycle engine

uncreativename wrote:

#29 2008-07-10 6:00 am

Re: Bicycle engine

#30 2008-07-10 9:24 am

Re: Bicycle engine

Pariah wrote:

#31 2008-07-10 4:08 pm

Re: Bicycle engine

Pariah wrote:

#32 2008-07-10 4:13 pm

Re: Bicycle engine

uncreativename wrote:

#33 2008-07-10 4:56 pm

Re: Bicycle engine

Tallgeese wrote:

Jdude wrote:

#34 2008-07-10 5:33 pm

Re: Bicycle engine

#35 2008-07-10 6:13 pm

Re: Bicycle engine

Pariah wrote:

#36 2008-07-10 10:11 pm

Re: Bicycle engine

#37 2008-07-10 10:26 pm

Re: Bicycle engine

toadkiller wrote:

#38 2008-07-12 2:23 pm

Re: Bicycle engine

#39 2008-07-12 5:17 pm

Re: Bicycle engine

#40 2008-07-12 5:20 pm

Re: Bicycle engine

#41 2008-07-16 8:29 pm

Re: Bicycle engine

uncreativename wrote:

Pariah wrote:

#42 2008-07-16 9:52 pm

Re: Bicycle engine

#43 2008-07-17 8:23 am

Re: Bicycle engine

#44 2008-07-17 10:57 am

Re: Bicycle engine

Jdude wrote:

#45 2008-07-17 11:02 am

Re: Bicycle engine

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