snow and 2 strokes

GoldenMotor.com

kr632

Member
Apr 13, 2009
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buffalo
i live in buffalo ny and if you dont know it snows here, lol. i was wondering if riding in the snow
(or rain) would do damage to the engine. i know it is very dangerous to ride it on slippery surfaces but thats not the point. i want to know if the moisture will do damage to the actual engine itself? thank you in advance.
 

BarelyAWake

New Member
Jul 21, 2009
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Maine


Gotta couple-few thousand miles sayin' no worries ;) Check alla yer electrical connections to make sure they're secure (heat shrink tubing is ossum) and look to see if yer air filter is in danger of suckin' spray and that's about it :D

Oh right... dress warm lol
 

kr632

Member
Apr 13, 2009
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buffalo
thats awesome. do you have trouble sliding or doing burn outs. i see you have a different muffler than the stock one that comes with the kits. is it quieter?
 

BarelyAWake

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Jul 21, 2009
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Trouble? no... does it happen frequently? Yus :D

It can be somewhat problematic starting the engine if everythin' is covered in ice & snow as it just wants to skid no matter how hard you pedal - but I just drop it in the bike's lowest gear and pedal like a bastid... hasn't failed me yet ;)

Oh BTW, I've been commuting to and from work everyday on the thing jus' cause I'm stubborn and ppl told me I "couldn't" lol, been in a couple major downpours and a few no-joke blizzards now - most times I'm passing the cowardly traffic snug in their SUVs.

Studded tires would help, but I'm too cheap to pay $50+ each and far too lazy to make my own although others have done so with much success: http://motorbicycling.com/f3/made-my-own-studded-snow-tires-5439.html


...aww WTF, it's snowing again here aws o_O :p
 

kr632

Member
Apr 13, 2009
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buffalo
sound kind of like me, someone tells me it cant be done and ill suffer to prove them wrong. i rode my last bike in a downpour but i sold it a day later and two days after that it was confiscated by police so i never got to see any effects to it. i was looking for another beach cruiser but now that i saw your bike i might go for a mountain bike
 

BarelyAWake

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Jul 21, 2009
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Yeah - mountain bikes make sweet MBs, but I gotta warn you away from that particular Schwinn. Much as I love it, the frame shape is so unusual and has such a small space it's a freakin' nightmare to motorize - extensive reshaping of the front motor mount is jus' the beginning lol

Funny - I started w/a mountain bike and now I'm workin' on a vintage cruiser and you may be doin' just the opposite, heh, guess we jus' gotta try 'em all FTW
 
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BarelyAWake

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Jul 21, 2009
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oops, I just now saw yer exhaust question, sorry bout that :p

Um, quieter? No... well, sorta... it is now lol - it's the Sick Bike Parts expansion chamber that is somewhat louder than stock (but defo worth it for the performance gain). While they do sell "after mufflers" that you can add on to it - I simply drilled out the rivets and extended the silencer (it's a glasspack), conveniently enough 2" aluminum conduit is perfect for it (2" OD, 1/16" wall thickness).

There's a marked performance gain fosho - I jus swapped back to stock (cleanin' and painting the SBP one for my other bike) and now my poor Schwinn feels like it's pullin' a trailer :( however - while acceleration has a distinct improvement, you'll not get any gain to top speed really as yer prolly winding it out anyway.

I'll hafta get another come spring.
 
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kr632

Member
Apr 13, 2009
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buffalo
i was looking at the sick bike parts site earlier and i really want one. but i really want it to be quiet because the bikes are illegal here and if they dont hear me the better chance that they dont stop me
 

BarelyAWake

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Jul 21, 2009
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Maine

Norman

LORD VADER Moderator
Jan 16, 2008
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pampa texas
Bwake
I gotta hand it to ya you ride that bike seriously. It looks just like a work truck
covered in snow and ice that bike isn't a hanger queen. I sure like to be a fly on the
wall to hear the comments you must get when you go by people in the snow no less.
I'd like to ride mine in the snow except I'm gettin a little old one good hard fall I'd break
something besides my butt I'm afraid.
I did ride my Harley Davidson hog year round when I was a young guy in Illinois that was my only means of transportation then. If I could get it started( kick start only) I rode it rain,snow it didn't matter. I even covered it with a blanket and used a 100watt light bulb to warn the oil and engine when it got down below 0 so I could start it and ride to work.
Those lights working good for you, can you see good in the dark when its snowing?
 
