My first motor bike

[bluck]

Hi guys I've been on this forum for about a year now, I've asked a good amount of questions throughout the year. I thought it was finally time I introduced myself and a history of my first motor bike from the very first day that I bought it last year March 2016 till now May 2017. With this new update it will make uploading pictures easy I will show the very first picture I took of my bike till the last one picture I took last week.

My name is Aaron live in California city of Pomona I have ridden a motorcycle for about 4 Years now since I was 21 I am now 25 a ZX6R-Kawasaki Ninja 2002. When I was 23 I had to quit a job at a local motorcycle mechanic shop due to the fact my work Visa expired. I was not a mechanic I had very crappy mechanical skills all I knew how to do was change the tire, sprocket, and chain on my motorcycle because I had those things wear out. Did not even know how an engine functioned or even how a carb looked like.

After that job I started buying and selling computers and weight lifting equipment on places like craigslist and other apps like OfferUp. One day after months of selling I came across a motorbike someone was selling in LA I thought it was the coolest thing ever and I wanted something small that I could ride around town. At that point I had never ridden anything other than my motorcycle and really wanted to buy myself a Honda Grom to ride around town and to school, and to see what it felt like riding something small and light that I can take anywhere. I always felt like my motorcycle was like a bicycle because I can drive through traffic and thought if I had something smaller and slower I could ride around even more places. Seeing the Motorized bike was like damn I can take it to even more places than a Honda Grom could ever go. Also another reason was because whenever I needed to fix my motorcycle I had to take it to my uncle and he would take days before he had the time to fix it and I would have to take the bus/ borrow a car/ or miss school.

So after about a couple months I saw motor bike videos on youtube and decided to get one. I was looking for a red motor bike the same color as my motorcycle. I found one on craigslist about 20 minutes from my place I went to go check it out it the motor looked a bit old. The picture on craigslist was blurry so It didn't look as new as on the picture but the guy turned it on and drove it around and I was like awesome I want it and bought it. I did not know that these HT motors required a lot of maintenance at the time I just convinced myself that they just worked no problem. If I read that they required a lot of maintenance I would have never got it due to the fact I would have felt intimidated about working on the engine not knowing much about it. Thats how I started my first day into motorbiking age 24. One month after my birthday.

 

[bluck]

The first picture I took of it same day I got it.

Then I bought a lock for it one on Amazon and another on craigslist so I can take it to school.

 

[bluck]

The bike came with a stock engine but the engine had a 40mm intake port with a perfectly ported intake(At the time I did not know that), Also came with one of those heads that were reworked and had more compression(also did not know until I learned more about these 2 strokes). It had the rubber sprocket mount 44t, the stock chain tensioner, the stock spark plug, stock throttle, but had a brass fuel petcock (the stock had broke and he said I can easily buy one online, I told him how much do they cost online and he said about 10 dollars but he saw that I had no clue were to buy one so he went into his garage and brought out and installed the brass petcock when I went to buy it). The first day I took it to ride to school it turned on for about 40 seconds then turned off and never turned on again. I pedaled 6 miles to school 2 long steep hills and I thought I had purchased a lemon and got to class about 2 hours late. I then had to pedal home I was sweating balls. I took it to a bike shop on the way home and asked if they could fix motor bikes the guy said no motor but they can work on the bike. The rear brake was stuck and would not engage so I said if he can fix the brakes and then he mentioned the tires were very low so he inflated them. I now go there often awesome guy. I found this forum on google when I typed motor bike won't turn on, I was ready to get to work on the motor following procedures on this forum. Then when I got home I realized the brass petcock was turned twice clockwise and if I turned it counter clockwise 2 times back fuel will come out and then it turned on I was both happy and pissed at myself for not checking on the way to school.

I then proceeded to install stickers make it my own.

 

[bluck]

Now that I knew this forum existed I would stay up all night reading random posts and then going to the performance section and reading. I remember reading a post that not to try any modification only if you know what you are doing and understand how 2 strokes work. I did not know how 2 strokes worked so I then spent hours and hours reading about them. Then I read about performance parts. I told my friend about my bike over the phone he was working in Texas he just said its cool but didn't really care too much about it. When he came back to California (where he would stay at his parents) I pretty much had to force him to ride my bike and he said it was cool but didn't really care for it. I told him he should get one because when he came to Cali he had no transportation people always had to pick him up or he had to be dropped off by his parents. He said yeah maybe that he will think about it (he wanted a car, but I kept saying why a car when you only are going to use it for like a week then go back to work in Texas plus he had no place to leave it parked for months). I sent him many pictures of bikes on craigslist but he didn't really care for until I sent him a picture of one that he loved and we went to buy it same day. From there on he was addicted. This friend would be the reason why I then started to upgrade my bike, which is why I mention him.

My red bike at that point:

His bike when he first got it only thing he changed was the seat that same day we went to my favorite bike shop:

 

[bluck]

Me and my friend went riding together and quickly found out his bike can go 30mph and mines would top out at 25mph. His came with a 36t so I though that was it mines was 44t but I would see people say each tooth is about 1mph and I figured that my friend should be going 8mph faster than me because of the sprocket size. I then proceeded to mod my bike one part at a time.

