Endless Money Pit !!!!!

robin

robin

Member
They are lots of fun but motorized bikes can cost you a fortune!! There always is something going wrong or needing to be repaired even with the top of the line kit. At 1400 miles my Subaru staton kit clutch burnt out and 2 sealed bearings in the transmission blew scattering bearings all thru the grease in the transmission--none of it warrantied--about $300 to repair! --a month ago i spent $300 dollars on new cartridge bearings and tire and rim for my SCSW Morini setup--oh yea i also had to buy a new rim for my Subaru setup -$200--where will it end--i took my truck off the road to save money--NOT!!--it would have been cheaper its a Toyota--As of today both units are for sale!!--but wait they are hard to sell ive been trying now for 2 months !! so newby beware!!
 
It's gotta be a labor of love man, while it can be economical... for that I'd prolly jus' pedal (or not, I hates the pedals lol).

Sounds like you've expensive taste in builds too - if they were mine I keep the SCSW Morini (cause it's awesome) and bail on the rest of the stuff... that one is jus' too cool to give up ;)

It's tru I may be an addict tho :p
 
i have never had a hobby that was not a money pit lol. yes it can become a costly hobby if you let it. thier is always new toys and gadgets to be had
 
I've found that the HT kits are pretty reliable & low maintenance when installed properly.
But this hobby has gotten expensive because every bike I build has to be nicer than the last!
I'm now powder coating the frames & forks to match, using Monark forks, Jim's parts, better gas tanks... the list goes on. :-{
 
Hey Robin this hobby much like anything else takes time and patience. I am a low man on the totem pole here and am just stating my opinion but if you set your goals high you're gonna fall harder. I have a Huffy Roadmaster Mountain bike with a 80cc. flying horse engine that I have been beating on for over a year just to see how tough these things are. Maybe you just got some bad parts, or possibly was asking too much from what you have but either way it is still just meant to be a hobby. I thought the idea of a hobby was to be fun? I am sorry to hear you have had such trouble and I hope you don't give up on this hobby. Maybe your next build should be simpler that way if something goes wrong it will be less of a hassle.

Just stating my opinion.
 
Right on dag.

I guess I have been "lucky" I haven't had to drop a lot of cash or work into any of the bikes I built.

But, I will agree they are kinda hard to sell.
 
I started to feel the same...Finally I just figured, hey if I wanna go fast hop on my motor cycle....And if I get tired of pedaling my bicycle then crank up the motor, thats what its for.....Theres ALL kinds of High perf. parts for these bikes and you just have to figure out what you want....You can only safely ride one of these at about 30 35 mph....They are just meant to be putt putt rides, not speed monsters is what I have FINALLY got through my mellon.lol.....I`ve stopped at the billet head and the Pipelyne exh. system....I`ll NEVER sell it for what I have in it so thats it for me.....Sure theres a crap load more I want to buy/do but what for....I`ll just tinker with what I HAVE.....JMO.....
 
Maybe your expensive stuff is a money pit but these cheaper $100 kits run forever.
For the amount you spend on your repairs you could have bought 4 or 5 2-stroke kits and a few bikes too and they would run for a long time.
 
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I've probably spent about $150 fixing mine since I bought it at christmas. However this is my first one, and I have no experience with 2-strokes, so it's all research/self fixing.
 
Cogswelln said:
than i must still be a boy im using a flying horse 66cc motor on a walmart mt bike it runs great
Click to expand...

Same here...And if you can just keep using if for what it`s designed for unless ya got extra money to try to build it for speed and be prepared to spend even more money because it will need more parts ect.ect.ect....I have $40 in the billet head,$120 in the exh.,$25 in a carb.,$30 in variouse perf. intake manifolds.$65 in a CL bike, mis. Walmart goodies $75, $100 in spare parts from Spooky`s Tooth Cycles(piston,cyl.,clutch lever clicker,chain tensioner,gaskets,ect.ect.).......And ya $135 for the motor kit.....And I COULD keep ordering stuff too...lol....
Paul.....
 
