Electric Bikes - Gas, Gashol, Alcohol or Diesel, & Alternative Powered Bicycles

i picked up the honda gx50 4 stroke i love it.

That motor looks more like the Chinese clone Hua Sheng kit with a Hoot gear box? The motor is tight but those gear boxes are sketchy at best. The HS motor puts out a bit less hp than the GX 50 but is still plenty. For sure they are quieter and less messy than the Chinese 2 stroke stuff.

The big problem as I am sure you found out is the overall width of this type of setup. You need some seriously wide cranks to clear the gearbox and the pull starter housing which makes for some really bad Q factor and a hard to pedal bike. But it looks like you are having a good time with it and that is the main thing:thumb:

i have the new crank ordered. i ran into few problems with the motor. but its been worked out.
the project is coming along :thumb:

Someone I know has one of these that he never used, and I'm interested in buying it off him. Anyone ever seen this kit before? Any better suggestions or opinions on it?

http://www.bikeberry.com/black-80cc-motorized-bicycle-engine-kit-epa-certified.html

If you insist on gas power, you can look into a nice honda friction drive if it does not rain too much where you live. If properly taken care of, it will last along time. Its a 4 stroke also so its a little quieter, and alot less maintenance. (dont have to mix gas)

I don`t know much about motor assists yet either, but I recently found a few forums that specializes in them, and seem to have no qualms about posters interrested in other flovors. This one has an awesome FAQ sticky ("Guide for Newbies") in their general section:
http://www.motoredbikes.com/

I'm not threatened by gas powered bikes. If someone wants to try it, go ahead. Just be prepared how loud and inefficient it is. Sure, they were a pretty good option before lithium batteries were invented but now that lithium is becoming cheaper, I think electric bikes are going to win out over small gas scooters. And in 10 - 20 yrs, no doubt that electric will be the ultimate winner once these new high powered lithium batteries hit the market that have 10x more energy than the previous ones.

Someone I know has one of these that he never used, and I'm interested in buying it off him. Anyone ever seen this kit before? Any better suggestions or opinions on it?

http://www.bikeberry.com/black-80cc-motorized-bicycle-engine-kit-epa-certified.html

BTW, if you happen to live in Australia, these bike-mounted ICEs are NOT road legal.

Cheers.

I've cleaned this thread. Please be respectful of all the posters in this forum regardless of what powers their bike.

There is not enough call to have a separate forum for every kind of assisted bicycle.
Bikes that are powered by things other than electricity will have threads that are started and or moved here.

In the case of this thread, a new thread receives more attention than a new post in a sticky. Eventually it would have been folded into the "Other powered bikes" thread.

Calling people jackasses and their bikes trash because they posted here will not be tolerated.
I worked hard lobbying for this forum to be instated, and have worked hard running off the trolls who would post here just to bash electric bikes and their riders.
There is a lot of commonality between internal combustion engine assisted bikes and electric assisted bikes, appropriate forks, what kinds of brakes are acceptable, questions about frames, etc.
Occasionally questions about ICE powered bicycles will pop up here. If someone does not have something respectful to say then don't post.

I second the motion to recommend the OP look into motoredbikes.com. It is a HUGE database of electric and gas powered bicycles and will not only recommend brands, but will tell you step by step, how to install it and trouble shoot it.

(I officially apologize, not because I was given an infraction, but because it is the right thing to do. Build, Ride, and Love whatever you have. To each his own)

Thanks.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/4527179332_63be3f7376_o.jpg

Picked up this solex "motor-assisted-scooter" (Texas-law-speak nonsense) a couple weeks ago. 0.8 horsepower, runs like a champ.

WTF? Pretty cool looking ride- any idea how old it is or where it`s from?

It was made in France, in 1979.

