Newbie in Arizona

After seeing motorized bikes all over the place out here, I've given in to my kidlike desire to have one of my very own and thus, I will be picking up and installing my first kit this weekend from a local here in town.

I'll be learning all sorts of new curse words as I mount a 66cc Grubee Starfire onto my trusty Trek 4100 mountain bike. I'll post pics of the build when it's done, of course. I was a bit nervous about attempting this, but I'll be getting help from my much more mechanically inclined father on this one, which has eased my concern a bit. The thought of commuting 30 miles to work without having to take a bus is making me a bit giddy - I hope this all works out.

My wife of course thinks I'm crazy, which makes this project even more fun. If all goes well, I'll build another next month for my 15 year old son so we can go on rides together (the wife has an 36V Aowa ebike, just need to fix the flat tire which is on my list for the weekend as well).

Great forum, I've already learned quite a bit!
-AZ

James the welder said:

Hey A Z Im James I live in Tempe and have a 66 skyhawk on ao old stumpjumper mountain bike that I built about a month ago. Its not to hard putting it together but you will have to do a lot of tweeking to get everything in line. I will be around this weekend so pm me if you need a hand. Need a reason to take mine for a ride. Good luck ............

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Excellent, thanks! My father's been tearing apart engines and putting them back together since he was 12 so I'll be in good hands.

Let me ask you this: How fast does it go? I'm reading about bikes going 25-35 with that motor. That's pretty quick! My (now my wife's) Aowa e-bike tops out at 20 and poops out after 25 miles so I'm looking forward to something a bit zippier and that can go farther.

-AZ

Hey gang, a quick update - took us a full day and a half to build it, but she's done and runs great! Took it to work this morning, and I'm hooked. My son wants one too, so I told him in a month or two I'll see about getting another engine for his OCC Stringray, which would be sweet (I was tempted to snag it for this build, actually, but I knew he'd be pissed LOL).

OK, someone asked if a trek 3700 would work. If it's got an aluminum frame with the fat downtube, forget it. You have to drill a hole to mount the motor on that frame and it'll probably crack on ya with time. We had that problem with the trek, and we solved it by using an old Diamondback Wildwood my dad had laying around instead of the Trek. When we stopped by walmart and target for the additional stuff I needed, we looked at the bikes they had there - nearly all of them have these fat downtubes now. You need the normal size ones like what you'd find on a tenspeed or something unless you want to fabricate your own mount or drill holes which I don't recommend doing on an aluminum frame. If you know someone with a welder, that's an option I suppose - don't know about that.

Also the directions that came with this motor should be labeled "suggestions" instead. Jeez, what a mess! These are better: http://www.usabikemotors.com/download/enginemanual.pdf but even with these, it's best to have someone with mechanical aptitude to help if you're a total small engine noob like me. The extra pair of hands comes in handy too.

I'll be posting pictures later in the week in the Mountain Bike section, so everyone can see how it turned out. Pretty cool, overall. My son's stingray will be even cooler looking when we get that done. Great hobby! Love it!

-AZ

danosixtysix said:

Hey! AZ Mb my current home is flagstaff, in the process of moving to queen creek az next week. Maybe we ride our motobikes some day.

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Sure, sounds like fun! We should organize an east valley ride one weekend. Get more people interested in the hobby!

-AZ

2dawgs said:

Congrats on your first build. You are so right about the vague "directions".

A word of caution: I believe the AZ law pertianing to motorized bicycles does not permit anyone under age 18 to ride in the bike lanes. However, I think it's permissble to ride off-road under 18 with parental supervision. Not an expert in this area, just don't want to see you hassled by the authorities.

With that said, PM AZBill he is our resident expert on AZ Motorized Bicycle laws.

Whatever the outcome, nothing is better than sharing a common interest with you son.

Can't wait to see your build and wishing you much success on your next one.

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Well, we can always plead ignorance the first time and probably get off with a warning. He won't be riding without me, because these things simply go too darn fast.

Besides, he looks 18 - he's 15 1/2 and already taller than me, LOL.

Picture of the bike is up on the Mountain Bike forum. It's the Diamondback Wildwood thread.

Fun to ride, but 4 hours a day (2 there and 2 back) is a bit much for me. I think I'll ride it to a bus stop and take a bus from there each day, otherwise this thing's gonna leave me achin'.

-AZ

city of angels said:

just find a good comfortable seat and you should be ok i dont think you want all your work go down the drain if you leave it at a bus stop

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Well the stop I would leave it at is the same one I used to leave my $500 e-bike at - it's in front of a business where they know me and keep an eye on my stuff when I park it there, plus I have a good strong lock.

I'll try the bus route tomorrow and see what works out the best. Trust me, no one will mess with the bike while it's there.

Off to bed. Work tomorrow.

-AZ