Hello from Marysville, WA! I got started on this motorized bicycle kick about a year back after watching Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld. Specifically the episode where he rode a Ricqimbili (sp?) in Cuba. First build was a GEBE kit with an Eton engine on a Nishiki frame. Codename: "Projekt Dragonfly". The fuel tank was (And still is) a modified Rouge Brewing party keg.
Unfortunately this crude build proved to be tail heavy, and after fracturing a kneecap and trashing the bike I decided to move on to a larger and heavier Schwinn Landmark frame. I made my own engine brackets from some hand-bent 1/2" EMT conduit, and even added a couple cargo bags made from WWII vintage canvas carry bags. The fuel keg needs re-designing as the pot metal filler neck is currently held together by epoxy, and keeps falling apart. This one was crashed by my buddy Caleb on the 4th of July. It's a fun bike. I still need to unify the electrical system, and finish patching up what's left of the turn signal array (Caleb broke it when he crashed). I've been flirting with the idea of stuffing a SLA battery into a small roll bag, and building a voltage control system to run the permenantly intalled LED headlight and rear blinker.
In August I built my second bike out of a Huffy Surfside and a Grubee Skyhawk GT-2. This one was dubbed "Bubastis". It has a union headlight and tail light powered off the engine (though I need to rig up a voltage control system so it stops burning out bulbs). It has a passenger carrying rack built out of an old Huffy Chesapeke rack, and a chunk of plywood from a broken hiway barricade. This one also has a Wald basket and a removable trunk made from an Ammo can.
Future plans involve stretching the frame of Bubastis and making it into a cargo bike, as well as adding a springer fork with a drum brake. Maybe it will get a powerpipe in the future. That GT-2 is definately going to get blueprinted at some point.
I'm still designing a front-wheel drive BMX for a buddy of mine. I enjoy this hobby, it's a lot of fun, and it's still reasonably affordable for a broke college student who loves to put engines on things that probably should not have them.
~Dakota Lynx
