Appearance is everything

[rockbass]

After months of trail & error I've finally come up with a design that both disguises the motor & isolates vibration.
It is not fun to ride a bike with your hands, seat & feet vibrating. The motor frame is mounted near the rear axle & with springs attached to the seat clamp. This set-up totally eliminates any vibration to the bike frame.
Vibration is a killer to both the rider & structure.
Disguise: The fact is for most city dwellers in north america these motorised bicycles are against the law. If it looks like a motorcycle it is a motorcycle.
This design keeps the appearance of a bicycle so it is a bicycle albeit motor assisted.
Promanent rear view mirror (which I can actually use because its not vibrating) is a must for safe riding.
The right hand brake activates both front & rear brakes, another must for safety.
The milk crate both disguises the engine & holds the gas tank. It is cut out front, back & bottom for adequate air flow & is attachment to the motor frame with 4 screws. To take off the crate undo 4 screws, pull off gas line, and lift off. Convenient for continual maintenance.
Carburator has added 1/2" copper 45 deg. street elbow, epoxied to existing intake tube to keep it level. Holds fine.
Exhaust manifold modified with 3/4" 45 deg. street elbows, fastened togther with screw clamps. slotted female end so it can clamp down. Muffler is u-bolted to motor frame. Added lawn mower muffler to further quieting.
Replaced supplied push on spark plug boot with terminal that is bolted to plug & ty-wrapped split hose to strengthen wire/terminal.
Motor mounts at the bottom with 3/8" rubber sheet sandwiched between.
Kill button wire & clutch cable wrapped in plastic split tube.

 

[motorpsycho]

yikes!! what about those big gaping holes in the rear downtubes that come off of the seat post?
3/4 of the tubing is gone and i wouldn't trust that at all.
did you ever think that the big extra sprocket and chain on the left side would give away the engine disguise? a big muffler poking out of the bottom of a milk crate? the trail of 2 stroke smoke coming out of the muffler and fumes following you? yeah, the cops will never notice those things.
i still don't understand why people try to hide these engines because if you get caught you get caught, plain and simple. it won't matter if the engine is hidden or not...in fact, it may make matters worse because you are hiding something illegal.

personally, i like my engines to be in plain view and i don't worry about the cops. 9 times out of 10, the cops will want to check out my bikes because they look cool...not to give me a ticket or a hassle.
too many people are worried about getting in trouble with these things!
if you are so worried about getting in trouble, you never should have built a bike with a motor on it in the first place.
I don;t consider my bikes to be motor assisted bikes, mine are more like scooters and that's how i ride them. I never pedal and i like to show off my bikes....not try to hide the fact that they have engines on them.
Just my opinion.

 

[Happy Valley]

An interesting approach and if it works and suits your needs, then great. I like my bikes to look like bicycles too and not motorcycles. I put in considerable time finding and refurbishing decent, used vintage bikes, replacing and upgrading components if needed and enjoy riding them as pedal bicycles. If I motorize them, I like being able to do so without inhibiting the original functionality of the bicycle, or take the engine off and use it on another bike.
To each their own.

 

[graucho]

At first glance or from afar it looks like a crate to me. Yes its not hard to spot the engine and exhaust pipe up close but hopefully by then you have hit the kill switch and are pedaling past silently... whistling, smiling. Ha! maybe place a few vegetables hanging out of the basket, like your just coming back from the market.
.
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[Porkchop]

If it’s illegal, then it’s illegal. If you do the crime, be prepared to do the time with no whining ! Cops aren’t stupid !

 

[BAM]

Hey thats great looks like a milk crate too me its a kit in the box! have fun

 

[ktjensen]

1) I think it looks great for an urban area. Would suggest more "caging" material like chicken wire or something around it, so it could not get stolen off the bike. Or at least some description of a locking mechanism. There are caging wire systems for travel bags that could be used, and are light weight.

2) Your setup uses the least expensive urban materials possible. Great job!!Am guessing you would have maybe $200 into this bike, given a salvaged bike and a cheap china motor, and other salvaged material. Great urban commuter tool.

3) Can you describe more of how you can quick disconnect the motor, and reconnect again? Thus moving the motor around if needed. Specifically pulling the chain and tensioner, and reconnecting? And the safety of your connections, to prevent some chain-jamm-slip off ?

4) Would look at using the SODA POP bottle fuel tank solution, instead of the big black tank. Has been discussed here. That way you can hide fuel tanks. And possibly allow the bike to be strapped to the bus on the bike rack.

 

[proctor-nashua]

it looks good the bike looks like bike thats what you want but the cops met think your hiding something and they met act like ******* to you

 

[sparky]

I'd like to know more about those springs.

How stiff are they?

Do you mean to tell me that your mount is strictly springs?? Nothing else? That seems kinda.... wrong... but I don't know .

 

[rockbass]

I'd like to know more about those springs.

How stiff are they?

Do you mean to tell me that your mount is strictly springs?? Nothing else? That seems kinda.... wrong... but I don't know .

Steel spring wire diameter is 1/8". Stiffness is such that the weight of the motor mount stretches the 2 springs only about a 1/4". The springs are attached to the seat post. The spring angle balances the motor weight, the initial bump start force and jerky pulling force coming from the motor torque. The motor mount is also bolted to the bike frame near the axle. These 2 bolted connections allow for slight rotation without loosening.
Now if I could only find a bump starting 4 stroke it would make for a smooth quiet ride.