First Build - Magna Rip Curl

Hello everyone,

Completed my first build yesterday. I have been watching researching this stuff for a while and finally took the dive and made my own gas bike.

I chose the Magna Rip Curl from Target. The bike was cheap and to me looked sweet. If you are in Central Florida drop me a line so we can ride.

The bike is a stock build except for a couple of pieces. The motor is the GT5 from Grubee. The motor mounts needed some grinding to fit the Rip Curl's wide oval frame. With the work to the motor mounts the engine fits securely.

The wheels are a mid range Shimano set that are better quality than the cheap stock wheels. I wanted to change the wheels as they seemed to be the only weak link on the bike as the frame is sturdy. To make the rear sprocket fit the hubs I had to do some grinding on the inner diameter of the sprocket that came with the kit.

The stock gas tank messes up the lines of the bike in my opinion. I sacrificed some capacity but the tank I came up with looks much better. Long range was not a requirement for me anyways. I used a gas tank from an old weed eater and mounted under the seat.

The bike is a blast to ride, handles well and is pretty comfortable too. I clocked on GPS at 28 mph into a stiff head wind and it is not even broke in yet.

Let me know what you think about my bike. Thanks.

The mounts are just a few zip ties to the underside of the seat. I can send pics if you want but really no need, jerry rigged but it works. If I have a problem I will do something different but no problems yet.

Biknut, I actually saw your bike on this forum while I was building my bike and getting ideas for the tank. I may actually use your tank setup or something similar to increase my range. My tank is small and will only take me about 15 miles or so. I plan to evaluate again after the bike is broke in, I expect it to use less gas once it is broken in. My bike is steel, the frame feels heavy duty and the welds look solid.