Greetings from North Bay, Ontario

[The Kraken]

I've been lurking around here for a while looking for info and pics and such ever since i saw a guy on a schwinn whipping around town with a funky looking motor on his bike.
At the time, i was in the market for a dual-purpose motorcycle, but now that i've seen what can be done with a mountain bike, I think I want to save all the expense of bike payments, insurance and all the rest.
I live in an area where there are thousands of miles of logging roads that go way back into the bush to great fishing lakes and with a lightweight motorized bike, i would be able to throw it in a canoe and get to some even more remote roads that have been cut off by beaver damn flooding
So i need a dependable rig with enough power to carry me and saddlebags of gear and perhaps pull my bicycle trailer with a light load on occasion.

I look forward to starting this project and hope to have it ready by spring '12, and I will surely need advice along the way - so thank you in advance for your help and expertise

Cheers!!

 

[GearNut]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[fasteddy]

Hello from B.C. I was a long time Ontario resident. Born in Windsor and have some great memories of North Bay.
I've spent part of the last two summers in Ely Minnesota visiting and building bikes with Silverbear.

Welcome to the forum and it's great pool of knowledge.

Steve.

 

[CTripps]

Welcome to the forum. I'm another former Ontario resident, I moved to Van from London about 4 years ago.

Sounds like you have some great country to ride in. I only have experience with the 66cc 2-stroke china motors (and only in the city) so I don't think I'm qualified to recommend something for your use.

 

[GearNut]

I say go for a GEBE kit.
Golden Eagle Bike Engines, Geared Belt Drive Bicycle Engines / Motors for Mountain Bikes & More
Light weight, reliable for 1000's of miles, virtually no maintenance, no chain to rust, clean and lube. If you choose a 2 stroke engine it is both light weight and does not care if you carry it on it's side or up-side-down while fording a river or crossing a gorge.
Certainly not the fastest around but plenty fast enough and you said nothing about wanting speed.

 

[whelan wheels]

Hello there, I'm from sudbury,i'm just some 77 miles from ya. I've travelled out that way before by motorized bike one summer but didn't make it due to a flat tire,hoping some day to try it again to make it out there. I've been travelling the north with mine this past season. If you want a real good set up i do recommend an ezm kit to start with and a good lug set frame large enough to fit it in to. If you look in to the travels and adventure section you'll see my touring mb set up that i travelled all the way out to timmins and back again. Welcome to the forum.


http://motorbicycling.com/f16/i-did-almost-400-mile-round-33438.html

 

[The Kraken]

Nice to meet you guys and thanks for replying!
CTripps and Fasteddy - I recently moved back to Ontario from B.C. coast because I missed snow more than I liked the rain. I hope you guys don't get too saturated in Vancouver...

whelan - have you ever tried riding the old abandoned CNRail line between Sudbury and North Bay? I use it from this end all the time and it's awesome to ride - maybe we can meet in the middle somewhere, sometime...(i will check out your adventure thread)

GearNut - You are correct that speed isn't my top priority. It is pretty hilly around here, and as I plan to use an aluminum hardtail/front suspension mtb, with my 185 lbs and camping gear, the whole shebang could be upwards of 300 lbs, which is a lot to ask any little motor to push up a hill.
I have checked out GEBE and EZM kits, but i can't help but think that a china girl 66cc with a large gear would put out way more torque than the other's stock 49cc kits. And if putting a larger motor on the GEBE would be best, then which motor would you recommend?

thanks again

 

[GearNut]

From a reliability and low maintenance standpoint, stay as far away from the China Girl kits as you can.
As for recommending a larger engine for the GEBE kits, I am not qualified to answer that question. I could only speculate.
My main points for recommending the GEBE for you are no chain to bugger up or fill up with dirt and grit way out in the middle of nowhere, proven long distance reliability and dependability, virtually no maintenance, does not care which way is up when transporting across un-rideable terrain, can pull a loaded trailer without much complaint.