In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died????

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fall_down_stand_up

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Apr 26, 2009
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granbury
I have been riding these things for years and they never last that long....I have owned around 8 or 9 engines now and cant say for sure how many miles ive gotten out of one,but its not much.....

Ive have had dax,BGF,Raw,etc....
Tell me your storys and mabe some pics with the odomoter reading etc....Be honest everyone....
John
 

bairdco

a guy who makes cool bikes
Aug 18, 2009
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living the dream in southern california
Re: In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died??

my rustoration bike i built up has an estimated 7-8000 miles on it. rode it every day an average of 20 miles, plus lots more on the weekends. been on the road for 17 months.

the bike is still running strong, no internal problems, plenty of compression, and works great.

never actually killed a motor. at least nothing i couldn't fix.
 

fall_down_stand_up

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Apr 26, 2009
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granbury
Re: In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died??

my rustoration bike i built up has an estimated 7-8000 miles on it. rode it every day an average of 20 miles, plus lots more on the weekends. been on the road for 17 months.

the bike is still running strong, no internal problems, plenty of compression, and works great.

never actually killed a motor. at least nothing i couldn't fix.
Thats amazing!Im thinking if I didnt ride it WOT all the time it would last alot longer....On this new engine im driving it at around 22 mph instead of the WOT of 28 to 30 mph.....I never run full tilt going down hills or grades though....
John
 

Venice Motor Bikes

Custom Builder / Dealer/Los Angeles
Mar 20, 2008
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Re: In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died??

I don't really measure these engines life in miles... I measure 'em in years. ;)
 

nextpimp

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Mar 28, 2011
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Re: In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died??

1st engine ... At LEAST 2000 miles ... maybe 3000. I beat the **** out that engine, and blew out the wrist pin bearing like everyone else. Top end rebuild later at $30 cost she's back up. 200 miles after that she seizes again this time its the rings and its BAD. Engine 2 on the way, and an pocket bike pipe because i don't trust my muffler anymore. I have NO experience with engines. I opened it up put it back together and it RAN =D It's a small...metal air pump. Well that's my experience ... and first post.

GL .wee.
 

fall_down_stand_up

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Apr 26, 2009
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granbury
Re: In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died??

1st engine ... At LEAST 2000 miles ... maybe 3000. I beat the **** out that engine, and blew out the wrist pin bearing like everyone else. Top end rebuild later at $30 cost she's back up. 200 miles after that she seizes again this time its the rings and its BAD. Engine 2 on the way, and an pocket bike pipe because i don't trust my muffler anymore. I have NO experience with engines. I opened it up put it back together and it RAN =D It's a small...metal air pump. Well that's my experience ... and first post.

GL .wee.
Thats alot of miles for running the **** out of it....Did you run it WOT(wide open throttle)all the time????
John
 

nextpimp

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Mar 28, 2011
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Re: In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died??

Yeah ... that's how i killed it. I probably owe this forum my LIFE. If i hadn't EXPECTED or KNOWN the back wheel to lockup due to engine failure Idk if i would have reflexively clutched. My speedo said 38 ... probably not accurate but i was in the middle of a 3 lane road IN TRAFFIC, in which the traffic travel 30 -40 mph. Fun couple of seconds ... popped the chain off and pedaled home.

I went everywhere on that bike. Alot of 40 mile days ... a few 100 or So mile days as well. Hopefully ... this summer be no different.
 

fall_down_stand_up

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Apr 26, 2009
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granbury
Re: In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died??

Yeah ... that's how i killed it. I probably owe this forum my LIFE. If i hadn't EXPECTED or KNOWN the back wheel to lockup due to engine failure Idk if i would have reflexively clutched. My speedo said 38 ... probably not accurate but i was in the middle of a 3 lane road IN TRAFFIC, in which the traffic travel 30 -40 mph. Fun couple of seconds ... popped the chain off and pedaled home.

I went everywhere on that bike. Alot of 40 mile days ... a few 100 or So mile days as well. Hopefully ... this summer be no different.
I am running this new engine at around 22 mph not even half throttle and hope it will make it last alot longer....
John
 

Mrakulous

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Mar 9, 2009
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Re: In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died??

I put nearly 1000 miles on mine and it still runs.
 

The 26incher

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Dec 19, 2009
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Re: In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died??

I've had mine for 3 years and it runs like a top. I'm sure it has more then a 1000 miles. All I do is run it WFO...
 

fall_down_stand_up

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Apr 26, 2009
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granbury
Re: In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died??

