52cc Stage 2 CAG CVT powered X-Games Motobike

[16v4nrbrgr]

Not emotional at all, I thought I'd just remind you about etiquette to be used in people's build threads, yours was lacking, and borderline troll.

Thanks, make a thread on your build outside mine, that's all I ask.

 

[BarelyAWake]

Creating a new thread for your own build is highly recommended ofc, but I'd take the previous posts as complementary rather then "trolling" as it's clear someone liked the build enough to become excited about their own.

"Etiquette" isn't a constant, many folks enjoy contributions to their threads by others as it's sharing and an obvious example of inspiration, the point of this & most public forums... yet if the OP (creator of the thread) doesn't wish their subject to stray too far off-topic it's enough to politely say as much, then report it if such is ignored and staff will assist, diplomatically notifying that member & cleaning the thread if needful before it strays into rule violations like name calling and hostility, derailing the topic even further with arguments.

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

I figured I wouldn't get the mods involved and offer some insight in post #198.

I'd welcome constructive posts in the thread, but I thought the previous posts needed a dose of reality, and hinted that its not as easy as it seems to get results when it all comes down to the nuts and bolts.

I think it's cool that others want to motorize the Motobike, but if they feel that they can do a better job or achieve better performance, a tactful approach would be to create an original thread and let the honest results speak for themselves, many projects sound great in the planning stage and then fall short, or aren't followed through to completion...

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

So I'm contemplating the idea of possibly running a water cooled two stroke on this bike. There's a rare variant of the Cagllari engine which is water cooled and has an integral water pump and uses a small radiator for use on mid-bikes and mini dirtbikes that I might have access to. I'm just not sure whether I want to go through the effort and the increased weight and complexity if it doesn't significantly increase the performance or reliability. There isn't much documentation on this engine combination since its so rare, so I'm not sure what to expect, or where I'll get replacement parts either.

I'm thinking about going over the bike and prepping it, cleaning and relubing the gear transfer case (since I've been breaking it in) and checking over everything before riding it again and pushing the envelope of its performance. I think I'm going to keep this bike for a long time since it would be a lot of work to reproduce and I'll probably never find another brand new Motobike to build on unless I coughed up the cash for the new 400W electric one and built upon that. I have to say that this bike is really fun, and I can keep up with my friend on a hotted up moped with a 70cc kit, my bike is faster around the corners too and has better braking.

 

[Flattie42]

Sup 16v!? Glad to see your bike is working out for ya! I just took my mine for a nice lil spin today and it works out awesomely!! All I'm thinking about is getting more power out of this engine now.

The water-cooled Cag engine sounds like a sick idea but it might be more trouble than it's worth. I was contemplating using a progressive shock linkage for my rear swingarm but I decided that I'm too far along in the build to go trying to fix something that's not broken, and works pretty well for that matter, lol.

I had the same exact thoughts as you when trying to find another Motobike to build on, or buying the electric model, lol. I couldn't find any on Craigslist either and I had put way too much time and effort into building this bike that I would never wan't to sell it.

I'll try to do a re-cap of my thread from pbplanet on this forum just for kicks. (Not here on your thread) lol, but I also have a few other builds going on which I'm pretty sure the members over here on this site would much rather see...

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

Glad to see you here Flattie! It's awesome that you're out riding your bike now, you've worked hard on it and deserve many happy high speed miles ahead.

I dunno about the water cooled engine, the main problem I see happening is that I can't find parts for it, since I guess it has been discontinued or it's only made by one factory in China who makes rare mid-bikes. I might still pick them up from Ninja over at PBP just for the curiosity and maybe R&D purposes later, guess it depends on the cashflow. I'm looking into another water cooled bike with gears locally that is crashed and possibly repairable, the tradeoff is that parts for that bike will be European expensive so I gotta be confident that it will be really worth it if I take that project on.

I look forward to seeing your thread here outlining your build of your custom Motobike and I'm sure other members will be very excited and inspired by it as well!

