Good Afternoon

69mach351 said:

Good afternoon from the Midwest! I am a newbie from all aspects here and bought a motor kit from Ebay (from luckyearlybird) after reading about the seller in one of the threads here. It is set to arrive Thursday, but I am still shopping for a bike to use it on. I am torn between a cheaper wal-mart bike (like a cruiser style - genesis onyx or schwinn) or a better brand off of craigslist with unknown history or problems. I am a bigger guy with some experience on bicycles and some on motorcycles. I plan on using this for fun and possibly to ride to work (5-6 miles with some hills) on nice days.

Any help or recommendations are appreciated. I will likely lurk and pick up bits of information.

Thanks!

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The Genesis 29'ers are harder to build and require much more modification to mount the kit compared to most 26'ers
The walmart cruisers are decent bikes mostly, but nothing like as good build quality as most older quality shop brand bikes
The used bike route is much better in my opinion, especially if you have some bike experience. You can get MUCH better equipment for your money.
I've built both new and used bikes to sell and I find the older stuff sells better on the strength of the better components usually. (Some people just want brand new)
I'd look for a steel frame hardtail from the late 80's early 90's for frame tubes that make mounting a breeze.
Good rims, centerpull brakes, good geometry are just some of the benefits compared to modern walmart stuff.
Bike shops charge far too much for new bikes compared to the used market.
Rarely a week goes by here in Memphis that I don't see something perfect for motorizing on craigslist.
Thrift shops, goodwill, etc are also good sources.
Just off the top of my head,
Gary fisher
Diamondback
Schwinn
Specialized
RedLine
Mongoose
Huffy (be careful with older Huffy's, not all are worthy)
GT

Welcome to the forum, while you are seeking out a bike for your kit, go through your kit when it comes https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GcesQihc7-mm3hJGf7UPiqOaRXZ8ekUT99QUZq2qXXE/mobilebasic?pli=1

I am new to the site as well but have been building the bikes for a bit and have done about 25 so I can give you some insight. I find the best frames to use are the Nirve or Electra but can be expensive unless you find one that's been not kept up. By that I mean the seat and fenders and paint are not in the best shape and the tires and wheels might be worn. I did a Norco Santiago which is their cruiser style and it was very solid and picked it up for $75 here in Canada which is a great price. I've used the Walmart Huffies and Schwinns and they are okay but if it's your own bike why not spend just a little more and get something top quality? I find that the build project begins before you get the bike and hunting down that jewel in yard sales or being first on the Craigslist ad is part of the project. I also had a history in muscle cars but now on a disability pension I stumbled on the motorized bikes and fell in love with them.Both building and riding. A great outlet for creativity and riding and you don't need to have money. I started with $300 and own 3 really nice bikes and manage to make a few hundred extra dollars a month to supplement my pension. This site has taken my knowledge to much higher levels by just reading the different threads because there are some real good builders posting here. Anyway, enjoy your build.

It's a bit of a crapshoot. I've now bought four kits over the last five years. All of them had a few minor irritations but they've been fine overall. Especially when you consider the low price. Or I should say ONLY when you consider the low price. That's the saving grace. Two of them have been from the seller that you mentioned.

Sooner or later I'll bet a buy a turkey. I won't even care all that much. I'll save everything that's useful as spare parts and I'll buy another kit.