I dont know how you are getting so lucky with these engines....I have had 7 of them and none of them give me over a few hundred miles....I have been doing a experiment with this new engine....Im not running it over 22 mph at less than half throttle and have 250 miles on it so far....Im thinking at lower RPMs it will last alot longer....
John
 

bairdco

a guy who makes cool bikes
Aug 18, 2009
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living the dream in southern california
Re: In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died??

if it was one engine, i could believe it was defective, 2 engines could still be believable, like maybe they were from a bad batch, but 7?

i think you're doing something wrong.

i've had 7 engines in 2 years (on 7 bikes,) and they're all still on the road, running problem free.
 

fall_down_stand_up

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Apr 26, 2009
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granbury
Re: In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died??

I have ran all different brands of oil,(im using Valvoline on this engine).....I run it 24:1,32:1,50:1 with synthetic etc on diffent engines and all have quit on me(loose compression etc)....
John
 

crassius

Well-Known Member
Sep 30, 2012
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Re: In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died??

These engines will run at 30-35MPH, but they are not so comfortable at those speeds - way too much vibration. At somewhere around 20-25MPH, there's a 'sweet spot' at which they are very comfortable to ride. I have a customer with a 35 mile commute to work every day that puts about 700-800 miles a month on it. She listened when I told her to stay at or below the sweet spot, and has had only minor problems (bad plug cap, a few loose bolts, etc).

She's been going like that for a bit over 6 months so far.

Other customers that ride WOT from startup to destination are often back in 3 months with mains that are visibly loose on one side or the other.

Seems there's a pattern here.
 

littletinman

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May 15, 2012
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Gaithersburg, MD
Re: In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died??

MY first engine from bgf got to 600 miles before it seized. I had a 44 tooth sprocket and ran at about 22 mph on average. After rebuild of the top end, I added 200 miles before the crank bearings all fell apart. At that point I got a livefast motor (i believe that's the brand) and switched the sprocket to a 36. I have 200 miles on it so far at least with no issues. I now can run at about 27 in the comfort zone.

BGF engines seem to have a lot of bad stock parts. I'm no longer getting engines from them, only replacement parts.

I use the two stroke oil from Penzoil for air cooled engines. It's cheap and at every Advance auto around.
 

Technocyclist

Motorized Bicycle Senior Technologist
Jul 7, 2008
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Re: In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died??

I've had 3 engines. 1st engine lasted for about 3 months - cause leaky intake gasket.
2nd engine lasted about 6 months - cause wrist bin bearing, and melted aluminum head gasket went into the chamber. 3rd Engine - more than a year, cause wrist pin bearing again. 1st and 2nd engine came from ZBox. 3rd engine came from Rock Solid (RSE). Rebuild a 4th one with parts from RSE. On my way of rebuilding 2 other engines, with parts from RSE. Difference also is I started using Walbro Carb, where you can properly tune the mixture at WOT and at Idle. I'm also using a chainsaw wrist pin bearing, but still looking for a good bushing to replace this bearing.Too bad RSE does'nt sell bushings.Gaskets, i make my own from Garlock heat resistant gaskets. And instead of an aluminum head gasket, i polished the surfaces and use a super high temperature silicon gasket. I also did some port matching. The 2nd engine that lasted 6 months, was on a shifter kit. Still using the shifter kit. In terms of Kilometers, I usually average maybe around 500 to 600 kms per month. The way I see it, it's probably the carbon build up that shortens the lifespan. So using a stock carb and no port matching makes the carbon build up faster. It's recommended to decarbonize 2 stroke engine every 3 months or so. So I also do the decarbonizing procedure. You can find decarbonizing in some of the threads here, and you can also search WWW.

Hope this helps...
 
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2stroker

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Apr 29, 2012
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orlando
Re: In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died??

I have been riding these things for years and they never last that long....I have owned around 8 or 9 engines now and cant say for sure how many miles ive gotten out of one,but its not much.....

Ive have had dax,BGF,Raw,etc....
Tell me your storys and mabe some pics with the odomoter reading etc....Be honest everyone....
John
The most miles I have gotten outta my kit was 6,214. Im on my second kit and have put about 4,000 on her! I havent had any major issues. adjusted the carb here and there but thats it!
 

Easy Rider

Santa Cruz Scooter Works
Jan 15, 2008
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Nor*Cal
Re: In all honesty how many miles have you gotten out of a HT engine before it died??

My only HT motor lasted between 300-500 miles before it ran like junk. I found out it was only the wrist pin bushing that got really worn out. I reamed the rod and installed a quality wrist pin needle bearing and it's still running to this day with thousands of miles on it.