Newbie in WV with a new build

[xiansam]

I'm an engineer and have built all sorts weird stuff. I was searching the internet a few weeks ago and chanced upon the whole "motored bike" world and was hooked. I decided within the first few minutes that this would be my next project. Subsequently, I've spent dozens of hours researching what I want to build. At first I was enamored with the $150 2stroke Chinese deal both for cost and as a newbie, it seemed like an inexpensive way to jump in. After reading dozens of posts about the "quality" of these kits, I reminded myself that I'm an engineer and I'd better not go cheep or easy because ultimately I'd be disappointed in the project and myself. I'm a big Harbor Freight fan and everyone seems to like the HF 2.5. I've got an old Giant Sedona with good components and great rims. What I'm looking for is a balance of speed, torque and value. Looks for this project are irrelevant. I'll probably use a gocart clutch and a torque converter drive. I like the idea of using the bike's gears.

Does anyone have any advise for a similar build? I know this isn't the right place to post this so I'll end up shuttling this to another thread. I'm just excited and impulsive.
Thanks,
Christian