best bike to motorize?

C

clashed13

Member
So im getting tired of my cruiser and wanted a new bike. Preferably a mountain bike. Any suggestions on what bike I might want. Please keep it under $150. Thats my budget. I want a bike that you can just throw a motor on with the least hassle. I want decent brakes and gears. And the biggest problem I had was chain clearance with my cranbrook. links and pictures please :)
 
Are you thinking new or used? You can usually find some pretty nice mid-late 90's mountain bikes on Craigslist for considerably less that $150. I picked up a nice 1993 KHS with a Chromoly frame for $40 which I have been toying with moving my motor over to with a shift kit. With the extra $ in your budget you can get a tune up, maybe new wheels, or a good used suspension front fork...
 
Ive been checking craigslist but I still have not found a bike that fits me. I want a normal looking mountain They have this roadmaster bike at walmart for $88 and im very tempted on buying that. And they also have this avalon bike I was sure I was going to buy but the down tube is shaped weird almost like a square oval and wasnt sure on how to go about on mounting the motor to it. thanks for replying btw.
 
Is it this one?

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What type of motor are you thinking of using? Looks like anything in-frame will be very tight with that frame...

And if you are looking for simplicity of install, I would stay away from something with oddly shaped downtubes. If you can find an older mountain bike, it should have downtubes sized where you do not even need adapters, unlike newer bikes.
 
The Roadmaster works great in my opinion.. I have an older one, like from around 2001 and I think its just perfect!
 
Wow, that Panasonic is taaaaaall! If you are tall enough for the frame, I would think a regular HT in there would look goofy unless you went with an under-bar gas tank too. Or go with a larger 4 stroke like a 99cc Predator. But unless you really need a frame that large, $120 is way too much for a bike like that.

And I want to see a picture of that Roadmaster with a motor too! I cannot see how you can stuff an HT in there without a severe angle on the motor and a custom intake manifold to hold the carb off to the side and level...
 
maurtis said:
Wow, that Panasonic is taaaaaall! If you are tall enough for the frame, I would think a regular HT in there would look goofy unless you went with an under-bar gas tank too. Or go with a larger 4 stroke like a 99cc Predator. But unless you really need a frame that large, $120 is way too much for a bike like that.

And I want to see a picture of that Roadmaster with a motor too! I cannot see how you can stuff an HT in there without a severe angle on the motor and a custom intake manifold to hold the carb off to the side and level...
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well what kind of bike would you suggest?
 
clashed13 said:
im probably going to buy this blue and grey murray http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/bik/3026559693.html
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Nice that should make for a very easy build. Nice to have the multiple gears, but are you planning on running the drive chain on the right side to utilize the gears, or are those for pedalling only? The only reason I ask is that I think it has been found that a lot of the 3 speed internally geared hubs cannot take being motor driven for very long.
 
Lance Portnoff said:
the best american made motorized bicycle www.designlogicbikes.com
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...he has $150 for a bike.

The Murray Is nice but it needs renovation, mostly with new tires and tubes. You might want to refinish it, too. The Panasonic is a tall bike, you'd have to be tall to fit.

Keep looking, I watched craigslist for weeks before I found the right bike for me. You might like a Schwinn Landmark. It's a WallyWorld bike but one of the better canadates for conversion. Steel frame, rims and dual pull brakes make it a good bike for cheap conversion. IMHO

I have seen them on sale for $100...
 
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