New to Motorized Bicycles

Motley

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3:06 PM
Joined
Jul 9, 2018
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38
Not officially an owner as of yet, But I am in the processes in doing so.. I'm looking into retiring from driving scooters after 11 years of doing so..
A motorized bicycle/moped was always what I wanted, But that process never made it..

The bike I have been looking into using is a Nel Lusso bike. I have considered going with a DIY kit from ebay as the cheapest I can find the bike is 150 USD. They are selling the kit plus bike for 300 USD, So I'm sure I'm helping someone who got lucky and got the bike cheap. Seems to be a family company Umoto.

Any thoughts on spending money like that?

I found most of the Motor Bicycle laws because of this site, But they are almost five year old laws. I contacted a few law enforcement officers, and they said they have no clue other than getting it registered as a moped. The only way I can think of getting it registered is getting the vin from off the bottom of the bicycle and requesting for a new title and just saying it was lost, filling everything out from there on how I want it to be.

Is there a better way to this? I would just buy it and drive it, But the thought of a cop telling me I can't drive it without being registered and needing to pedal is rather irritating in my mind.... I could keep my scooter and keep updating the tags and put the tags on the bicycle but that's asking for more trouble if caught.

I understand these bicycles can be dangerous, but I know how driving with motorist can be due to my 11 years of crazy experience. Only went down twice. One was going 68 mph in the country around a sharp turn and the scooter wouldn't turn due to low air pressure, totally whipped out in a ditch. Second time was caused by a tire being installed backwards and the rotation was set to the wrong direction plus it had just rained, entire rear end spun around. I've avoided a massive amount of possible deadly accidents. Plus drove in snow.. So I think I should be perfectly fine with my awareness/experience. But I am aware that I could die one day..

If any of you have anything to say with what's going on, from ordering the diy entire kit, to registering it, to anything at all I highly appreciate it! If it matters, I live in Virginia. Glade to have joined, I hope I get to stay
 
The bike I have been looking into using is a Nel Lusso bike. I have considered going with a DIY kit from ebay as the cheapest I can find the bike is 150 USD. They are selling the kit plus bike for 300 USD,



The huffy Nel Lusso bikes are at Walmart for $129. I would recommend a zeda 80 kit from www.bicycle-engines.com (site sponsor).

$129
https://www.bicycle-engines.com/zeda-80-complete-80cc-bicycle-engine-kit-firestorm-edition/

I personally would add a new rear wheel and some cheap lever brakes.

This wheel:
https://www.bicycle-engines.com/hd-bike-wheel-and-axle-kit/

Cheap brakes:
https://www.amazon.com/Sunlite-MX-S...dpPl=1&dpID=41DtAXqkAwL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1
 
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don't be tempted to buy the gt7...( it is sold by several kit manufactures.) I did and had to discard the reed valve ( it did not even fit the cylinder it was to large at the connection of the intake manifold and the cylinder and the gap couldn't be sealed by a gasket) and screws were crossthreaded in the case at the clutch arm and needed drilled out and replaced) and the carb is a piece of garbage and It took a lot of hours and some luck to get it to run the jets were not even close to the proper jets needed to run it without the reed valve ( I soldered them and redrilled) the extra intake that came with it to use instead of the reed valve was way off being the correct size and I needed to egg out the screws to fit the cylinder and it was also not even close to the correct size in respect to being a 40 mm larger intake size and the intake needed dremmel work to port match it.the carb filter restricted the intake by a whole lot and the bike runs tits without that filter which restricted the intake of the carb by a considerable amount. I did get it to run very well and it does go 40mph now but I would not recommend this kit at all.
 
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when a customer buys a kit from me and wants it put on any kind of coaster brake bike, I refuse to build it - bikes with derailleurs always have better brakes
 
Couldn't you just replace the wheel and install disc brakes, Or motorcycle wheels with disc brakes @crassius? I've seen a few rims from china have the brake mount on the other side.

I'm making up a post on a Facebook Trading post, seeking a project bike just to see what's out there for the right price, maybe even free.
 
One can do lots of things, but why spend time and money on a bike that was designed to only go 15mph? Adding wheel bearings and some other type of braking can be hard and cost money that isn't needed if a better bike is used from the start.

I like to start with a really cheap 21speed, or in cruisers a 7speed, that has a very heavy mild steel frame that will take the speed and vibration well, and has at least good v-brakes.
 
These bikes operate off of a different gear set then the geared peddle area. I'm not really sure what to think of that, other than bicycle geared bikes eventually become garbage as the gear system on it will go out and well personally I've always thrown the bicycle away instead of buying new gears. Of course we have Internet these days where you could reorder replacement parts so I assume anything is possible.

I would just need to make sure the frame style is what I want, I intended the toss the rims in the trash and order motorcycle rims, definitely not spoke rims. Personal bad experiences on spoke rims. Which sucks due to cost..

Still curious on the 21 speed, I was going to remove the gears and swap out the wheels if I did
 
number of gears is only important to the design engineer at the bike factory - that tells him how much speed he'll have to make braking for, and what quality bearings to use, and how much stiffening the frame welds need (even then, he won't be expecting it to hold up long at 35mph to 45mph)
 
Couldn't you just replace the wheel and install disc brakes, Or motorcycle wheels with disc brakes @crassius? I've seen a few rims from china have the brake mount on the other side.

I'm making up a post on a Facebook Trading post, seeking a project bike just to see what's out there for the right price, maybe even free.
Most bikes without disc brakes don't have disc brake mounts. There are cheap adapters on ebay, but they are nowhere near as good as welded mounts.

Check out the Klunker. It's a pretty solid bike for the price. I personally believe it's the best choice when it comes to affordable department store bikes.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/26-Columbia-ATB-Klunker-Bike/47362875
 
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Is there a better way to this? I would just buy it and drive it, But the thought of a cop telling me I can't drive it without being registered and needing to pedal is rather irritating in my mind.... I could keep my scooter and keep updating the tags and put the tags on the bicycle but that's asking for more trouble if caught.

You have to do your due diligence and look up the statutes. Rarely, do cops or the DMV know the specific statutes concerning motorized bicycles. I keep a copy of the relevant statutes and a letter from the head of the DMV stating the motorized bikes are legal in case I run into trouble.
 
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