I then change the bolts on my engine and spray painted it black to make it look newer and added: left mirror, new seat, new under seat tool bad, and new kryptonite chain lock, and an air pump.

SBP Air filter, without rejetting I went from 25mph to 31mph just with the air filter this made the biggest difference in power and felt like I could keep revving till the engine blew I always chickened out at 31mph felt the engine revving too much.

Also Added new ThickSlicks I saw Norm's (VeniceMB) BTR with thick slicks on craiglist and loved it. (Fun fact my friend later purchased his BTR, and now I own it since last month).

 

[bluck]

Then Later on I added the SBP X Chamber this mod required me to rejet my carb and took me a while I kept going richer and richer when instead I should have kept going leaner I did not know how to tell when it was rich or lean. I read about it on the forums but really couldn't tell much I went from perfect performance to crappy. I had went to the 80's in jet size and then decided to lean it out and when I got around 64 in jet size it was perfect and had a perfect brown plug. My first ever perfectly tuned engine:

Also upgraded to a CNC throttle

 

[bluck]

Then I ended up upgrading my chain tensioner, added manic mechanic sprocket mount, added muffler to the X chamber.

You can tell my friend was copying all my mods and tire ideas haha(his bike in the background).

 

[bluck]

Later on I ended up adding muffler wrap and a puch head to my engine along with a new air pump and my phone holder which I use the GPS to test my speed on I also had changed my sprocket size to 40t I was getting about 34-35mph with these mods. I felt these mods didnt add much to performace the biggest change I felt was in the air filter. My bike was running very smooth same vibrations as a 4 stroke 49cc. I love the puch head look though and thats really the only reason I got it plus the better cooling.

 

[bluck]

New Rack and Last Picture of my first 2 stroke engine on this bike. After this, I went to check my spark plug and stripped out the threads on my puch head and ended up changing the motor to a new PK80 engine from BEKITS. That blue bike on the back has its own story.

Dont mind the covered up bike or towel on the back the towel is my clean my oily hands towel haha.

 

[bluck]

After the puch head spark plug hole stripped I ended up putting a new motor in. With a X chamber from Norm's Venice Motor Bike taken out of his BTR bike. The Reed Valves and 22mm motor taken from his BTR motor, and added a Manic Mechanic Gen II head. Iridium spark plug. I copied Norm's motor porting and was able to copy everything except making the cylinder intake part flat I have no idea how he does it.

His old busted up piston vs my new one was able to copy it perfectly using a drill and a dremel.

Not sure how he gets the cylinder like this:

Motor:

 

[bluck]

That highly modified 2 stroke did not last long after about 4 days of riding I was going to school up a hill and something happened inside the engine it blew I have not opened it since. I believe too much stress going uphill and the high compression head and all the mods while still breaking in made it blow it only had about 50 miles in it. I parked it locked it all up and took an uber to school and then walked to pick up my bike after school. Since then I started using a 49cc 4 stroke. I put it on inside my room while watching friends haha.

Thats my motorcycle jacket in the back and my computer set up .

I later got a brooks saddle and removed the cover, replaced the stock carb with nt carb just because I already had jets for it and an air filter.

I then bought a shed to store all the bikes I had at my house (building that shed was a pain, and also bought a AGK exhaust for 49cc 4 stroke I think I might have got the last one as when I got it he later removed the listing from his website and cannot be bought anymore. I would say I felt the huge difference in torque compared to the 2 stroke exhaust, it is louder though.

 

[bluck]

This is how my bike looks as of 2 weeks ago May 17, 2017 have not rode it in about a month I've been using my newly acquired BTR from my friend. I plan to replace the motor in this red bike with a SBP electric shift kit in the future as I do take it with my girlfriend to the bike trails but I pedal the whole time. You'll be surprised I can pedal this bike up long big hills and last longer than my girlfriend she uses a road bike no motor and on her lowest gear she tires out faster then me. I can literally pedal this bike as if it didn't even have a motor just uphill I pedal a bit slower. I also managed ti remove the chain tensioner and go with no chain tensioner:

This is random picture before changing front rim and tire coming back from a bike trail.

 

[bluck]

Thats it for my red bike guys its crazy seeing it how it once was and how it is now. Should have titled it evolution of my first bike. I learned a lot from all the information on this website, my mechanical skills have more than quadrupled. I now can fix my motorcycle because of the understanding of this little engines. I also am troubleshooting my girlfriends car just because I feel very comfortable with engines. I think of it as cars and motorcycles are just bigger versions of the same principles that I learned with motor bikes.

Case in point my friend bought this motorcycle and its at my house (he has not learned to ride yet) had some other friends come over and even my own parents thought it was just another motorbike. I just said it pretty much is except it has no pedals ha

Such a short motorcycle too I'm 5'7 and feel one inch taller and it would be too big for me, 400cc. Even has the same air filters that are on my motor bike.

 

[Chandler Fihn]

Awesome!!! glad you have enjoyed motorbiking! I will keep you and this post in mind if I ever decide to Upgrade mine!

 

[xseler]

It's amazing what you can learn just by doing and trying new stuff!

