Mountain Bike for Hunting

i think a two stroke with a nice exhaust the ended behind you would be ideal, maybe front and rear racks, and a large rear sprocket, 56 tooth or so, real low gearing but you should be able to putt putt threw just about anything. just make sure you seal up your magneto. as for a bike, just about any V framed mtn bike should work as long as it has standard sized tubing, over sized tubing can work, but requires more work, i think front suspention would really help smooth out the rides, you should be able to find a bike on craigslist for under 100 bucks. and in all honesty, just about all 49cc and 66cc two strokes are about the same, some newer ones had bigger front mounts and intakes, but all in all, im pretty sure they are all made in the same factories and then drop shipped to vendors who rename then and resell them. as for weight, if you go for racks/baskets, lights, maybe 50-60 pounds with a full tank.

Do a LOT of reading and research BEFORE you start buying things. Think about what you want it to do and build for that purpose after you have asked lots of questions. Save you grief and $$$ it will. Now for my sugestion. If really long distance is not a priority but towing and quiet IS. Have a look at the electric Magic Pie builds. 24" wheels on a 26" mtn bike will increase your torque for pulling up hills. and ebikes are dead quiet. I wanna build one for sneeking around in the mountans around here with the "dual drive" one electric motor on the front and one on the rear. All wheel drive bike http://www.goldenmotor.com/

It's a common misunderstanding that 2 strokes are noisier than 4 strokes. Unsilenced, a 4 stroke has a much more efficient, and therefore louder, bang than a 2 stroke. A 2 stroke is just a horribly annoying sound so you hear it better.

HI,

To go on slow speed trails (I am also going to assume bumpy and pulling a load (the elk)....I'd recommend something significantly smaller than a 44T or 56T.....Maybe in the range of 65T to 85T (you made mention that all the speed you needed was about 10 MPH).

A 65T would give you roughly 8 MPH max (generally I assume a Chinese 2 stroke engine w/ 26" wheels yields a max speed of about 27 MPH....For every tooth you gain on the rear sprocket you will lose about 1 MPH so that is how I came up w/ approx speed...Of course realize that top speed is at top RPM and for longevity sake probably not good to rev out all the time. Also, some Chinese engines can rev higher than others due to poor tolerances in manufacturing (mine gets "rattly" at about 6500 RPM on the tach so I don't push it ).

As a side note, how fast can you ride on the trails in the woods?....If not 6-8 MPH (which can be fast towing on narrow / overgrown trails), it may be better to gear even lower (i.e. larger rear sprocket) on the range I listed above because you don't want to lug the engine at the speed you will be normally operating at.

As far as engine, price VS utility, it's hard to beat the cheap Chinese 2 strokes....(get the bigger "80" tho (actually about 66 CC in reality but for max power there is no replacement for displacement!).

As far as bike. I'd recommend a good mountain bike...That way IF the engine calls it quits in the woods, your bike (with its multitude or gears...and hopefully low enough gears at that) should allow you to pedal your way back to civilization (even if you have to temporarily disconnect the trailer)....

If you go w/ a cruiser type bike and the engine quits on you the pedaling would be too hard for anything but relatively flat surfaces....Also, road type bikes are probably not the best choice either because of narrow tires and higher road use gearing.

If getting a mountain bike w/ a rear suspension, make sure there is enough room in the triangle for the engine and that the suspension components won't interfere w/ engine placement (I can't remember where but there is a post showing the min. dimensions needed in the triangle for engine placement...maybe somebody else has the link or dimensions?).

Overall weight depends on the weight of the bike you are starting with (higher end bikes typically weigh less)...Typically, the engine kit adds about 20 lbs to the bike weight...Many bikes weigh 30 or so lbs.

Additional muffler(s), intake silencers, and sound dampeners can make the engine quieter.

Hope this helps you.

Andrew

you wouldnt want to gear it with a 65. 56 would be fine. that works out to an engine speed of 3500 rpms at 11mph with a 26 inch rim and tire. and he will still have enough low end grunt to haul all his hunting gear. also, anything over 56 or so would have to be custom made, but you can find 56 tooth sprockets for the rag joint online because that is what came with my four stroke kit.

Hiwayman,

Welcome to the forum. As Velodrome stated, read and do your research before you buy. It will save you a lot of headaches.

A couple of questions you should ask yourself before you take the plunge. 1. How mechanical are you? Do you know how or are interested in working on engines? 2. Do you have the tools to work on assembly of a kit or work on an engine? 3. Are you willing to save a few dollars by scrounging the parts for a build or buy a kit with all the parts inclusive?

The least expensive kits are the 48cc/66cc/80cc 2 stroke bicycle engine kits. These are referred to as Happy Time (HT) or China Girl engines. Mostly they are complete, but require proper setup and tuning to run. They also require a lot of maintenance compared to other 2 and 4 stroke kits. Many sponsors to this forum sell them, as well as Ebay and Craigslist. They are not bolt on and go as advertised. 80cc engines are 66cc engines. There is no such thing as an 80cc engine - Link to understand why the are called 66cc/80cc engines: http://motorbicycling.com/showthread.php?t=15910 Parts and upgrades can be made to these kits to make them more reliable, but in the end, you might as well buy a more expensive kit. Most of the 2 stroke kits are a crap shoot. Some are great out of the box, others will need more fine tuning. A shift kit would be a great addition to the China 2 stroke kits: http://www.sickbikeparts.com/catalo...ducts_id=29&osCsid=88sb7k7van9m8hfev4ppapelo1

A top end 2 or 4 stroke kit would be from Staton. He has a shift kit for his custom made gearbox that is geared low for torque. Recently, he had a complete kit, but now I only see the crank shift kit, so you'd have to contact him for a complete kit: http://www.staton-inc.com/store/pro...ONLY_with_DICTA_Brand_Freewheels-1040-15.html The price does not include the bicycle, engine, gearbox and other accessories. As I recall, Staton had the complete kit at over $700.00. Some would say this is a complete bolt on and go.

I haven't built or owned the Staton crank shift kit. Maybe someone else has and can chime in.

Here's some photos of some builds from the Staton website:
http://www.staton-inc.com/photo_gallery.asp?category=13

Of course you could use different products from various vendors and make your own custom kit.

In summary, there are many options that you have, but you'll have to spend the time looking at the different products, follow the builds on this forum, research the feedback on vendors and ask questions. The only dumb question is not asking.

Good Luck,

Chris
AKA: BigBlue

I wish to remove a misconception here. We are not "height challenged". Nor suffering from vertical poverty or any other euphemism. The rest of the world is wrong, and we are the correct size.

Hiywayman,

this might help. You may have to resize it when you print it out.

http://motorbicycling.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51234&d=1345954344

Here's some tips if you decide with the 66cc/80cc engine from forum member AI.Fisherman that will help setting up the engine and fine tuning it to run better:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GcesQihc7-mm3hJGf7UPiqOaRXZ8ekUT99QUZq2qXXE/edit


Chris
AKA: BigBlue