errolprowse

wow, you didnt read the other posts im assuming.
two strokes are bad, but have you ever heard of a four stroke???

mine makes no visible exhaust (except in the cold) and is much better for the enviroment. it also isnt loud. wow your argument is only against 2 strokes, any rants about 4 strokes???

errolprowse

thats why you get a rack mounted engine.
I have never had a mount break or crack and it doesnt have a rubber dampener.

all you have to do about the bolts lossening is buy something called THREAD LOCKER and put it on the bolts. please tell me im not the only person on this forum that knows what that is.

errolprowse

you must all understand that gas motors have been on bicycles since the early 1900's(pretty much the first motorcycles). with the improvments in technology these bicycles hold up for thousands upon thousands of miles. if you dont believe me look at the motor bike forums and you will see.

i dont know why there isnt a nice thread on bikeforums.net for just motorized bicycles

mikeybikes

Hm, a fishing boat in our showroom has one of these hanging off of it:



I wonder if I could fit it to a bicycle.... Could leave the prop on and make it amphibious

aley

Neither, but that's not the point. The point is that a professional sprinter is putting tremendous loads on the frame for a few seconds, while a motor is putting similar loads on the frame for possibly hours at a time. If a sprinter could go all-out for two hours, he'd also need a heavier bike.

It's about frequency and amplitude. Have you ever wondered why some bolts on cars/boats/motorcycles have lock washers, bendable lock tabs, threadlocker compounds, nylon or steel inserts in the nuts, triangular-profile nuts, or safety wire? Small, inexpensive engines are notorious for vibrating more than their larger cousins, partly due to cost issues (engineering cost and fabrication cost of things like counterrotating balance shafts can make sense in a Rotax engine that's headed for a BMW motorcycle, but not so much in a clip-on bicycle engine - it'd be prohibitively expensive) and partly due to the lack of a large mass to resist the forces involved in initiating vibrations. I have to tighten the bolts on my chain saw every hour or two of operation, but I've never retorqued most of the bolts on my car.

Again, it's about duration, or more to the point here, cycle count. Let's assume your engine is turning 3000 RPM - you'll be getting 180,000 primarly vibrations per hour. If I take my hardtail down a 6" drop 180,000 times, I bet it's crack, too - and that's only ONE HOUR of motorized use!

Some frames will handle the additional stress better than others, but it's at best naive and at worst disingenuous to suggest that you aren't adding any stress to the frame. If you don't believe me, go take a mechanics of materials class and then we'll get down and dirty with the calculations.

I'm not at all opposed to motorized bikes, but it's much more productive to discuss them on their merits rather than on the merits of their misinformation.

whatsmyname

1) I'm interested in your first assertion - can you substantiate it? I would be surprised if net pollution per mile from a sub-50cc engine was greater than from a modern car engine - even the 1 litre engine sold on Euro/Japanese city cars is still twenty times larger and moving a much greater weight. But I am prepared to be surprised, so surprise me!

2) well, that's just peachy, but I think we've established at this point that the biggest target market for this type of bike/engine chimera is the not-in-it-for-the-exercise-no-useful-public-transport-would-use-a-car-if-I-could-afford-it crowd (of which there are millions in the US), so saying "suck it up, lardboy" isn't really going to be much use.

errolprowse

i use some pretty strong gear for my motorized bicycle and i have literally 1000's of hours of commuting on my motorized bicycle and it hasnt broken any part of my frame. what i dont understand is how people put engines on walmart bikes and get over 10,000 miles out of them with a engine on. maybe you might have the technical thinking drawn out right, but its wrong. if you buy a cheap motor, it will fall apart, but that still doesnt mean that people arent using those cheap ones for hours and hours.

THEY WORK GREAT!! they dont break like you think. i dont think you can say that if you dont have experience with one yourself.

