BMP saved

love my staton, but its the rainy season here, and the roads are littered with
pine needles rendering the staton useless. the BMP belt/chain option wudda
bin nice. I'd get a G.E.B.E. kit, but they're too greedy for their own good. They'd
sell twice as many kits if they dropped the price to just a 100% profit instead
of gouging for 250%. If you get a cogged $12 timing pulley, an aluminum rim from
24" bike, a $14 clutch housing from Monster scooter parts, and a cogged AX belt from
Reid supply, you can build your own GEBE-like for about $60 with a bit of imagination
and a bit of scrounged hardware.
 
I'd get a G.E.B.E. kit, but they're too greedy for their own good. They'd sell twice as many kits if they dropped the price to just a 100% profit instead of gouging for 250%.

This is out of line, uninformed and totally inappropriate, it comes off as just another armchair quarterback rant. People pay lip service to wanting things made in the USA but how many still shop for off-shore products? It's more than presumptuous to think one can second guess a manufacturers profit margins, or know what goes into it, early R&D, trials and errors, manufacturing processes, the sourcing of materials and dealing with suppliers or know what the micro business person is up against in the US. Just ask BMP. It's also ludicrous to suggest one can know better how many units they would sell, when it's obvious you would just like them to suit your particular whim. They have names, Dennis and Julia, and have run their business for 10 years, I believe are smart enough to know what their "own good" is and are far from greedy people. It's also uncalled for to malign their business model as gouging when that is a term appropriately applied to such things as commodities that one cannot do without. Gas prices at the pump might qualify as "gouging" but not how a mom and pop cottage industry establish their price points. Apparently you'd like a GEBE kit, obviously you can do without one, but it's wrong to denigrate decent people because of sour grapes nor does it mean you should expect to do so publicly without being called on it.
 
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You are spot on Happy Valley.

Manufacturing and selling motorized bicycle kits today is somewhere between a labor of love and a niche industry - at best.

Regarding products coming from China:
The best of the Chinese companies are VERY CAPABLE of manufacturing state-of -the-art products, and in every type of technology.
Yet most of the motorized bicycle kits coming from China are crude, cheap and unreliable copies of ancient Russian designs.
IF there was indeed a significant market for quality motorized bicycles, I believe that the Chinese manufacturers (with or without Western marketing) would be quick to produce products to meet that demand.
 
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rawly,

If you have a bit of spare time on your hands, why don't you work up RELIABLE FUNCTIONAL DESIGN that might even include:

"a cogged $12 timing pulley, an aluminum rim from 24" bike, a $14 clutch housing from Monster scooter parts, and a cogged AX belt from Reid supply".

After you have worked out all the bugs, you can then sell the plans with a detailed parts list for $10 a pop, recoup all the time you have invested, and maybe even have a little bit left over for beer money.
 
I am new here, and have decided on a friction drive using a Honda GX35 4 stroke motor. I was hoping BMP would be back in business soon, because I am interested in their kit, especially the jackshaft conversion which allows you to use a chain drive with the same kit. No one else has this. I am also looking for quality, so I will probably go with a Staton friction drive kit if BMP does not reopen very soon.

I just saw this on the Staton web site: http://www.staton-inc.com/store/pro...gnes_on_bicycles_trikes_or_quades-1167-0.html
 

http://www.staton-inc.com/store/pro...gnes_on_bicycles_trikes_or_quades-1167-0.html

Uh oh, wonder it that'll mean a voided warranty?

Regarding the sale & use of Honda enignes on bicycles, trikes or quades.

Honda Engines Group, Alpharetta, GA 30005-2519 does not want any Honda engines used or sold on two wheel bikes, bicycles, three wheel trikes or quads.
Honda GX35
Honda GX35
Honda GXH50
Honda GX100
Honda GX120
Honda GX160
 
Well. we know who's pocket your in. No, there's nothing wrong with the GEBE kit,
but anything I can make instead of paying retail is a plus when on a fixed income.
Furthermore, I know full well I can make a belt drive bike kit spending a heck of a
lot less than $350 and an aluminum drive ring will outlast a plastic one. Some of
us just don't have that kinda money to throw around which is why we're on MBs
instead of Goldwings. You're just hacked off cuz I told everybody how to do it
themselves.[/I][/I]
 
By the by, Silvaire
I have worked up a functional design involving just those things,
and no one needs to tell me about the poor quality of much of
the Chinese stuff out there. Believe me I know.
Just now as I was thinking I came up with a much simpler
idea yet for a belt drive kit. I don't know if I should sell it to
Dave Staton or just post it on Instructables. What do you
think I should do, Happy Valley?
 
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By the by, Silvaire
I have worked up a functional design involving just those things,
and no one needs to tell me about the poor quality of much of
the Chinese stuff out there. Believe me I know.
Just now as I was thinking I came up with a much simpler
idea yet for a belt drive kit. I don't know if I should sell it to
Dave Staton or just post it on Instructables. What do you
think I should do, Happy Valley?

Hey, don't keep us in suspense, please make one of your setups and show us pictures. I can't wait to try it for myself.
 
Okay, Bike guy,
You want the simple one or the hard one. Since being cheyenne, i only
take what I need so I'll give you the easy one for free. If you already own
a Staton, Dax, or BMP friction kit, reverse the channel so the the engine is
on the right. If you have a 1.375" or 1.5" roller notch in 5/16 by 1/2 wide
to receive a v-belt,(you're making a pulley at the far left of the roller).
Get an aluminum rim from 24" bike,( your LBS may have one in the trash
with the spokes broken ,or find a cheap old bmx in a thrift). Center it on a
26" 36 spoked wheel and mark the rim where the spokes meet and notch rim ..
to fit. a bit of copper wire run around behind the spokes will secure the rim
in place.
You will most likely need spacers to offset the channel to the side of the
U-bolt in order to aline the pulley with the drive ring. Instead of pushing down
to engage roller, you pull up to engage belt and clamp off skewer. The belt
should be about 61", but be sure to measure it before order from Reid supply,
( about $7).
 
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