Chris Crew
Member
I have the 49cc stealth black from zoombicycles.
I have seen what appear to be identical motors on Kings, Gasbike, Bikemotorkits and a number of other websites. Prices vary a little bit; some of them have a sticker on one side of the engine with a Skyhawk logo, but when you look at the photos of what comes in the boxed kit, they about as identical as a box of baby gerbils.
Knowing what I do about China and her industries since the revolution, I would suspect that there are dozens of mom-n-pop backyard factories pouring out bike motors to a sort of standard spec, but given the nature of the system, varying in tolerance and finish from back yard to back yard and from production run to production run.
When zoom, for example, gets in an order are they always getting it from the same manufacturer? Does Grubee always come from the same place? With the centralized economy of China, I would kind of doubt it.
If I am correct in my assumptions, what you are going to get is always a **** shoot, so cost, delivery speed and quality of customer service would tend to be the only factors one could select for.
Since something went PING on the way to work this morning and the rear wheel now locks up when the clutch is released, I'm going to do my first open heart surgery tonight and I suspect I may be ordering some bearings or a woodruff key or something if I don't find a match at my local ACE. Do any of you more experienced folks think any of the suppliers have generally better quality goods?
Also, I want to help my son build a bike to take off to college in a couple of weeks, and since he's not the most mechanically minded kid on the block, I want to do what I can to keep him rolling. If forty bucks buys higher quality, I'll take it, if not, the thrifty guy (cheap b@st@rd, my wife says) in me is gonna prevail again.
I have seen what appear to be identical motors on Kings, Gasbike, Bikemotorkits and a number of other websites. Prices vary a little bit; some of them have a sticker on one side of the engine with a Skyhawk logo, but when you look at the photos of what comes in the boxed kit, they about as identical as a box of baby gerbils.
Knowing what I do about China and her industries since the revolution, I would suspect that there are dozens of mom-n-pop backyard factories pouring out bike motors to a sort of standard spec, but given the nature of the system, varying in tolerance and finish from back yard to back yard and from production run to production run.
When zoom, for example, gets in an order are they always getting it from the same manufacturer? Does Grubee always come from the same place? With the centralized economy of China, I would kind of doubt it.
If I am correct in my assumptions, what you are going to get is always a **** shoot, so cost, delivery speed and quality of customer service would tend to be the only factors one could select for.
Since something went PING on the way to work this morning and the rear wheel now locks up when the clutch is released, I'm going to do my first open heart surgery tonight and I suspect I may be ordering some bearings or a woodruff key or something if I don't find a match at my local ACE. Do any of you more experienced folks think any of the suppliers have generally better quality goods?
Also, I want to help my son build a bike to take off to college in a couple of weeks, and since he's not the most mechanically minded kid on the block, I want to do what I can to keep him rolling. If forty bucks buys higher quality, I'll take it, if not, the thrifty guy (cheap b@st@rd, my wife says) in me is gonna prevail again.
