Mini-motard ideas.

GoldenMotor.com

MopedLover

New Member
Feb 20, 2014
33
0
0
Flagstaff, Arizona
So in my motorbicycling hobby, I built two bikes which I sold off for a cheap price when I decided to get a motorcycle.

But drivers are kind of too crazy nowadays for a motorcycle and my mom got really mad when I decided to buy a bike saying I'll kill myself haha.

So I decided to build another moped to get me around the university campus.

But I got tired of those goofy black tanks and the look of the bike which is just a motor slapped onto the bike.

So I'm brain storming ideas on building a min-dirtbike/motard and I need advice. First of all my building skills are

1. Able to build a direct drive bike with wrench and drivers.
2. Have experience installing SBP jackshaft
3. Messed around with the engine a lot for higher performance. Last bike, I got a CNS carburetor and tuned it really nice, and swapped the bolt on engine head with a cool looking high compression one and took the engine to a machine shop and welded a dirtbike fatpipe on it.


I don't have an access to a welder or a saw. And I think welding exhausts would probably be the only thing that local autoshops will gladly do.

Here's what I WANT to build

I'm no expert on neither motorcycles nor bicycles. So what I'm listing is just COMPLETELY for looks/aesthetics only. Please give me new input if it sounds not practical.

1. It has to take as less fabrication as possible.

-So It can't be a 4-stroke clone engine or a morini. Besides I really liked it when I had the fully modded chinese engine set up with a jackshaft. It had plenty of power.

-I would really like a full suspension frame. But ones with enough clearance are hard to find. I suppose no-rear suspension would be okay.

-I saw one of those 4 inch thick tire fat bikes like surly pugsley.

I'm thinking about getting one of those frames and forks in oversized version and putting in a less thick and smaller rims and road tires like these (for the street legal motard look) and jackshafting it.



Where would I be able to get a 20x2.5 front rims and 24x3 rear rims that will hold multi-speed cassette? (default 26x4 pugsley rims has cassettes. Not sure how they fit. Is the part where the wheel goes in wide enough for extra thickness of a cassette?)

2. I'm thinking about putting a banana seat and sissy bar for a dirt-bike look. I saw those done and ratrod style seats look really cool and sporty on MTBs and I don't have enough fabrication skills to mount a dirt bike saddle like some people do. I'm thinking about putting front fenders that goes on the oversized forks on the sissybar for the motard look.

3.


I'm thinking about using this pipe from arrow cycles for the extra sporty look.

4. Also going to get a streetfighter light from ebay like this one



These are pretty cheap and I live right next to a motorcycle repairshop. They said they'd be happy to lend me a hand if I brought a finished bike with the light and weld something up for me to mount it.


I guess this is about it. It's just random brain storming but any input on the frames and rims and other practical aspects would be appreciated, thanks.
 

Donavan321

New Member
Sep 27, 2012
238
0
0
Appleton, Wisconsin
So in my motorbicycling hobby, I built two bikes which I sold off for a cheap price when I decided to get a motorcycle.

But drivers are kind of too crazy nowadays for a motorcycle and my mom got really mad when I decided to buy a bike saying I'll kill myself haha.

So I decided to build another moped to get me around the university campus.

But I got tired of those goofy black tanks and the look of the bike which is just a motor slapped onto the bike.

So I'm brain storming ideas on building a min-dirtbike/motard and I need advice. First of all my building skills are

1. Able to build a direct drive bike with wrench and drivers.
2. Have experience installing SBP jackshaft
3. Messed around with the engine a lot for higher performance. Last bike, I got a CNS carburetor and tuned it really nice, and swapped the bolt on engine head with a cool looking high compression one and took the engine to a machine shop and welded a dirtbike fatpipe on it.


I don't have an access to a welder or a saw. And I think welding exhausts would probably be the only thing that local autoshops will gladly do.

Here's what I WANT to build

I'm no expert on neither motorcycles nor bicycles. So what I'm listing is just COMPLETELY for looks/aesthetics only. Please give me new input if it sounds not practical.

1. It has to take as less fabrication as possible.

-So It can't be a 4-stroke clone engine or a morini. Besides I really liked it when I had the fully modded chinese engine set up with a jackshaft. It had plenty of power.

