Next engine

[graggy]

Ok talking to a lot of you on here for advice and am getting some great info and help from a lot of you that have been building these bikes for a while. My question is if you were going to buy another engine what would you buy and who would you buy it from? I’m thinking about building another one but I want to make it with the best components I can afford

 

[darwin]

Ready for a landmine field going forward? Incoming, DUCK and COVER!

 

[Gordy]

Ok talking to a lot of you on here for advice and am getting some great info and help from a lot of you that have been building these bikes for a while. My question is if you were going to buy another engine what would you buy and who would you buy it from? I’m thinking about building another one but I want to make it with the best components I can afford

I think the phantom 85 is a good and powerful engine. After that any of the zeda motors (those are made by the same manufacturer as the phantom). Despite bike berry's bad rep, what I have seen of their engines is pretty decent. The bike berry bt80 and bt100 are good engines. If you can't fork out the cash for any of those, the yd/ld100 platform is a great place to start and have tons of options for upgrades and have a very low cost.

 

[fivestar45]

As I see things is that Chinese Q/C is at best sketchy.
So to do better with going that route would be a repeat.
To Me, starting a build with a quality Japanese motor would be the best step forward. Granted, there is an initial price difference but you'll have far less challenges using a Honda, Zenoah, Subaru etc.

 

[graggy]

I think the phantom 85 is a good and powerful engine. After that any of the zeda motors (those are made by the same manufacturer as the phantom). Despite bike berry's bad rep, what I have seen of their engines is pretty decent. The bike berry bt80 and bt100 are good engines. If you can't fork out the cash for any of those, the yd/ld100 platform is a great place to start and have tons of options for upgrades and have a very low cost.

I have a 66/80 engine that I bought from bike berry. The only issue I had with is the head needed to be sanded on a piece of glass to get it flat because the head gasket was leaking. Talking to them is like talking to a wall. They are useless once they have your money so I think I will stay away from them. Is there different versions of the phantom 85 and is there a decent seller to buy them from?

 

[Gordy]

I have a 66/80 engine that I bought from bike berry. The only issue I had with is the head needed to be sanded on a piece of glass to get it flat because the head gasket was leaking. Talking to them is like talking to a wall. They are useless once they have your money so I think I will stay away from them. Is there different versions of the phantom 85 and is there a decent seller to buy them from?

The current one you will find everywhere is the V3. There is the Menace 85 which is a phantom with the head chopped off and a cnc head. If you want to go that route wait for V4. If you are satisfied with V3 get it from bicycle-engines.com. they have a 30day defective parts warranty and a 6 month engine warranty.

 

[Gordy]

Bicycle-engines.com also has great customer service.

 

[Deleted member 33057]

If money is a concern then I’d say the best route..most power for an economy budget.. the phantom is the clear and obvious choice.
For $300 you get everything needed.

Californiamotorbikes.com has a few options on built or partial builds very affordable.

All the Minarelli hybrids I’ve built ended up costing $600 and up and I doubt the value is worth it with the now available cheaper options. It’s probably debatable whether the parts I used are that much better, if any, than the cheaper priced built engines.

When I started looking for performance the Phantom and other engines were not available.
If I did another engine right now I’d go with the Phantom.

 

[graggy]

The current one you will find everywhere is the V3. There is the Menace 85 which is a phantom with the head chopped off and a cnc head. If you want to go that route wait for V4. If you are satisfied with V3 get it from bicycle-engines.com. they have a 30day defective parts warranty and a 6 month engine warranty.

Do you know when the v4 is supposed to come out? And what is the difference?

 

[Gordy]

Do you know when the v4 is supposed to come out? And what is the difference?

No, they haven't announced anything. People just speculate that V4 is gonna be a 2 piece jug and a better cooling head.