Felt Fat Tire Ale

Dave31

Dave31

Active Member
Here is my 2012 Fat Tire Felt cruiser I won.

Been trying to decide which direction to go with it. I'm kinda thinking electric, but I do love the range of a gas motor. Others say I'm nuts for wanting to motorize it?

Now I'm not so sure what I want to do?
 

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My two cents: it's a bike. A really nice bike, but just a bike so do with it what you want. Take opinions into consideration but discard those that don't align with your goal (including mine). It's a bike not a philosophy so it's not like you need to be open minded.
I stuck a motor on a 1903 as have several others. Can't get that model anymore. There's a couple threads for putting a motor on a Deep 6. A hard to get model in limited production. Lots of Felts with top tube tanks or not, four stroke or two cycle, mostly original or hardly at all, etc. Search the forum and you'll find a lot of really nice examples. It's your bike now. Do with it what you want!
 
wheelbender6 said:
IMHO because it is a collectable, I would go electric or gas fricton drive.
Click to expand...

I agree.

And use a different set of tires. The tires that are on it now I bet are irreplaceable due to the custom sidewall print.
Put them on your wall and fill the center hole with photos of your build and ride photos of the bike.
 
WOW DAVE! Congrats on the win! Was it a raffel of some sort? As to the motorizing I say GO FOR IT. And as you got it for free why not do both electric and gas. Err. Like this only cleaner. http://motorbicycling.com/showthread.php?t=43629 I say cleaner because yours is not a military style bike ment to look utilitarian as a starting point. I LOVE that MP he did but yours is of a different style. Seal that tank. Put a HS 49cc to whatever drive you want; put a battery on the rear rack and run mabey a Smart Pie in the front with a disk setup and gas drive to the back. That way you can use it on proper bike only trails around town silently AND gas on the streets. No lag getting away from lights using both togather! And yes. I agree with the above poster on the tires... Again congratulations!dance1
 
Great looking bike. The best thing is to not be in a hurry to decide. Take your time and go with your feelings. I truly believe there's about 11 bicycles for every person on earth. I have my share but if it is a true collectible, it may be something to save as is. I would like to have one of each Felt tank bikes. They're all just the style a cruiser should be.
 
my opinion? free bike. put a motor on it.

if you have any reservations about it because it's "collectable," all it really is, is a felt bike with some different paint on it. and tires. but it's never gonna be worth more than that. i've seen hundreds of craigslist ads for "collectable" bikes people have won in raffles, or given to them by movie studios, or whatever, from rolling rock bikes to coca cola. everyone thinks they're worth a ton of money, but it's just a paint job, and usually sell for less than a stock bike at a bike shop.

if you really want to preserve it, find some hip restaurant/brewery near the college and sell it to them for the cost of a stock felt. they can hang it in the rafters till they go out of business. then the owner will have something to ride after he sells off everything else when he goes bankrupt...:)

or, sell it to Aleman...

even better, make it electric, clean and seal the tank, fill it with beer, and put a tap on it.

nice score, by the way...
 
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Wow, that's definitely a nice score! As much as I love pedal bikes, there's nothing like a high-quality cruiser build with any motor IMO!

Gas or electric, doesn't matter. In the grand scheme of things, there are many more bikes more suitable for pedaling than that one :p

bairdco said:
or, sell it to Aleman...
Click to expand...

I'd definitely rock that bike!....use a PowerPro/Lifan flathead, AGK tranny, pillow block bearing jackshaft, multispeed IGH... :D
 
Won it at a local bar, can you believe out of the more then 150 people their that night only 32 entered the bike contest. I also won a T-shirt and a X Box game.

This bike has "Fat Tire" stamped on the bottom of the crank by the serial number. I assume no others felts have this?

I'm still debating, right now I am enjoying it just the way it is.
 
Well, If you ever wanted a bike to just keep as a pedal bike, this would make a darned good one!
Congratulations on winning this awesome jem!
 
Throw a small block Chevy on it and enjoy. :)

Collectables are often questionable investments, Dave, and more often than not disappointing when it comes to resale value. You'll probably have more fun on it as a motorized bicycle than you'll ever have in selling it later as is. Gas or electric, motorize that puppy.

Tom
 
I say go gas all the way and then ride it and have fun. If you do it right you could minimize the damage done and later put it back to how it is now. Then again it may only become collectable after you you are gone, so enjoy it now.
 
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