Soon to be Stingray owner

Cubey

Member
Local time
11:39 PM
Joined
May 18, 2020
Messages
36
Hello!

I have been wanting a Stingray type bike for a couple years now and today Walmart's site had some for $125!!

Here is the link in case anyone wants to grab one: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Schwinn-Sting-Ray-Bicycle-single-speed-20-Inch-wheels/841993718

They had blue and orange, but the last 2 blue sold out while I was mulling it over (within an hour!) so I hurried and ordered the orange one, which is what I was leaning towards anyway. It's gonna be almost a month before it gets here though, June 12th.

At first, I wanted to make it an ebike, but current pandemic prices means it would cost about $500, battery and all.... ouch!! I travel around in an RV (hunkered down at my mom's right now due closures and the general pandemic) so an ebike would probably be California friendly, but eh, I don't spend much time there anyway, I can leave it on the rack and not use it while I'm there, not a big deal. I spend more time in states where 2 cycle is probably no big deal. I would mainly ride it in rural areas and small towns no matter where I go anyway, so I doubt I'd get hassled very much. I have full motorcyle endorsement from years ago when I rode 125-250cc scooters, so they can't get me for lack of a permit/motorcycle license.

Googling the idea of an engine on such a bike brought me to this forum, more specifically to this thread: https://motoredbikes.com/threads/20-inch-old-school.12721/

Any Stingray gas bike owners still around on here?

I have my eye on this 48cc 2 cycle engine kits for around $100, which I'm guessing is what people on them? That should be 49 state friendly as a "motorized bicycle", unless things have changed in the past ~10 years.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/50cc-2-Str...584592?hash=item4dac3435d0:g:grMAAOSw1d5ewhNr
 
Links to eBay may include affiliate code. If you click on an eBay link and make a purchase, this forum may earn a small commission.
Welcome to MotoredBikes. (y)

On that motor.... https://prnt.sc/sjbgow Buyer Beware !!

Thanks for the warning. A lot of people leave bad reviews/feedback for crap reasons though. I have read that the 4 cycle kits don't come with any instructions, so I bet the 2 cycle kits don't either.

For about a dollar more, this one says it ships from the New Jersey, but is based in Hong Kong. A lot of ebay sellers are like that, it seems. They run a warehouse here but the company itself isn't based here. Their negative feedback is roughly 3% of buyers, same as the one you warned me about. Can't please everyone!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/50cc-Bike-...927088?hash=item48a0d48330:g:rm4AAOSwiEVens54
 
Links to eBay may include affiliate code. If you click on an eBay link and make a purchase, this forum may earn a small commission.
Just pay with paypal if you go for it.... Paypal saved my azz a lot with bad sellers.
 
Welcome Cubey. Expect some thread drift around here
Sting Ray? I got a Sting Ray (Bat Ray) Their a lot of fun, These Bat Rays get up to 50 lbs They run and jump like sport fish. Their pretty cool when there done fighting they come up to the side of the kayak and let me take the hook out. This is a pic of a small one about 15 - 20 lbs
 

Attachments

  • DSCF3475.JPG
    DSCF3475.JPG
    188.3 KB · Views: 216
  • DSCF3476.JPG
    DSCF3476.JPG
    122.8 KB · Views: 202
  • DSCF3478.JPG
    DSCF3478.JPG
    177.8 KB · Views: 260
  • DSCF3482.JPG
    DSCF3482.JPG
    160.1 KB · Views: 217
One upgrade that might be worth doing is a pull start. Then the engine will be warmed up before taking off, no stopping to mess with the choke. They cost all of $16. It would make it easier to ride away on but years ago I had a 40cc scooter with pull start and I rode the hell out of it in Sacramento (2003-2004) and it never got stolen. I used a heavy duty rubber over steel cable with a pad lock. Somebody sorta sliced the rubber once like you would peel a potato but they barely got any off before they gave up.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Alloy-...168981?hash=item3604776ad5:g:YVoAAOSwMfhaZjBo
 
Links to eBay may include affiliate code. If you click on an eBay link and make a purchase, this forum may earn a small commission.
Dang! Laws have gotten stricter in the past 10 years for gas powered bikes. Texas would consider it a "moped" and require insurance, which is a state I'm often in. Maybe I'll leave it as a bicycle, or do an ebike conversion once prices on the kits go back to normal.

If I want something gas, I guess I'd have to get a moped or scooter that wold be able to be titled and registered in my home state, along with insurance, so it's legal in all states.
 
Dang! Laws have gotten stricter in the past 10 years for gas powered bikes. Texas would consider it a "moped" and require insurance, which is a state I'm often in. Maybe I'll leave it as a bicycle, or do an ebike conversion once prices on the kits go back to normal.

If I want something gas, I guess I'd have to get a moped or scooter that wold be able to be titled and registered in my home state, along with insurance, so it's legal in all states.

