New to Motorized Bikes, Have some Q's

ohio1228 · #1 04-05-2009, 03:28 PM

Hey guys. Recently i have become very interested in this whole concept of motorized bicycles. I have looked into getting kits, but i feel that it would be more fun to build one myself. I have never owned go karts/ other motorized toys, and i am kinda clueless when it comes to building a motorized bike from scratch. I have decided that my price range will be 100-200 dollars, although it would be nice to make one for less than that. i guess that my options would either be friction drive or chain drive. I also think my engine would be either a weedwacker that i would buy, or that 2.5 hp greyhound engine from HF for 99 dollars. I feel that i would be able to mount an engine behind my seat where it needs to be, but i would have difficulty in getting it to power the bike.
Here are some questions i have:

would u recommend friction drive or chain drive to a beginner like me?

Would any weedwacker that i can find work? or is there a specific one that seems to work the best?

clutches... do i need a clutch? For friction drive? chain drive?

I'll probably have a bunch more questions in the future, but for right now im just beginning to plan the setup for my bike.

Bikeguy Joe · #2 04-05-2009, 08:20 PM

you will be overwhelmed with help....shortly.

Bikeguy Joe · #3 04-05-2009, 08:22 PM

You could get a weedwacker friction drive going very easily and pretty cheap too.

commander · #4 04-05-2009, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ohio1228

I have never owned go karts/ other motorized toys, and i am kinda clueless when it comes to building a motorized bike from scratch.

DO NOT build one from scratch, you admit you are clueless and havent tinkered much with small engines. Your best bet would be to buy a complete bike and motor unit , so all you would have to do is add gas and go. If you attempt to build one like you stated , you will become very very frustrated and give up on the whole idea.

If you want to test your skills, then purchase just a motor kits and add it to your favorite bike, honestly that is a challenge by itself. But if you attempt to locate a small engine as your first build you will hate it .

good luck with either route you choose.

jjstanza · #5 04-20-2009, 03:35 PM

Ohio 1228, I too "recently i have become very interested in this whole concept of motorized bicycles. I have looked into getting kits, but i feel that it would be more fun to build one myself. I have never owned go karts/ other motorized toys, and i am kinda clueless when it comes to building a motorized bike from scratch."

I built a friction drive as it appears to be the simplest. Well I used a McCullough I385 weed whacker that I found in the trash along with a Diamond Back Large frame bike. I read motor bike forums for at least 4hrs prior to building then got started on mine. I finished in a weekend and have been zooming around the neighborhood. I wanted to have $0 out of pocket, but I had to buy a $1.70 spark plug. Where in Ohio are you? Maybe we could hook up and I can show off what I made out of someone's trash.

Give it a shot. The only true failure is the failure to try!

JJ

rmeloy34 · #6 04-20-2009, 06:54 PM

[QUOTE=jjstanza;74303]Ohio 1228, I too "recently i have become very interested in this whole concept of motorized bicycles. I have looked into getting kits, but i feel that it would be more fun to build one myself. I have never owned go karts/ other motorized toys, and i am kinda clueless when it comes to building a motorized bike from scratch."

I built a friction drive as it appears to be the simplest. Well I used a McCullough I385 weed whacker that I found in the trash along with a Diamond Back Large frame bike. I read motor bike forums for at least 4hrs prior to building then got started on mine. I finished in a weekend and have been zooming around the neighborhood. I wanted to have $0 out of pocket, but I had to buy a $1.70 spark plug. Where in Ohio are you? Maybe we could hook up and I can show off what I made out of someone's trash.

Give it a shot. The only true failure is the failure to try!

JJ[/QUOTE I work for a place that rents power equipment,we had a bunch of old stuff upstairs , wich is where I got the spark,If you made your weedeater work let me know Id be excited too see ! I finnaly went with a kit ....I was happy.