From London Ontario

R

Rockenstein

New Member
Hi all, great information place you have happening here! Stumbled into this site while surfing for E Bike conversion info which led me to discover the fuel powered conversions and all I can say is WOW! I gotta have one! I've been into motorized everything since I was a kid, think dad built my first gas powered go kart when I was 4?? Anyway last year I bought a new KHS XC-004 so my old Norco mountain bike is just sitting collecting dust so I was thinking of getting an electric kit for it but gee wiz when I price out an E conversion that get's me decent range and speed I'm saying WTF is with that nonsense!! So one of the sellers I was scoping out for E conversion parts just happens to also sell the fuel powered kits and as the story goes after watching some videos, checking the kit prices and reading some info here I'm pretty much sold. Couple questions I have before placing my order though are, and this is mainly for the Canadian residents, have you had many encounters with your local law enforcement and if so what was the outcome?


Cheers...

PS: Should add the kit I'm thinking about getting is the Zoom Jet Stealth Limited Edition kit
 
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Welcome to the forum, glad you joined us.

The E-bike conversion kits are expensive, there are a few members that build there own E- Bikes and save a ton of money.
 
Yes I was thinking of bit's of this 'n' that from here 'n' there to save on the cost, I also have a full machine shop here at home to make or modify whatever, but still just the cost of a good motor controller and decent lithium batteries alone is well beyond what any gas conversion kit costs. I'm not planning to use an electric bike or a fuel bike for regular commuting, for me riding a bicycle is something I do just to get away on a Sunday afternoon. Sometimes I ride the city bike trails with my kids and sometimes I pack a lunch and head out to the country on my own with my cameras and it's the country rides where some power assist would be nice I suppose because I've seen those rides turn into 80 kilometer round trips with many hills.
 
Welcome, I live in Manitoba and there is no hassle with the law. I phoned the government insurance and was told that no licence or insurance was needed. I am recovering from shoulder surgery so just poking around on the net. The kit you are looking at should be good, I have the 49cc, and am on my second bike, the first one was shakey at best, but it gave me a taste. I used it last summer to go to work, but this next summer it will get a lot more use. I have a 500cc Honda, but the little bicycle is still a lot of fun.
 
Rockenstein said:
Stumbled into this site while surfing for E Bike conversion info which led me to discover the fuel powered conversions and all I can say is WOW! I gotta have one!
Click to expand...

Good afternoon, Rockenstein!

I too am from John Graves Simcoe's great forest city! I am looking into turning my Giant Rincon mountain bike into a fully licensed and insured moped. Looking forward to cruising the northern and southern counties--especially the Port Stanley, Port Bruce and Port Burwell areas. Last year I made a 75km trip from downtown all the way to Port Burwell (manually)! Unfortunately, when I came back, both the light bulbs blew on my dynamo-powered head and tail lights about halfway through the trip! Stupid me never even thought of switching to LED's until then and I had to take a taxi from just north of St. Thomas all the way back to London. Cost me $40!

Anyways, I gotta get to work as I start work only 30-min from now. I look forward to more chatting with you!

-=VbN=-
brnot
 
Sorry I didn't reply sooner VBN...have not browsed this part of the forum in a few days.

It's nice to meet another MB fan from London on here, I do think we are a rare breed as I've not seen or heard any mention of motorized bicycles in our wonderful forest city. That was quite the ride you pulled off last year, it's a bugger it didn't end as expected though. You'll have to go for it again this season and pack some spare LED's this time around ;) Be interesting to see how you make out with converting your Giant, also be interesting to see how you fare too with regards to registering it as a MAB with the MTO. I've looked into this somewhat because in Ontario we can build and then register custom vehicles with the MTO but the one big kicker going against it ever being considered a MAB (moped) by the MTO is the manual clutch our conversion engines use. The manual clutch alone puts our converted bikes into the realm of "custom motorcycle" and then of course that opens up other registration catch 22's such as tail, brake and signal lights, license plate light, hi and low beam head light, keyed ignition, horn, mirrors, wheelbase, seat height, GVW and much much more when it comes time to have an MTO safety standards certificate issued. Personally I think it's lame that we have so many rules working against us with regards to our flavor of power assisted bicycle...I mean if one builds a gas engine power assisted bike that's geared to go no faster than an electric powered power assisted bicycle and rode in a responsible manner whats the big deal? If we gear our creation to stay within the 32k speed limit imposed on E bikes the only real difference between us and them is range, weight and the grades we can climb without assistance. IMHO a bike converted with any of the available gas engine kits is a superior, cheaper and safer alternative to any E bike...factory built or home brew! I've tested a few electric bikes that were priced from 500 to well over 1000 and with each one I tested I was not impressed! The weight of an E bike was the thing that bothered me most when I tried to pedal one at a reasonable pace without power. I felt very insecure in traffic on a heavy and inherently slow E bike that had no power! The range is the second issue I had, for me 40-50k per charge is just not enough and lugging around a second set of batteries compounds the weight and cost issue. Best we can hope for I guess is that maybe our governments will come around one day and see things as clearly as we do.


