Motovelo
Jason:
Thanks for letting me know how the engine from Motovelo is working out for you. Reputation is everything in this biz! I was interested in Motovelo because it is one of the few places that will send a 2 stroke China girl to CA and it turns out that the guy is actually is based in my town. However, there are a few things that make me hesitate buying from him. (1) He claims his engine is better than anyone else's but I'm not sure I believe him. I spoke to him live on the phone and he told me that he only has kits in his warehouse but that he could have an engine sent to me directly for $160. This tells me that he doesn't actually do anything to the engines except unload them off a truck. He is offering to send me an engine he will never even see first. I asked him what the shipping cost or tax is and he said "$165 shipped to you." This seemed kinda flaky to me. His website had them listed for more! Also, (2) he was a sponsor at motorbicyling forum and actually got banned from the forum after he was questioned about why his engines are really the best,
Read this thread, its actually kinda funny to read. His engines might actually be better than others, I don't know, I doubt they are any worse, but if he is BSing about that, I wonder if I can believe anything he says, if you know what I mean. If I was certain his China girls were really modified to run better and last longer I would have no problem paying extra but I just don't believe they really are. It's nice that he will send to CA but he isn't the only one who will and I found cheaper ones, even with shipping costs factored in that look just as good to me. Also, I have a friend in another state who is happy to reship one to me if I want to buy it from a place that won't ship to CA as long as I pay the extra shipping costs.
I originally purchased
this kit (he will ship to CA) and I must say that if I had it to do over again I would get a different kit. It came with no kill switch (I purchased a new throttle with a kill switch attached from sickbikeparts.com), the clutch lever arrived broken (he did send another one for free), and the engine died after only 500 miles. I did get a good spark plug before I installed it but It had bushings instead of crank bearings and the bushings came apart and got sucked into the cylinder and out the exhaust causing major damage to the piston (see pictures at
this tread--post #7). I still might be able to fix it but I have decided that it isn't really worth my time and expense to fix and it's smarter to just get another engine. I might consider getting another entire kit for spare parts but I really only need a replacement engine at this time.
Sorry to hear about your frame, that sucks!! Did you drill a hole in the frame to mount the engine? I don't recommend that you do that because it weakens the frame, I think it's better to get a clamp to mount the engine to the frame instead.
Anyhow, good luck and thanks for answering my question!!