Any inexpencive motor kits ?

[The Texas Pirate!]

I am looking for an inexpencive motor kit to put on my dual suspenion bike.
I dislike the friction drive,kits, a friend of mine had one and they eat up tires like mad. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[bamabikeguy]

Welcome Mr. Pirate-

Expensive versus savings, it all evens out.

Some of the frame mount guys are keeping a running tab, and I'm hearing $450-500 before they are running right.

Hopefully we can help you "not waste any money" before you get rolling, and that should save you some bucks, there are plenty of stories (mine included) where I wasted money or broke down.

Kits are in the $550+ range, and maybe you could save a hundred bucks if you get the mount/kit, and buy an engine that matches the clutch pattern.

(But then you'd have to have calipers)....Yada yada, shelves of wasted money. I have 5 extra gel saddles gathering dust.

Don't skrimp on the saddle, I've seen texasroads, and you are going to a "speed enthusiast" I can tell that from the intro...

I have a twenty dollar torque wrench, used once, busted made in China junk.

So, we got your bike scoped, 12 gauge rear spokes start at $30-40. Highly highly advised.

And if nothing else, you want that rear especially "flatproofed", since all the action is back there, the back tire tread wears twice as fast as the front.

No flats on the rear, that's the name of the game.

You have an existing bike, all your attention is on the rear, zip ties and fix the brakes on the front is all the work necessary (until you are ready for loooooong distance ).

To run either belt or chain, ya need the back wheel "solid".

We get everything aligned, lock the threads, crank it an GO....

No more "cost" except for fuel mix.

Do it right and you will be smiling thousands of miles down the road, without is "costing" you anything but gas/oil.

$650 bucks and "you're in"...about the same as a used "horse", without the hay.


That sound about right gang?

 

[bamabikeguy]

Oh, and this should be important to a sailor and all, you can ride in shorts (****, you could ride naked I guess) and not burn your legs on the motor.

It's behind ya, pushing like a friendly tailwind...

 

[srdavo]

Bama...Keep yer shorts ON!
hehehe

 

[beast775]

knowing what works

excellent bamabikeguy,couldnt have said it better.a little work,a little investigation,a little money.makes for a good reliable ride......

 

[5-7HEAVEN]

Texas Pirate, friction drive kits cost the least, especially if you do it yourself.
in the big picture and in the long run, in terms of labor and $$, tires are a cheap fix for an inexpensive engine kit.
annd, i have heard that certain type of tires(kevlar) last a long time under the roller.

 

[srdavo]

I like friction drive.
on my 23cc, I pedal, with minimal throttle, to 8mph...then just "lay on" the throttle. It pulls good from there. Anything lower than 8mph, the drive roller spins on the tire....& there is the damage to the tire.

I like friction drive.

 

[bamabikeguy]

In the Texas Pirate's intro he said:

Howdy Y'all, I'm The Texas Pirate!, and I am From Brownsville, Texas. I work as a Pirate/deckhand/cook out on South Padre Island, Texas. I ride a 26" NEXT Dual-Suspension Mountain bike, not yet motorized, key word, yet. I am trying to build a camping trailer to make a cross country trek by bicycle.

I've seen Loco's trailer hitch, that will work on a GEBE, and I'm positive a belt drive system will cross the country.

Any and all work to that rear wheel can be transferred to a heavier duty bike than the NEXT, if that ever comes into play. I was using the stock $12 tires, am buying a Kevlar ($30) for the rear, getting ready for an Autumn run.

Yes you can build your own friction system (I couldn't, thatsafact, I'm a mechanical novice).

But a GEBE could get you 200-300 miles per day, and sometimes a Pirate is in a hurry, chasing booty and all that.

btw: your sailing weight is an important part of the equation, because the "camping" part is 40-50 pounds of deadweight you have to be able to store and pull uphills.

That is where MB.com can save you time/trouble and money, make sure you have enough engine to do the job.

For any novice, there are enough folks on board now to get somebody pretty much MB.com certified on the first pull of the starter rope, one excellent rant and one ongoing vent are the limit, from henceforth it would be great to guide somebody from start to "break in" run and have them smiling.

We could cooperatively get anybody up and running without problems, once they've read the posts, understand that the bike in the garage is probably only the beginning, and the **** sport is so addicting, upgrades in the bike are pretty much inevitable.

That enjoyment intensifies with zero broken/bent spokes, and zero flat tires.

 

[5-7HEAVEN]

my ROBIN 35cc friction drive setup cost exactly $421.95 including $30 shipping, delivered to my door. it had everything i needed, and i never spent another dollar. no 12g spokes available for my 20" DAHON, and i already had zipties for it.

my MITSUBISHI 43cc STATON gear chain setup cost $845.07, which included $155 shipping and $35 referral discount, complete rear wheel and 7-speed gears. then $50 more for new tire,tube and truing(very slightly off).

i also like friction drive. it is simple, compact, can be cheap if DIY. easy to install, easy to remove and reinstall or transfer to another bike.

i just had my first ride with my MITSUBISHI chain drive. it's an apples/oranges comparison, because of the larger MITSUBISHI engine, which has almost TOO much power for the trails i ride. it also taxes my brakes a lot more. gear chain setup is better than friction drive FOR ME, but not 100 times better than friction drive like Dave Staton told me. maybe because i am very satisfied with the friction drive i bought from him.

Myron

 

[Jim H]

Inexpensive "chinese happy time", initially, until you realize there are things you need which you can't do without. By the time you figure it out and it's running perfectly, you could have bought that beauty rack mount/friction drive/chain drive/belt drive high output engine that runs at full throttle all day long at 30-35 mph. Man, if you can't get excited about that you ain't livin! Bama's right, it all evens out. Don't get me wrong, two wheels and a motor any configuration, is a beautiful thing.