Anyway cheers and I hope to meet up with you sometime for a ride this summer...maybe we can check out some scenic country side on our MB's reddd
 
Rockenstein said:
Sorry I didn't reply sooner VBN...have not browsed this part of the forum in a few days.
Click to expand...

Hi RS. Great to hear back from you!

So you're interested in knowing what is happening with me so far? Well, I'll be glad to update you.

So far I have pretty well everything under way!

Last Tuesday I placed an order through dubyadubyadubya_dot_bicycle-engines_dot_com for the GruBee SkyHawk Stage-III rear-mount engine kit (minus the HuaSheng engine) with a 48-tooth wheel sprocket and a 10-tooth engine sprocket. Normally this kit includes a 56-tooth wheel sprocket and 11-tooth engine sprocket but none were in stock at the time. However, they mentioned that the 48/10 configuration would give me a higher top speed, which is what I prefer. Also, the normal price for the kit is $419.99 but I only had to pay $249.99 as I asked them to knock off the engine. The kit was shipped today so I may be receiving it later this week.

Then, this past weekend I placed an order for the Honda GXH50 engine from Mid City Honda (tel # 519-659-6533) and will be picking it up Tuesday or sometime later this week whenever the engine is in. I have asked for the engine in an unprepped state (still in the crate, no oil and no spark plug) so that it gives me something more to do. (You can ask for it prepped though, if you wish, to make things easier.) The engine price is about $550. Note I also decided to knock off the HuaSheng engine from the previous order as I understand it is a clone of this Honda engine and would prefer the real thing.

And the final order I placed for now was also this past weekend for a set of Blackburn "Flea" head and tail LED lights, a rear-view mirror and a CatEye Strada cycling computer with odometer, speedometer and many other functions. All these were ordered from CyclePath and were based on suggestions made from the good folks at the To Wheels bicycle store where I originally bought my bike. I managed to really hit it off with them two weeks ago and was telling them about what I plan to do. They seem very interested in my plan. In fact I may have to take my bike there once I have the kit mounted as the mounting of the wheel sprocket may require additional attention and/or inspection.

I also paid a visit last week to my local MTO Driver's License office and picked up the new MTO Official Motorcycle Handbook, which I am now halfway through. This book contains the latest definitions not only for motorcycles but also for limited-speed motorcycles and moped's as well. I hope to make it soon to the Exeter Rd MTO office to write my M1 motorcycle test and obtain more info on registering, licensing and insuring my bike. And later, sometime in April, I plan to attend a Motorcycle Safety Course at Fanshawe College that would help to speed up the licensing process. This course is recommended in the book.

Well, I gotta getta moveon. Not much else going on right now but I'll keep you up-to-date on my progress once I start building. TTYL.

-=VbN=-
brnot
 
Engine Kit Assembly Log #1:

Just picked up the engine today from Mid City Honda. I also spoke with a guy named Wade. Great guy--very knowledgeable! He ordered the engine for me quickly and called to let me know it was in. She's a real bute! Approximate cost $520. I will probably prep it sometime next week or whenever weather is warm and good. I also need to obtain a small pipe to put on the exhaust port to redirect and prevent the exhaust from shooting forward into my butt. I'm still awaiting the engine mount kit--maybe tomorrow or next week(?)

-=VbN=-
brnot
 
I looked extensively into getting an E-bike and while the concept is nice they just don't seem to have the versatility and range that gas engines have. Once battery capacity gets better I'll certainly consider an E-bike but in the mean time it's going to be gas.
 
VBN it sounds like you got a very nice rig in the works...can't wait to see the end result (^)

DarthVader what you said about versatility and range is pretty much why I dropped the idea of an E conversion, the range is just not where I'd like it to be and then there's the infrastructure considerations. At the local malls, university, hospital and so on there are no outlets to plug into so as to refresh your ride so for me doing a whole days worth of errands on an E bike would leave me flat on the home stretch. The cost for low weight high capacity batteries is another thing that's just silly although sure you can go with the cheaper SLA's but then you suffer the weight penalty and if your out of juice pedaling that weight home and up some hills would completely suck!
 