-I would really like a full suspension frame. But ones with enough clearance are hard to find. I suppose no-rear suspension would be okay.

-I saw one of those 4 inch thick tire fat bikes like surly pugsley.

I'm thinking about getting one of those frames and forks in oversized version and putting in a less thick and smaller rims and road tires like these (for the street legal motard look) and jackshafting it.



Where would I be able to get a 20x2.5 front rims and 24x3 rear rims that will hold multi-speed cassette? (default 26x4 pugsley rims has cassettes. Not sure how they fit. Is the part where the wheel goes in wide enough for extra thickness of a cassette?)

2. I'm thinking about putting a banana seat and sissy bar for a dirt-bike look. I saw those done and ratrod style seats look really cool and sporty on MTBs and I don't have enough fabrication skills to mount a dirt bike saddle like some people do. I'm thinking about putting front fenders that goes on the oversized forks on the sissybar for the motard look.

3.


I'm thinking about using this pipe from arrow cycles for the extra sporty look.

4. Also going to get a streetfighter light from ebay like this one



These are pretty cheap and I live right next to a motorcycle repairshop. They said they'd be happy to lend me a hand if I brought a finished bike with the light and weld something up for me to mount it.


I guess this is about it. It's just random brain storming but any input on the frames and rims and other practical aspects would be appreciated, thanks.
Seems like you're quite ambitious. When you mentioned you were sick of the "strapped to frame motors" are you talking about the 2-cycle kits? If so, what kind of bike did you install it on? I've met quite a few builders who have pulled off some pretty nice looking builds using those kits. You could build a 2-cycle kit and do a "board track racer" it would look pretty sharp, as for an engine, what were you thinking of? You only have so much space in a bike frame to work with, not to mention you don't want to be going 85mph on a bicycle with a big huge heavy engine. You had also mentioned this was something for "looks/cosemtics/eyecandy..whatever. Is this build intended to be something functional, or just something to show off? Beach cruiser frames....in my opinion give you THE BEST range of versatility, mounting angles, geometry, etc. A 26" frame should do. I've mounted alot of chinese two strokes to cruisers and the cruisers just look........WOW..with them, they fit together like thunder and lightning. If you're planning on going over 30mph, I'd recommend some "higher end wheels, with sealed bearings OR if not sealed, WELL GREASED. Let me know, sorry for rambling on. These are just my personal viewpoints.
 

bairdco

a guy who makes cool bikes
Aug 18, 2009
6,537
264
63
living the dream in southern california
you can get 16" moped rims and lace in any hub you want. you might have to drill the holes in the hub flange bigger for fatter spokes (mopeds use 12 or 11 g spokes usually) but that's no big deal.

a 16" moped rim is the same diameter as a 20" bike rim so you can use 20" bike tires, but you can also use 16" moped tires.

some of the coolest tires are pirelli ml75's, and they're fat, look awesome, dot rated, and cost less than 20 bucks each.
 

Henshooter

New Member
Feb 10, 2014
275
0
0
Melbourne au
I've mounted alot of chinese two strokes to cruisers and the cruisers just look........WOW..with them, they fit together like thunder and lightning. I
I have to completely agree with that ,they go together like they were made for each other , I had a guy argue with me reciently , he was saying my cruizer frame was specially built for a motor

Nothing like a good looking cruizer !!!
 

16v4nrbrgr

Active Member
Mar 17, 2012
1,728
4
38
North Bay
I've got a couple motards I've built and posted here, it's gonna take welding or brazing to make something that doesn't look like a mongrel. There's a lot to be said about a good solid cruiser or mountain bike with a Happy Time engine if resources are tight. With full suspension you need to worry about chain pivot point geometry so it won't skip, a suspension seatpost is easy peasy.
 

Wild Bill

New Member
Jan 29, 2013
478
5
0
Camarillo So. Cal.
There are very few full suspension bikes that will work well for a motorized bike. Heres my full suspension GT LTS with disc brakes and a KTM clone with a shift kit. I also built one like it with a China Girl instead. With a shift kit you don't need to worry about the suspension pivot location causing the chain to get slack during its travel. It takes some fabrication to build a suspension shifter and the cost gets out of hand real quick.