It was made in France, in 1979.
Due to being embarrasingly wrong on both date and origin, I`m glad I just asked rather than making my bad guesses public :D
Anyway, it looks pretty neat- hope it keeps hanging in there for you.

gearbox still works great with the sbp shift kit. this build has evolved:thumb:

I have just put a motor on my current ATB. A friend (stupidly) ordered a frame-mounted, chinese two-stroke motor for his high-tech, $1000 mountain bike with duel-suspension and a frame that could not in any way support an engine. So it's mine now :D. Spend a few days taking it apart (I work on motorcycles as well) before doing the "conversion", and here are my observations-

The chinese two-strokes are very primitive. I'm surprised they have chokes, manual clutches and float-bowl carbs- the engineering and tolerances are from the era of direct drive belt clutches and spray carbs. Nonetheless, it is a damn simple motor and will run on just about anything as an oil (ran it in a test frame with and mix of gas and kerosine, gas and cooking oil, and gas and two-stroke oil and it did fine with all three). Good for a survival vehicle.

It came with a pullstarter, which I understand now to be aftermarket, but it works fine. Apparently they come stock with a bump starting system as the only way to start the engine, which sounds terrible- bicycle wheels, frames, the mounting studs on the motor, and the motor chain are not made to withstand the stress of constant bumpstarting. Anyway, I wired it up, put on the tank, etc. Didn't have to modify anything as I already have a light and toolkit. The supposed "locking" clutch lever does not work, so I drilled and tapped and place in the side of the lever where a bolt or screw could fit, enabling me to have the motor disconnected from the wheel without constantly pulling in the clutch, ie making it a normal bicycle again, until I pull over loosen the screw, letting the lever out and returning to motor-power.

Surprisingly, it doesn't increase weight that much- my old, all-steel bike went from 20lbs to about 32lbs- and the rolling resistance provided by the extra chain when pedaling isn't bad enough to make me change down a gear from my normal training pace.

I'll take some pics soon and update my MTB's thread.

And no, I am not forgoing bicycling- I love pedal power too, and it rides enough like a normal bike for me to continue training and riding it (as a pedal-bike) frequently. The motor will be used if (A) I am wounded or injured in some way, (B) I am dangerously fatigued, (C) The apocalypse happens and I need to save pedaling strength for place where there's no fuel, and (D) Joyrides outside of the training schedule. :D

That motor looks more like the Chinese clone Hua Sheng kit with a Hoot gear box? The motor is tight but those gear boxes are sketchy at best. The HS motor puts out a bit less hp than the GX 50 but is still plenty. For sure they are quieter and less messy than the Chinese 2 stroke stuff.

The big problem as I am sure you found out is the overall width of this type of setup. You need some seriously wide cranks to clear the gearbox and the pull starter housing which makes for some really bad Q factor and a hard to pedal bike. But it looks like you are having a good time with it and that is the main thing:thumb:


just finished boring out the carb now it has some serious power:thumb:

the shiftkit im using is easy on the gearbox. i go over it every month. looks like it going to last:D

Right on Silverwolf. Enjoy the ride. Thanks for the heads up on the various fuels. I would imagine shaving the head and upping the compression ratio would help with that even more.

Ive long thought Dernys were cool. they are as i read, a particular design made for pacing racers around the track on bike races.

Its somewhat like a 49cc moped but geared pretty high so the Derney driver slowly increased his pace , with the pedals

pulling the racer behind him in his wind break, then the cyclists ride the last couple laps around the track with out the motor pace..

A featured part of the wintertime indoor 6 day racing events.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bc/Derny.jpg
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Derny.jpg)

Yeah, it would take some time to get on top of this gear, even with a motor, but once you do you are hauling the mail. Not much good on hills I would imagine though.
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They use two strokes but if you use a 4 stroke and add some legal gearing you can motor pace all day long, indoor and out. Much quieter and less exhaust fumeage also.

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MoPeds have traditionally been manufactured so that the pedals are basically there as window dressing, but what if you could actually pedal one efficiently with gearing that would be able to stay on top of the power band of the motor?

