Checklist
1)Get yourself a decent bicycle.I have an old Giant mountain bike that I modified. It only has eight speeds but with the motor that's all I need. The bike has to comfortable and solid. With good brakes, good wheels and a frame that won't fall apart under hostile vibration. I personally think that it's hard to find a decent bike, new for under $300.
2) Find a engine kit. I am working on my third engine now. But this is my second kit. Generally you get what you pay for. I bought the cheapest one I could find on eBay and eventually wound up replacing every item. I would search around on the site and see which ones users here would recommend first. The way I figure it is that I paid a couple hundred dollars and got a lesson in two cycle motor repair, disassembly and maintenance.
You also get to learn about fuel mixture, carburetors and magneto's as well as every other part on these little kit's. Because these motors are not terribly well-balanced they have a tendency to shake themselves to pieces. So something else I wouldn't forget would be a bottle of blue Loctite and a few extra 10 mm nuts so you can double nut all of your extraneous hardware.
There is definitely a learning curve on these kits. It took me over a year before I got comfortable dealing with these engines. I am still learning and him being surprised. All in all it's kind of neat having actual control over the vehicle you drive around and you can tell people that you pass I built this.
mike
