Ghetto Cruiser pics

Howdy all...

I have finally gotten around to posting pics of my bike. I just recently rebuilt most everything on here and upgraded from a JL hoot style gearbox and non-adjustable mounting plate to the Grubee skyhawk 2 setup with a few minor improvements. I must say I am impressed with the difference and would recommend anyone spend the extra money and get the Grubee kit and stay away from the JL Hoot setup. I have the Hua Sheng GX50 clone and it does the job just fine. With a 48 tooth rear sprocket, I get about 32 mph on flat ground. Uphill kinda suffers but my area is mostly flat. Overall I am loving this bike now that I rebuilt it with the new stuff. Feel free to give me a shout if there's any questions comments or sarcastic remarks. ;)

-Jesse

PS I am trying to figure out a lighting system for it and if you have any ideas, please help me out in this thread here. Thanks again. :)
 

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nice lookin bike !!!
where'd ya get the 1 gal tank ?????
I have been tryin to find 1 for ever (at least a year :LOL:)
 
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The tank came with my original engine kit from bikekitsdirect.com. I believe he only sells the whole kit tho. I don't think he has just parts. The gallon tank is nice I must say. I was searching ebay for a peanut tank from an old motorcycle without much luck. There were a few out there however. You might try that?
 
I remember that bike from somewhere when it had the JLHoot gearbox. I was wondering what the problem was with the JL Hoot kit. I know it only had a fixed drive sprocket which I regard as no good and I don't think they offer a freewheel sprocket option. I think they offer a freewheel hub option but that requires a total wheel build which, for the inexperienced, is expensive to get done in a bike shop.
I have the Grubee but am getting the JL Hoot to try out so I am interested in your experience of it and whether you ran oil, grease, both or nothing in the gearbox. The trouble with this kit and also the Grubee kit is the rubbish bits that they throw in which are the excat same as the rubbish they offer with the HT kits - kill switch, throttle, chinese chains, poor mounting bolts etc. The previous JL Hoot exhaust on that bike looked pretty terrible and stuck out like in attached picture. Also the silencer looked like the cheapest of the HTs - the one that blows its innards out when it's a week old.
I like what you have now and like me you have a 48T sprocket. %0 or 52T would be better on hils but even the 56T it came with struggled a bit on hills.
I had a 44T at first and it flew on the flat hitting 40 mph but couldn't climb a pram ramp!
 

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Ok... here is my spiel about the JL hoot gearbox. They are poorly designed, poorly manufactured. And yes, the fixed sprocket on the output shaft is badly in need of a freewheel. I burnt thru 2 of these in less than 3 months. My first hoot lasted a grand total of 15 minutes and had a seized clutch. I was told it was because I ran it dry. The next one I got, I used 90 wt synthetic gear oil and it always squirted out of the ported bolt that came with the GB. I ruined a nice pair of pants on my way to work the first day I rode it because of that. I replaced it with a solid bolt. When the second GB eventually failed, the gear attached to the clutch bell had disintegrated on one side. The teeth of the gear were just worn down on one side but not the other. I never did figure out why. Darndest thing... I know there is an updated version of the hoot that has angle cut gears and is supposed to be quieter, but the ones I had were loud and obnoxious. Anyhow, I _HIGHLY_ recommend sticking with the Grubee as the JL Hoot GB is junk in my opinion. The bolts and other cheap parts that come with the Grubee kit are likely to be the same with the hoot and I would suggest replacing them anyhow. So yea... I hope that answers your question. Just holler if you want to know anything else. :)

-Jesse
 
Thanks very much Vyzhion that is exactly what I need to hear. The better cut teeth are what I now think they use but the lack of freewheel sprocket and the offering of the fixed sprocket (hand cut with amazing precision so each tooth is of uneven spacing that will never fit any chain) and the rest of it is so insulting to me as a consumer that it makes me angry. I now think the way forward is to try replacing the Huangsheng with a Honda GXH 50 QHA motor. I think it fits straight on to that gearbox & centrifugal clutch. I posted a thread asking if it's a straight swap. Anyway the Huangsheng is a good motor but the Honda revs higher and has a bit more power and owners of Honda's don't seem to have the lack of pull on hills that we have. The rack mounted guys seem to be getting by far the best performance and a few reports of frame mounted Huangshengs achieving fantastic overall results I quite frankly disbelieve. Bit like the account somewhere on this site of the HT hitting 60 mph.
 
One other thing... I recall hearing somewhere that the speed sprocket for this motor is the 50 tooth and anything less can kill the clutch. I have a 50 that I will try out but I haven't yet. I don't know if the 2 teeth make THAT much of a difference but I want to give it a try anyhow. In theory the 50 should climb better and perhaps allow the clutch to work better. I'm busy building my titan this weekend, but when I get around to puting the 50T on my grubee frame-mount I'll let you know how it works. Good luck! :)
 
Vyzhion, the 50T will be marginally better but it won't be enough to get you up really big hills. The Grubee kit from Bicycle Engines.com comes with a 56T sprocket and even that can't take big hills. Whether the front sprocket is 10T or 11T also has a big bearing on the pulling power.
I haven't found any problem with the clutch on the 48T. When the motor knocks at 20 km\hr I get off and push cos I'm nearly at the top of the hill and my legs need a rest. I change over to a 44T which I have set up ready with its own shorter chain on the days I ride long distances on the freeway which has no big hills and it is fun flyng along at over 60 km\hr. No clutch problem from that either. I think the motor will tell you quick enough when the clutch is struggling and it's time to pedal like mad or get off. I've done 1700 kms so far on this motor.
 
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