Help guys. I LOVE my electric but for X-mas i'm thinking of giving myself a 49 cc. But i need as quiet as possible with speeds at least 25 mph and as cheap as possible. I did find a 58 cc kit for under 200 bucks - 2 stroke. I love that idea but I do not know if a cop can tell if it's not 49 cc or not and bust me.

I'm real new to this gas motored stuff and so far have only read a few threads on another forum. I know 4 stroke are quieter but cannot find a kit under 200 bucks.

If i get a 49 cc ( for legal reasons) and really need to increase the speed, whats the cheapest way to mod the kit to get to 25 mph?

btw.. i see ICE talked about.. whats ICE stand for?

ICE: Internal Combustion Engine.
Hopefully somebody who knows more about it will chime in here John, but I think electric is more the specialty of the house. It sounds like you`ve already looked into some of the more gas oriented sites, but I don`t know which. Yeah, I think it would be pretty tough to put together a 4-stroke drive for that price (I could be wrong). Have you gone over the newb FAQs over at motoredbikes.com? Here`s the general purpose one and they have a lot more in the subforums.
http://www.motoredbikes.com/showthread.php?t=10392
I`m guessing friction drive is the most economical way to get yourself rolling. They have a subforum specifically devoted to that also, with its own FAQ. Good luck with your project.

WAW.. What for , John?? ... I was about 14 y.o. when we play with it.. :)

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179119... and now you remind me all that frowzy-noisy gasoline crap ...brrr .. :(


Don't know a lot about E-bikes yet, but seems it's not a problem today to get / build powerfull and fast electric bike from 20 to 40pmh ..so? :)))

You can buy it now, if you want to :) -- http://www.mcasta.ru/eng/mainhome2.htm

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http://www.mcasta.ru/eng/motorcycle/zdk-ptaha.html $400 for only 39cc and 1.5 HP!! :)


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None of them have more that 49.9 cc ... :)

(Sorry for my English.. my russian is much better! :)

Don't know a lot about E-bikes yet, but seems it's not a problem today to get / build powerfull and fast electric bike from 20 to 40pmh ..so? :)))

Electric certainly has advantages, but batteries light enough to carry easilly and still get a good range are much more expensive than gasoline motors. I think that`s the main thing holding them back.

Your English is fine, Serge. If you had answered in Russian, I don`t think many of us would have understood- much better in English :)

I’m thinking of getting an EBike. Have been out to many stores in the Toronto area trying to find the best bike. Found that not all stores could answer my questions.
Test drove different bikes and scooters and realized that I need one that was safe, has lots of power and looks good. Yesterday we went out to eprider and felt their bikes are safer. They have bigger tires than most bikes and felt more solid. I later learned that their bikes are built on a motorcycle frame and the other stores couldn’t tell me that.
I couldn’t believe the difference in power in these bikes. Going back to eprider to buy my Ebike, just trying to decide if I should go for the pink one.

Hey guys, I was wondering what you guys know about this?
http://sun-thing.com/ProductShow.asp?ArticleID=940

I wanted it for my 20" wheel BMX, I found the same kit on eBay for about $185 shipped

Those aren't ebikes as we know them, they are electric scooters and motorcycles. You will need to get a license and you can't pedal them. They feel 'safer', because they are heavier, they aren't really safer because with increase of speed comes bigger crashes (if such a thing should occur).

StephanieS, could you link directly to the page you are talking about? Your link goes to an electric scooter page, not electric bicycle (as the word bicycle is usually meant).

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/motorcycles-1/phantom/phantom-bikes/#item=213414
Saw this on Jay Leno's website. This is pretty cool.

Does anyone know if I can put the engine (http://www.chinadolphinharbor.com/UploadFiles/201222515241968.jpg) in the back or any where else beside the front? I stupidly bought this and even though I measured(not well I see)it won't fit. if I have to buy a new bike well it will happen but if I don't?