Buyer Aware

Looked

Look through their Engine Info & see what u think.Your probably better-off with a 4-stroke but the 2's are also VERY good.....it's all personal preference.
See also the Engines/setups at Staton.
http://bikemotorparts.com/index.html
http://www.staton-inc.com/

I noticed that it has a roller instead of a belt. Wouldn't the roller slip in the rain? Wouldn't the belt be better?

Has anyone seen a good micro diesel motor. I imagine it would be quieter with twice the mpg and more torque at under 2hp.
 
I noticed that it has a roller instead of a belt. Wouldn't the roller slip in the rain? Wouldn't the belt be better?

Has anyone seen a good micro diesel motor. I imagine it would be quieter with twice the mpg and more torque at under 2hp.
The belt would slip in the wet so u would need to reduce your RPM conciderably.
NONE of these systems are perfect & they ALL have their shortcomings.
For my 4-stroke rear drive i chose the Dax Titan,however my latest build is friction.
It would be good to hear from some 2 strokers cos their also pretty good & some are exceedingly quiet.
Good luck with your micro diesel persuits...if u find anything suitable please post it.
P1010085.JPG
 
Low quality audio tracks aren't a very good way of telling if an engine is quiet or not. I have a couple Mitsubishi TLE43's (2 stroke). The staton Nuvinci with engine on the right side is noticeably louder than my staton friction with engine on the left side of the bike. This is probably because the lack of a gearbox/chain setup and the fact that the muffler is at the absolute rear of the bike on a friction setup. Your revs will also make a huge difference in how loud your rig will be. If your top speed is 25 and you make it a habit of cruising around 20 your engine is going to be fairly quiet since you're not running it at peak revs.
I haven't run my subaru eho35 yet but I've heard from other riders that they're definitely more quiet than the TLE so it would be my suggestion. You'll lose out on about half a horsepower though but if you want something stealthy you probably want to avoid zooming around at 30+mph anyways.
 
Findings

The belt would slip in the wet so u would need to reduce your RPM conciderably.
NONE of these systems are perfect & they ALL have their shortcomings.
For my 4-stroke rear drive i chose the Dax Titan,however my latest build is friction.
It would be good to hear from some 2 strokers cos their also pretty good & some are exceedingly quiet.
Good luck with your micro diesel persuits...if u find anything suitable please post it.
View attachment 15479

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAKAENUL8I8

So far I've found a video of the micro diesel trials^ and this on a vintage motor that gets 300mpg!
More info on the Lohmann engine from Dieselbike.net.

"The 18cc engine is of German manufacture and is designed to be clipped onto a bicycle. Its bore was 28mm and stroke 30mm. Made in the austerity era after WW2 it sold for the sum of £25.45 and was ideal if you needed to travel about cheaply giving its owner a reputed 300mpg!. Different sorces say the engine was produced in either 1949, 1951 or 1952. Fitted below the crank this engine drove the rear wheel by means of a roller. The interesting thing about this engine was that the compression was variable due to the fact that the 'Head' was movable by twist grip throttles. One presumes it was adjusted to what fuel was being used with the ignition taking place under compression. Apparently the engine came with a booklet carb jettings for various fuels. It could be run on either gasoline, diesel, kerosene or lamp oil. For the record compression ratio limits were between 8:1 and 125:1. The makers recommended 30:1 for starting the unit and 17:1 to run it. Top speed was said to be 16mph with the 2 stroke engine running at 6000rpm (0.8hp). It was said to be able to
 
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I thought you wanted quiet? I would be willing to be you will not see diesel bicycle engines anytime soon. You can run alcohol effectively in ICE's by raising the compression ratio as much as possible, two strokes are easier than 4 to convert but both are doable. Get David Blume's book Alcohol Can Be A Gas and a BATF permit and have at it. Mufflers make motors quiet. The trick is to make them quiet and not lose power, or much anyway.
 
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Diesel

I thought you wanted quiet? I would be willing to be you will not see diesel bicycle engines anytime soon. You can run alcohol effectively in ICE's by raising the compression ratio as much as possible, two strokes are easier than 4 to convert but both are doable. Get David Blume's book Alcohol Can Be A Gas and a BATF permit and have at it. Mufflers make motors quiet. The trick is to make them quiet and not lose power, or much anyway.

I was surprised at how noisy the diesels are, I thought the lower rpm would make them quieter. Robin Subaru seems to be the one. Now to decide on which kit?
 
You might like a electric bike?

I'd say the vid from Quebec is a fair representation of what to expect from the exhaust note of the stock Robin 35....or the Honda of the same size.

Both Robin and Honda make a 25cc motor that might be a tad lower in DBs.

These are utility engines that often are used on hand held equiptment so an integrated and compact muffler is a design consideration over lower noise.

There are some mods available, both DIY and commercial. The commerical ones I've seen that are effective are pricey, over half the price of the stock motor. The DIY are a mixed bag in effectiveness, I've tried several but the issue is lowered noise at the expense of power loss. Muffler design for IC engines is a science and though I've read a bit it requires some fairly serious study.

I went with the 4 stokes engines because of the lower pitch sound over the higher pitch 2 strokes but they can be quieted as well. A friend has a 50cc Yamaha Zuma and it's a 2 stroke and it is far quieter than a Robin 35. Of course it has the Yamaha enginneering dept behind it and the muffler is a welded steel affair some 30" long and quite heavy.
 
Rain has many effects on biking, but in years of riding GEBEs, belt slippage is NOT one of them, in fact, rain doesn't effect anything about the engine or kit.

I was amazed my first time riding through a torrent, how the engine never sputtered at all.

If wet weather is a worry, the only things you can do are make sure you have a front fender, a poncho, and Rain-X on your goggles. But don't worry about the belt, they are tight and sitting in grooves.

The belt would slip in the wet so u would need to reduce your RPM conciderably.

I can't speak for other types of belt drives, but even Harley's are belt driven now, and water does not effects those motorcycles, any more than it would an auto or a tractor.
 
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This looks like the best deal: $400 Robin Subaru Roller kit, http://www.staton-inc.com/Details.asp?ProductID=2747 or is it worth the extra $300 to get a belt drive or $830 for a chain drive shifter? http://www.staton-inc.com/Details.asp?ProductID=3243

How about the Robin Subaru EHO35 chain drive for $529, You don't really need the Nuvinci hub in the Salem, Ma. area.Plus it adds 8lbs. more. My first kit was a GEBE with the same motor, it's a very reliable and quiet motor, no gas/oil mixing, it starts VERY easily, but I highly recommend the chain drive, it's by far the most reliable kit out there. I run mine from Lawrence to Peabody 3 or 4 times a week, it just keeps on going. If you're over200 lbs. like I am , I'd recommend the Mitsubishi TLE43, it's louder than the Robin but it's still pretty quiet and it will give you the extra hp to pull your weight . The Staton kit is harder to install but is well worth the effort.
 
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