Cruiser with Staten Friction Drive Mitsubishi TLE43

An inexpensive cruiser. I figured I would give the concept a whirl with a low investment first)

Living in the Sanoran desert, we don't have to worry about rain causing the drive wheel to slip too much!

The motor will push me along at about 25-27 MPH (and, I'm an ex-defensive tackle!)
 

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Dave Staton was good to deal with. I asked several questions; he pointed me to the right documentation, & answered them all. So, I ordered the kits.

The two installs I did (mine & the wife's) are both done with one stabilizer; you can buy & install a second one for about $10-15 I believe. You would just need to drill an additional, matching hole on the right side of the motor mount channel. The motor mount channel is a nice solid piece of aluminum, & I haven't seen the need for a second stabilizer.

One of the real handy things I found out is that the rubber electrical tape, (the kind that bonds only to itself,) is GREAT for this sort of thing. (I'm not talking about regular, vinyl electrical tape. I'm talking about the rubber stuff, where you peel off a liner. It only sticks to itself, and it fuses to form a single layer of rubber. It worked great around the top of the fork, where the mounting bracket clamps on. It also is a very quick means to secure cables to the frame.

The double seat is great. Your weight is more distributed, you don't risk nerve damage affecting areas you really don't want to risk, and as each half swivels independently, it is very comfortable when peddling.

As far as the balance - it is a little heaver to the left, and when riding, the bike is probably a degree or two to the right.

I have only two issues with the Staton kit. I got the standard throttle, and you're squeezing a short, two finger trigger grip; after 10-15 minutes, it can cause tiredness in the throttle fingers. I'm probably going to extend it. (or replace it with a twist throttle)

The second issue is that the Mitsubishi motor has an built-in kill switch. I've got to pop the cover off to see what I have to do to add a remote kill switch on the handlebars.

Other than these two issues, I've been real happy with the kit, and the motor. It's got good power and runs smoothly. It's a little louder than the wifes honda, but, not obnoxiously. And, when we run at the same speed, I'm backed off a bit, so it's not much louder at all.

Once I get the original tires worn down & changed to ones with a smoother tread, it should be REALLY smooth.
 
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BTW. If anyone's interested, I've found an English version of the Mitsubishi motor manual (well, actually Japanese and English) and I could post it in the next few days.

FYI, the TLE-43 is quite clean - it meets California emissions
 
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I've run that same drive in the past, now the wife has it, great little unit. The twist grip throttle is the way to go and the kill switch is easily connected into the wire from the old one, I would keep both switches active. If you have an Academy Outdoor Sports where you live, they have a 26" fat smooth road tire from Bell that works great.
 
Loquin,

Were you posting on the old Staton forum? I think I remember you and torques.
 
BTW. If anyone's interested, I've found an English version of the Mitsubishi motor manual (well, actually Japanese and English) and I could post it in the next few days.

FYI, the TLE-43 is quite clean - it meets California emissions

Hi loquin,
I am very interested in the manual! I could not find it anywhere and would definitely like to see that post! Do you know where to get a parts break-down also? Thanks
 
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Hi All.

I've posted a thread here with the TLE Owners Manual, as well as a white paper that Mitsubishi wrote detailing the unique features of the TLE series that result in low exhaust emissions.

(kerf - yes, I did post several times on the old Stanton forums. I sent an email to Dave, suggesting that he recruit some mods to patrol the forum; apparently he decided to drop the forum instead...)
 
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