Electric starter

[Eco Speeder]

80 bucks is a good price, especially with shipping included. Pocket bike engines are ideal for motorized bike use, and a lot of them have a clutch/gearbox as part of the deal.

The chinese TLE-43 engines are generally fine. You will need a starter solenoid circuit and a good battery to crank the engine over because of the simple direct drive starter motor. Gear reduction would have been much better, but would be more complex and a gear reduction starter w/bendix drive could not be used as a generator. The motor/generator didn't have any problems keeping the battery charged, although maximum drain from the lighting was probably only a couple of amps because all the lights (except the headlight) were LED's.

A better engine would be one of the "47cc" pocket bike engines on the "Caglliari" style pocket bikes. These have reed valve induction, high compression heads (premium fuel reqired) and they can really scream! Both use the same industry standard clutch mount. (pull start only though)

FWIW, a lot of "49cc" pocket bike engines are actually smaller in displacement if you calculate the bore/stroke. Truth in advertising isn't a strong point with some of these imports.

Thanks for the input.

What do you mean by "premium fuel". The gas here is a federally mandated mix of 10% ethanol and some really toxic other stuff. I think the ethanol might be robbing me of some giddy-up(?)


Michael

 

[Eco Speeder]

80 bucks is a good price, especially with shipping included. Pocket bike engines are ideal for motorized bike use, and a lot of them have a clutch/gearbox as part of the deal.

The chinese TLE-43 engines are generally fine. You will need a starter solenoid circuit and a good battery to crank the engine over because of the simple direct drive starter motor. Gear reduction would have been much better, but would be more complex and a gear reduction starter w/bendix drive could not be used as a generator. The motor/generator didn't have any problems keeping the battery charged, although maximum drain from the lighting was probably only a couple of amps because all the lights (except the headlight) were LED's.

A better engine would be one of the "47cc" pocket bike engines on the "Caglliari" style pocket bikes. These have reed valve induction, high compression heads (premium fuel reqired) and they can really scream! Both use the same industry standard clutch mount. (pull start only though)

FWIW, a lot of "49cc" pocket bike engines are actually smaller in displacement if you calculate the bore/stroke. Truth in advertising isn't a strong point with some of these imports.

Might you have a link for buying just the motor? It's amazing they can market the whole bike for $260.

Michael

 

[arceeguy]

By "premium" fuel, I mean "High Octane" - sorry for the confusion.
The 47cc "Cag" style engines have high compression, so their octane requirements are higher than most 2 cycle utility engines. They are more difficult to turn over when starting, kind of like how a good chain saw is much more difficult to turn over than a weed trimmer.

Here's one with a reduction gearbox attached: CLICK HERE

They are also available with a "direct drive" clutch assembly like this.

Just go on eBay and search for "pocket bike engine" and you'll come up with a bunch of hits. Problem is that most of these eBayers want huge shipping costs to make up for their lowball pricing.

Added: The good thing about the Cag engines is that their gearboxes do not reverse the rotation of the crankshaft like the gearboxes on the TLE style engines, so the rear sprocket is naturally on the correct side of the bike. (drivers side? LOL) I was thinking of putting a Cag gearbox on my TLE, but I really want the bike CVT equipped for hill climbing and easy 30mph cruising. I don't think a single speed drive would be flexible enough with such a small engine.