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

I went for a short ride to the store today, and then a longer one later this afternoon. She's running real nice right now, I climbed the challenge hill no problem at about 35 and on the other side got a top speed of 43 in second gear.

I also had some dickhead try and stop me and give me crap after I slowed down, idled down, and waved well ahead of his family get together blocking the street, lawn chairs in the road and all. I just waved friendly and moved on through, there's nothing he had to say that I need to hear, lol!

Down the road a bit I had to stop and put my chain back on the CVT sprocket, since if I downshift at too high a rpm sometimes it skips in between the 11t and the 14t and freewheels in between them. The plan there is to put a plastic ring in between gears so it can't skip off and slide.

When I was stopped, some lady asked me if I had a silencer for the bike and said that the bike is going around the neighborhood all the time and driving her crazy, which is partially bs since I haven't rode this bike in over a month. I just said most motorcycles are noisy and that it has a silencer already, and said sorry...

I'd rather be loud and be heard and seen rather than be roadkill, the same types of people trying to spoil my fun riding are the same types driving their SUV's, luxury cars, and Priuses like aoverly aggressive and oblivious periahs on the road every day and making the road a dangerous place for bikers and fellow motorists. I have nothing to say to these people until they do something about their own motoring habits.

 

[Flattie42]

People are funny, a while back I remember riding one of my Cags around feeling a bit adventurous, I decide to ride into some new apartment complex about a mile and a half away from my house... First time ever doing so, as soon as I take a lap around the parking lot some guy steps out onto his porch on the second floor and starts hollering like I just keyed his car or something and waves his arms around signaling me to get the heck out... I casually turn in his direction, ride right under his porch smile and wave... Haha.

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

I might make a better exhaust for this bike someday and I'll put a couple or a single nice muffler on it at that point maybe. The bike is pretty loud, but it's nowhere near as loud as the KTM, and retrofitting a couple nice mufflers to this el cheapo pipe seems like a waste of money right now, it works fine lol!

 

[SlowBalt]

This carburetor is kinda lacking in the tuning department, on jet is all you got to play with, I guess I could figure out a way to make the transition holes tunable with a hollow bolt made into a jet for that cavity, maybe later.QUOTE]

You can run a NT or Speed carb on that engine. They are a direct fit to that intake. I started out with cags. I also owned the same race engine .I had the same issues with the studs. I ended up dremiling and putting lock nuts inside the case to keep them from striping. http://www.pocketbikeplanet.com/showthread.php?t=53423

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

Obviously you haven't read back a few pages...

I tuned the carb by modifying the slide, and it worked great, and there's locknuts on the inside of the case...

Yep. Thanks anyways

 

[SlowBalt]

No I just saw this thread and flipped threw. Nice work by the way.

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

Thanks, I'm pretty happy with the performance, the CVT really helps the little cag get decent torque and a better top speed than on its intended pocket bike chassis, the gears help too, but if I could get a huge cassette for the rear with a 44t it would be even better, it will probably happen in time. Right now the engine redlines at about 9800 rpm, if I used lighter variator rollers, a lightened flywheel, lighten the clutch more for more wind-up, made a grenade of an engine with porting and possibly higher compression with a head with more cooling fins and a bigger pipe I think the current gearing would work great and I could use a couple more gears in the cassette and get 50+ mph. I think for that to happen safely I'm going to need a steering damper and maybe some stickier tires, lol!

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

I haven't had the time to mess with motorized bicycles for a while, but I'm going to get back to it since I miss the fun I had. I've just been using these bikes as decorations to my apartment lol!

I'm weighing whether I want to build a low comp engine with the stock one-piece jug for torque and better everyday usability as a pit bike for the racetrack, or if I want to build a grenade engine and try to clamp the thing together tight to hold the extreme cylinder pressures generated.

I might sell off a couple motorized bicycles but I'm thinking that I might keep this one for a long time, since it would be difficult to repeat this build again. Maybe if I build another mini streetbike along the lines of this one in the future, I'll sell this bike to a caring owner or give it to one of the youngsters in my family.

