looking for engine for bicycle.. NEW here.

[steve's bike]

HI all
getting tired of this wild gas price, bet my truck takes 10 mile gallon. I only drive 4.5 mile to work. time to put out the bike? am looking at an engine to put on my bike, yeah I have hills that would bet me. am in Omaha Nebraska. any one from Nebraska?

any thoughts what kind engine would I want buy? am over 200lb but not OVER 250.......!

what think of this engine? Bad Boy 80cc. any thing better?
if you need know kind bike I have I will find that out.

steve

 

[Pablo]

Re: looking for engine for bike.. NEW here.

It depends on your mechanical skills and budget.

If you are a tinkerer with a low budget then go 80 cc China girl frame mount. They can be reliable, but it takes a learning curve and time to get there. I still think these are the most configurable and tunable.

You can also check out the 4 stroke frame mount. Some of those are looking nice, but are more expensive.

I'm not a rack mount kind of guy.

:welcome:

 

[steve's bike]

Re: looking for engine for bike.. NEW here.

here's pic of my bike, yeah have good mechanical skills to do anything..

any thoughts what kind engine should I get?

 

[Pablo]

Re: looking for engine for bike.. NEW here.

I would get a good 80cc kit which really is a 70cc (67cc) from a good guy like thatsdax.com. But that's just me. It's a great starting point. It will fit fine on that frame.

Once you get it up and running you can seek the extras....like the need for speed....and gears.....

 

[steve's bike]

Re: looking for engine for bike.. NEW here.

I would get a good 80cc kit which really is a 70cc (67cc) from a good guy like thatsdax.com. But that's just me. It's a great starting point. It will fit fine on that frame.

Once you get it up and running you can seek the extras....like the need for speed....and gears.....

yeah I just send thatsdax an e mail, will see..

 

[deacon]

Re: looking for engine for bike.. NEW here.

You might want to check out ebay as well. Not sure one bike 2 stroke is a lot different from another frankly.

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

that'sdax is on ebay and you can usually get a kit from him there a bit cheaper if you have some patients.

dacscommm is his ebay I.D.

 

[Jemma Hawtrey]

It depends on what you want from the machine in some ways...

If you think about it even if you are doing 4.5 miles both ways you are looking at 25 miles a week and thats just to work - let alone any other rides and other use.

The Dax and other similar type of frame mounts will do this without problem - but given that they are non commercial engines (aka not built by someone like Honda or similar) they can be more maintainence hungry and although unlikely to happen they are more likely to fail and leave you in the lurch than the commercial based kits. This is not to be critical of the chengine/frame mount engines, its a fact because of their type.

The rack mount engines such as the Stanton and GEBE have one advantage that they use commercial motors - and in the case of the GEBE belt drive with variable gears, the former uses a chain drive with optional gearbox. they are more expensive but then as the saying goes you get what you pay for..

I have had two GEBEs (one was stolen) and I have had no problems whatsover. I dont baby them and they havent missed a beat.

The choice is really frame mount if you like to tinker and maintain and for a reasonable price - or GEBE/Stanton etc if you just want a point and squirt machine but at a higher price point...

Welcome to the forum

Jemma xx

 

[deacon]

I agree totally with the statements above about the china girl bike, but I have no experience with the name brand kits.

I would add this in defense of the China kit, the maintenance is simple and there are no elaborate tools involved. With a kit costing a buck and a half, I was willing to do the minor screw tightening and chain messin' that I would never do with a five hundred dollar kit.

I think with most people, not all by any means but most, the initial buy in price is a big factor in the decision. "Is this really a feasible plan, let me test it before I sink half a grand in it." was my initial thinking. After having owned, and been humiliated by the China Girl kit, I would say "It ain't for everybody."

I wouldn't buy a name brand kit now if I was rolling in money. I am tinkering with even less suitable engines at the moment, but that is me.

As to advice on which engine I would say this, If you know you are really going to stay with the bike, If you do not have a place to tighten a bolt, If the idea of grease on your hands puts you in a panic, if your wife/husband will make you take your clothes off outside, if they smell of gas, then you might want to stay away from the china girl bikes.

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

I have built two bullet proof frame mount kits....gotta spend about 12-16 hours instead of 6 putting it together, but the frame mounts an be made stone reliable too.

 

[deacon]

I hope my China kit is that way now. I have gotten rid of the tensioner completely and the chain seems to finally be stabilized. The nubs have worn off those tires so it does rattle the chain any more. The engine has caused me very little problems since I got the installation correct. It's the *darn* chain that has been the most problem. I think I would rather go with a rear mount friction drive and just replace the tires. In my case speed isn't a factor but I have this kit now so it stays.

I think a rear engine bolt on kit based on a similar low priced engine would be the cat's meow.

*replacement word by the author

 

[HoughMade]

What kind of budget? That's a consideration.

I think you will spend less on even the best quality frame mount 2 stroke than on a frame mount 4 stroke.

I have a frame mount 4 stroke with a Honda engine, and I love it...now that I have spent an awful lot of time getting it right. Believe it or not, a well sorted 2 stroke kit will be much easier and faster to install. I have done some non-standard things with mine and I absolutely love the engine, but it has taken quite a bit of custom work to get the thing to work well. Of course you would not need to do all I did, but some stuff I think just makes good sense.

Just as an example, plan on tossing out the nuts and bolts that come with the kit (including the engine mount studs)...after, you take examples down to the hardware store and get good quality nuts and bolts. Also, you may have to build you own throttle linkage and will probably want to disable the governor. Toss out the kill switch, get one from Radio Shack (and on, and on, and on....).

That being said, if you want to spend the money and want to fabricate, a Honda 49cc 4 stroke is tough to beat for reliability, smoothness and economy. I have a 48 tooth sprocket and cruising at 30 mph is not a problem. For hills, a 56 tooth will work better (keep in mind that you cannot compare sprocket sizes between different 4 stroke kits and 2 strokes kits as the engines and gearing are different, my comments are based on the Grubee Skayhawk II gearbox), but then the top speed will be a hair over 30 mph and cruising speed a little less- but with a one way trip of 4.5 miles, it's a time difference of under 2 minutes...actually, under 1 minute.

I am not trying to scare people off from the frame mount 4 stroke- far from, I think it is great- it demands mechanical chops of its owner, however.

 

[Biker Mike]

I have ordered and built 5 frame mount china engine kits. I have only had problems with one kit thus far. I have not given up on it yet. These are some good kits and almost as fun to build as they are to ride. Good Luck.