New guy...acquired a bike that is screaming for a motor

[jimj90]

Hello my name is Jim,

I live in florida. Recently a friend of mine gave me this. It's a 1-off custom build he made years ago for a custom bike business he started that failed. He recently moved and this was rotting away at some warehouse. Frame is all aluminum.

I am new to the motorized bicycle thing.....any suggestions?

I was thinking would be cool to have a honda XR100 is there or 70...I know illegal right? I'd fly under the radar I'm sure..

BUT dont have any real money to devote to this so it might have to get one of those little tiny motors..


any ideas?

you guys are the experts.

thanks in advance.

 

[2door]

Welcome to the forum, Jim.
That is an interesting project and with some work and ingenuity it could be motorized. As for legality, you're right. 49cc seems to be the limit in most states to qualify as a motor assisted bicycle. nevertheless, as you said, flying under the eye of the law is possible, but not advisable.
One other thing you should consider. Any custom motor mounts that will need to be welded to the frame will require a person competent is welding aluminum. It seems unfortunate , to me, that the builder elected to mount the crank where he did. It's right in the place the engine should go. Not a project killer, but it does offer some hurdles.
Good luck. Let us know what you do with this project.
Tom

 

[jimj90]

DAMN....you're right. I never realized that....guess the motor will have to be behind the cranks? Yeah I wasnt planning on welding mounts onto the frame, I was going to clamp everything on :-(

 

[professor]

Hi Jim, welcome to motorbicycling!
You could add a frame member that goes up from the lower section of the frame to that lower top horisontal bar and have the fit you need for a HT engine. BUT you will need decent brakes and I don't see any there, nor provision for them.
Maybe stash that bike away until later and get something easier to do.

 

[Ursus]

Awesome. Looks similar to a bassman frame with a little firebike flare. Custom mount will have to be made. You can get by without welding its just going to require a lot of careful thought. Luckily there are a lot of people on this forum who have had similar problems. It's a shame his business went under, it's a beautiful frame he made there.

 

[Ursus]

Also those tiny motors push plenty. I have an 80cc grubee and bike, loaded tools, lunch, a change of clothes, and my 280 lbs frame to 30mph. And it's not fully broken in yet.

 

[Saddletramp1200]

Hi Jim, Welcome, I think that a 2 stroke would look good on it. I would use a Dax 4 stroke on it myself. thatsdax has a motor kit. Pirate, or SBP could provide the mounting hardware, And those are some leads for since your new here. Your in the best place for bikes with motors on the planet.

 

[ratrod]

That is one cool ride I think go for the two stroke it will have more than enough power to push you and that beast imagine what that would look like with some flaring on the side
go low with your mounts less vibrating can't wait to see that beast roll

 

[The_Aleman]

Welcome to the forums!

Definitely one awesome frame IMHO. I agree with 2door in that the location of the bottom bracket is a hurdle, a glaring one at that. It really needs to be relocated if you plan on an in-frame gas engine. Heck, I cringe looking at the BB for just pedaling, I know I'd tweak that with my half-ton pushing legs. You could easily put a rackmount engine on that bike, but well, we all know that isn't doing that bike justice. Any in-frame job is going to take custom mounts on that animal!

OTOH, you can always go electric! That bike looks to me like the perfect candidate for that. Lots and lots of space. Regardless, a badboy bike like that aint going to be motored cheap

 

[buzbikebklyn1]

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!
Thats a sweet frame... as has been said... consider running electric... a 1000 w hub motor and a 48V 20 AH lipo battery with the proper controller will haul the freight!
Please feel free to contact me about mountings and drive systems!
Keep em running!
BBB