Bike&Motor Setup for Towing

[Tinoator]

Hey all!

Brand new to the community, but I’ve been reading through threads for a little while now.

I am a small business owner - I own a mobile coffee cart. It’s on a trike setup and weighs about 600-700 lbs. Anyway, it’s not the focus of this post..

I am currently working on another mobile cafe of sorts and I’m set on the idea of using a motorized bike to tow it. It’s going to be pretty heavy, so I need to know a good motor to use and how to gear it down so there’s a solid amount of torque going to the wheel. I’m not super concerned about going fast at all. Maybe 10 mph? Not too sure..

Curious if anyone has some advice on the motor and bike I could use. I haven’t bought the bike for it yet, so I’m open to suggestions there as well.

I’ve been looking at shift kits on sickbikeparts and would like to be able to pedal while the motor is running to assist.

 

[Sidewinder Jerry]

Four important factors to start with:

1) Are you talking about towing 600-700 lbs?

2) What % grade hills do you have to contend with?

3) What are your local legal guidelines for a moped/motorized bicycle?

4) How strictly does your local police enforce these guidelines?

 

[wheelbender6]

Definitely go with a 4 stroke for towing. The more displacement, the better.