Heres some proof: a guy in 1903 rode a bicycle with a motor attached to it from SAN FRANCISCO TO NEWYORK CITY!!! heres a link: https://www.motoredbikes.com/showthread.php?t=6019

errolprowse

im not in this but heres some proof:
"two-stroke vehicles spew great volumes of dangerous hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and smoke. A single two-stroke engine produces pollution equivalent to that of 30 to 50 four-stroke automobiles. With roughly 100 million motorcycles in Asia—roughly half of them using two-stroke engines—that translates into as much as 2.5 billion cars’ worth of smog"
source:https://discovermagazine.com/2008/may...-and-youre-out

two strokes are really bad for the enviroment, even if it is that tiny. Thats why you buy a 4 stroke engine for a bicycle!!!!!

errolprowse

that makes no since, are you trying to be funny?

wunderkind

Goes to show your lack of knowledge and the general mindset of anti-automobile public about today's modern catalytic converters and engine management in cars/trucks.
Anyhoo, a search on those 2-stroke 49cc lawnmower engine bicycles will give you the results that you may or may not like. See: https://en.allexperts.com/e/m/mo/motorized_bicycle.htm
Now I am sure there are some that say "Oh no way! My kit engine is is well tuned. Surely it is a zero emission!" Yeah sure.

lambo_vt

Dude, relax.

errolprowse

seriously though, a boat engine, i dont see how that would make anyone laugh

Reynolds 

Ok, if it worked for you, that's fine. I am no engineer, my experience was different. Just wanted to share it.

Doug5150

Random points...

-In the USA, if motorized bicycles are legal where you live depends on your own state's laws. Some allow all, a couple only allow electrics, some prohibit all, and some have registration requirements. You need to check your own state's laws to find out the truth, they are not all the same, nor do they even use the same technical terms. -And just because you add an engine to a bicycle does not always "make" it the legal equivalent of a moped.

-I live in IL, and I ride mine occasionally. IL is one state where the matter of motorized bicycles is a gray area; there is nothing in the state's motor vehicle code expressly prohibiting or allowing them. What I do know is that you cannot register a motorized bicycle as a moped, because I asked about doing that (at the local at the local drivers' license place as well as emailing the state's DMV website) and both said there's no provision to allow it--both said that a bicycle with an engine is still legally only a bicycle, and has no titling, registration or licensing requirements. And can't be titled or registered, even if you want to.
,,,,,,,
This leads to a conundrum though, because if there's no licensing requirements, then there's no way to keep little kids from riding them--and kids (who know nothing of traffic laws) riding on public streets on motorized-anythings are bound to get injured. I've asked local police and they said that they didn't really know the law about motorized bicycles, but they wouldn't bother to stop an adult riding one as long as the adult was not doing anything else stupid. Other people in IL I've heard from online have been stopped and told they're illegal.

-A motorized bicycle is NOT "like a pocket bike or a go-ped", because every US state has a definition of bicycles and specifies that bicycles are legal to use on public roads. Pocket bikes and go-peds do not qualify as bicycles, and so are not street-legal for that reason alone.

[edit--well nuts, hit the wrong button]

-Exercise ain't got nuthin' to do with it, I built mine for the fun of building it and riding it... though I only ride mine very-occasionally when the weather's nice.

-The electric kits may be more photogenic, but they suffer the same problems that electric cars do. Some locales prohibit gas-engine bikes but allow electrics, and I interpret this as a simple means of limiting the overall practicality of powered bicycles to crippled products hampered by high costs and short ranges, just to minimize traffic problems from them. If gas-engined bicycles are so terrible, why don't these same states ban gas-engined cars as well? Because they know that most people and businesses would flip them the bird and move out of state, that's why. This is NOT a case of thoughtful elected officials trying to protect you from tens of thousands of terrible deaths from motorized bicycle wrecks per year; it is a case of bureaucrats simply taking the easy route and prohibiting something that doesn't involve any lobbyists or campaign donations--and so they don't want to waste their time with it at all.

-It is true that the 2-stroke engines do produce a lot of pollution (even China has banned 2-stroke bicycle engines) but then again, 2-strokes are already being legislated out of existence at the federal level over a period of several years. A few years back ALL the bicycle-motor kits were two-stroke, but there's a number of four-stroke kits out now.

-Even the four-strokes pollute quite a lot for their size, but that's because there's no catalytic mufflers available for them. Since 2008, all small engines sold in California are equipped with catalytic mufflers that reduce the pollution by as much as 85%, but I have asked at the local dealer if I can get one for my engine, and was told that you only can get a catalytic muffler by buying a California-legal engine that has one.... so I don't really care if my engine pollutes a lot, sorry guys. If I can't buy the muffler to reduce it, I'm not going to feel guilty for that.

And finally.......

