2008 Diamondback Citi motorized bike

Heres a picture from my 1st ride from South San Jose CA to some ponds about 20 miles away. The 40 mile ride went perfectly. The bike was crusing at 23mph and toped out at 27. The engine was running very rich on the top end even with the needle all the way down. Since it was running rich, I almost emptied the tank on the ride. When I got home I noticed one of the rear engine mount studs broke. I will repair that. I also mounted up a walbro carb on a custom manifold. I need the low/high adjustment needles and also dont want to worry about float bowls overflowing or leaking. The tuned pipe worked well, the thigh area never got too hot to touch with a bare hand but I bet a bare thigh might be a different story. There was a decent amount of vibration on the handle bars but not too bad. I think I will be having a blast on this bike.

Before the ride, I opened up the right side case and sprayed brake cleaner on the gears to remove the metal shavings then applied some very thick moly anti-seize compound. It quited up the noise from the gears very well and I bet continued cleaning/lubing will increase the life of these gears. Metal gears should not be running dry. I might experiment using some ATF or gear oil in there maybe. I bet the clutch will slip.

I enjoy reading about everyones experiences and knowledge but I like to learn everything first hand with something like this. Man, I had a few really fun evenings buying a new bike and engine kit and building a motorized bike! I am really hoping that the engine proves reliable so I can commute with the bike this spring and summer

 

[fetor56]

Your bike looks great...nice expansion chamber(where did u get it?)
With the gears on the RH side add grease with graphite powder(making a black goo) and use that for lubrication.You only need a small quantity and it lubricates for ages.

 

[Dockspa1]

Looks nice and you got the carb leveled pretty good. That pipe location scares the beegeebers out of me. My brother in shorts, jumped on a 72 CL Honda 350 with the high pipe and got a 4" diameter hot blister out of the deal. Maybe you can find or make a guard for it. Even an eighth of an inch from the surface would do it.

 

[gb123]

I agree that the pipe looks dangerous. I got a pipe burn once on one of my racing go karts and promised that day (I hate pain) to never let it happen again. I swear that so far I have never felt that this pipe was hot enough in any easily contacted area to cause a burn, perhaps because the engine runs so filthy rich. Of course, its unlikely that I will let a bare thigh contact it ANYWHERE. I wear motorcycling pants, gloves and a full face helmet whenever I ride the bike or my scooter. I also swore off road rash, which I have never had

I got the pipe from my friend Dean at 408 279-2307. He makes all kinds of tuned pipes.

 

[w31john]

your bike looks good. I think you will like riding it better than the scooters.our scooter just sit the garage.maybe this weekend we can all go for a ride.

 

[gb123]

Thanks John. Tomorrow I will use the bike for the 24 mile commute for the first time. For the weekend, I might work Saturday, and Sunday we have a go kart race. But we will be riding sometime soon. Last Sunday Ken and I went down monterrey hiway to Baily, then up to Calero res. It was a good ride with very few stoplights and such. Just a nice long cruise with decent scenery.

 

[gb123]

Looks nice and you got the carb leveled pretty good. That pipe location scares the beegeebers out of me. My brother in shorts, jumped on a 72 CL Honda 350 with the high pipe and got a 4" diameter hot blister out of the deal. Maybe you can find or make a guard for it. Even an eighth of an inch from the surface would do it.

I forgot to mention, my pipe does have a heat shield in the mid section. Its just hard to see in the picture.

 

[Scottm]

That's a beautiful setup. Glad it runs well for you. It's a lot of fun.