why....dont bicycle shops...

2

2strokecycles

New Member
just build custom bikes like this.

round here ebikes run min 799.

like "this" i mean with a 80cc 2 stroke in them.

whats the downside to doing this to your bike?

:-||

my beef is, with a e bike, you cant walk in to any bike shop and buy parts. but with this i just see it as a profit waiting to happen.
 
They are probably worried about the liabilities involved with a motor installed on on a bicycle that was never designed for the power and stress that an engine puts on a frame, wheels, bearings, brakes, etc.
 
but say you could weld your own frames, and use thicker gauge spokes? or strictly jack shafts?

sell to people with Moped licences, where im from we have thos here.

in the big city, i see ALOT of e-bikes.

i just see it as the most reliable form of transportation.

and with popularity you would see gas stations selling 2stroke mix.

if done within proper lawful regulations. why cant this be profitable?
 
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When you buy something at a bicycle shop, you are paying for their experience and expertise. If you can build it yourself, you don't have to pay for the expertise of a shop.
 
Some marinas sell premix, not all. And that's for boats that are lucky to get 4 miles to the gallon.

But even outboards are going 4 stroke now, so there will be even less in the future.

Ebikes are the future. Charging stations are the future. Me thinks we will have to mix our gas forever.
 
I have heard that "Marine" two stroke oil is not recommended for the China girl motors. Check into that before buying premix at a Marina.
 
I have a good friend who owns the local bike shop I've been going to for the last 15 years.

I think one of the reasons is (at least for his shop), he is too busy with regular bike stuff most of the time.

One other thing......bikes in general aren't designed to have motors mounted to them.

That would be a huge litigation nightmare for any LBS owner.
 
2strokecycles said:
but say you could weld your own frames, and use thicker gauge spokes? or strictly jack shafts?

sell to people with Moped licences, where im from we have thos here.

in the big city, i see ALOT of e-bikes.

i just see it as the most reliable form of transportation.

and with popularity you would see gas stations selling 2stroke mix.

if done within proper lawful regulations. why cant this be profitable?
Click to expand...

Ah, he first blush of inspiration, the light goes on and we think. "hey, these would be great if..............etc etc".

Bicycle shops look at MBs as a liability, especially with cheap, made in china 2 strokes.

Then, define reliable and profitable. If you're thinking of a cheap china kit as the basis of profitability, you're automatically outside the realm of reliable.

More reliable engines, take it up a notch.
Heavy duty wheels, up a notch.
Jackshafts, again up.
Weld your own frames? Take it up a bunch.

Do your own due diligence and but ask any knowledgeable bike mechanic/MB builder about what it's going to cost to produce a from scratch, frame, drive train and suitable components equipped MB, built for mass consumer reliability and you will have entered or even surpassed the scooter/small motorcycle price point.
 
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but i already have a list of "workers" with viable tools and work spaces, one of my friends is a welder at the marina. so....others are artists with air guns, and just mechanics that work for the local shops.

lets say i was able to purchase about 8 of them and advertise them on craigslist.

profit?

and im not thinking custom bike shop, im like talking about selling custom bikes at a flea market. and the kits also.


also has anyone from canada that's reading this, how much did customs charge you for your motor, and what one did you get?
 
bike shops will not work on your bike because of the libality, just having gas in the tank is an accident waiting to happen is how they think and they are right, they are a bike shop not a motorcycle shop, they do not want to work on a bike that has been changed into sompthing different than a bicycle. sell you parts? no problem, fix your bike? no way. I have run and managed a bike shop in the past and i would never work on a freinkenstein of a bike that has been welded, drilled, modded or anything different than a normal bike, **** we even hated working on cheap bikes cause you fix one thing and sompthing else breaks.
 
happyvalley said:
...Then, define reliable ...

More reliable engines, take it up a notch.
Heavy duty wheels, up a notch.
Jackshafts, again up.
Weld your own frames? Take it up a bunch.

Do your own due diligence and but ask any knowledgeable bike mechanic/MB builder about what it's going to cost to produce a from scratch, frame, drive train and suitable components equipped MB, built for mass consumer reliability and you will have entered or even surpassed the scooter/small motorcycle price point.
Click to expand...
Yea, that is the thing.
Stronger, more reliable parts == more weight, until you have a vehicle that's so heavy that nobody would pedal it anywhere even if it had pedals.
So, get rid of the pedals, and what's left?
The chinese scooters, that's what.

The motorized bikes are fun to hack around on as a hobby, but (as a few people have tried and found out) you cannot build one cheap and expect it to run very long. And the more-expensive motorized-bike setups cost way more than the Chinese 50cc scooters.
 
You might want to at least be informed about the laws where you are. I've read on this forum where a number of members from Canada have said gas bikes are all essentially illegal there.
 
Motorized bikes is a niche market. I think one of the few viable business plans for selling "custom motorized bikes" is to focus on the high end "vintage replica" market. Think of were the money is at. It is not the young guys that want to break the sound barrier while mountain biking. Those guys want the high end bikes but there are not enough of them that can afford it. Which is way most "companies" offering Moroni powered custom frames are part time wannabes working out of a garage (no offense intended). The money is in the 50+ retired/semi retired motorcycle/vintage bike enthusiast. They have the disposable income and the time to play with such a toy. If it was marketed properly and built right you would do well.

Look at the cheap chinese scooter sites. Check out the styling on all of there stuff. it is designed to appeal to a certain demographic. You won't see a lot of retro european style scooters (ie an old Vespa) because the kinda of person interested in that style scooter has the money and resources to buy the real thing. You will see an OCC wanna be chopper because half the demographic that like such things will never have the money for a real one.

Look at the custom car industry. There is a whole market surrounding the building and tricking out of these "fast furious" type japanese street racers. Not much of a market/profit in selling tricked out Honda Civics, but plenty of vendors for after market parts to do it on your own. That is what Motor Biking is for most of us. But look at the classic car market. Vintage muscle cars and classic cars have a thriving market for finished products, and look who is buying them. That is were you need to go if you want to make decent money selling motorized bikes. And it is such a niche market, that a bike shop would no longer be in the bike business if they were to successfully build and market motorized bikes.

Just my arm chair analysis of such things. I might be wrong and it won't hurt my feelings if you tell me so.
 
I never met them, but two guys already did start a company like your talking about....Harley Davidson....they moved on from bicycles though.
Everyone had to start somewhere.
 
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