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BarelyAWake

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Jul 21, 2009
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heh - funny you should mention the "work truck" look, not only is it at work but the packs are filled with bike parts, the black plastic bag stickin' out of the far one is the panels for the tank (brought in to be welded)... and a thermos filled w/coffee ofc ;)

Defo not a hangar queen, part of why I ride it so relentlessly is it's always been sort of a "test platform" - to see just how much these lil el'cheapo engines can deal with. Surpassing my expectations quite a while ago, I felt comfortable dumpin' "real" money, time, and effort into the next phase of the experiment - the Rollfast :D The only problem I've run into with the Schwinn is the road salt is doin' a number on the Walmart "Shimano" components - not unexpected really *shrug*

It's true I'm gettin' just a bit long in the tooth myself, I'm not nearly as resilient as I usta be - it's prolly a dang good call on yer part refraining from playin' in the snow. While I've been fortunate and not had a major accident - riding in conditions like that it's a forgone conclusion, just a matter of time before I dump it. At less than a walking speed and on a slight turn the rear wheel kicked out (ice) and I stomped my left foot down to catch myself. At the time nothing hurt - I didn't even fall, but my lower back was screwed for three days ffs. Still - snow riding is doin' wonders for my less than impressive bicycle ridin' skills heh

I hate gettin' old... but the alternative is ofc even less attractive o_O

I'm somehow not surprised you'd be crazy 'nuff to have ridden yer Harley in the winter lol, wish I coulda been there w/ya as I too usta do the same (for almost a decade, various Japanese bikes tho), got a buddy that had an ol' BMW R100 w/a sidecar in Vermont that raised his family usin' it for the daily driver year-round - we'd have made one heck of a weird "Polar Bear MC Club" FTW, our epic frozen beards terrorizing the locals and exciting the wimminz (well... mebbe jus' terrorizing them too heh).

Those lights of yers are ossum - the front mebbe a lil too bright when it's snowing heavy as I have shut it off bfore to avoid the trippy "Star Trek warp-speed" effect... but that's hardly a complaint, and it was comin' down so hard that lights one way or 'nother really didn't make much difference. It did suggest to me that perhaps I erred and should have used a three-way switch as to run just the taillight for safety... but the nice thing is that in such conditions I'm often catching up with what little traffic is on the roads - but it's also tru that snowplows scare the bejabbers outa me :p
 

noco

New Member
Sep 9, 2009
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fort collins colorado
ive riden mine in the snow here too....accidently of course....those flat cruiser tires dont do so well....im more carefull about keeping an eye on the weather forcast now
 

Allen_Wrench

Resident Mad Scientist
Feb 6, 2010
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Indianapolis
@ kr632: BarelyAWake makes the point better than I ever could, so I'll just add a little personal experience of my own to help quiet your mind. I used to live in Cleveland Ohio, which gets lake effect winter weather from Erie just like Buffalo. I rode an old Puch Magnum through Cleveland all year long. And the Magnum's engine hangs near the ground taking whatever gets kicked up by the front tire. She still ran problem free whenever I needed her too. (And if I ever catch the @#$#@$! who stole my Puch, I'll put his mouth over the tailpipe and rev the engine a few dozen times. But that's a tale for another day.)
 

kr632

Member
Apr 13, 2009
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buffalo
@ kr632: BarelyAWake makes the point better than I ever could, so I'll just add a little personal experience of my own to help quiet your mind. I used to live in Cleveland Ohio, which gets lake effect winter weather from Erie just like Buffalo. I rode an old Puch Magnum through Cleveland all year long. And the Magnum's engine hangs near the ground taking whatever gets kicked up by the front tire. She still ran problem free whenever I needed her too. (And if I ever catch the @#$#@$! who stole my Puch, I'll put his mouth over the tailpipe and rev the engine a few dozen times. But that's a tale for another day.)
thanks. i guess thee engines are beasts. i just got my kit in today and i cannot wait to get home(still have no bike tho...)
 

Allen_Wrench

Resident Mad Scientist
Feb 6, 2010
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Indianapolis
@ kr632: one other thing, like they mention above - make sure you have good tires. It won't matter one bit how good your brakes are if your tires are bald, or have limited tread of any kind. Good tires, good brakes, properly tightened bolts and screws, check 'em all. Cities on the lake are harsh on vehicles.