Enough Power?

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enjenn

New Member
Feb 15, 2012
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I am still in the market for a motor. This summer, I will be making a 5 mile commute with an elevation gain of about 690 feet (from 6642' to 7332'). During that five miles I will be going up and down during which I will climb a total of 1190'. I weigh about 115#. Will a 4-stroke, 49cc engine make it a pleasant ride or will it just be extra weight? Does anyone have any insight? I plan on mounting it in-frame on an aluminum mountain bike.

Thanks in advance,
Jenn
 

enjenn

New Member
Feb 15, 2012
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Hehe.. I don't think that I could pedal the whole way w/o motorized assistance or getting off and pushing part of it... at least not in the beginning. Maybe by the end of the summer. hehe

Do you think that I will be really disappointed by the performance? I understand that a two stroke has a good deal more power. Would it make a world of difference in that situation?

The good news is that the ride back will be almost all down hill ;)

Will special gearing help? This year I know exactly where I will be and what I will be doing but in general, I spend most winters in the desert and summers in the mountains.
 

takeitez

New Member
Dec 19, 2011
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Clayton Missouri
Haha that made me lol scotto. Must be too late. But yea I can't imagine it not being able to pull you. Worst case scenario you just get a larger rear sprocket and loose a little top end. I would go for it.
 

scotto-

Custom 4-Stroke Bike Builder
Jun 3, 2010
6,505
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Ridin' inSane Diego, CA.
Haha that made me lol scotto. Must be too late. But yea I can't imagine it not being able to pull you. Worst case scenario you just get a larger rear sprocket and loose a little top end. I would go for it.
Lol...... Most folks would rather lose a little bottom end, rather than top end, but not in the case of riding in hilly area's I suppose. I would strongly suggest a 49cc 4-stroke in this case.......jus sayin' ;)

dnut
 

Al.Fisherman

New Member
Sep 9, 2009
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Calera, Alabama
I am still in the market for a motor. This summer, I will be making a 5 mile commute with an elevation gain of about 690 feet (from 6642' to 7332'). During that five miles I will be going up and down during which I will climb a total of 1190'. I weigh about 115#. Will a 4-stroke, 49cc engine make it a pleasant ride or will it just be extra weight? Does anyone have any insight? I plan on mounting it in-frame on an aluminum mountain bike.

Thanks in advance,
Jenn
I weigh 220# Ride a basically stock 66cc HT (mounted on a cruiser) and can climb to the top of Oak Mountain without any problem, a climb in excess of 900' WITHOUT peddling. Be careful with aluminum frames, they tend to crack. Front gate to the top is about 6 miles. Great ride, and some roads have quite a bit of a incline.
http://www.alapark.com/oakmountain/
 
Last edited:

rustycase

Gutter Rider
May 26, 2011
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Left coast
I would guess you will have enough to make that climb, especially if you run a bit larger rear sprocket. Only prob there is the downhill run over-speeding the engine.

IIRC the rule of thumb for an ICE is 10% loss of HP per 1000ft above sea level.

You would probably be best off with a 98cc motor. There's no substitute for cubic inches.

Best
rc
 

recon chris

New Member
Apr 28, 2011
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pacific grove
The stock engines both the 49 cc four stroke and the 66cc 2 stroke will get you up those hills especially with the stock 44 tooth sprocket. The question is....how fast do you want to get up those hills :p For torque and speed the there is no substitute for an engine that has a power stroke every time it hits TDC. I would go with a 2 stroke. If its not powerfull enough stock then port it and put an expantion chamber on it.

Warning! if you want reliability your going to have to get a rear mounted 2 stroke kit built in America or Japan. Not china
 

Ibedayank

New Member
Oct 29, 2011
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Columbia Tennessee
The stock engines both the 49 cc four stroke and the 66cc 2 stroke will get you up those hills especially with the stock 44 tooth sprocket. The question is....how fast do you want to get up those hills :p For torque and speed the there is no substitute for an engine that has a power stroke every time it hits TDC. I would go with a 2 stroke. If its not powerfull enough stock then port it and put an expantion chamber on it.

Warning! if you want reliability your going to have to get a rear mounted 2 stroke kit built in America or Japan. Not china

You may want to tell the members of this site that their made in china 4strokes are garbage then!! Being that quite a few have more then 3000 miles on them with no problems
 

recon chris

New Member
Apr 28, 2011
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pacific grove
I was referring to 2 strokes "Warning! if you want reliability you’re going to have to get a rear mounted 2 stroke kit built in America or Japan. Not china" I don't have experience with the Chinese 4 strokes, BUT I wouldn’t give this kid the notion that buying a bicycle engine made in china is a fire and forget deal.
 

Allen_Wrench

Resident Mad Scientist
Feb 6, 2010
2,784
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Indianapolis
Ya know, Enejnn, once I got my China Gurl dialed in, tuned, (whatever) I was using her to commute 9 miles to work, up some steep hills then back down. I would just shut down the engine on the downhill ride. Though I weigh around 200 pounds myself, I never had much trouble doing the everyday commute thing (until the guy in the truck hit me, don't get me started on him). Still have the same engine on a different bike. Don't know how many thousand miles offhand. Starts every time, hardly any maintenance. But it is a two stroke so you do have to know a little bit about what you're doing with it.

I think, with a performance air filter and some fine tuning, you could make a China two-stroke work for you - if it's what you want, & what you're comfortable with.
 

5-7HEAVEN

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2008
2,661
240
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Use an 8-speed bike and any engine/any drive system to get up that hill.

Pedalling will make the difference.drn2