American made 2 stroke

chainmaker

chainmaker

Well-Known Member
Just curious on where we stand on an american made motor, it does seem that the HT are starting to dry up. Is there anyone out there seriously working on an American Made version.
Cheers
Chainmaker
 
Yep, you. Thanks for volunteering. I'll take 3 assuming they are better in quality than the china ones.
 
If a 2 stroke was truly manufactured and assembled in the U.S.A. the costs would be prohibitive for most builders. We don't allow child labor to assemble the engines, our production methods & standards would further prevent a low cost engine available to all.

I would love to buy an American 2 stroke and pay a little more for it; just don't see it possible anytime soon.
 
I think Jim is going to be producing an American Made 2 stroke engine in the near future. He says that it will be reasonably priced, and that it is going to scream! I really hope this happens. If it does, that means no more break downs, no more sheering studs, no more checking bolts, and best of all, no more worrying if the thing is gunna blow up! This will revolutionize the MB community, and we can all get a nice "Made in USA" sticker to put on one of the engine covers. Hope it happens. We will just have to wait and see....
 
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I fly model airplanes and gasoline 2 stroke engines from China flooded the market and are 1/2 to 3/4 cheaper than the german and japanese imports. An individual decided to manufacturer a US made engine and offered it at a price of 429.00. A similar China engine sells from 180 to 250 depending on manufacturer. People all told him that it was overpriced and would never sell.

Guess what, they are selling like hotcakes. Quality will eventually win over time. Syssa Aircraft Performance
 
I'd pay twice as much for an american made 2 stroke, assuming it does in fact meet the "made in america" standards that we are all assuming. Especially if Jim is the one building it, I don't have a single complaint about anything I've ever bought from him as far as quality and manufacturing go, wait times are another story, lol, but still definitely worth their weight in gold.
 
Yeah...Im hoping this is just a yearly thing and prices will drop in the fall and there will be deals to be had.
Cheers
 
Bikeguy Joe said:
I bought a half dozen HT's when they were 48 dollars plus shipping....so I'm good.
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When and where were they at $48 plus shipping? I'd love to get a few for that price for future projects. The only time I've seen them for $48/ea or thereabouts is for a bulk order of 25 minimum if I recall directly from a factory in China through alibaba.com. But then you still have to worry about shipping and import technicalities.



Anyways, the American Made does sound enticing.
 
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Ok, there's always going to be debate on this issue but the argument falls into two categories of which both proponents argue their logic.

1st category: People who want the cheapest product available, espousing the idea that if it's 25% the price of a quality engine, four (low cost) engines can be bought and (to the point of engine failure) should allow the motored bicycle to cover more kilometers than one high quality engine.
These people are willing to spend endless amounts of time tinkering and replacing engines that the second category neither wants to do or simply can't afford the unreliability built into the purchase price.

2nd category: People who are restricted to using a motored bicycle as their sole means of transport and require absolute reliability and improved engine performance to get them from point [A] to point in a timely manner and necessitate an iron clad guarantee from the manufacturer to provide product support and warranty their workmanship with a replacement engine if the product fails in service due to defects.

Being a person who falls into the second category i'm willing to pay in excess of $500 just for an engine with upgraded technology and metallurgy.

Fabian
 
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There's another category of sorts to be added to the above - strictly user dependent ofc...

While with the cheap 2 strokes it's completely possible to just get a "lemon" - a dud that was just assembled poorly, with a lil preemptive work & upgrades I've found that they can also be quite reliable, if purchased from a reputable dealer and care used while building I think you're pretty well covered - I've over 5000 miles of happy abuse on my first build so far and it's still going strong.

I suspect that if you go through the "cheap" kits like candy, a more expensive engine may not be much more "reliable" as you're missing something - like the basic, normal maintenance ALL small, overworked 2 strokes cobbled to a bicycle would need. Not that there's a lot even with the cheap'os, but so much depends on the initial setup - and that both the cheap ones and a higher quality engine would have in common.

Don't get me wrong - naturally a better engine would be "better" lol, but I seriously doubt engine manufacture alone is the primary cause of the reported failures. While I too would be willing to buy an engine of better manufacture - it's also true that ya can't simply buy your way out of maintenance ;)
 
2dawgs said:
If Jim makes one, it will sell like "Hot Cakes"!
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I would be more than happy to pay the extra for a quality American built engine. Sure it would be great if they could be sold at the same price as the China built ones but I have no issues whatsoever with paying more for a more dependable quality product.

A better built/more reliable engine would also address concerns that a good many potential riders might have with regard to their desire to be riders not wrenchers. Beyond that those of use who are riders might be more inclined to ride more and further in the absence of the potential frequent breakdowns we all encounter. .flg.
 
Well, myself I have an even different angle and this is only how I feel and in NO way is intended to offend anyone that is not an American....

If I could buy a quality American made engine that needed the same amount of mait. as the china engine and cost twice as much as the china engine I would buy the American made engine in a heart beat, now days it is very hard to support my American brothers and sister in the manufacturing business because thanks to many of the rules and regs. from "Big Brother" most of the business in Manufacturing has gone out of country and most of the time now we are fourced into buying China junk cause they are no other options in many products now days.

So your darn toot-in I will buy an American made engine from Jim if he makes-em and I know if he gets this done he will be as fair as he can be with price, but lets all remember this guy is working very hard in all he is doing and by golly he deserves to make a good profit for his trouble and sacrifice for all of us guys and gals out here enjoying these little homebuilt machines.
Just some of my Thoughts...!
God Bless & God Bless America!
Shan, proud dad of 3 boys in the US Military -Army & Air Force-

.flg. usflg
 
If Jim builds the motor they will come to buy it. There is no doubt, no debate. I will be in line as will many many more. I have my HT running very well. Alot of it thanks to doing a new top end and running Opti-2 at 75 to 1 from day one of the rebuild. Breaking it in as fast and hard as it would go. (ask a real 2 stroke racer) However a motor from Creative will be a better balanced, better built, probably the last one you'll ever have to buy type of deal. I would pay at least double. If he can hit around the $300 mark plus shipping I can't see any way to fail.
 
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I echo many of the thoughts here in the forum. I would buy from Jim just to have purchased a piece of the American dream. I have no doubt the quality would be far superior to that of the assembly line fast produced China engines (not taking anything away from them) one of which I own and have ridden many miles on. There are bound to be problems with anything mechanical, That's the nature of the beast. You cannot use any machine and not expect wear and tear. But Better build = longer lasting and that means higher/better prices. Now are we willing to pay that? Of course! Why? Because we not only believe that the American Made Engine will outlast, outrun, and be superior in every aspect. But it's a Pride thing too.

I for one believe whatever the price for one of these will be it will be far less than I would be willing to pay. I for one am a financially stricken individual but I would find a way to buy one of these motors. Strike that, I WILL find a way.

Just my 2 cents. 'cause that's all I have left.
 
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