Alt Bike Culture - Putting a motor on an old cruizer

I am restoring a 1940's columbia cruizer. Today I got an idea. How possible would it be to mount a motor on it? I don't mean the kind of thing where you have to pedal it up to speed, but more of a minibike setup. I don't know very much about motors, but I am quite handy with tools. I don't want to have to do major welding. I suppose what I am really wondering is, are there any kits available for this sort of thing?

There are/were motor kits for cruisers. Belt driven on a big pulley attached to the spokes.

get one of the old flip flop style hubs, put a single speed direct drive sprocket on the 'off' side and a centrifical clutch on the motor along with a decent throttle control should work nicely. May still need to pedal a bit to get to a speed that won't stall the motor depending on gearing you work out.

Once hooked up a weedwhacker motor to drive a wheel on a pair of roller skates, it was fun as anything, and fast as all get out but almost impossible to control, I only rode them twice. Thought I could control the speed to some extent by lifting my heel, didn't work, as soon as it started moving, you almost did the splits so your weight went on the drive tire, and all you could do is hope you missed everything in your way.
Finally took them apart and trashed the skates.

Ken

I did a google search and found this:

http://www.kingsmotorbikes.com/Engine_Kit1.htm

Does anybody know how good these are, or if there are better ones available?

Some of the Electric bike companies have motors that will bolt on. None are cheap though.

I'd look here: simpsonmotorbikes.com

I was talking with a friend about some of theses lo-buck motors and the feeling I got fromk him was that they were more or less 'seconds' with poor port positioning and bore plating... and minimal (read NO) support. The guys at Simson really seem to be into these motors... complete with mods.

They'd be quite appropriate for you Columbia.

Good luck regardless of how you proceede. :)

Try http://www.spitfiremotorworks.com/ looks real nice and very retro.
Check out this site for some superb older style conversions. http://www.whizzerbikes.com/homepage.html

Just for the extra cc's I'm going to have to go with the 80cc king model. I'm starting to think I should make this thing into a half baked Captain America looking chopper, which leads me into another question. Does anybody make nice looking chopper forks, or will I have to do what the name implies and chop and weld the fork?

Try these (http://www.loficustoms.com/bikes/bikePages/bikePhotos/ChopperForksSpecs.gif) from loficustoms.com. They look good, and for $50 they work good for me

Those look neat. I'll have to order one.

look up motorized bikes on ebay. they have kits, iv built a bunch of them. its fun

or you could do it your self
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=108132

The name chopper comes from not cutting and welding the forks, but from chopping and rewelding the head tube angle.

Cabbana, I wish I knew enough to make something like that. I suppose I will eventually, but to start I think I'll do something more simple. I have to ask, how fast will that thing go?

Just for the extra cc's I'm going to have to go with the 80cc king model. I'm starting to think I should make this thing into a half baked Captain America looking chopper, which leads me into another question. Does anybody make nice looking chopper forks, or will I have to do what the name implies and chop and weld the fork?

I just installed a Kings 80cc motor on a Schwinn Suburban. Took 10 hours to get it installed. Fired up the first try. I would suggest a very easy break-in period with his motors just to be safe.

Lots of pictures of old motorized cruisers at http://www.whizzerick.com
It's obviously a labor of love with the site owner, a look at his five-page gallery will tell you. Lots of variations of powered bicycles and flyweight motos.

Cabbana, I wish I knew enough to make something like that. I suppose I will eventually, but to start I think I'll do something more simple. I have to ask, how fast will that thing go?

its not mine the place i work is next to a.a. some guy came up with it he had on that had a chainsaw motor on the handel bars, i had video but i cant find the post

wait i found it check out the video its to funny

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=102955

Look for a hub motor for your bike. It's much easier to install than anything else, and usually the motor comes in a kit with batteries, the motor controller and a throttle for the handle bars.

I stopped by this place on my way through the desert. They seemed to know what they were doing and were doing a pretty good business from my opinion. They offered to convert one of my bikes for I think
about $360. Not sure they do that for someone shipping a bike in, though. They tend to like building the
whole bike from their materials and parts..

http://www.spookytoothcycles.com

Got my king 80cc motor yesterday. Slight change of plans. My buddy and I will be installing it on my 97 Schwinn Mesa on Sunday. My cruiser is now in good working order and looks pretty cool (I'd post pics if I had the proper camera), but my old mesa is more stable and it hasn't seen more that 10 miles since 2001, so it seems like a good idea. Additionaly, even though I haven't remotely assmbeled this thing yet, its obvious that Stacey was right about King Motors, you get what you pay for with these things. A cheap, chinese made motor has no place on a cruiser I have put more than 600 dollars and countless hours into. I probably will put a motor on my columbia by next summer, but it won't be a king. If nothing else I'll get one of those simpsons, but I don't like how small their motors are. My boss is a car guy and told me I could mount a chainsaw motor on a bike fairly easily and go well beyond safe speeds, so that might be another option.