Good luck in your adventures.

 

[MBMANIAC]

Wow that was extensive but a great read? I personally would of stayed with a 2-cycle simply because the higher speeds. I currently have a lot of the same upgrades, CNC 6cc head, aftermarket carb, & expansion chamber. What would you go with now if you were me? I'd like to learn from others experiences and save myself as much grief as possible. I'm thinking of porting the jug but don't want to mess it up. Oh and where did you purchase the muffler for the expansion chamber? Do you have a link and a link on how to do it?

 

[bluck]

Wow that was extensive but a great read? I personally would of stayed with a 2-cycle simply because the higher speeds. I currently have a lot of the same upgrades, CNC 6cc head, aftermarket carb, & expansion chamber. What would you go with now if you were me? I'd like to learn from others experiences and save myself as much grief as possible. I'm thinking of porting the jug but don't want to mess it up. Oh and where did you purchase the muffler for the expansion chamber? Do you have a link and a link on how to do it?

The muffler was purchased from sickbikeparts.com it goes on their SBP x chamber.
http://sickbikeparts.com/2-stroke-engine-products/

If I were you I would tune the engine. You already have 3 of the main mods and you should take your time now to tune it. When you think you have it done you should ride around for a a week and then check your spark plug and if its nice and brown then you have finally tuned it right. Having a perfectly tuned engine is one of the best things you can do to your bike. Once you have done that you can move on to make it faster most important is a real good X chamber which X chamber do you have? Once you got a good one (I'm talking about an X chamber like the ones from a dirt bike, check my pictures above with the grey expansion chamber). After that you should tune it again and then add some reed valves. Read up on reed valve porting and you will see topics on how to port the piston and jug. I can send you some pictures of one of my ported jugs and piston if you need help.

I wanted reliability which is why I decided to keep my red bike with a 4 stroke and remove the 2 stroke. The 2 stroke I originally had was really good too though pretty reliable it still works till this day just had the magneto go out like twice thats it. I would recommend buying a magneto and carrying it with you. I was on my way too school and my magneto failed right before this long uphill I had my magneto changed it and went on my way so glad I had it. I don't travel too far with my red bike so I want to switch to electric for that take off speed. I have another bike with a 99cc predator engine if I want to go farther than 20 miles.

 

[MBMANIAC]

The muffler was purchased from sickbikeparts.com it goes on their SBP x chamber.
http://sickbikeparts.com/2-stroke-engine-products/
View attachment 94895
If I were you I would tune the engine. You already have 3 of the main mods and you should take your time now to tune it. When you think you have it done you should ride around for a a week and then check your spark plug and if its nice and brown then you have finally tuned it right. Having a perfectly tuned engine is one of the best things you can do to your bike. Once you have done that you can move on to make it faster most important is a real good X chamber which X chamber do you have? Once you got a good one (I'm talking about an X chamber like the ones from a dirt bike, check my pictures above with the grey expansion chamber). After that you should tune it again and then add some reed valves. Read up on reed valve porting and you will see topics on how to port the piston and jug. I can send you some pictures of one of my ported jugs and piston if you need help.

I wanted reliability which is why I decided to keep my red bike with a 4 stroke and remove the 2 stroke. The 2 stroke I originally had was really good too though pretty reliable it still works till this day just had the magneto go out like twice thats it. I would recommend buying a magneto and carrying it with you. I was on my way too school and my magneto failed right before this long uphill I had my magneto changed it and went on my way so glad I had it. I don't travel too far with my red bike so I want to switch to electric for that take off speed. I have another bike with a 99cc predator engine if I want to go farther than 20 miles.

My issue is my severe lack of experience. I gain all of my knowledge through reading the forums and asking questions. As far as tuning, are you referring to finding the right jet size?? My current carb does not have a needle so I basically looked at my spark plug and seen that it was to dark so I went down from the suspected stock size #70 jet to a #67.
I have read about plug chopping (I believe it's called). At the moment I have clearance issues regarding my chain after switching bikes & I'm awaiting a disc brake adapter to arrive to fix that issue. Once that's resolved I'll then check my compression (I think I'm supposed to see around 135 psi) and if there's no air leaks I'll ride for the suggested week and do a plug chop. Then I'll go from there depending on the results. That's my current plan.

 

[bluck]

My issue is my severe lack of experience. I gain all of my knowledge through reading the forums and asking questions. As far as tuning, are you referring to finding the right jet size?? My current carb does not have a needle so I basically looked at my spark plug and seen that it was to dark so I went down from the suspected stock size #70 jet to a #67.
I have read about plug chopping (I believe it's called). At the moment I have clearance issues regarding my chain after switching bikes & I'm awaiting a disc brake adapter to arrive to fix that issue. Once that's resolved I'll then check my compression (I think I'm supposed to see around 135 psi) and if there's no air leaks I'll ride for the suggested week and do a plug chop. Then I'll go from there depending on the results. That's my current plan.

Yeah you're on the right path. By tuning I do mean jet sizes. Make your bike as reliable as possible with your current mods and set up once you drive it enough and verify everything is rock solid then you can start the port job.