Where do I start?

[HBfisherman]

Hello Im a newbie that recently got a 59' schwinn and took it out for a ride the other day and came back wishing I had an engine on my bike. Well after alittle research I ended up here and I'm already excited. First off will a motor work on my type of bike? If so what kind of options of motors do I have, in regards to cc and price gas/electric, also how fast will it go? I live in Huntington Beach which is surfing mecca right next to people riding bikes but I have yet to see a motorized bike around here, could there be legality issues with that? Bascially what do I need to get rolling....

[HBfisherman]

I cant seem to post pictures of my bike, but its a 1959 schwinn phantom, the ones with the gas tanks in the middle of the frame.

[bairdco]

that's a perfect bike for it. there's a bunch of them around here, and i'm sure those guys will chime in...

i'm in costa mesa, and have ridden thru HB plenty-o-times with no hassles. rode right down main street alongside cops in the middle of summer, and just waved at them.

for some reason, people have heard horror stories about the cops in all the beach cities around here, but my experience doesn't confirm that. they're all cool to me.

i used to get in waaay more trouble on my skateboard at the beach.

oh, and after a few posts, like 3 or 4, then you can add pics and links...

[HBfisherman]

Do you have any recommendations as to where to get the motor from?

[Nougat]

That bike is beautiful. If you have any welding skills, definitely do a tank frame with it. For cheap, an HT motor will go in there without much difficulty. If you have the budget, a four stroke will be more dependable. I think the four strokes look better, too. On something that old, be sure to pull everything apart first and grease all the bearings, if you haven't already.

[HBfisherman]

I haven't done anything to the bike, and I really have no clue what to do but im sure with proper instructions and the help I will get from this board I should be able to get it done no problem, well actually I should just stop at done bc im sure im gonna end up with some problems. But I have no welding skills nor do I know where to get a welder from. It would be pretty cool to actually make the tank on the bike functional but it has rivets that hold it together and then again I wouldn't know what to do with it anyways.

[Nougat]

Well, if you have intentions of making it a tank frame (whether on your own or having someone else do it), you can pull that tank part out of the frame and mount the kit tank up front for the time being. Or you can get a rear rack and mount the kit tank to that.

The other thing is that those old Schwinns can be worth a little money. Not sure how much you have into it already, or how original that bike is, but you might want to do some research on that bike before you make any modifications to it. Not to say that putting an engine on a classic collector bike is necessarily wrong or bad, just that it's right to know exactly what you're getting into, especially as a first time builder.

In the interest of full disclosure, I've built exactly one MB, and have tinkered around with some junky mopeds. I'm not the last word on any of this. I'm just going by what I would do if it were me, and I like to be as informed about my machines as possible. Measure twice, cut once.

[HBfisherman]

Isn't it a bolt on kit or do I have to tear into my bike bc I probably wont do that as it is worth alot of money.

[Motor Boys]

They are bolt on, and you have a great looking bike, I have done a few beach cruisers. Check them out on my bike builds page it will give you an idea of some things you can do with these bikes.

[Nougat]

The only non bolt on would be the tank frame. Mount your tank on a rear rack, and you won't need to modify anything.