Anyway, the instructions for my new motor say for the 1st 50 miles, go no faster than 15 mph for 30 miniutes at a time. How bad of an idea is it to ignore the instructions and have at it?

Usually the biggest thing with modern motors is to not hold a constant speed vary it regularly and try to run WOT only for short bursts.
Having said that some of the chinese motors are based on older designs/materials so prehaps vary it but don't WOT for the first 50 miles.
Enjoy and don't forget to let us know how it goes.

Forgive my ignorance; what does WOT mean?

Forgive my ignorance; what does WOT mean?

Wide Open Throttle

Wonderful wonderful wonderful wonderful. I'd love to do one with a banana seat or modified motorcycle seat and stunt pegs at the rear axle to carry a passenger. But does anyone do it in a four-stroke? What good is 200 mpg when you're adding a hundred times as much organics to the atmosphere? Not to mention the damn noise pollution...

Thasiet

This is totaly off topic, but why in the world do you call yourself "Acetone Man"? I use that stuff at work sometimes and thats about the nastiest garbage I can think of. I would far prefer to to put the leavings of my dog in front of my face and breath in deep than use that stuff.

Anyway, the instructions for my new motor say for the 1st 50 miles, go no faster than 15 mph for 30 miniutes at a time. How bad of an idea is it to ignore the instructions and have at it?

You've got a small piston inside an air-cooled cylinder. Between the piston and cylinder wall is/are your piston ring(s). The rings and wall need to get to know each other, but slowly. This is the break in period. If you run it hard while things are tight, (as you would expect from a fresh assembly) the expansion caused by too much heat will prematurely wear the rings. Once broken in, they will not provide as much compression as a properly broken in set, which means less power. Clear as mud?

Thasiet

This is totaly off topic, but why in the world do you call yourself "Acetone Man"? I use that stuff at work sometimes and thats about the nastiest garbage I can think of. I would far prefer to to put the leavings of my dog in front of my face and breath in deep than use that stuff.

hehe ;) I guess we have different propensities for chemicals; I never had a problem with the stuff. I worked with it too, and used to use it during major overhauls to clean the really greasy stuff. I stopped after getting really lazy and dumping my ultegra rear der. in a jar of it- tore the nice finish clean off! Seriously though, good for bearings and races, and good for removing silly decals. Bad for fingertips and lungs.

I use simple green now, which is awesome stuff, but I just read on Zinn's column on velonews that SRAM's been testing it, and says chains can snap if soaked in the stuff for too long...

You've got a small piston inside an air-cooled cylinder. Between the piston and cylinder wall is/are your piston ring(s). The rings and wall need to get to know each other, but slowly. This is the break in period. If you run it hard while things are tight, (as you would expect from a fresh assembly) the expansion caused by too much heat will prematurely wear the rings. Once broken in, they will not provide as much compression as a properly broken in set, which means less power. Clear as mud?

I may not know too much about motors, but thats clear as day. Thanks.

I have a 48cc motor on a cruiser. It works great, as a matter of fact I took it on a 20 mile trip around town yesterday. Top speed as around 25 mph or so, but I may switch to a smaller drive sprocket for a little more top end - I don't mind pedaling at the real slow speeds. I just need a front brake first - the coaster brake isn't going to cut it any faster. So far the motor has a few hundred miles on it - no breakdowns yet!

For some great buying, tuning and tweaking tips for motobikes, check out Motokruisers.com (http://motokruisers.com/forum/index.php) forums. Great folks and they have a very interesting gallery as well.

I just got a Giant Stiletto. I was surfing the web when I discovered http://www.staton-inc.com/gear_chain.htm

They have motor adapations for bicycles. I was impressed with the kit for the Stiletto. Genuine chain drive and a claimed top speed of almost 40. Hmmmm, very tempting.

caught this one at the 4th ave bike swap in Tucson. Sorry I didn't get closeups, but there were purchases to be made...

http://static.flickr.com/32/63154596_a735c3eb21.jpg?v=0

I have a china built 48cc motor on a cruiser/chopper I built up about 3 years ago. I've riden this thing all over the bay area and now central texas. it's fun and fast.

http://www.coopercruisers.com/lazyboy.jpg

I shopped at both Kings and Gasbike for my 80ccs and was happy. :thumb:
http://www.gasbike.net/bicycle-motor-engine-kit-gas-bike-jet-80cc.html

I want to try a Grubee... next anyone else tried these 48cc or 60cc?
I would love some thoughts as I hear they are great kits.


:D

GREAT Idea! I will do an experiment on this
_________
collections (www.offcollections.com)

Why not buy a beater for the motor instead of a classic bike?

I have made a bunch of these. All different.

These are the best models in my opinion, and the cheapest website to get the best quality kits:
http://www.staton-inc.com/Details.asp?ProductID=3316

Dont waste your time on the china kits.