Cube it is a Motor assisted bike , if it were a Moped it would have a VIN number. So officer can u find the vin number? no, so its not a vehicle. Claim a disability to aid the effect, So u wish me to die pedaling this.
 
Cube it is a Motor assisted bike , if it were a Moped it would have a VIN number. So officer can u find the vin number? no, so its not a vehicle. Claim a disability to aid the effect, So u wish me to die pedaling this.

That term doesn't exist in the law for many states. And in fact, the clutch on the cheap 2 cycle kits disqualifies it from being a "motorized bicycle" in places like Arkansas, since the a requirement is "automatic transmission". Heck, under Arkansas law, a 49cc moped is the same as a bicycle with an engine kit. I rode a Honda Spree for years with no plate in Arkansas because it fell under the motorized bicycle/moped law:

"A motorized bicycle, or moped, must have human powered pedals, an automatic transmission, a motor less than 50 cubic centimetres that does not propel the bike faster than 30mph. A moped should also be equipped with headlights with a capacity for 250 feet, a rear red reflector visible at 150 feet, a red light lamp visible at 250 feet at the rear, brakes, a horn, and a muffler.

Texas flat out says motorized bicycles must be insured and registered. HOW with no VIN? And I don't live in Texas anyway. They do have "Motor Assisted Scooters" but that refers to "gopeds" by the definition:

Neighborhood Electronic Vehicles and Motor Assisted Scooters
A neighborhood electronic vehicle is defined as a vehicle subject to Federal Motor Safety Standard 500 with a top speed of 35 mph on a paved level surface.
A motor assisted scooter is defined as a self-propelled device with:
1. At least two wheels in contact with the ground
2. A braking system capable of stopping the device under normal operating conditions
3. A gas or electric motor not exceeding 40 cc
4. A deck designed to allow a person to stand or sit while operating the device, and
5. The ability to be propelled by human power alone
Both vehicles may only be operated on a street or highway when the posted speed limit is 45 mph or less for a neighborhood electronic vehicle and 35 mph or less for a motor assisted scooter.

Check out this link for Texas law:
https://nextdoor.com/agency-post/tx...artment/motorized-bicycles-in-texas-72193771/

Sadly, it's just too questionable for me to blow $100+ on a gas engine kit since I would want to run it all around the country in many states. Cops don't have to even know the laws, it's NONE of their concern. Their job is NOT to enforce the law as so many people pretend, that's the court's job. If it was, they'd have to be lawyers essentially, studying the law and passing the bar. So, even if I know the law and I'm in the legal right, there is no legal defense against a cop. They have unlimited power at that scene and you cannot question or defy it. ANd every cop has a different opinion even in the same city, depending on the day.

When just bicycle riding back around 2002-2003 in Sacramento over in the Arden/El Camino area, I was on an overpass that only has sidewalk on one side, and a cop got on PA and said I couldn't ride against traffic while on the sidewalk, I had to ride on the sidewalk on the side of the road with the flow of traffic. I said ok, and walked it that way for the rest of the day. A week later, just blocks away from the last spot.... following that "rule", a different cop told me I can't ride on the sidewalk at all... which was a lie. But I said ok since you must comply or be illegally ticketed and/or arrested. Unless you have thousands of dollars to blow on a defense lawyer, you must bootlick. So for the rest of that day, I didn't ride on sidewalks. But for the next several years after that day? I always rode on sidewalks and no one ever bothered me again, even in that same area.

If I wanted it for off roading then it might be fine.
 
Last edited:
A guy in Illinois had DUI and lost his DL so he thought he was doing right with a motorized biyclce, but instead:

"He got pulled over in Decatur in July after a police officer said he measured the bike's speed at more than 30 mph. Burns was ticketed for driving while license revoked, operating an uninsured vehicle, having no registration and not wearing goggles. Police seized the bike as evidence. Burns then attempted to fight the tickets on the grounds that his motorized bike was not a moped. He appeared to have won the day Aug. 11, when the Macon County State's Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss the charges on the grounds that the moped statute "does not apply to such a vehicle." "

https://herald-review.com/news/loca...cle_2504c8b0-2956-599a-b44c-4fc4fef2a6a6.html

Yeah you might be able to fight it in court but if you are from out of state and may not be there in a month or two when the case comes up, you just have to pay the ticket and have driving without insurance on your record!

I'd rather have it as a bicycle than have all sorts of problems with cops harassing me over it. At least with a run if the mill bike, they typically just warn you and send you on your way, unless you are doing something really stupid/dangerous or you argue with them excessively.

Or I can spend $500+ on an ebike kit since those seem to be far more lax in the law vs gas bikes. But by that point, I might as well have bought a nice old moped with lights and bigger tires/wheels for $600-700 and be able to get it registered in my home state. But, an ebike means no insurance cost so there's that.
 
Back
Top