Looking for cheapest reliable motor.

GoldenMotor.com

blackjackel

New Member
Aug 24, 2011
5
0
0
Los Angeles, CA
Not sure if I'm posting this in the right place, this is my first post.

I'm looking for the absolute cheapest motor that I can buy that won't crap out on me. I wanna go at least 35 miles an hour, I'll be putting it on a Mongoose 29er Impasse. I'm 6 foot 2, 165 pounds.


Ebay seems to be letting them go for around $160, would these be ok to get or would they explode on me?
 

2door

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
16,302
175
63
Littleton, Colorado
Who knows?

Take a chance, roll the dice.
Nice answer :(


Let's see if we can help the man.
We suggest that instead of price and power claims that you order from a reputable vendor. One that will stand behind his product. As for power and reliability, there is very little difference in these engines. Some will offer upgraded parts in the kits such as twist grip throttle, clutch lever etc. but for the most part the kits you see advertised either here or on ebay are identical. 35 mph is attainable but realistically you should expect something like 25 to 30 as a more reasonable expectation with a stock engine and the typical kit supplied 44T rear sprocket.
I hope this helps with your decision.
Good luck and we're always here to help with your build...at least most of us are.
Tom
 

Bobby3131960

New Member
Jul 30, 2011
6
0
0
Jeddo MI
Not sure if I'm posting this in the right place, this is my first post.

I'm looking for the absolute cheapest motor that I can buy that won't crap out on me. I wanna go at least 35 miles an hour, I'll be putting it on a Mongoose 29er Impasse. I'm 6 foot 2, 165 pounds.


Ebay seems to be letting them go for around $160, would these be ok to get or would they explode on me?
I have bought three 80cc bike motors from ebay with good luck,I put them on
mountain bikes and they work greatzpt.shft.
 

Mozenrath

New Member
Jan 13, 2011
340
0
0
California
You can get decent/cheap 66cc engines from thatsdax.com and rawmotors.com. If you're willing to put in the extra money, I'd suggest not buying a kit and instead just buy the engine and get better quality parts. The kits will work, but in my experience the engines work great but the parts that come with them are junk. If you want something cheap and somewhat reliable, you'll need to spend the extra money in getting quality parts. A kit will get a bike running, but be prepared to gradually replace ever cheesy part that came with the kit.
 

wayne z

Active Member
Dec 5, 2010
1,743
5
38
louisiana
All of these engines , no matter who sells them, are a gamble. They are all about the same.

So far, I have built seven 66cc kits this year all from BGF. I have very little trouble with any of the engines or kit parts so far.. Including original plugs and leads.
I sure like that there's enough stuff in that box to make it work every time without buying anything else but fuel and oil.

Most of the hardware problems are from inexperienced mechanics.

I recomend buying the cheapest kit you can and going with it.

You can add upgrade parts as you need them.



It is always a learning experience
 
Last edited:

mapbike

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2010
5,502
109
63
Central Area of Texas
blackjackel

2door/Tom and wayne z just gave you the best advice you could hope to get for the questions you ask, I agree 100% with each of them.

In my opinion, " Brand " doesn't mean squat on these china girls, one of my engines was the cheapest thing BGF on ebay was selling at the time winter 2009, it has given me the least trouble and has more miles on it than my other engines, easiest starting of the three and just runs good all the time everytime.

As it has been said already, any & all of these engines / kits are a gamble, but most of them, if put together right will work out just fine, many of the problems that are had on these kits are do to people lacking the tools and/or the ability to make them like they should be.

Peace, map
 

kevinkrg6

New Member
Jun 3, 2011
170
0
0
ohio
Your asking for too much for too little.

You will not get 35mph out of the box for a stock ebay motor.

You'll need a really high geared sprocket (like 26t or something like that)
and possibly some engine mods to reach that speed.

You have a 29er so that helps, but with a 26t sprock or something around there, good luck getting started, you will have to pedal a good amount before you drop that clutch.


I would aim for around 30mph. For reliability, there are a good amount of mods on here to help.

Better studs, right kind of oil, breaking it in correctly, porting, etc.
 

rustycase

Gutter Rider
May 26, 2011
2,746
5
0
Left coast
I spoke with a fellow a couple days ago who had a really ragged MTB with a subaru eh35? pusher. The rig looked like Road Warrior so I HAD to ask...

How long have you run it?

5 years was the reply.

WOW!

He added that it cost him about $100/yr for the consumables... chain, tires, tubes...

Wish I had taken a pic. the MAB was obviously well used... or I mean, used a lot!
I was NOT going to ask how fast it was...

