New Flying Horse 80 kit

[biknut]

Has anyone bought a new Flying Horse motor kit from BikeBerry in the last couple of months.

I'm wondering what you think of it. I bought one during the 4th of July sale but haven't done anything with it yet. It didn't come with any documentation that would indicate it's made by the Flying Horse Motor Company, but I'm not trying to imply anything. Just that it didn't have any.

It has a NT carb.

It came with a chrome muffler body that is much shorter than the ones that came with other motor kits I've bought. It looks like they forgot the end cap, but it actually does have one up in there, but it's out of sight.

One thing I'm not crazy about is they painted the entire motor silver. I prefer my silver motors unpainted.

The hand grips are kind of nice. They have raised eagles in the palm area, with an eagle face on chrome end caps.

The clutch lever is a little different than any of the others I've seen so far. It has a red plastic inlay in the lever. The locking mechanism isn't a button like most handles have. Instead it has a little lever that looks like it might be a little easier to use than the button.

I haven't taken anything apart yet, so that's all I've noticed so far.

Can anyone else that's bought a Flying Horse latey tell me if yours was the same as mine?

 

[biknut]

So I'm guessing the flying horse motors aren't flying off the shelves.

 

[biknut]

I learned it's best to, at the very least partially dissemble a new motor just to see what you can find wrong. If you find anything wrong, you just saved your motor. If you don't find anything it's still worth it.

So first thing I took off was the primary cover. I noticed the pinion gear wasn't on all the way. The clutch looks alright though. I pulled the pinion gear off, to get a look at the crank seal. It came off pretty easy. It could have gone on another 1/16". The crank seal looks different from all the others I've seen. It almost looks like it's installed backwards, but it's not. I think it just looks that way. I mainly just wanted to make sure it was installed straight. The one on the power side is good.

 

[biknut]

When I turned the motor over and looked into the intake port, I noticed when the piston goes to TDC, the piston skirt isn't obscuring 1/4 the port like the BGF motors do. There's nothing you need to grind away on this piston.

 

[biknut]

The piston itself is different from the BGF pistons. Here's a comparison of the pistons. The Flying Horse is bottom, a BGF is top. The BGF has more piston above the wrist pin. About 1/8". The Flying Horse piston is shorter between the wrist pin, and the top. The Flying Horse's piston skirt is about 1/16" shorter then the BGF. I assume that means the FH piston could be a little lighter. Also the cutout in the sides of the FH piston skirt are about 1/16" bigger then the BGF. The wrist pin on both motors looks the same size to me.

 

[biknut]

This is the Flying Horse combustion chamber.

These are 2 different BGF heads. On the left from a T80. On the right a X80A

All 3 look a little different.

 

[maurtis]

Interesting to see that there actually is a difference. It will be neat to see if it runs any better.

Thanks for the pics!

 

[biknut]

The transmission shaft turns free and smooth.

The biggest question I have is about the crankshaft. Flying Horse claim they use Japanese crank bearings. That alone is a huge improvement over most china girls. So far every crank in the BGF motors I've purchased were CRAPPY POS.

I'm not planning to take the crankcase apart if I don't need too. With the cylinder removed I can see enough of the Flying Horse crank to get a clue about it. It appears to have the kind of crankshaft with the bolt on flyweights. That's the same style as a BGF crank. I think SkyHawk's have the cranks with the one piece flyweights. If anyone can confirm that, please let me know. The big end bearing looks to be the kind without a cage. When I spin the crank, it looks like it's true. I know that's not much of a test, but all the BGF cranks had so much run out, you could see the flywheels flapping back and forth like elephant ears when you turned the crank.

 

[george_n_texas]

Be interesting to know the compression brand new and again after break-in.

 

[biknut]

Be interesting to know the compression brand new and again after break-in.

This time I'll be sure and check it. Probably from now on.

 

[george_n_texas]

Recon how many miles you had on the old HT?

 

[biknut]

Recon how many miles you had on the old HT?

The 48cc Flying Horse has well over 2000 hard miles.

 

[biknut]

My guess about the piston being lighter was a good guess.
The Flying Horse piston weighs 81g with rings, and one wrist pin clip. In comparison a BGF piston with rings, and one clip is 87g.

The wrist pin is the exact same 10mm that most china girl motors use.

The piston dome is 0.0155" high. A BGF is 0.0150" incomparison. That probably considered the same.

Now that I know it's something you need to pay attention to, the inside of the connecting rod's small end looks very well finished on this crank. Almost mirror. Hope it's straight too. I don't think any of the other china girl crankshafts I've seen looked this good on the small end. I know several were a lot worse.

 

[Rocky_Motor]

I bought the same motor from bike berry. I chose a black one but they sent a silver which annoyed me. Even though both paints aren't very good. My clutch lever was the normal button lock brake lever though.
I've had 0 issues on mine running maybe 300 miles. I took it apart at first and found a lot of gasket material on top of the piston but that was the only thing. It has run very well for me. I bought it for the claimed Japanese bearing but I don't know if that's true or not either.

I would say they are among the better engines. If in fact they are flying horse motors.. Mine had no branding of it either.

 

[ERV JR]

I bought the same kit off ebay, same clutch lever,grips and silver painted engine. It lost a crank bearing with about 100 miles . I actually came on to night to ask what engine I should order as a replacment. BTW it did run faster than a fw friends jet engines

 

[biknut]

I bought the same kit off ebay, same clutch lever,grips and silver painted engine. It lost a crank bearing with about 100 miles . I actually came on to night to ask what engine I should order as a replacment. BTW it did run faster than a fw friends jet engines

That's pretty disappointing isn't it.

 

[Mannhouse51]

100 miles and a crank bearing went out. Not good ! That is a good selling point for the flying horse if they indeed have Japanese bearings in them. My BGF Z80 got 300 miles before the crank bearings went out. I went to my local hardware store and ordered a set of 6202 2 rs bearings .....they arrived a week later so I went to pick them up , and the little boxes they came in say Made In China. Can't even get good stuff if I buy local...sheeesh.

 

[george_n_texas]

You might try Napa auto parts store. I know Ace hardware carries better quality as well.

 

[biknut]

Flying Horse only claims to have japanese crank bearings. The rod bearings aren't really specified, but I'm pretty sure at least the small end bearing is japanese, because the stock Flying Horse bearing in this motor is exactly like the aftermarket japanese bearings I bought a while back. They're wider than the stock chinese ones that come in a lot of motor kits. It's hard to know about the big end, but I can tell by looking it has individual rollers without a cage.

"High Quality Japanese Main Bearings"

"High Quality Needle Bearings on Both Ends Crank"

 

[biknut]

I did a close inspection of both crank seals. The power side seal looks ok, and is a little different style than all my spares. I think it's the same size as they are though.

They botched the install of the seal on the magneto side. Part of the seal didn't go in all the way, and the edge distorted. The weak side seal is very thin to start with, so you have to make sure it's well installed. This one would have never lasted.

This is the second motor in a row where the factory monkeys didn't get the weak side seal installed properly.

This is what I found under the magneto rotor.

This was my last BGF motor. I don't know why they have trouble with this seal. It's the easiest one to install.

This is more better. Luckly the weak side seal was just like my spares, so I had one. I just use a big washer, and a deep socket, and tap in into place with a hammer.