New to the motor bike world, looking at options

[Glen4X4]

Hey y'all I'm Glen and I am looking at motor bike kits because I like to ride around and well gas isn't very cost effective and I miss those days of riding around on a bike before I got my license. I am a back yard mechanic type of person and a friend and I are looking at getting a bike motor kit, but I want to do it to a dual suspension type bike so it maybe interesting once I get a kit. I just wanted to say hey and now I guess I'll look around at different threads to see what all is possible with these.

Edit: After spending quite a bit of time on here, I see you all know your stuff well, I am impressed and glad I found this forum. I do however have a question I can't seem to find the answer to, how do the motors have the ability to get you 25-40mph when it seems like all the kits do is connect a chain from a sprocket on the motor to an added sprocket on the rear wheel of the bike, it seems like you don't have the ability to use the additional gears that's already on the mountain bikes. I don't want a poke along bike I want to be able to enjoy a descently paced ride and don't expect to drive like a motorcycle though.

 

[Esteban]

First tip,,, most full suspension mountain bikes are pretty heavy to start off with.

 

[Glen4X4]

I was thinking along the lines of one with an aluminum frame, what about one with just front shocks then?

 

[wheelbender6]

A shift kit (or jackshift kit) will allow you to use the existing bike gearing and eliminate the motor chain problem associated with rear suspension.
Aluminum frames can crack from engine vibration, but they are usually the cheaper frames (dept store bikes) that fail. A steel frame resists vibration and usually rides smoother. You can use a suspension seatpost to help with the bumps.
Suspension seatposts start at under $25 for a cheapie and the better ones from RoxShox and Cane Creek cost way over $100.
There are plenty of used front suspension, steel framed mountain bikes out there from great companies like Specialized and Giant.
If you are adamant about having a rear suspension bike, you can get one with a steel rear swing arm. I mentioned that because most of the frame cracks that I have heard of are around the rear dropouts (You can check for steel with a magnet. The dropouts are also much thinner). There are plenty of guys on this site that have built spring loaded chain tensioners to control the chain issues associated with rear suspension.

 

[Esteban]

Someone gave me a full suspension bike awhile back & that I didn't have a use for. It was a cheap quality bike, but all it needed was rear derailler adjustment & it was OK to ride. It seemed to be quite heavy so I weighed it. A whopping 49lbs !!
In MY opinion, I would just use a plain " cruiser or mountain " type steel bike, [ what most use] , to build my first ride. Used ones are everywhere.
In simple terms, the way the higher speeds are reached is all thru the gearing & rpms the motor can turn.
READ a lot before jumping in & deciding what bike, motor kit, drive system, that you want to use. A lot of people, including myself, jumped on the first type they saw, & had too many headaches with them.
GOOD LUCK !!

 

[Glen4X4]

Thanks for the information, I will look into my options and what you have told me. I wasn't aware of the spring seat and will look into that, I guess getting a thick gel seat would help with some bumps too.

 

[Esteban]

& use wider, smooth riding tires.
One of my earlier bike engines, [ see my avatar ] , I assembled on an old 3 spd bike with skinny tires. I live on a dirt/sandy road & then after a short ride, there is a paved road. It is rough & needs paving, badly. The little motor sped the bike along well, but it was a job just to stay on the bike ! Transferred the motor kit over to the pictured bike very quickly.

 

[Glen4X4]

I plan on using a mountain bike setup with descent tires, I seen the jackshaft kits and they look nice, I seen some youtube videos of them being put to use.