Best
rc
 

Mozenrath

New Member
Jan 13, 2011
340
0
0
California
In my opinion, " Brand " doesn't mean squat on these china girls, one of my engines was the cheapest thing BGF on ebay was selling at the time winter 2009, it has given me the least trouble and has more miles on it than my other engines, easiest starting of the three and just runs good all the time everytime.
True, but wouldn't it be best for a first-timer to get an engine from a distributor that has a warranty?
 

blackjackel

New Member
Aug 24, 2011
5
0
0
Los Angeles, CA
Thanks everyone for all your help. According to the advice i think I will roll the dice on one of them ebay motors and see what happens. If the parts break down I will purchase them one by one.

I have one more question, do they have motors where the chain is adjustible to different gears? Where I am able to "shift gears" just like i do normally do?

Perhaps some sort of mod that hooks my regular gear shifter onto the motor chain or something like that?

Is this a seperate mod? Or do I need to buy a special motor kit for that? Or will I need to purchase a whole new wheel assembly or something?
 

dirt

New Member
Aug 13, 2011
54
0
0
United States
Thanks everyone for all your help. According to the advice i think I will roll the dice on one of them ebay motors and see what happens. If the parts break down I will purchase them one by one.

I have one more question, do they have motors where the chain is adjustible to different gears? Where I am able to "shift gears" just like i do normally do?

Perhaps some sort of mod that hooks my regular gear shifter onto the motor chain or something like that?

Is this a seperate mod? Or do I need to buy a special motor kit for that? Or will I need to purchase a whole new wheel assembly or something?
There is a mod for that. You have to start with a bike that already has gears though. Take a look at Sick Bike Parts (SBP).
Sick Bike Parts LLC - Performance parts for your motorized bicycle
I purchased their HD kit and used it with a 48cc angle fire Grubee engine. This doesn't really give me a faster top speed, the limiting factor for my speed is power. It does however let me have the fastest top speed that motor can produce (about 35mph), and it can still clime just about any hill at 15mph. With this set up 25mph is nice and comfortable. 30mph is okay, but 35mph feels like the bike is screaming and there has to be a bit of a downhill slope. I'm sure that the bike would go faster than 35mph on a good down hill run, but I don't push it any faster than that for the bikes sake as well as mine. One last thing though, this was not a "bolt on" installation with my frame and engine combination. I had to make good use of my welder and end mill to get it all to mount correctly. These things are a real kick in the pants, but you better be ready for working on it. This is especially true if you want to start adding modifications like a jack shaft shift kit. For an easy start I would first find a bike that is in good condition that is known to work with these motors. Then buy a kit and just get it running. Upgrade the cheap parts as you want/need to. If you still like playing with it and working on it, then buy a jack shaft kit. Biting off more than you can chew for your first go at it may sour you taste for the hobby.
 

mapbike

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2010
5,502
109
63
Central Area of Texas
YES and NO

Duane at thatsdax stands behind his stuff very good but I'm not sure about anyone else, some say they have a warranty, but it seems their warranty only last until something goes wrong and then it's tough cookie so to speak, and I can't really blame them in most cases just based on what happens many times, burned up engines and such, most of the time it's the lack of mechanical skill and understanding that causes many of the problems with these engines, (yes there are acceptions) but I'd say 98+% of these little engines will work just fine if someone truly knows what they are doing when setting them up and understand up front several parts & pieces will need to be changed and modified right out of the box.

So I'm not much on promoting warranty for this reason, these kits are cheap but cool & fun when set up right but they aren't plug & play like so many people getting them think they are, that's one thing that BGF says in all of his kit adds, he states that anyone buying one of his kits needs to have a certain level of mechanical ability.....

I'm not promoting BGF here, but how many others make it seem as though just about anyone can easily install these kits and be riding around the block in a couple hours or so........ I can see why some offer NO Warranty on the kits, people need to be better informed as to what building a bike with one of the china girl kits will likely involve so they will understand what they are getting involved with.
If someone can't completely disassemble their bicycle down to the last nut & washer and then put it back together without a glitch, then it's very likely they will have lots of trouble installing a china kit and potentially ruin the engine when or if they do get it running.

Dont get me wrong here I think these kits can be great learning tools for people who already have a nack for things mechanical but maybe haven't really done much yet, but for some these kits are way over their heads and always will be, these are the people who will bankrupt a seller who offers to good of a warranty on such a cheaply made low quality product that is prone to problems right out of the box in many cases.

If a person doesn't have a certain level of mechanical skills they need to just stay away from the china girl kits IMHO, or at least be told straight up front what they are getting into, they should go with a DAX friction drive or a 4 stroke or 2 smoker kit that needs less modifying and tweaking to get it right.
I think when someone buys a china kit they should expect it to spend another $50-$75 on top of the kit price to get it working as reliable as possible.

I will have to say that my hat is off the Duane (ThatsDax) for taking care of people who have warranty issues like he does, I can see why he charges the extra he does for his kits, that extra is a cushion for the warranty issue he knows he'll have to deal with, thats smart business and does offer some peace of mind to his customers as well.

Just my take on the warranty stuff concerning these kits in general.

Peace, map



True, but wouldn't it be best for a first-timer to get an engine from a distributor that has a warranty?