Newbie with lots of questions

[shortys513]

Hi all, I'm brand new to this.

I was browsing Craigslist today and stumbled upon a sweet motorized bicycle and have since spent 6 of the last 7 hours on this forum. A productive day at work by my standards.

I have a lot of questions, most were answered by the good old search function but some of them are maybe too basic. Bear with me.

1. I like pedaling a bicycle, can I pedal sometimes, motor sometimes? What specifications would be necessary for that? What would that be called exactly?

2. I live in San Francisco and don't want to pedal up these hills, will some of the standard motors be able to get me up them? (180 lbs)

3. 2 strokes can be upgraded to a multiple speed transmission but are stock single speed? 4 strokes are stock mutliple speed?

4. Does engine transmission share bicycle transmission if I want to pedal sometimes and motor sometimes (same sprockets?)

5. Are there total newbie threads that I haven't found that explain how to pick a bike and a kit and all that stuff? Like an FAQ?

6. Why do chains always have so much slack? Could I not break and re-link a properly fitted chain?

Thanks in advance! I can't wait to build a motorized bicycle! My motorcycles take up too much space.

 

[DaveC]

Hi and welcome, I'll take a stab at this

1) Yes, you can pedal and it's called "pedaling" heh. Biggest problem is there is something always turning in the motor with all it's attending drag. Yet it beats walking home if you have to Proper clutch adjustment can help by not dragging.

2) Yep, I'd say just get a bigger-than-stock rear gear. Stock gear in my kit was a 41. Before the thing ever rolled I had a 56 on it due to hills and a 28" tire. A good hill climbing gear for stock motors is like a 48, maybe a 50. You can't have speed and hillclimbing in the same bike without a shift kit.

3) The shift kit From Sick Bike Parts moves the power from the left of the bike to the right side via a jack shaft and with other components drive off your bike rear gears. You lose the front derailleur in the swap. 4 strokes are not geared in general. There are way to add the shifter or a Constant Velocity Transmission like the NuVinci set-up.

4) yep

5) There are some, somewhere but I don't know where. A lot of times find the right sub-forum and ask. Most will be willing to help. Many times the bikes are the same just under a different name.

6). Like a lot of the parts that come with the kits they are junk and stretch a good bit. I've shortened mine twice since the initial set-up. A US made chain can be found in size #41 from Farmer's Supply for $10 for 10 feet. Get a couple of spare Master links while your at it.

Hope this helps

 

[matthurd]

Hi all, I'm brand new to this.

I was browsing Craigslist today and stumbled upon a sweet motorized bicycle and have since spent 6 of the last 7 hours on this forum. A productive day at work by my standards.

I have a lot of questions, most were answered by the good old search function but some of them are maybe too basic. Bear with me.

1. I like pedaling a bicycle, can I pedal sometimes, motor sometimes? What specifications would be necessary for that? What would that be called exactly?

you can pedal while you're motoring if you want, wont move you any faster generally but it's nice to pedal sometimes, other times you can straight up pedal, but it wont be as easy with 2 chains

2. I live in San Francisco and don't want to pedal up these hills, will some of the standard motors be able to get me up them? (180 lbs)

you may need to pedal assist them, or run a large read sprocket, but you'll lose top speed that way, but with pedal assist it would be easy to get up them with out breaking too much of a sweat

3. 2 strokes can be upgraded to a multiple speed transmission but are stock single speed? 4 strokes are stock mutliple speed?

depends on the motor, generally we just have throttles on the more basic motors, pull harder go faster give it less go slower.

4. Does engine transmission share bicycle transmission if I want to pedal sometimes and motor sometimes (same sprockets?)

we generally run 2 chains, but theres kits out there that let you run your motor on to your pedal side if you want to.those are called jack shafts

5. Are there total newbie threads that I haven't found that explain how to pick a bike and a kit and all that stuff? Like an FAQ?



6. Why do chains always have so much slack? Could I not break and re-link a properly fitted chain?

if the bike frame allows it it's possible to go straight chain, but we use the idlers on bikes where the chain would otherwise hit the rear forks, another thing is it makes chain alignment easier with the idlers, and it makes it easier to adjust for chain stretch

Thanks in advance! I can't wait to build a motorized bicycle! My motorcycles take up too much space.

hope that helps, and welcome to the forums

 

[shortys513]

Thanks for the input guys! Large rear sprocket, jack shaft, #41 chain. They're on the list.

 

[matthurd]

Thanks for the input guys! Large rear sprocket, jack shaft, #41 chain. They're on the list.

if you're using a jack shaft it's generally on a multi-speed mountain bike, so you won't need the large rear sprocket, because you'll be using the bikes gearing options. also i know i put this in my initial response but i must have deleted it by accident.

Classic Instructions for Building and Repairing Motorized Bicycle Engine Kits - Motorized Bicycle: Engine Kit Forum

lots of good reads for first timers in that thread.

 

[Lance Portnoff]

staton transmissions allow you to pedal with the engine on or off, they are american made and mine has over 150 hours with no problems at all

 

[shortys513]

Yea I think I'll be using a multi speed beach cruiser, they have a 3 speed one at target that looks nice. So no large rear sprocket. So does the stock derailleur act as a chain tensioner or do I need a chain tensioner also?

Those staton transmissions look cool. I like the Nuvinci ones too but I think I'm just gonna stick with a jack shaft.

So how do you switch gears with a jack shaft? Does it use the bicycle's gear changing mechanism where it pushes the chain around?

 

[matthurd]

So how do you switch gears with a jack shaft? Does it use the bicycle's gear changing mechanism where it pushes the chain around?

iv'e never used one but as far as i know that's how it works.

YouTube - Motorized Bicycle with Jackshaft Kit

hope that helps ya.

 

[shortys513]

iv'e never used one but as far as i know that's how it works.

YouTube - Motorized Bicycle with Jackshaft Kit

hope that helps ya.

Pretty slick indeed. It looks like he doesn't have another tensioner on there and the derailleur takes up the slack.