As the economy declines, I think you'll be seeing more of these things--at least during the warmer months of the year. When gas hit $4 a gallon was when I got mine, because it made good economic sense. I got sidetracked and the motor-bicycle became more of a hobby/work-in-progress than actual basic transportation. Now we are seeing gas prices not so high, but economic stress caused by unemployment... and a motorized bike can cost as little as $300 to build (with a used bike) and easily get 125-150 MPG. That beats any car, motorcycle or "real" moped by a long shot.

mikeybikes

Of course I was being serious.

jefferee

I believe there is such a thread in the e-bikes forum.

somedood

Dude you sound like you're wound up pretty tight, go ride a bike it'll help you relax

whatsmyname

Jesus Christ, dude, why the snide comments? Of course it "goes to show my lack of knowledge" if I am asking for more information in my post. I think I made it pretty clear that what you said was not what I expected but that I wasn't claiming any knowledge and would be interested to read more about it. I hate to think what you'd have done if I'd suggested you were a low-down dirty liar who pulled stuff out of his ass.

Meanwhile, thank you, Errol, for the link - very interesting and I am better informed.

lucasgo

I picked up an electric hub motor kit for one of my bikes to extend the number of days I can commute, instead of getting in the car. I LOVE it. I have also used it as a hauler... inside the trailer: daughter from daycare (45 lbs), dog food (50 lbs), various other groceries (~10lbs).
I'll speak to these concerns...
1- short range? I've gone over 30 miles and I'm still waiting to see the "half" light come on. And if the battery completely went, I can still pedal.
2- expensive? Sort of. 330 for the motor, 400ish for a decent battery. But considering the number of miles it's getting me out of the car, it is going to pay for itself very soon. Also, not expensive to charge.
3- slow?! HA! I passed a road bike going up our local "hill"... going 19mph. He glanced over as I zoomed past. I think I really confused him. My typical pace on flats is 23-25. The guys at the LBS joked about borrowing it for a time trial.
4- weather? No problem. At all.
5- charge time? A couple hours, maybe? And that's when it is more drained. I usually leave it for 1.5 hours and it's done by the time I think about it.

Batteries can be recycled. We have a drop-off center for all kinds of batteries, and they'll take the lithium-type that I have. Emissions from hot electric motors? Maybe, but my motor doesn't get hot.

Many more discussions over on the electric bikes folder, even threads there for gas powered.

[QUOTE=errolprowse;9923162]i havent been checking the recent posts, but i read a couple that said "why not electric"?
i dont like electric bikes for these reasons:

short range

expensive (bike is expensive and also new batterys every couple years)

slow

no good for rain unless everything is sealed (expensive)

its takes HOURS to recharge the battery, screw that!!!


good things about electric:
not much better for the environment because disposal of batterys is bad and suprisingly electric motors do give off a type of emission. try smelling a hot electric motor in a confined space and you will know what im talking about. supposedly it hurts the environment in a different way than carbon from cars does.

they are quiet

Randochap

Illegal. Usually used by idjits that have lost drivers licence due to DUI.

Refused to work on them at last bike shop I worked at.

Luddite

Thank you!!!

eastwood

your not to smart are you?i live next to a rails to trails bike path.ive seen two bicyclist deaths in like two years.its you guys who ride on the edge of the road with your spandex going slow and being oblivious to traffic like your in a car or something.why do you think their always honking at you like your stupid or something.


people like you ride your bike on the weekends and drive your hummers all week.get over yourself!

heres my bike https://www.motoredbikes.com/attachme...7&d=1246837882

eastwood

and yes i have a drivers license and yes i do ride it as transportation.its ridiculously cheap.
illegal?there is no reason in the world something like this should be illegal.do we have any freedoms anymore?

god you guys r sniveling weenies!

lil brown bat

I'm betting that most of these "not to[sic] smart" and "stupid" people know the difference between "to" and "too", and "your" and "you're".

wheeldeal

My philosophy....if you can't do any better, don't judge someone else.

I'm actually "for" these motorized bikes. If I see one (especially a 2 stroke), I'll make sure I stay ahead of him or I give him a 20 second head start before I start riding slowly.

But if the way you write is a reflection of who you are in person (sloppy & careless)....and if most other motorized bicycle owners are just like you, I can definitely understand the hate from some people here.

Of course there is. Since there are no laws for registration & licensing, anyone can hop on one and ride it away. Would you trust a drunk guy on one? How about a 12 year old kid?

What if that drunk guy or 12 year old kid runs into your mom/dad/wife/gf/bf/husband/son/daughter/dog/cat? It's one thing to ride a bicycle at 15mph to run into someone. It's another thing to run into someone at 30mph with a burning hot motor.