Continuing use as a bicycle

this is probably a dumb question but as someone who hasn't built a motorized bicycle yet i'm going to ask it anyway. does putting a motor on a bicycle reduce it's ability to still be used as a bicycle? my wife and daughter and i like to go riding (actually pushing pedals and stuff ) so i'd like my bicycle to still be a bicycle. is this hampered by the introduction of a motor?

Both of my bikes are just as easy to pedal after the addition of the engine as they were before the bicycle motor. Just a little extra chain noise is the only difference I can tell.........................

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mine was a little harder to pedal after the bicycle motor was put on plus will weigh more. however i was able to pedal where i needed to go when i forgot to put gas in it. as far a stability i noticed no difference their

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i just bought my first motorized bike. it was assembled already so i haven't ridden it without the motor, however mine is quite a work out to pedal. five minutes in i was sweating and panting like a wild animal. up hill jaunts are certainly out of the question, even on first gear. i end up having to walk it up. seemed to me that it was the extra weight of the motor. i know the frame can't weigh that much because i saw this bike at work and it was easily lifted. after seeing that you fellows dont have such a hard time pedaling makes me wonder if something might be wrong. i mean i'm not in the best shape, but i ride my bmx all over and it's never worn me out enough to have to walk up hills.

if you break down somewhere i strongly suggest takeing off the chain to the motor. you do have some drag thier. but you can pedal them.

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Chain too tight?

Also, with the frame mount bicycle motors if you pull in the clutch and push the locking button, the clutch will usually drag a little. I have a really bad knee and I was able to pedal home eight miles relatively easily but I held the clutch in all the way the whole time, and that was the hardest part.

Now to the OP- The type of front mount friction drive like my avatar bike is no different to ride than a "regular" bicycle.

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yes, i've noticed the dragging clutch, it is a pain, hurts my hand to hold it in all the way for too long, but even with it held in it's still quite straining. i find my breathing heavily after pedaling even long enough to start the engine.

tight chain seems like a good bet. what would i want to do to, first measure whether or not it is in fact the chains fault and if so then proceed to fixing it.?

You should have 3/4" to 1" of freeplay in the chain....I know that seems loose, but I tried it at a lot of different tightnesses and it was quietest and needed less adjustment when run looser.

Plus, I never had tensioner issues when I ran them like that.

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In my opinion Rideing the a bike with the engine is better than walking, but not as good as a bike without one. I think it is the drag from the chain. I pedal with the engine running at the same pace as pedaling for a little work out. If I pedal hard it reves the engine which is not good. I just help the engine out a little especially when I have to slow down keep the engine from bogging which isn't good for your engine. I have rode the bike to the gym and then gotten on the stationary bike. The logic is all of the people there drove their car there anyway.

so how would i go about loosening the chain?

oh and just to clarify we are talking about the engine chain yeah?