why I love friction drive

bighat said:
uhm, no... They're made in America. Period.
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I am always interested in goods made in the US, and I'm sure there are others here too that would be interested. Since you seem certain that's the case can you post where the engines and parts are made and the name of the engine manufacturer? Thanks.
 
happyvalley said:
I am always interested in goods made in the US, and I'm sure there are others here too that would be interested. Since you seem certain that's the case can you post where the engines and parts are made and the name of the engine manufacturer? Thanks.
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Says American made on website. Contact him yourself. Bumblebeebolton.com. Period. End of conversation.
 
bighat said:
Says American made on website. Contact him yourself. Bumblebeebolton.com. Period. End of conversation.
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I thought you had is why I asked.

bighat said:
I meant the seller. It's cool though, I will ask him for ya and get back.
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In present day there might be more than a few folks interested buying stuff actually made in America. I'm one of them. It does take more confirmation than someone putting up a notice on a website though. It's general knowledge that most small engines are made offshore today. Briggs and Stratton is one of the last and even they are moving facilities elsewhere.

BTW, you can opt out of the conversation anytime but that doesn't mean it ends. This is a small engine site with lots of folks interested in all aspects of motorizing a bike.

EDIT:
As a FYI, I went ahead and contacted the bumblebee kit folks and was told the 26cc engine is made by Homelite. Homelite engines are made in China. I asked about any manufacturers warranty and was told other than the limited 30 day warranty offered by the seller on the kit, they knew of no further manufacturer's warranty.
 
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After a DIY electric made from the heater/blower motor with a radio
rheostat for a controller, my first gas build used a 26cc Homelite
trimmer motor I got for $5 at a garage sale. The recoil start was
kaput, but it started fine by friction using a bike peg for a roller.
That old Homelite was practically immortal. I rode with it for ages
'til the coil finally died. It would probably still run if i had another
magneto.
 
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R.I.P. DIY electric made from the heater/blower motor with a radio
rheostat for a controller.

Only the good die old
 
Yeah, it came off a scrapped bus & actually worked pretty
well, but the lead acid battery was heavy and made the bike
unwieldy. That motor still works though. R.I.P. Homelite.
I've got your goggled smiley painted on the front of my
helmet. Very disarming.
 
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Cool about the smiley thing. Bet that really is disarming. I used to buy these at wall mart for 2 bucks and had a bunch but you can still get em. They are made to go on car antennas. Really well made. on his little goggles, there is clear plastic. A small detail that cracks me up

It is the Happy Biker/Pilot, available at Happyballs.com (a subsiderey of the megaconglomerant Happyhappyyjoyjoysellyoustuff corperation)
 
deacon said:
I got to thinking today about why I love friction drive so much. One doesn't have to be real smart to build a friction drive bicycle. God knows I'm not real smart mechanically anyway. While building bicycles i have used chain drive kits and even chain drive pieces and found them woefully lacking. Not the system their adaptability to my area and fat butt.

I have burned up two e-bike motors by over volting them. Both were chain drive. I have used lots and lots of motors over volted motors with friction drive and they just skip over the wheel when put under too much strain. That's what killed all the motors they just over heated trying to pull the load (my fat butt again) up a hill. In the case of a friction drive, they just slide over the wheel. Yes they do some damage to the tire, but not as much as you think. Even I know when i hear the skid noise, that it is time to back off the throttle.

With friction drive the only clutch you really have to have is to lift the motor when it goes into idle. The old bike bug is the prime example of that. Just pick the whole thing up off the wheel. I expect that sometime this spring, if not sooner, I will buy one of those kits with the fancy friction drive in the channel housing. I most likely will eventually have to lock the clutch thing down and just create a lift for it as well. Hopefully not but, I ain't all that worried if I do. So give me a good ole friction drive any day.
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Did you try and contact the supplier and see if they have a bigger drive wheel for it?
 
You would like it even better if it had a centrifical clutch. I have a old "Bike Machine Motor" that was sold back in the 60's It has a lift lever and a centrifical clutch. When you come to a stop it just sites and ideals till you give it gas. Or you can lift it and pedal for a while. Love it also. The motor is like a small pocket bike engine with clutch and rewind start.........Curt
 
Hey Deacon,

I was surprised to see you starting a thread about gas-powered friction drive bikes. I turn the big Five-O in a couple weeks - not sure how old you are - but they will probably get electric battery/motor technology working wonders just about the time that we are ready to take a dirt nap. I hear the torque of electric drive is great; range, weight and cost - not so great.

So you're running a 79cc HF predator friction drive? I've got a few questions for ya. Have you got that running reliably yet? How heavy are those motors?

I was just recently looking into a predator to replace a motor on my Toro snowblower. The Toro is a 120cc 2-stroke claiming to be 4.5 hp. You can't really trust horsepower ratings, and I thought I might try a $99, 99cc HF, but it seems that they only have 79cc now (and 212). 79 probably would be too weak for the snowblower, but got me thinking about putting one on a bike.

I bet NC is just a little hillier than IL. My wacker motors push me around great and a torque monster would be a waste if they are big and heavy. But I would like to experience "more power than necessary". No such thing?

Do those HF motors have a governor? Did you bypass it?
 
The rating on the snow blower is about right. You got to keep in mind that the 120cc or 2-strokes are high rpm's engines about 8,000. Were as the 79 and 99 would be rated at about 4,000. so you would have to have bigger horse power and gear it up to achieve the same resealts as t he 2-stroke. 4-strokes do have more tourq and are a lot quieter then 2-strokes. Now if you get the smaller 4-strokes 50cc and down most of them are rated at 8,000 rpm's,and i think about 2 horse power............Curt
 
curtisfox said:
The rating on the snow blower is about right. You got to keep in mind that the 120cc or 2-strokes are high rpm's engines about 8,000. Were as the 79 and 99 would be rated at about 4,000. so you would have to have bigger horse power and gear it up to achieve the same resealts as t he 2-stroke. 4-strokes do have more tourq and are a lot quieter then 2-strokes. Now if you get the smaller 4-strokes 50cc and down most of them are rated at 8,000 rpm's,and i think about 2 horse power............Curt
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Now that's what I would think, too. But you can tell by the sound that the motor isn't revving very fast - no faster than a typical B&S lawnmower. The manual says the governor is set at 3000 rpm +/- 150. Like you said, the HF motors run about 3800 (governed). Don't know what the true top speed would be but you could probably run one at 5G with no danger. I was thinking of running an HF mostly wide open with a slightly smaller drive pulley so the snow rotor speed and torque would work.

Another thing. On the body of the snowblower (CCR 2000), it says 4.5 horsepower. In the manual with all the motor specs it says-

Rated output: 3.5 Hp @ 3600 RPM
Governor: Mechanical Flyweight (3000 rpm +/- 150)

So I don't know where they get the 4.5 hp figure. I would definitely try a 99cc HF motor. I would even try the 79cc. But I did some mods on the Toro and it's working good enough for now.

The cheapest I've seen the 79cc is 99 bucks, the same price as the 99 used to be. Would be more than enough power for me and my road bikes.
 
Tanaka 40cc is 2hp and a 2 stroke. I found a 33cc 1.6hp Tanaka 2 stroke for $90.00 plus shipping on ebay. It works great. Tanaka makes a great motor, they are expensive but if you can find one used you can pay a lot less then buying new. They are also legal in California. 4 strokes are just to heavy. I love my FD it is reliable and fun.

Staton Inc sells a 46cc Mitsubishi clone for around $100.00 it is 1.6 hp and reliable. I took mine off and replaced it with the Tanaka.
 
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