Good-bye to China/Grubee Junk, Hello To Reliable Motorized Bicycling!

[darwin]

OP from experience having owned 2 honda 50s, put a H/S carb on that puppy and do away with the guvna one. You'll be MAB happy. Also if it ever quits on you while riding then starts right back up disconnect the low oil switch, most likely the culprit.

 

[Fabian]

sorry, did i misunderstand you - did you say the moderators name on the other forum was 2Door or 2Cents or was it 2Cheese.slices.short.of.a.sandwhich

 

[Deleted member 12676]

How about 2-poor-mentally-to-know-a-good-modification ?

 

[johncy7]

that's pretty funny fellas.... You'll love this

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From: 2door Super Moderator
To: johncy

Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Littleton, Colorado
Posts: 8,549
Get a clue
That thread has been deleted twice previously, now three times. If you post it again it will be considered a bannable offense and you can take your baseless rants someplace else.
It has been my experience that most problems with engine kits can be traced to a lack of mechanical ability on behalf of the buyer and not the quality of any given engine kit or supplier.

I strongly feel that in your case this is the true. Based on the problems you've outlined and experienced it is painfully obvious that you do not possess the skills necessary to build a successful, reliable motorized bicycle. Don't blame that on a vendor who happens to have a good reputation for quality products and customer relations.

Don't post it again. Consider yourself warned.

Tom
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Fron: johncy7 Motorized Bicycle Newbie
To: 2door Super Moderator

Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: n/a
Posts: 9
Re: Get a clue
So you just acted like you didn't know who deleted my thread?

Well Tom, I built my first bike when I was 9 from a pile of junk bikes in the corner of the back yard. I can do flooring, electrical, carpentry, computer repair, programming, auto mechanics, solder circuit boards and I keep learning every day. Sorry but, your rant is baseless and nationwide access (gasbike.net,kingsmotorbikes.com) and grubee are the base as I've read from so many of their angry customers.

You know what... Why don't you put your money where your mouth is?
I'll bet you $100 you can't build their kit and use it for one week without breaking parts and breaking down. And you know you can't.
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For some reason he didn't take my bet. I guess he doesn't have much faith in those quality parts.

 

[johncy7]

New update here.

I discovered that the tread on my Armadillo tire lost it's bond to the tire core before leaving the golf course several days ago. None of the tread has come off, but I can lift them up with my fingers like a flap. I rode it home and the next day any way but then bought a new one yesterday to play it safe. I don't know how many total miles I drove on it like that, but I did drive 55 miles on it knowingly. I've had it for one month/800 miles and the tread itself shows little wear. If the tire was solid with no grooves, it would last a very long time. If only the bond was stronger it would last much longer. I will probably buy a tire adhesive and repair it, because I don't think it's ready for re-TIRE-ment. lol

The tread is triangular shaped >>>> and I purposely set it so the roller would start on the point of the triangle (tread direction>>>>> <----roller direction) thinking it would cause the tire to wear slower from triangle point to rear. However, I use a lot of friction to prevent slippage in the rain and tend to leave it that way, which may have caused it to pull at the bonding??? This time I'm going to reverse it (roller direction-----> >>>>>tread direction) and see if it keeps from lifting at the bond.

The bottom line is, it's still the strongest tire I've ever seen, and if I buy a new tire a month it would cost me less than $90 a month to ride including gas. Not too shabby.

-John

 

[Scootmeister]

I have a slightly different take on the durability/reliability issue. Let me start by saying I built my first MB over 50 years ago using my dad's primitive stick welder on a rusty old schwinn and a B&S engine "borrowed" from a rototiller. Fast forward to current time and I have built 3 bikes in the past 5 years, one with a 66cc HT, one with a HS and stage III gearbox, and one using a 3.5 hp Tecumseh on a friction drive. All of the engines performed reasonably well but required a good bit of maintenance to keep them going. As I loaded my bikes with extras like fenders, lights, springer fronts ends, saddlebags, etc. and started riding further and further from home, I felt like I needed more power and more reliability. I switched to chainsaw engines and have never looked back. Here's what I get with a $40 or $50 saw: quality magnesium frame, chrome steel lined cylinder, high quality CDI, Walbro, Tillotson, Mikuni, Zuma fully adjustable carb, robust centrifugal clutch, pyramid 4 reed intake, strong ball main bearings, needle bearings on both ends of connecting rod, high performance piston, over 4HP on a 65cc engine that will rev at 9-10,000 RPMs all day long (I'll be bumping my HP with an expansion chamber shortly). My chainsaw engines are over 30 years old and their compression is still within specs and they still start right up and run like new. Chainsaw engines do require some modification for use on a MB and probably are not suitable for those with limited mechanical skills and tools. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing economical, easy to install kit engines. I still appreciate my HT and HS and might use them on a future build, but the fact is there are clear design and quality differences in the engine alternatives out there.

