Japanese Replica of small Harley or Indian ?

[Mountainman]

Just exactly what I was thinking about -- a low rider.. YES - OH - YES !!! I saw an auto-matic shifting bicycle yesterday at a sporting goods store. Have you seen these ?? Generates elect from the hub of the front wheel - goes through an elect box - then on to the inside of the rear wheel.. Looked interesting.. Yes - I have my long distance mountain MB -- now for some EASY DOES IT RIDING.. Mountainman

 

[Mountainman]

Hey Mark - I went to the site you mentioned - it looks very close to the set up I bought from Station... Station mentions 2 bearings -- does the one you have or are getting have one bearing or two ? Mountainman

 

[HoughMade]

Here you go...all you need is an abundant Honda engine, a rare Grubee Skyhawk II, an abundant cruiser frame and a rare amount of time over the next few months....now its in dozens of pieces for paint.

 

[TwoWalks]

I do not know if this is Japanese made or not but here is what you may be talking about.

http://happyscooters.com/product.php?cat=51&page=1&productid=209

 

[mark2yahu]

bikes

Hey Mark - I went to the site you mentioned - it looks very close to the set up I bought from Station... Station mentions 2 bearings -- does the one you have or are getting have one bearing or two ? Mountainman

Well, the one I'm getting has 1 bearing on each side of the roller. And the roller itself is made so that it's a freewheel. What that does is, if the bike's going faster than the roller, the roller won't slow it down. It will just freewheel. Same if you can pedal faster than the motor itself. Almost no resistance.

I've seen the automatic shifting bikes. No derailleur. Kind of surprising, visually. They have a little generator inside the metal tubing. These are high-end bikes that we won't see at any department store anytime soon. Maybe in 3 to 5 years we'll see them at Walmart
Have you also seen the chainless bikes? They are shaft drive. Really strange looking, and they have a cruiser out with a shaft drive. I want a NuVinci wheel, but they're too expensive.

Darwin, I remember back in the '70's, we used to go to Pep Boys in old Long Beach. That was the best Pep Boys I've ever been to. They used to have a complete line of mini bikes. Even Sears down the street. Every time I go buy stuff at Kragen Auto, there's this red mini bike for $269.00; with a 2 hp Briggs. But for me, there's no place legal to ride a mini bike around here.

Houghmade, that is a masterpiece!

 

[Mountainman]

Here you go...all you need is an abundant Honda engine, a rare Grubee Skyhawk II, an abundant cruiser frame and a rare amount of time over the next few months....now its in dozens of pieces for paint.

Thanks for sharing HoughMade -- that is one -- CLASSIC LOOKING MB... Sounds like what a person has to do is -- build it up... I must admit - it has been soom years since I saw all of those old small Harleys and Indians -- this MB that you are building up -- DOES remind me of the look -- cool looking MB there... Happy Riding from - Mountainman

 

[Mountainman]

I do not know if this is Japanese made or not but here is what you may be talking about.

http://happyscooters.com/product.php?cat=51&page=1&productid=209

Hi TwoWalks -- I checked this site out - HappyScooters.com -- I noticed that they don't seem to mention where there bikes are made -- from what I have found this usually means China... They also have what they call -- an exact replica of a Yamaha 250cc Virago. I had a 900cc Virago years back (pretty nice bike) -- I don't think any Japanese firms would be turning out any Virago replicas.. Happy Riding from - Mountainman

 

[butch27]

They had those "happy scooter" motorcycles at the Portland bike show for $1600.

 

[arceeguy]

The "happyscooter" Virago clone is made by a company called Lifan in China. They are the largest privately held motorcycle/scooter manufacturer in China. I own a Lifan made copy of a Honda CT70 trail/street bike. The quality is very good on these machines. I use mine like a "small scooter on steroids" around town. Lifan actually improved the design by adding electric start and boring/stroking the engine to 110cc. (107cc actual) It can easily cruise at 50mph, tops out at 60 under ideal conditions, and it gets 100mpg! It cost less than $900 - but it does require a motorcycle license and insurance.

 

[DougC]

...I've seen the automatic shifting bikes. No derailleur. Kind of surprising, visually. They have a little generator inside the metal tubing. These are high-end bikes that we won't see at any department store anytime soon. ...

The "automatic" bikes I've seen use the Shimano Coasting gear system.

Trek was one of the first companies to sell them in the US (the Trek Lime bikes) but other companies seem to have bikes with it now.

Also the system was available in Europe previously, so Trek wasn't really the fist ones to sell it, just first in the US.
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