Bonefish, this is true. It would get me what I need easily, and I'd have the Honda to play around with when and if I decide to step into frame racked bikes. But I have heard of slippage issues with friction kits, and this will be my main ride. Although school and work are only a 15 minute drive away, so I won't be doing too many long hauls. Other than to a friends or from town to town on occasion. Maybe the Golden Eagle kits? What kind of tinkering and customization is available for friction kits? A major thing I find so attractive about the HT kits is the almost endless amounts of doo dads and upgrades I can get for it. Throw about $50 or so bucks into it every weekend, slowly making it better and better. Man, it just sounds like fun. Which is about half the reason I want to do this. Can I ask what the source of the failure from your HT kits were? Was it the motor themselves or problems associated with the very design of a frame racked kit?
HeadSmess, I'm not surprised to hear of the unreliability of HT motors. Though, I have heard of peoples dying on them after a long 5 years.Still, this is why I want to build a kit from the ground up. I suppose that even if a HT motor lasts only a few weeks, it would give me enough time to gather up enough cash to replace it with a GX35. Bicycle-Engines at one time sold just a mounting kit (http://www.bicycle-engines.com/49cc-4G-T-Belt-Drive-Mounting-Kit-Only.html) allowing you to use any motor you'd like, but hell, it's just as much as an HT kit to begin with. Not to mention it's back ordered. The reason for my predilection with 4 strokes is I don't want to mix gas, it has better gas mileage (a moot point, really, when talking about 100+ mpg), and increased reliability compared to 2 strokes. I've never heard someone argue otherwise, though my experience logs in at about a week so far. And you said that HT went through four frames? Is that by choice or necessity? Because If I'm going to go through 4 $200 bikes, I'd rather just spend $600 on a quality bike to begin with. Honestly, this whole thing is completely counter productive, for the amount of money I plan on investing in this I ought to just buy a car. But those I can't build, and have waaay less style and personality. No, I'm sticking with this.
The only reason I even consider buying an HT kit is to get me off the ground, then I can move in my own direction in terms of modifications. By the end of it all I don't plan on having any of the original components. Just using the Kit as a framework so I know how to move forward. However, I would like to avoid all that by just knowing the specifics of what a kit contains so I can buy the parts separately and just make my own "kit" containing quality American parts with a Honda engine. With an HT kit I'm essentially buying things I intend on immediately replacing, only since I am ignorant of what it is I am even buying. I'm looking to save money on start up costs, but I'm also looking for a fun side project.
There, wrote a book for you all.
And seriously guys, thanks for all the help you've been so far. You've all given me a lot to think about and it's very appreciated.
HeadSmess, I'm not surprised to hear of the unreliability of HT motors. Though, I have heard of peoples dying on them after a long 5 years.Still, this is why I want to build a kit from the ground up. I suppose that even if a HT motor lasts only a few weeks, it would give me enough time to gather up enough cash to replace it with a GX35. Bicycle-Engines at one time sold just a mounting kit (http://www.bicycle-engines.com/49cc-4G-T-Belt-Drive-Mounting-Kit-Only.html) allowing you to use any motor you'd like, but hell, it's just as much as an HT kit to begin with. Not to mention it's back ordered. The reason for my predilection with 4 strokes is I don't want to mix gas, it has better gas mileage (a moot point, really, when talking about 100+ mpg), and increased reliability compared to 2 strokes. I've never heard someone argue otherwise, though my experience logs in at about a week so far. And you said that HT went through four frames? Is that by choice or necessity? Because If I'm going to go through 4 $200 bikes, I'd rather just spend $600 on a quality bike to begin with. Honestly, this whole thing is completely counter productive, for the amount of money I plan on investing in this I ought to just buy a car. But those I can't build, and have waaay less style and personality. No, I'm sticking with this.
The only reason I even consider buying an HT kit is to get me off the ground, then I can move in my own direction in terms of modifications. By the end of it all I don't plan on having any of the original components. Just using the Kit as a framework so I know how to move forward. However, I would like to avoid all that by just knowing the specifics of what a kit contains so I can buy the parts separately and just make my own "kit" containing quality American parts with a Honda engine. With an HT kit I'm essentially buying things I intend on immediately replacing, only since I am ignorant of what it is I am even buying. I'm looking to save money on start up costs, but I'm also looking for a fun side project.
There, wrote a book for you all.
And seriously guys, thanks for all the help you've been so far. You've all given me a lot to think about and it's very appreciated.
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