Is a Dahon M7 a good candidate to motorize? (Staton ?)

5

5-7HEAVEN

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:D Howziit guys,

Wife and i drive to work together. same dayshift work schedule, but she tends to stay an hour or so later. i'd rather be home or gone, instead of waiting. tried bringing two cars, which didn't make sense. bringing her bike meant driving the van instead of our small car.
a guy's selling a used DAHON MARINER 7 for $200. 5 years old, spent time on his boat. is this a good deal? i'm looking to install a MITSUBISHI 43cc friction drive (1.5"roller for speed)from STATON. is this a good match of bike and engine? the bike folds down to 12"X22"X33", should fit in my trunk. at 40 pounds with engine, i should easily carry it up my 2-story walkup.
it's a 5-mile run home, just 1 medium hill near home.
i'm also going back to night school after work. the college is 3 blocks from work. i'll be needing lights,safety gear,etc.
should i buy this bike? i'm meeting the guy in a few days.
thanks for help.

Myron
 
Sounds like a good candidate for a lightweight friction drive. It might even fit in the trunk of a small car.

How have you been Myron, I remember you from the old visforvoltage forum, I went as E_equals_IR back then. Any idea where the electric crowd went after that board fell apart?
 
Crowd??? Board fell apart??? Go GET 'EM and bring them here! We have the Electric Avenue for the sparky folks.

Sorry for "Jackin" your thread, but the more the merrier. We might even convert some of those sparky's to gas! :D :D :D

Papa
 
8) Howziit skyl4rk,

long time no see. :D
i still have my electric cruiser, CRYSTALYTE front hub, 72vdc, 80 pounds of batteries. :eek: you still have your electric bike?
playing with ICE(internal combustion engines) for now. batteries too heavy or too expensive to go fast.
anyway, i met the seller, rode the DAHON bike, liked it and bought it. it's in the shop now for a tuneup, brakepads, performance tires and tubes.
it fit easily in my small car's trunk.
still doing research on the engine.

Myron
 
Yup, I still have my electric bike and I have an ICE bike on order. I'm crossing over to the dark side to be able to do long distance rides. One hour of battery power is just not enough!

2035_sedona_1.jpg


You might be able to get by with a smaller motor, 35cc or so, because the bike and friction drive assembly will be very light. Also, with those small tires you will not want to go extremely fast. If you have a lot of hill climbing go with a bigger size.

Make sure you get tires with a smooth surface and a lot of tread thickness.

I have driven many miles on a Solex, friction drive works fine.
 
:eek: No disrespect, but didn't you buy one of those cheap chinese bikes, which came with the electric motor...and the crankset broke?
and didn't you have those WALD rear metal baskets? if that was you, i copied you and bought the large WALD rear baskets and the front basket. i mounted my batteries in my baskets, front and rear.
i seem to vaguely recall your picture near the waterfront. :cool:
 
Yes, I started out with a cruiser, but after hitting potholes at speed I was convinced I needed a better bike. I was also using the Wald wire baskets to hold two sets of 36V 12A-h battery packs. I love my shocks on this bike, unfortunately the Wald baskets didn't fit, so I am back to a single battery pack.
 
8) I've decided to buy a ROBIN 35cc 4-stroke friction drive for my DAHON bike. less powerful than the MITSUBISHI, but more than enough for the tiny 26-pound bike. i like the fact that the engine can be easily retrofitted to my girlie cruiser, or my wife's 24" bike.
so if i buy on ebay through this forum's link, it is a good thing, right? :?

Myron
 
if the searchbox is used for any reason and you make a purchase within 30(?) days, we make a small amount that goes towards MBc stickers...thanks for asking :)
 
8) Thanks for the tip, augidog. i bought the ROBIN engine on ebay an hour ago; rear mount, 1 1/8" roller for 200-pounders(me), 96 oz tank for 120-150-mile range.
i hope no one pees in my big gas tank at night school. :eek:
 
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