Why have things not improved?

JunkyardDog

Active Member
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Jun 10, 2010
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Chandler, AZ
Motorized bicycles have been around for a long time now. Yet I see no signs of improvement in the quality or design of the engine kits. The Chinese kits especially still use the same crappy rag joint rear sprockets and those horrible idler pulleys. You would think someone would have come up with something better by now. I remember a time when you could actually buy a bicycle designed to be motorized, with the proper engine mounts welded on the frame, and a sprocket properly attached to the rear wheel. They seem to have disappeared. There are probably legal reasons why you can't buy a factory made motorized bike, but I see nothing to prevent companies from selling all the necessary parts, including frames and wheels, designed to fit together properly without using universal clamps and brackets and shims that never seem to fit properly, and almost always have to be modified to even work. Unless someone is an accomplished welder and machinist, with access to all the necessary equipment, it is virtually impossible to build a quality motorized bicycle.

What got me thinking about this was a recent ride on a Motoped. Now those are really neat, but serious overkill for a motorized bicycle, and the engine size makes them illegal as motorized bicycles in my state. Price for one is around $3000. I think a basic motorized bicycle, designed so that everything fits together properly without having to be rigged, could be sold for less than half that. Maybe there just isn't enough interest in motorized bicycles to justify making quality parts. Just take a look at www.totalruckus.com to see what can be accomplished with a 50cc scooter when the demand for high dollar parts is there. These scooters sell for around $2500 new, some people have over $10K into theirs. Sure wish some of that type of thing would happen with the motorized bicycle scene.
 
There's nothing to preven companies, except demand.The majority of Americans (I'll assume you're stateside) are fat and lazy, so why would they buy a bike, any bike motored or not?It's not comfortable doing "movement" things when you're way out of your BMI.Regulations have killed innovation as well, why take a chance on something that has shown doesn't sell well in the past, plus put up with extra regulation that Americans just keep rolling over and lubing themselves up for?Also, percieved dangers are almost as outlawed as real dangers, we have a new regulation that all drones must be registered, that's a National Registry, WE DON'T EVEN HAVE THAT FOR CARS, there hasn't been one NOT ONE drone and airplane collision, but because of media bulls.h.i.t. now people just roll over,... again;
so there's a bunch of people scared of what they've heard about how dangerous bikes are, why would they want to go faster on such a death trap?The majority of Americans are penny-wise and pound foolish, 85% of people have sattelite/cable/cellphones/xbox/ps3, yet I hear those same people complain about how little extra money they have, and suffer during bill time.
You're asking for a common sense reason to something, in a world gone mad, there's your answer "Fishbulb".
 
I think one of the other things you can do is to buy a moped engine and mount it onto a bicycle. The moped engines might be more efficient than the 66/80cc 2-strokes. It seems the most popular engine sizes are 49/50, 110, and 125cc. In the spring, I am looking to building a bigger bike that can go comfortably 45-60 mph and am considering a 125cc moped engine to avoid registering my motorized bicycle as a motorcycle (130cc or less with pedals is a moped in WI) and getting a motorcycle license. The engines are more expensive than the 212cc Predator engines used for high speed motorized bikes though. Here is a link of a 125cc moped engine on a chopper style bike (drives @ 3:10).

 
I'm seeing improvements in kits every few months

since the change to balanced cranks, my repair work has gone down to unacceptable levels

rarely see a bad seal, a bad main bearing, or motor mounts ripped from the cases

thinner rear sprockets have cured much of the broken spoke problems too

if I weren't so old, I'd be looking for other work to do : (
 
bakaneko, that is a really cool bike. Unfortunately such a bike is not legal in my state. We are limited to 48cc engines. Mopeds are limited to 49cc engines. A factory made moped with a VIN can be registered and insured and plated. I have owned Tomos and Puch mopeds. But they are not allowed in the bike lane, which basically makes them suicide machines in traffic. Anything without pedals or that has more than 49cc must be registered as a motorcycle. But it must have a VIN. It would probably be easier to move Mt. Everest than it would to title and register a homemade bike. So what I would like is a nice clean 48cc MB that doesn't look like a Frankenstein creation.

I am neither fat nor lazy, but due to a disability, I can no longer pedal a bike very far. I still ride motorcycles, both dirt and street. And I still love riding bicycles, as long as I don't have to pedal them.
 
The parts are out there to improve these kits, the problem is many people want to build to the lowest price possible. The basic engines have come a long way in improvements, but they are still built to a low price with poor quality fasteners, cheap chains and tensioners, and bad metallurgy. Jaguar and others have produced aftermarket parts for these kits that address the glaring faults.
 
A Chinese 50cc street legal motor scooter can be bought for $600 in many areas. Kit prices must be kept low to compete with those motor scooters.
I think a 50 lb motorized bicycle is a lot more fun than a 200 lb motor scooter.
 
You can get a decent used motorcycle for $1500. Brand new, you can pick up a little Honda Grom for $3K or even a new Honda 250 for a little bit more. That sets the top range of acceptable cost.

You can source a good engine in the $400-$500 range. Even a decent bicycle to build on will cost $200 or more. Add on a clutch and other costs and this quickly gets priced out of play.

I really like that 125cc up top as it fills a niche in the American market: small, high efficiency motorcycles that are fun and dependable.
 
simply put development costs!!!!!! never mind the costs of setting up production, marketing etc.... all while you have no guarantee of ever getting your money back!
 
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