I have been perusing your forums for a while and have finally decided to join. I have been made a bicyclist by necessity as my car was repossessed a few years ago, and the whole divorce thing on top of that.
I mentioned to a friend that I was sick and tired of having to traverse an overpass near me anytime I want to go shopping or pretty much anything else. He suggested I go the motorized bicycle route and invited me to see his rides. I'm not sure what model bicycles he is using, (I think one is a Bianchi cruiser with a full suspension) but after that visit I've been hooked. He got his engine kits off of ebay from a seller by the name of boygofast and has had his motorized bicycles for several years now.
After doing some searching on google and youtube I have decided that this is what I want to build. Including the jack shaft kit, as the bike I may be purchasing in the near future and putting the engine on has disc brakes or I might install it on my current bike.
I currently own a Schwinn Avenue hybrid 21 speed which has served me just fine for my needs, including towing a kid trailer to do my shopping. So you can see why I am hating climbing that overpass, even while having the bike geared all the way down. I am looking at trying to install an in-frame engine and not something that you hang over the rear wheel.
The only thing that concerns me with installing the engine kit on this bike is that the wheels and tires are a 700x36C and have 24 spokes instead of the normal 32 or 36 spokes like one would find on a conventional bicycle. I guess I could go with different wheels on this bike if I needed to. I am afraid that anything attached to the rear hub on this bike will cause the spokes to fail, hence the reason I want to go with the jack shaft kit from Sick Bike Parts. That will teach me to buy bikes from Wal-mart.
Another problem that I am running into on this bike is that the brake lever housing and the shift lever housing are integral within the same unit which will not allow me to use a dual brake lever pull kit and the clutch lever will still be on the left side and might interfere with the front brake lever.
However, the bike that I may be purchasing is a Trek Dual Sport 8.4 which is a vast improvement over the Schwinn in my opinion. It is a 27 speed and has hydraulic disc brakes on both the front and the rear wheels which will lend themselves to greater stopping power. More reason to go with the jack shaft kit as the engine kit alone is not compatible with a disc brake set-up, so I hear. The Trek runs 32 spoke rims with 700x38C tires. Decisions, decisions, decisions! AARGH!!!
Ideally I would like to get the Trek to use for serious bicycling and have the engine kit installed on the Schwinn for shopping trips and general transportation. Though I wouldn't mind installing the engine kit on the Trek, if I had to.
I have looked at some of the various sites that are being advertised here and am having an issue trying to decide which engine kit to purchase for my needs. Many will NOT ship to California due to our California Air Resources Board requirements and smog laws. Sometimes I really HATE this state and the liberals that live here. GRRR!!!
That being said, which engine kits would you guys recommend? I would prefer a pedal start like in the video above, but the 4 stroke engines appeal to me as then I would not have to mix my gas with my 2 stroke oil, but unless I haven't found one, all of the 4 stokes look like they are all rope pull start. If all that is available are the 2-stroke kits with pedal start, then so be it. Which horsepower rating should I choose. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I mentioned to a friend that I was sick and tired of having to traverse an overpass near me anytime I want to go shopping or pretty much anything else. He suggested I go the motorized bicycle route and invited me to see his rides. I'm not sure what model bicycles he is using, (I think one is a Bianchi cruiser with a full suspension) but after that visit I've been hooked. He got his engine kits off of ebay from a seller by the name of boygofast and has had his motorized bicycles for several years now.
After doing some searching on google and youtube I have decided that this is what I want to build. Including the jack shaft kit, as the bike I may be purchasing in the near future and putting the engine on has disc brakes or I might install it on my current bike.
I currently own a Schwinn Avenue hybrid 21 speed which has served me just fine for my needs, including towing a kid trailer to do my shopping. So you can see why I am hating climbing that overpass, even while having the bike geared all the way down. I am looking at trying to install an in-frame engine and not something that you hang over the rear wheel.
The only thing that concerns me with installing the engine kit on this bike is that the wheels and tires are a 700x36C and have 24 spokes instead of the normal 32 or 36 spokes like one would find on a conventional bicycle. I guess I could go with different wheels on this bike if I needed to. I am afraid that anything attached to the rear hub on this bike will cause the spokes to fail, hence the reason I want to go with the jack shaft kit from Sick Bike Parts. That will teach me to buy bikes from Wal-mart.
Another problem that I am running into on this bike is that the brake lever housing and the shift lever housing are integral within the same unit which will not allow me to use a dual brake lever pull kit and the clutch lever will still be on the left side and might interfere with the front brake lever.
However, the bike that I may be purchasing is a Trek Dual Sport 8.4 which is a vast improvement over the Schwinn in my opinion. It is a 27 speed and has hydraulic disc brakes on both the front and the rear wheels which will lend themselves to greater stopping power. More reason to go with the jack shaft kit as the engine kit alone is not compatible with a disc brake set-up, so I hear. The Trek runs 32 spoke rims with 700x38C tires. Decisions, decisions, decisions! AARGH!!!
I have looked at some of the various sites that are being advertised here and am having an issue trying to decide which engine kit to purchase for my needs. Many will NOT ship to California due to our California Air Resources Board requirements and smog laws. Sometimes I really HATE this state and the liberals that live here. GRRR!!!
That being said, which engine kits would you guys recommend? I would prefer a pedal start like in the video above, but the 4 stroke engines appeal to me as then I would not have to mix my gas with my 2 stroke oil, but unless I haven't found one, all of the 4 stokes look like they are all rope pull start. If all that is available are the 2-stroke kits with pedal start, then so be it. Which horsepower rating should I choose. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