The most expensive upgrade I made was my heavy duty chrome plated muffler, $30. if I added all the $10 purchases I might have let go of $150 in upgrades all together. Thats about $400 ive sunk into it.
mopeds and used rice burners start at $1,000. Its a cheap Happy time kit. When it dies I`ll pull all the upgrades for the next bike and chunk the rest. You have to remember that these are ment to be driven
by starving 3rd world cubans with no access to parts shops thus having to fabricate replacemnt parts themselves. If u allow yourslef to sink $ into them youre really better off saving up for a rice-burner.
 
What are you doing to them? And are you talking about moped engines or what?

Can't you get a whole new robin 40cc for $250-300?

I think of the happytimes as disposeable, really. I'm on my first one, and at the rate of automotive repairs around here ($60-100/hr) I think that it has to have saved me money already in car repairs and future blood pressure medications.
 
I have found that the only manditory spending I've done on my two 2 stroker china's is replace all the gaskets with good homemade ones and replace all the nuts, bolts and studs with grade 5-8 quality and that will get the engine very reliable in my experience with only minor tuning of the carb to get it running right. the only real money I've spent on my old American made Roadmaster is the lights, wireless digital speedometer, tires, seat, heavy duty tire tubes, brakes, draw ties to hold wires and cables and a little material making the engine mounts and material for making my cargo rack on the back, I may be wrong but I bet I could get on my bike today and go 100 miles and back without a hitch and that would only cost me about $6 or $7, I have about $300-$350 in my bike total and it takes me all over the country side out here in central Texas where I live, these things are very enjoyable and do need a little tweaking here and there from time to time but for the cost of building one it is well worth it in my opinion, these aint hot rods and if someone treats it like one you will be working on it all the time like one, just build it right the first time with quality fasteners and get stuff straight and tight, breakit in right and ride it for a few thousand mile and then spend $150.00 and do it again, FUN FUN FUN, for CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP.......! just my 2 CENTS ........God Bless and lets all ride SAFE....!

.wee. dnut
 
I under stand how Robin feels... Up here we pay what you pay for parts plus the exchange rate on the money which for once about even. Add shipping and handling and the border charges from UPS and the duty at the border to bring it in and the parts are not cheap.

Four liters of gas is $4.65 CDN. on the coast where I live. That is 3.78 US gal. so anything that yields a 100+ miles per gal. is pretty attractive.
All you have to do is keep it alive.

Steve.
 
No, it NEVER ends. Not if your like me, first guy on my block with a Digital camera(1990), had to teach a Bosneian soldier that you have to HOLD the shutter button down for a few seconds to take a good PIX, I had 11 of those. I didn't know. I fly model Airplanes and helo's... have 12 of those... MB's have 3 of those... Parrots, have 10 of those, dog's, 3,(and Today, I spent $1,200,00, turns out my weimer is Diabetic....F%$k, like I HAD THAT $$ TO SPEND. rabbits 4, kids, 5(got a tv, no more kids) etc... etc...
OK I got that off my chest.... No matter what I do... MAX. My wife asked (sweet gal) "only 139.00?? yea hon... the kids will love 'em, built some, SBP, Pirate pick one, (all Great folks)the 139.00 kit = 280... Heck, theres alot of worse things I can do with the $$, like supporting a 9 yr old weimeraner with diabeties. F%#K, I can't Buy a break, there goes my pirate performance motor, sorry Justin. Love ya all

Mac
 
I have to admit that some scooters and small motorcycles are probably more practical for the money that is potentially spent with customizing these things, but they are no where near as cool! I spent quite a chunk on my first couple of builds just tinkering and trying new stuff. The last build I did with the atv engine will probably be my last build for quite a while, if it holds together. I can stay with a 125cc scooter WOT with no problem, so speed is no longer an issue for me. I have spent around $1000 building my bike and the 125cc scooter I rode with going home from work the other day cost about $3000. I get better gas mileage and a lot more conversations from the bike than he does from his scooter. I guess that's why I enjoy this so much. Scooters and motorcycles are common, and I own both, but these are real attention getters and smile promoters.
 
I'm with civilized, I got my 110 for this reason, when it done even with a few transformations and including the price of the 66cc cc that I got started with, maybe and I mean maybe $1500 bucks.........Its a hobby for me though I don't rely on it for transport so to each their own. But I will build more for sure, fun factor ftw
 
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