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Ok, So I got my bumblebeebolton kit and have been using it for several days now.
It was quite a bit more difficult than I thought it would be to install but part of that is due to the bicycle that I put it on --
I got a La Jolla 26" Men's cruiser at Walmart for $65 (reduced from $99 for a seat surface defect that means nothing to me )
The frame tubing was larger than the u-bolt that came with the kit for engagement and disengagement of engine so I had to modify that .
Also the plastic part of the engine had to be further "dremelled" away to avoid it hitting the wide cruiser tire. I say further because it comes already cut out when the kit arrives to accomadate the tire.
The friction roller that came with it lasted about 3 tankfuls of gas before it was warped and worn to a useless mess ... Included with kit was another roller but I noticed it started to warp and wear immediately also
I took about a day at home depot thinking of various ways I could work around buying rollers from the bumblebee website at a ridiculous $12 a pop and came up with a solution that has been working so far ( a few tanks )
I use a combination of iron plumbing pipe connectors to make a roller that slips over shaft of motor and tightens down with original supplied washer and bolt.
It does wear the tire and so I am not sure how long it will be viable ----
Performance wise I am averaging about 17 mph and it is pretty weak powerwise --- I usually try to help it on take off up to speed and have to help if I am going up the smallest of hills
BUT overall I am OK with how it is performing if I can maintain that performance without having to tinker incessantly with it
My goal for this project was only to give myself a mode of transportation back and forth to work on relatively flat country roads (roundtrip 13 miles) while my car was in the body shop for two weeks
I figured I would spend the rental car $$ on the project and then at least at the end of the two weeks I would still hopefully have a decent backup trans instead of a rental car receipt.
So far, so good -- the bicycle adds 10 minutes to my trip to work ( noramlly takes 12.5 min in a car and I do it on bike in about 22.5 min )
Based on that I think that a bike that took me say 30mph instead of 17 would actually only cut 5 min off my trip max and I am pretty sure I would feel ALOT less safe cruising at 30 on the walmart bicycle than at 17. At 17 rear cruiser brakes become much more sufficient and potholes do not come up so fast especially in the dark of morning ( 530am )
So, there you have it
Not really a full endorsement of the friction drive by bumblebee but time will tell for me ultimately