Originally Posted by
2dialed
hi everyone.... this is a great forum and i've spent much time looking at different options as to what could work and it took several weeks to find that design logic da bomb frame set up for a 4 stroke. not being a bike builder and not knowing all the components that could fit it would be very easy for me to end up with several boxes of extra parts. i know it would be easier to use a electric midrive like a stoke monkey or that mid drive from uban commuter and not have to do a hack job gas powered ( i suspect all purist over here) but i don't like the idea of riding around with a grand worth of batteries and hoping i can get a thousand discharge cycles out of it. so i suppose my question would be on this atlas cargo do any of u think it's possible to cut the middle tube out from behind the seat post going down to the bottom tube in front of the rear tire and welding 1/4 in. steel plate for the a motor mount on top of the 2 tubes coming from the pedal crank all the way back to where the kickstand is and 1/4 in. verticle gusset between the motor mount and bottom seat post and another gusset on the top tube behind the seat post. not being an engineer i don't know if it could hold up or weaken the frame as i would like to stuff a 35cc robin suburu or a 50 cc honda in that area behind the seat post. i'm from cali and know it's gonna be a m2 drivers license one time registration and dot sticker helmet as well as keep it under 30 mph
As someone who has biult more than one gas-powered bike, I'd advise against it for a cargo bike, for a few reasons. First, the way they're geared is for speed, i.e. no torque, which doesn't help at all. If you gear it down low enough to pull, then it won't have any top end. An alternative would be to connect it to the crankset and use the bike's drivetrain (sickbikeparts.com sells a jackshaft kit to do this) but it's expensive, and I gaurantee the stock freewheel wouldn't hold up to a gas engine for long.
Second, they're a PITA to fit, they're messy, loud, and you wouldn't want to ride one for extended periods of time. Fun for a short-distance cruiser, yes, but not practical for a utility bike.
Electric is more expensive, yes, but not that bad if you use SLA batteries and piece it together yourself.