My First Build. 4-Stroke (Picture)

[whmdan]

Here's a picture of my first build. It's very torque-y and tops out at 23mph. I have a 32 tooth sprocket on its way and plan to buy a grubee belt drive for it soon, as I've been told the kit tranny will fail soon. My goal is to top out around 30mph, which is the speed limit for most roads in my city. So far I've got about 25 miles on it, changed the oil twice and added some cheapo lights. I'm interested in an expansion muffler, mainly to reduce noise, but I haven't committed to the idea of buying one yet. I need to locate a front and rear cargo rack or basket, as that seems handy. And I need to figure out a phone mount which will accommodate my Note 9 with its 10ah battery case. The phone is too thick and heavy for most mounts. If anyone has any advice or wants to personally guide me towards success, let me know. I'm all ears. I'm enjoying the hobby so far and will probably end up using this to commute to work instead of my gas guzzling truck whenever possible.

 

[CrazyDan]

Nice build. For exhaust, an expansion chamber is useless on a 4 stroke. Good call on the 4g, you won't be disappointed. You might want to upgrade your clutch with the one from staton-inc, it's a good upgrade that will last years.

 

[DistantWolrld101]

Arkon RoadVise Around $40.00 used mine for many years even on my moped i added a few rubberbands for extra safety because well i still don't trust mounts no matter the price or pressure, i have a 12V friction light kit and instead of lights i power a car phone charger using it when i see my phone is low because i like to take long trips and sometimes i just need a GPS

Edit:
also if you don't wanna hurt your back i would look into a pair of small hi rise handle bars or cruiser handle bars

These are 13 inch hi risers and my back is not sore after daily rides lol

Stem For the Hi Rise Handle Bars

 

[whmdan]

Thanks for these suggestions! I'll look into all of them. Fortunately I don't need to worry about charging my phone when I ride thanks to the 10ah battery case. I could GPS with screen on the entire day if needed. The clutch and the handle bars look like winners to me. What's a friction light kit? Anyone know of a good speedometer? I'd like one with an odometer. That way I could just keep my phone in my pocket and not bother trying to find a way to mount it.

Edit: I just installed the new 32 tooth sprocket and tested her out. Top speed is now 30 mph according to GPS. Which is about what I wanted. From what I can figure out, the grubee belt drive is 5:1 instead of my current 6:1. So when I switch to that, I might need to consider sprockets again. I have no use for speeds above 35mph. 30 to 35 range works for me.

I was reading somewhere about steel wool in the exhaust. Would that quiet the motor? Are there any downsides? Is there a specific method to the madness? My goal with making it quieter is so I can hear when a car is near me. I know they say loud pipes save lives, but that's only true if the other drivers are paying attention or listening. I fear the girl with the radio on while she texts. If my engine is quieter, maybe I can hear her coming and avoid her.

 

[DistantWolrld101]

What's a friction light kit?

There Cheaper on ebay but Here is one on Amazon you wire it up and put the friction motor on the tire and as the tire spins it powers the lights

 

[DistantWolrld101]

Anyone know of a good speedometer? I'd like one with an odometer.

I got a basic one like this

and mag wheels for the magnet i took zip tie straps

like these and a strong flat magnet from a hardware store and hot-glued it to the strap and had ALOT better results

 

[Old Busted Hotness]

I was reading somewhere about steel wool in the exhaust. Would that quiet the motor? Are there any downsides? Is there a specific method to the madness? My goal with making it quieter is so I can hear when a car is near me. I know they say loud pipes save lives, but that's only true if the other drivers are paying attention or listening. I fear the girl with the radio on while she texts. If my engine is quieter, maybe I can hear her coming and avoid her.

It works for a little while, but water in the exhaust (natural byproduct of combustion) quickly rusts it away and blows it out. Fiberglass is a better bet, if you can keep it from packing up under pressure. Most of the noise comes from the intake and cylinder, so you're only going to see a marginal improvement at best. These just aren't quiet engines.

 

[The_Aleman]

Replacing the box muffler with a header made from a 2-stroke's exhaust + flexpipe and muffler would help lower the noise slightly. Well, at least the noise right under you. Like OBH said, these aren't really quiet engines. My 4-stroke is louder than my 2-stroke, but my 4 doesn't have a muffler, too.

 

[CrazyDan]

What aleman said with the exhaust + a free flowing air filter will unleash some choked out power. I use the air filter from sickbikeparts:

You will have to upjet to make up for the higher flow.

 

[whmdan]

Thank you Distant, Aleman, OBH and Dan. I hear your wisdom and will consider your suggestions. Dan, what method do you recommend for upjetting? Replace the carb altogether or modify it?