Had my first engine problem yesterday with my second hand motorbicycle.
The engine is a 49cc Grubee 2 stroke. (Has the slant head, but not sure specifically what it is beyond that) and it is mounted in frame on a Macargi “The General”. It’s really a pretty sweet looking ride and the performance was great until yesterday.
This bike is meant to be my inexpensive/reliable commuter. Maybe if I describe what happened, I can get some tips on how these engines are meant to be treated. As I understood it the 2 strokes were better for commuters because they can handle higher rpms and longer running…?
Anyway, my commute is 11 miles each way with a short stretch of highway in the middle. There are mile long steep hills at the end of the commute each way, so the extra torque is nice. I have been riding the bike for 60-80 miles getting the feel for the bike and making sure it wouldn’t let me down before commuting to work yesterday. I got to work with no drama and was quite early.
Going back home, the bike was difficult to start and a couple times when I was going 6-7 mph and popped the clutch, the rear tire would slide and the engine wouldn’t even turn. (I do know that my fuel/oil mix is closer to 20:1 right now, maybe that is a contributor to my problem?)
I got the engine going eventually and headed out of town. I was pushing the bike pretty hard to make up time and was averaging around 26 mph for a little over 6 miles. When I was about 4 miles from home the engine had a catastrophic failure with the spark plug blowing right out of the engine. I stopped and grabbed the spark plug and peddled my angry butt the rest of the way home. I was too angry and tired to stop and look at what all was damaged, but I’m guessing that I will be ordering a new head for the engine soon. Once I am home from work again, I will take a close look and update with what I find.
Any glaring mistakes or genius suggestions from the most knowledgeable motorbicycling community on the web?
The engine is a 49cc Grubee 2 stroke. (Has the slant head, but not sure specifically what it is beyond that) and it is mounted in frame on a Macargi “The General”. It’s really a pretty sweet looking ride and the performance was great until yesterday.
This bike is meant to be my inexpensive/reliable commuter. Maybe if I describe what happened, I can get some tips on how these engines are meant to be treated. As I understood it the 2 strokes were better for commuters because they can handle higher rpms and longer running…?
Anyway, my commute is 11 miles each way with a short stretch of highway in the middle. There are mile long steep hills at the end of the commute each way, so the extra torque is nice. I have been riding the bike for 60-80 miles getting the feel for the bike and making sure it wouldn’t let me down before commuting to work yesterday. I got to work with no drama and was quite early.
Going back home, the bike was difficult to start and a couple times when I was going 6-7 mph and popped the clutch, the rear tire would slide and the engine wouldn’t even turn. (I do know that my fuel/oil mix is closer to 20:1 right now, maybe that is a contributor to my problem?)
I got the engine going eventually and headed out of town. I was pushing the bike pretty hard to make up time and was averaging around 26 mph for a little over 6 miles. When I was about 4 miles from home the engine had a catastrophic failure with the spark plug blowing right out of the engine. I stopped and grabbed the spark plug and peddled my angry butt the rest of the way home. I was too angry and tired to stop and look at what all was damaged, but I’m guessing that I will be ordering a new head for the engine soon. Once I am home from work again, I will take a close look and update with what I find.
Any glaring mistakes or genius suggestions from the most knowledgeable motorbicycling community on the web?
