UnusualAphid
New Member
Hello all. I'm here in Southern Maryland and have been viewing this site for a few months. Finally decided I needed to actually join!
I bought a 66cc chain drive engine from bikeberry.com in April and have been riding and tinkering with my bike ever since. The engine is mounted on a $75 Roadmaster mountain bike from Walmart. I definitely had to make some adjustments along the way, as the engine didn't quite fit. I had to angle the engine. Angling the engine created some interesting dilemmas, as I had to link the carburator to the engine using some plastic tubing I bought at Ace, as the carb wouldn't fit in the frame otherwise. Also, due to the engine's angle, the chain has been cutting into the metal of the engine, creating two deep grooves, although not affecting any critical engine components. Also, due to the angle the exhaust pipe came out near the pedals, so until i find some kind of pedal extender the pedals are unusable. (This means finding a big hill when I want to start the engine.)
It's definitely been a very enjoyable project. Before this project I knew close to nothing about engines, and while I am certainly no expert now, I've learned a heck of a lot. However I have been a little dissapointed with the amount of tinkering that is needed to keep the bike running, although i suppose part of this is due to the mods I've had to make. I have probably ridden the bike several hours, yet spent well over a hundred hours working on it (I'm unemployed so plenty of time on my hands). I've had a lot of issues with the chain breaking apart, gas leaking, engine shaking loose, and everything in between. I enjoy working on it and learning new things, but a a LIL less work and a little more riding would be nice.
Another interesting thing to mention. Back when I didn't know much about chains, I had put three master links in the bike chain (still not sure why I did that). And, some of these master links were not of the same grade as the chain. Of course they broke, and not wanting to buy a new chain, I actually had to unbreak the chain if that's a word. Using needle nose pliers and a hammer, I was able to reconnect the chain using the pliers to hold the pin while I aligned all the parts of the chain and hammered the pin through. It was a doable but VERY difficult task. I now have just the original master link in the chain, and it seems to be working well.
I'm definitely thinking my next project will be a friction drive system. The reduction in moving parts, ease of assembly, and reliability are all things that I think might make the friction drive system preferable. I'm thinking of using a beach cruiser (due to the comfortable riding style and good tires for the friction drive), the mount system from bikemotorparts.com, and a honda Gx35. Any advice if this sounds like a good plan, or maybe if I should use a different engine would be great.
Anyways hope I didn't bore anyone but just wanted to share my experience. I'll try and post some pics. Also, thanks to everyone on here who has spent the time writing tutorials and addressing problems. This bike wouldn't have run at all without the helpful posts on here.
I bought a 66cc chain drive engine from bikeberry.com in April and have been riding and tinkering with my bike ever since. The engine is mounted on a $75 Roadmaster mountain bike from Walmart. I definitely had to make some adjustments along the way, as the engine didn't quite fit. I had to angle the engine. Angling the engine created some interesting dilemmas, as I had to link the carburator to the engine using some plastic tubing I bought at Ace, as the carb wouldn't fit in the frame otherwise. Also, due to the engine's angle, the chain has been cutting into the metal of the engine, creating two deep grooves, although not affecting any critical engine components. Also, due to the angle the exhaust pipe came out near the pedals, so until i find some kind of pedal extender the pedals are unusable. (This means finding a big hill when I want to start the engine.)
It's definitely been a very enjoyable project. Before this project I knew close to nothing about engines, and while I am certainly no expert now, I've learned a heck of a lot. However I have been a little dissapointed with the amount of tinkering that is needed to keep the bike running, although i suppose part of this is due to the mods I've had to make. I have probably ridden the bike several hours, yet spent well over a hundred hours working on it (I'm unemployed so plenty of time on my hands). I've had a lot of issues with the chain breaking apart, gas leaking, engine shaking loose, and everything in between. I enjoy working on it and learning new things, but a a LIL less work and a little more riding would be nice.
Another interesting thing to mention. Back when I didn't know much about chains, I had put three master links in the bike chain (still not sure why I did that). And, some of these master links were not of the same grade as the chain. Of course they broke, and not wanting to buy a new chain, I actually had to unbreak the chain if that's a word. Using needle nose pliers and a hammer, I was able to reconnect the chain using the pliers to hold the pin while I aligned all the parts of the chain and hammered the pin through. It was a doable but VERY difficult task. I now have just the original master link in the chain, and it seems to be working well.
I'm definitely thinking my next project will be a friction drive system. The reduction in moving parts, ease of assembly, and reliability are all things that I think might make the friction drive system preferable. I'm thinking of using a beach cruiser (due to the comfortable riding style and good tires for the friction drive), the mount system from bikemotorparts.com, and a honda Gx35. Any advice if this sounds like a good plan, or maybe if I should use a different engine would be great.
Anyways hope I didn't bore anyone but just wanted to share my experience. I'll try and post some pics. Also, thanks to everyone on here who has spent the time writing tutorials and addressing problems. This bike wouldn't have run at all without the helpful posts on here.
