any reason it should make this noise?

It sounds normal to me, you can't expect to have no resistant or grinding noise when pedaling with these engines. That grinding noise is the chain catching the front small sprocket.

Unless you have a 4 stroke kit, with some type of freewheel setup. You will always have noise and a little pedal resistance. I have found that if you can alleviate the factory chain tensioner and run straight chain then it will help a lot on reducing noise and resistance; straight chain can also give a slight performance increase. If you cannot get rid of the tensioner, look to get a better one. Lots of members use different types of roller wheels to help with this issue.

anim8r said:

Thanks for the feedback. I've got a 5-ring gear cartridge with no derailleur, so I'm stuck in one gear.....turns out that one gear was a tough one & that's where the resistance was coming from. I dropped it to the next ring & it rolls smooth now. Still a little noisy, but rolling smooth.

Click to expand...

As mentioned...it sounds normal.

I have a Cruiser that I put a multi gear wheel on so I could change the peddle gear ratio, and no derailleur. I find it works great. I took the cassette apart and put the preferred gear on next to last. I have no problems with the chain. Larger gear on each side of my preferred gear.

Yep, normal, kinda....

You will notice the noise probably changes a bit with the chain tension. You can decrease this noise and resistance a bit with a few tweaks...

If you have the stock kit chain, toss it and get a real #41 chain, she will ride smoother with a better chain. Reduce the tension a bit on the chain with the chain tensioner, the tighter you go the more you will feel the resistance and get the noise. Make sure you have a nice straight alignment of the chain between the drive sprocket and the wheel sprocket. You can also bend the chain tensioner to match the chain angle since they often to not track perfectly.

If at all possible lose the chain tensioner altogether by adjusting the chain length, rear wheel and motor position. My bike got much smoother and quieter after I removed the chain tensioner, when the motor is disengaged it rides almost like it isn't there at all. When I had the chain tensioner installed (when I first built the bike) I was really disappointed in how much drag the motor put on my pedaling and coasting, and the noise, without the tensioner I hardly notice the motor. My frame doesn't allow much adjustment on the rear wheel, the smallest chain length that would fit was just a tad too loose, so I made a small spacer to put under my rear motor mount and adjusted the angle of the motor ever so slightly to put a little more tension on the chain. This worked out GREAT, chain has been perfect ever since, no more constant fixing of the tensioner! What a bummer that was, it seemed every ride I was messing with that thing....

I figured I would pass on my experience to you, cause I started out with the factory chain and the tensioner pulled up really tight and had a ton of noise and resistance like you, lately my chain tension isn't even on my radar, it's always good to go and when I pedal I hardly know it's there.....

Nice post nightcruiser!

anim8r said:

That is a nice post, Nightcruiser. Gave me a lot to think about. I'm really hoping I don't have to re-align the motor....

The chain I have is probably the standard one...my avatar is the box it came in. I already don't trust it because I popped the master link on what I thought was gonna be my 1st test ride.
I do plan to lose the tensioner when possible, or at the very least replacing it with something that doesn't feel like it's about to shatter.

Click to expand...

If you ride the chain that comes with the kit do yourself a favor and either get a real master link from a bike shop, or better yet just use a chain tool to mend your chain together in one piece (with no master link). The master link is definitely a weak link in an already weak chain, if you have a chain tool it's easy (and free) to mend your chain and eliminate the master link, without the master link the chain will serve you better. Also, do yourself a favor and put the chain tool and a few spare links of chain in your on-bike tool kit! LOL

PS As for aligning your motor.... I think a lot of people take the wrong view when building their bikes. You should take pride in what you do and tweak your build as you learn and expect that you will be working on your bike as you go, hopefully making improvements and gaining skills as you progress. I had to pull my motor to remount to eliminate my chain tensioner, I thought about it and planned a good while (often while fixing the tensioner! LOL), then did it in a few hours without issue and am much happier with my ride because of it....

Great advice by all. Just wanted to add something about the master link. When the master is on the high side, the c-clip should be pointing towards the rear. If it's the other way around a slight nip of the tensioner will pop the c-clip every time.

Also, if you do decide to tweak for a non-tensioner setup but can't quite get the length right, you can get chain Half Links.

gl.