Off-road Bike

GoldenMotor.com

DT2010

New Member
Jun 26, 2010
16
0
0
Florida
Hello All ....

I was considering on making a Mountain Bike now that I've made two choppers ... I figured since I'm good with on road bikes , Its time to build an off-road bike ...

So I was wondering what's a good bike to get ? I already know I'm throwing an 80cc engine on it ,and I plan to do some major off-roading and hopefully some trails and jumps


I heard a rumor that hard trail bikes are the worst
Anyone want to fill me in ?

Any help will do Thanks guys !
 

Cavi Mike

New Member
Dec 17, 2011
189
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Rochester, NY
Of course hard-tails are the worst, could you imagine trying to negotiate any amount of a bump at 20mph+ with no suspension? All you have to do is ride across a lawn at speed on your current bike and you'll know you don't want a hard-tail bike on a hard-core trail.
 

tsujinago

New Member
Dec 5, 2011
14
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0
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Of course hard-tails are the worst, could you imagine trying to negotiate any amount of a bump at 20mph+ with no suspension? All you have to do is ride across a lawn at speed on your current bike and you'll know you don't want a hard-tail bike on a hard-core trail.
No suspension would be a problem, but hardtails with front suspension and fatter tires aren't too shaky offroad if you keep your bum off the seat due to the fact that the front takes most of the hits

Hardtails are easier to set up for a HT, as well.
 

Cavi Mike

New Member
Dec 17, 2011
189
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0
Rochester, NY
Without suspension, the rear of the bike catapults off the ground when hitting decent bumps at speed. Keeping your butt off the seat is the least of your worries.
 

BarelyAWake

New Member
Jul 21, 2009
7,194
21
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Maine
While ofc a full suspension is preferable, I believe the concerns against hardtails are more than a touch overstated - not only are they in common use even in excess of 20mph unmotorized, I have one myself, motorized & I frequently ride it at speed on all sorts of rough terrain.

The difficulty isn't in the choice, it's finding a viable full suspension bicycle to motorize. As I'm sure we are all aware of, most modern mountain bikes have the rear shock right where the OP wants to put the engine (in frame 66/80 kit). There are a very few viable candidates for such a build, the GT LTS-5 is one such example though.

Here's a GT LTS-5 full suspension motorized by a member BTW: http://motorbicycling.com/f42/full-suspension-97-gt-lts-5-a-29599.html - try a craigslist/ebay search, ya never know...

There may be others, but should they prove difficult to find or cost prohibitive - don't give up on the idea of a motorized mountain bike, there are hundreds, if not thousands of us that have motorized mountain bikes with only front suspension & we all seem quite happy with them... in fact there's so many we created the subforum you're in to accommodate them all lol ;)
 

wheelbender6

Well-Known Member
Sep 4, 2008
4,059
221
63
TX
On an off road motorbike, I think your rear wheel will sustain less damage (broken spokes, bent rim) if you have some rear suspension. I don't think a freeride bike with 5 or more inches of rear travel is necesary. Most affordable single pivot bikes have 3 inches of travel which should work fine. However, chain tension varies a lot on a single pivot bike (more than a multilink rear suspension) so you will need to add a second, spring loaded chain tensioner. Plenty of examples on this site.
 

wheelbender6

Well-Known Member
Sep 4, 2008
4,059
221
63
TX
I failed to mention that a motor will not fit in the frame of a typical single pivot mountain bike, as barelyawake noted. You will need to go rack mount with a single pivot frame.