Alternative engines

M

MotorbikeMike

Guest
Hi all, today I spoke with Whizzer, and pleaded our case about a "junior" Whizzer, or "Mini-Whizz" or whatever it might be called. It would be based on the exsisting engine, and also availble loaded into the exsisting Whizzer motorbike, if it turns out to be a viable product. Many states will not allow the Whizzer to be a Moped, and this would allow them to do that, keeping the 49cc engine at about 2hp, brand-new, not broke oin, maybe making 2-1/8 or so broke in. I do not know if they will endorse this idea, but, if I get positive results from my guy there, perhaps, an email showing of support could be established, so the membership here could make themselves heard on this subject. What do you guys think?

Mike
 
i think...right the **** ON!!! whatever i can do to help you help the guy help whizzer, please let me know.

thank you mike, i know that was a major step to take, i hope like heck we can all pull this off!

an american happy-time...i'm about to pee my pants.

"Whizzer-2" to designate HP? that's just my excitement talking.
 
i skipped a part.

i can do a mass-mailing to the entire membership, if we get that far, and there are a lot of ways for me to play it up on the board, just give me a chance :)
 
contacting membership

HI Augi, I spoke again to Whizzer, and amoung other things we discussed the Whizzer 49. Along with other things about it, I discussed using a std piston from another bike (ie Honda, Kawa, suzuki) and not "re-inventing the wheel" at that point. This project is completely viable, using the exsisting Whizzer bike, and just doing a small-bore barrel, and moving the crank pin to adjust the stroke (which I explained to him). Addionally, I assured him, that I've ridden 2hp 4-strokes, and outran an auto-clutch Whizzer with one, untill I peaked at 30 and the whizzer caught me and blew by. I also discussed the fact, that he would have no legal worries with the 49, as it would be UNFEASABLE to bring it up to 138, as the crank is expensive and not likely to ever get changed. One other powerful point in our favor here, is that I was talking to him, finding out how many states that are NOT allowed moped status on Whizzer, and that, therefore they are not very sucessful in selling to, I'm trying to show him that this engine will open new markets for him, and that they will make money with this project.

They have a quoate from thier suppliers as to the cost to do this. I am not at liberty to divulge that at this time, but I can tell you, that from a business standpoint, it is very do-able!

You must be now wondering, "well, where are we at on this thing"? He was busy yesterday (agian) and we did not get the convo finished. They would not be much cheaper than the 138's as it will, at first, cost even more to make the "Baby Whizzer" tho it will probably be priced a little lower, in the case of Chinese motor-scooters, usually 100.00 less for the small engine.

I think it would be a very good idea, if here, you and your "guys" did the promoting of concept, not me. Oftentimes I have wondered how well accepted I, and my ideas are here, not amoung the few, but amoung the masses. Primary promotion would be much more sucessful if you did it here.

The fact that I'm so burned out on the whole "stick the engine (cheapest one i could get) into the cheapest bike I could get, and run it like a little naked animal (no fenders, no lights, no rack etc) may emerge at times, and is certainly not good for Images sake. Most of the time I make no comment whatsoever about builds in the gallery because of this very reason, and the fact that I built about 30-35 of those myself already. BUT if you look on my gallery http://www.simpsonmotorbikes.com/picutres.html you will find that many of my bikes were vintage americans, that I scrounged up, and restored myself. This many of the guys could do, if they wanted to.

The most important part of this early part of the "campaign" will be to get my guy at Whizzer to make a Yahoo mailbox (so we do not just fill up his business mail with wannabe ideas) and then get the people who have the interest to write him, to tell him what they think, and if indeed they, or friends would want one .

Here is an inside tip that is very important. In the time I have been in Motor Bicycles, MOST of the guys are 45+ yo, and even up into thier 70's, Whizzer KNOWS that it needs to reach the younger market, you cannot survive if your market gets old and dies!

Maybe there should be a little questionaire section, and then personal comments by each respondent? Pertanant info would include many market ideas.
All below are about Owner/Rider
Age
State/maybe city?
What he now rides, how many he has,
How many miles he rides
What do his friends think of it
How many might be more interested if it were a better(complete, and higher quality) bike
Would they somehow come up with about 1600 for a "Total Bike"
Or around 700 for the kit (including alternator, wiring harness, Whizzer tank, and good controlset?

Maybe a section, would Dad buy one for his son?

I will think more, let me know what you think, and what ideas I may have not seen.

Mike

PS I DID ask him if he would like to be the Only True American Moped, he seemed to like that idea!
 
i just got in this morning...the wheels are still spinning in the gravel.

wow, many good things to ponder, i will come back in later and give it my best shot.
 
price: i'm about to do a complete flip and begin promoting a $600 system (GEBE) because of political correctness...

more later...as you and your guy talk, start to get input about what he'd like to see on a market survey.
 
this is now my favorite thread :)

insofar as it is my business, and no more...the other thread is still doing it's job. as soon as we all see we are on the same "side" but that it's only that we all got here thru different sets of circumstances...anyway, you know what i mean about that, it'll work out. to put a positive spin to it: i look at the number of crossroads in my life that got me here, then i multiply it by all your crossroads, then i multiply it by all the hundreds of members...that's astounding enuff to help me overcome a lot of negativity. i'm not leading anything, i'm being guided thru this by the response.

so...i'm not surprised at the reasonable cost of some relatively minor retooling (i'm formally trained in mechanical drafting and am experienced in the ways of production & line-design) to add another engine to the fleet.

i'd like to suggest that whizzer consider eating that startup tho, releasing the product at a decent target price then relying on a market poised to pay it back thru number of sales. i just deleted a big impassioned speech about why i feel that way. let's just say henry ford had it right.

more later :)
 
I like the idea of the 49 engine looking very similar (if not almost identical) to the 138. A person could have the cachet of riding a Whizzer, while still being legal. And those inclined to power (A major portion of the MBc crowd) would be able to go with the 138, and only enthusiasts might be able to tell the difference. As for the price, I have $2,225 into my next project already. So you can see what I'm willing to pay for good reliable transport.
 
Continuing with the Whizzer people

HI all, yes Augi they will if they build, they will release at a price targeted toward the market. I'm now working with them, to consider how to lower the costs and I have it!

Rather than using thier expensive chassis, I propose that they use a very fine Schwinn Repop that I know of in Taiwan (probably the one that Schwinn themselves commissioned), using one of the better Schwinn repop frontends, (they are not real good, but cheap) then using the rest of the Whizzer stuff, thus driving the cost down to a more do-able level, and in the meantime returning the Whizzer to what it really was, an affordable fun low-maintenece motorized bicycle.

This is my most recent submission to them.

Van, good point that we had neglected for the "survey" "How much have you spent building each one of your bikes"
 
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