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Nice to see your bike again, it's a really unique machine

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

Thank you Intrepid Wheelwoman, I really enjoyed the time we have spent together sharing the passion for these wonderful lightweight machines! One thing that I have realized in the last couple of years is that more enjoyment can be had with less, I've had more fun with motorized bicycles than almost all forms of motorized transportation. My goal someday is to be able to use motorized bicycles to commute everyday, the SF Bay area doesn't lend well to it since they haven't completed the trail network in my neck of the woods, but if they do I will be sure to build a Intrepid Wheelwoman and Morgan inspired reverse trike velocar to avoid the rat-race!

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Oh yes I very much agree I've owned my fair share of larger motorcycles, but messing about with motor-bicycles is much more fun. And yes less is definitely more.
I feel that this hobby is far closer to the daring spirit of the early pioneers and their experiments with building motorised bicycles in small workshops than any of the high plastic content, hi-tech things that get called motorcycles these days.

Same goes for cyclecars. I don't like modern cars and I used to have strict no-buy policy on cars made after 1955, but then cars of that age suddenly became classics and desirable collectors' items and I could no longer afford them.
So now I'm working on building what I think a small and exciting motorised vehicle should be with my cyclecar and velocar projects.

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

I'm definitely guilty of using a lot of plastics on my bikes, which I feel is a necessary evil to keep the weight down and make certain parts like the fairings more durable to being bumped into.

I'm okay with the progression of technology getting into vehicles as long as it is actually useful such as new materials, but not the way that bikes and cars have gotten a lot of things previously regarded as frivolous like too much electronic gadgets. It seems that all of the bells and whistles always stop working one by one and cost more than they are worth to repair, like in big luxury sedans a couple years old.

People like us see the value in simplicity because we regard vehicles as items to care for and hold for a long time, rather than the discardable nature of modern vehicles. As an auto mechanic I am disappointed in the devolution of the quality of materials and design in vehicles these days, they are designed in shorter timespans and made of cheap materials with finite lifespans, its really a pity.

The finite lifespan of plastics is why I bought a second Minimoto fairing for this bike as a spare. It is "quality" plastic and I haven't had any issues but I know that plastic can get brittle if the UV rays finally get to it. It's kinda funny how most plastics do remain forever, but they tend to just break up into smaller and smaller pieces.

I've got the same dilemma with classic cars, I love them and enjoy working on them, but it is becoming harder to afford them as their values increase. I'm also strapped for time and resources which the older cars need to be kept in good shape, I'm neglecting my Cossie Benz right now and need to turn that project around and make a race car with it or something instead of letting it sit.

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

My brothers were in the motor trades too and my Dad was a tradesman sheetmetal worker which is why I was able to learn all kinds of useful skills as I was growing up. I agree about modern vehicles with their frivolous accessories and over dependence on sealed 'black box' electronics. The last two cars my daughter owned had major failures in that department which led to them being towed off to the scrapyard as they would have been far too expensive to repair.

Modern vehicles are a real disappointment and I'm glad I don't own one. I did my best to help my daughter keep her last car, - a 1990s Rover, - in running condition, but in the end it defeated me. The mechanical side of working on the engine was nice, but it was the electronics and multitude of sensors all over everything that was a pain. I was sorely tempted to take it all out and throw it away and put a pair of SU carburetors on it along with a distributor that had points in it and not strange electronic things. It would have been a lot of work though and in the end we decided to cut our losses send it off to the scrapyard.

I can tolerate plastic for fairings and I don't see your bike as being excessively plastic dependent or anything. The trouble with most modern motorcycles and scooters is that once you take the plastic off all you're left with is ugly.

You own a Cosworth Benz, - Oooooo very nice. The car itself is too modern for me, but I can certainly respect an engine like that one

 

[Motojoe2492]

Wow. that is a great looking bike! How is the power of that engine?