Why no more grubee kits in USA

If you go back and look at posts and threads from years passed you'll see a pattern of scare tactics regarding import of the 2 stroke engines. Every year we see the same thing, over and over and oddly enough the grubee name is usually at the bottom of it.
Does that make you suspicious? It should.
I could post links to these 'the sky-is-falling' reports dating back to 2008, at least.

Just wait for a price increase and magically there'll be engines available again. Look for words like, "EPA fees" and "government regulations" and more, to justify the higher prices. Nothing new.

Tom
 
boy-go-fast is now boy-goes-fast and no longer sells kits

several CA sellers now take the motor apart before shipping a kit (CA has its own state EPA)

several sellers outside CA will not ship to CA
 
Much as I may love the cheap two stroke kits, this has long been a classic cry wolf scenario - so even if this time it's "true" I couldn't be asked to give a... care anymore.

Worst case? The two stroke kits become no longer available in full, which means due to supply & demand, something different will become as easily available as those once were.

In an admittedly perverse way, I wouldn't mind that at all... although it would be best to have both, the "cheap easy" two stroke kits are jus' a bit too cheap & easy - not for us the builders, but for those unscrupulous merchants that have year after year tacked on yet another price increase for "improvements" that don't matter, "laws" that don't exist, "quality" that obviously isn't & pretending all the while that they're somehow involved in their manufacture, when in fact they're just another dropship middleman makin' a quick buck ofn a sticker & a song.

Ta heck w/em I say, I'll buy what I can to build what I please & if I can't get some shiny or another for whatever reason, I'll just find something else.

That would be a consumer driven market, far better that then the pretentious presumption of the marketers maintaining that somehow, if we can't get it from them - we'll not be able to get anything at all. Which is just another falsehood fostered to foist another price hike, to better separate your pennies from your person.

Motorized bicycling was around long before these cheap two stroke kits, it'll continue to exist long after, anything else is just hype ;)
 
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SpecializedMountainMoto said:
Its just a bummer because "I" believe the Grubee skyhawk series was the best quality 2 stroke motor available, and now you cant get one :(
Click to expand...
I agree and Skyhawks were all I used for 4 years.

The engines are built in the Yuan Dong engine factory to Don Grube's specs and his wife Angle runs China Gas, the distributer.
Nobody in China has been able to get a 2-stroke past the new EPA stuff.

The YD factory is still making engines and what I recently tried was one of the $99 'assemble it yourself' kits from gasbike.net and though a time consuming step the entire engine is in new packaged pieces, even the case halves, and I was impressed with everything, quality parts like the balanced 2-part crank and zero cast debris on anything.

This exploding video shows most of the parts...
http://www.youtube.com/embed/sYcbPD5r-0o

That video leaves a lot out, like the keyways, bearings, seals, etc. but it gives you an idea.

I didn't do any mods on this first one, I want to see how it performs stock, but if you want to mod an engine from the get go this a cheap way to do it decent parts.
 
KCvale said:
I agree and Skyhawks were all I used for 4 years.

The engines are built in the Yuan Dong engine factory to Don Grube's specs and his wife Angle runs China Gas, the distributer.
Nobody in China has been able to get a 2-stroke past the new EPA stuff.

The YD factory is still making engines and what I recently tried was one of the $99 'assemble it yourself' kits from gasbike.net and though a time consuming step the entire engine is in new packaged pieces, even the case halves, and I was impressed with everything, quality parts like the balanced 2-part crank and zero cast debris on anything.

This exploding video shows most of the parts...
http://www.youtube.com/embed/sYcbPD5r-0o

That video leaves a lot out, like the keyways, bearings, seals, etc. but it gives you an idea.

I didn't do any mods on this first one, I want to see how it performs stock, but if you want to mod an engine from the get go this a cheap way to do it decent parts.
Click to expand...

Hey KC, yes I might try one of those in the future. I forgot to pick up that 48cc badge last week maybe I can grab it this saturday if your around.
 
SpecializedMountainMoto said:
Hey KC, yes I might try one of those in the future. I forgot to pick up that 48cc badge last week maybe I can grab it this saturday if your around.
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Just e-mail be your address, I'll toss it in an envelope and mail it as weekends are more important to me now that Football season is here ;-}
 
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If your interested, here's Don's Grube's explanation why there are no SkyHawk engines. By the way, the engines sold today are a lot cheaper than they were in 2004. My guess is that competition from the drop shippers have cut into Gru-Bee's business. It appears Don has always done it by the book when dealing with the EPA and other regulatory agencies. Don't know about the other sellers.

In some ways, I'd like to see the engines go away, but understand they work for some people. I started out with the 2 strokers myself and learned a lot along the way.

Looks like Don hasn't found any wholesalers yet. Low profit margin, frustration with inexperienced buyers and ever changing EPA rules, I can't blame anyone for not wanting to become a wholesaler.

http://www.grubeeinc.com/USA/SkyHawk.htm

From Jan 2010 to Dec. 2012, Gru-Bee SkyHawk engines manufactured by YuanDong in China were the only EPA certified 40CFR-1051 48cc and 66cc 2 cycle bicycle engines available to USA customers. They were Importer by NationWide Access in Van Nuys, Ca. dba: www.Gasbike.net However 2013 model year was a Big Disaster! 2013 EPA COC was not obtained by NationWide Access where by no SkyHawk engine shipments and I mean zero were made to the USA in 2013. >>> 2014 has different rules so please read on.

2014 strategy will hopefully have shipments resume to the USA by April 2014. China GAS will be the new EPA COC holder and will no longer rely on Nationwide Access for COC compliance. This can be a good change but will require clear communication from EPA officials and a trusted contracted fiduciary agent both in China and the USA. China GAS in China and Gru-Bee inc. in the USA will now be the principles for the Skyhawk engines shipments to the USA for 2014 and beyond. We will establish no more than (3) WD accounts in the USA for 2014 and shipments will be held to a max. of 5000 units. To accomplish all of this a huge investment of 250,000 rmb plus a 3 million rmb bond is required. To amortize this huge EPA cost our 2014 kit prices will likely be a little higher than they were in 2012.

China GAS plays an important role as fiduciary agent and licensed exporter as well as being the holder of EPA COC while on the States side Gru-Bee inc. in Durant, OK. will be the fiduciary agent link to EPA as well as the official engine warranty station.

Good Luck,

Chris
AKA: BigBlue
 
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