Hello from North Idaho

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powdersummit

New Member
Hello to everyone here at motor Bicycling from northern Idaho. I work as a machinist at a decent sized machine shop and just looking to get into a new project area. I've mountain biked a bit in the past but it was almost too much work considering some of the areas that I want to be able to go.

The idea of a cross between a moped and a free ride mountain bike has got me stoked. I don't need to go fast up hill but it would be nice to not kill myself in the process. I was looking at electric but the batteries would be more than half the cost of a bike so back to the proven ICE.

Right now I'm just looking for ideas for a good design and ways to keep it as quiet as possible. Tread lightly and carry a big stick.

Carl
 
Welcome. I keep looking at mountain bikes as well, I think making a "dirtbike" would be pretty cool, and will probably try that next after making a cruiser style bike first.
 
Wow, Northern Idaho?
Cold and snow is headed your way for winter.

Ya, I know, you snow dogs are used to it. I'm a desert dog and just shake my head (and bones) at the thought, but sure can adapt a motorized bike for you needs.

You will want to use your gears on the bike with your motor and that means a Jackshaft.

SickBikeParts.com has one delivered for ~$160 but it is frigg'm 3 AM here and I am off to bed finally.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum...I live in Cental Washington, but drive longhaul so I ride in a lot of different areas. IMHO you gotta get a shifter kit for a Mt. Bike.

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Welcome,Carl.Just remember you can put a motor on a mountain bike but that doesn't make it a dirt bike it's still a mountain bike with a motor on it!I put a 49cc on a Trek and a 66 on a Raligh for a guy and he beat the snot out of both of them and couldn't figure out why they kept breaking!Maybe if he was paying to get them fixed and not his dad maybe they would of lasted longer!! Good Luck keep us posted.Kip.
 
Thanks for the warm welcomes everyone. Winters can be a pain up here but it hasn't been so bad that I've been snowed in. I kind of live in a very small banana belt here and we don't get dumped on too bad, 5 miles away and 4 feet of snow could be a different story though.

I have already decided it will be a shifter setup for the motor and pedals. I've been really looking into the phaser gearbox to run both pedal and motor power through. Going to re-engineer and build myself. For the motor I'm looking at the Honda GX35. Not a lot of power but I don't need a ton of speed, just the torque and gear reduction for the steeper stuff. I plan on a custom exhaust that will run through the frame and try to quiet things down to a fleas fart.

I'm going to try and model everything on the computer first before I start building that way I can see problem areas before they become expensive problem areas. It will be a long term project but I do see a market for what I have in my head. Now to go work out some more gear ratios.

Carl
 
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