Rockenstein said:
VBN it sounds like you got a very nice rig in the works...can't wait to see the end result (^)

DarthVader what you said about versatility and range is pretty much why I dropped the idea of an E conversion, the range is just not where I'd like it to be and then there's the infrastructure considerations. At the local malls, university, hospital and so on there are no outlets to plug into so as to refresh your ride so for me doing a whole days worth of errands on an E bike would leave me flat on the home stretch. The cost for low weight high capacity batteries is another thing that's just silly although sure you can go with the cheaper SLA's but then you suffer the weight penalty and if your out of juice pedaling that weight home and up some hills would completely suck!
Click to expand...

You're absolutely correct. I also had an idea of what I call a "tribrid" bike; pedals, gas engine and generator/motor and battery that can be charged by either pedals or engine. Wouldn't that be cool! In fact I don't see why you can't convert an existing electric bike to one such type. This is especially for people who have minor heart problems. I myself have been told to watch my heart more often as I have inherited a minor genetic defect from my father's side of the family--most of his relatives dies as a result of heart conditions and fair-to-poor dieting.

I have recently been in touch with some good folks at dubyadubyadubya_dot_windstreampower_dot_com and they have 4 sizes/amperages of DC generators to choose from; from a 1.5A continuous-duty all the way to 10A continuous-duty (that one too big for a bicycle, of course). I have asked about attaching a small generator to the engine to power light(s) and/or a 12V or USB socket I can use to recharge and/or use an iPod and/or small GPS while riding. Yes I listen to music while riding and have been doing so for years but am always observant to avoid an accident.

-=VbN=-
brnot
 
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Engine Kit Assembly Log #2:

Just received the kit this past Monday via Fedex. Everything included; all the nuts, bolts, gearbox, cables, chain etc except one thing--the instruction manual! It seems they forgot to include it. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to try to reference the PDF they provide for the 4-cycle V-mount kit or try to utilize the pictures posted on the GruBee website that show the rear-mount kit in detail.

I also had a chance to finally prep the engine today. After downloading and reading through the engine manual PDF from dubyadubyadubya_dot_honda-engines_dot_com I went to Wal-Mart to purchase a bottle of Quaker State SAE 10W30 non-synthetic motor oil (green bottle), poured it in and gave the engine some light shakes and multiple inversions, soaking all parts in the crankcase. I then went to my local Sunoco gas station, filled her up with Premium and let her rip for the first time. LOTS of white smoke for under a minute but, when it all went away, the engine ran like a charm!

Also went back to To Wheels and purchased some Giant-brand chain grease, synthetic grease, Finish Line degreaser--i.e. all the slippery stuff and LocTite Red for the nuts & bolts; total cost about $45.

If course the fun part will start when I have more time, hopefully shortly, when I start building the whole kit!

-=VbN=-
brnot
 
Rockenstein said:
Hi all, great information place you have happening here! Stumbled into this site while surfing for E Bike conversion info which led me to discover the fuel powered conversions and all I can say is WOW! I gotta have one! I've been into motorized everything since I was a kid, think dad built my first gas powered go kart when I was 4?? Anyway last year I bought a new KHS XC-004 so my old Norco mountain bike is just sitting collecting dust so I was thinking of getting an electric kit for it but gee wiz when I price out an E conversion that get's me decent range and speed I'm saying WTF is with that nonsense!! So one of the sellers I was scoping out for E conversion parts just happens to also sell the fuel powered kits and as the story goes after watching some videos, checking the kit prices and reading some info here I'm pretty much sold. Couple questions I have before placing my order though are, and this is mainly for the Canadian residents, have you had many encounters with your local law enforcement and if so what was the outcome?


Cheers...

PS: Should add the kit I'm thinking about getting is the Zoom Jet Stealth Limited Edition kit
Click to expand...

Hey I live about 20mins from london and I'm new here too, I've had a pk-80 for a year now and I haven't been pulled over once. I was with a buddy on a mini bike though and he got charged and all the cop asked me was if the pedals worked. I think there unaware of the laws in ontario. I'm glad more people are getting these kits though, if we have enough maybe they will change the law.
 
Rockenstein- Moved out of Ontario in 1979.Went to B.C.
One of the few smart moves I made in life.Of all the provinces they have to be the most backward.Surprised you are allowed to have a M.B. at all.
The Canadian gov. has laws restricting the size of electric motor you can use before you have to have safty equipment on your bike.
Starting to plan a trike using the back of an electric golf cart.Want to use a bike springer front end to make a chopper.
I'm hoping for decent power and range.
Have to see if a trike is considered a bike in B.C.
Legs don't work well enough to pedal due to an accident years ago.The only gold I've seen in the GOLDEN YEARS is my health card.
Steve.
 
Hi,keep us posted on you're Trike ideas, my plans include a 4 stroke Kit on a Worksman Trike, stretched with a recumbent seat...looking for a comfortable ride, Wedgie Free...


drn2
 
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