 

[johncy7]

I have a slightly different take on the durability/reliability issue. Let me start by saying I built my first MB over 50 years ago using my dad's primitive stick welder on a rusty old schwinn and a B&S engine "borrowed" from a rototiller. Fast forward to current time and I have built 3 bikes in the past 5 years, one with a 66cc HT, one with a HS and stage III gearbox, and one using a 3.5 hp Tecumseh on a friction drive. All of the engines performed reasonably well but required a good bit of maintenance to keep them going. As I loaded my bikes with extras like fenders, lights, springer fronts ends, saddlebags, etc. and started riding further and further from home, I felt like I needed more power and more reliability. I switched to chainsaw engines and have never looked back. Here's what I get with a $40 or $50 saw: quality magnesium frame, chrome steel lined cylinder, high quality CDI, Walbro, Tillotson, Mikuni, Zuma fully adjustable carb, robust centrifugal clutch, pyramid 4 reed intake, strong ball main bearings, needle bearings on both ends of connecting rod, high performance piston, over 4HP on a 65cc engine that will rev at 9-10,000 RPMs all day long (I'll be bumping my HP with an expansion chamber shortly). My chainsaw engines are over 30 years old and their compression is still within specs and they still start right up and run like new. Chainsaw engines do require some modification for use on a MB and probably are not suitable for those with limited mechanical skills and tools. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing economical, easy to install kit engines. I still appreciate my HT and HS and might use them on a future build, but the fact is there are clear design and quality differences in the engine alternatives out there.

Scootmeister,
After reading your post, I must say, I'm not sure what your points are. The first thing I did was look up what HS stands for. It's for Hua-Sheng, an engine made in China. The HT engine is Happy Time and also made in China and the Tecumseh is apparently made in the USA, UK and Czech Republic. None of which are a Honda. Next I went to my local online Chainsaw retailer (Lowes) to see what I could get for $40-$50. Not a gas chainsaw. The cheapest chainsaw is Poulan for $109.00 (33cc), and the largest is a 60.3cc Husqvarna for $499.00.

Are you saying a $325 Honda GXH50 engine is an economical engine?
Do you think my $800 kit is economical?
Do you feel a Honda engine is the same as the other engines you mentioned?
Where can you buy a 65cc engine for $40-$50?
How would a $40-$50 chainsaw engine/kit not be considered cheap and economical?
Were you replying to someone in particular and forgot to add their quote to your text?

Like I said, I'm not sure what your points are.

-John

 

[johncy7]

Second Armadillo Tire Problems

New update on my new tire... and it's a sad one.

Here it is 3 days (90 miles) after buying my new Armadillo tire and already the tread bonding is coming undone. This is especially bad news becuase I highly recommended it to everybody because of how awesome my first one was. I'm thinking somewhere along the lines this tire sat in a very hot warehouse for a long time. (???) Well, I did do some research and have found some cases where regular bike riders had problems with the bonding as well.

Here's a couple review snippets/links:
"I loved these tires right up until they fell apart. It looked like a poor bonding process during manufacturing. I think $100 was just too much money to pay for such short tire life."
http://www.mtbr.com/cat/tires-and-wheels/tire/specialized/nimbus-armadillo/prd_354808_151crx.aspx

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"The outer rubber of this tire delaminated from the inside casing. This delamination occurred well before the rubber had actually worn out."
http://outsideforever.com/gear-revi...d-armadillo-hemisphere-26-x-195-bicycle-tire/

Those reviews are different tires but same manufacturer, and would more than likely use the same bonding. I'm not sure what I'll do now. If only someone made a seriously strong tire just for friction drives!

 

[Scootmeister]

Hi John. I was simply pointing out that there are a lot of alternatives to Chinese engines and professional quality chainsaw powerheads offer high performance at relatively low cost. The chainsaw engine I described in my previous post is a Homelite 410 (65ccs and 4.1 HP) I purchased on Ebay for $50. You can find plenty of professional grade McCoulloch, Homelites, and similar engines in that price range. I'm glad you are happy with your Honda.

 

[BchCruizer]

@ johncy7

Don't feel too bad about things over on the other site because i received not only a lifetime ban over at motorbicycling.com, but a ban for 3 future reincarnations, retrospectively enforced from my previous spiritual life, simply for posting a satirical link that one of the moderators said was """a political statement""", of which it clearly """was not""" a political statement; being just a bit of good'ol'fashioned witty humour.

I have no idea what's going on but it's a bit messed up when other moderators (who don't have an issue with the post) are overruled by a higher power.

I wondered why i never seen you around the other forum. I will tell all you said hi..lol