rawly old

I started messing about with these things about 12 years & 150 pds. ago. I will say they
helped me get started losing weight. These days I pedal 99% of the time. My motored bike
is kinda lonely, but I start it regularly & ride once in a while. i ran the gamut of kits. Those
Chinese 2 stroke chain drive are pretty much trash. Their 4 strokes aren't much better,
too many moving parts. The chain drives are dangerous. If not very precisely installed,
the chain can jump & lock up the wheel. Not good at 35 mph, which is faster than a
regular bike is engineered to go under power. I finally settled a a high quality Japanese
2 stroke,(EPA & CARB approved), with a friction drive. It is my bug out bike & hedge against
getting too old to pedal. The rear wheel shown was for an optional belt drive I've abandoned.
It will do 26 mph, but I prefer to stay between 16 &18. 140 mpg. When electrics get that
kind of range, I might buy one.

euclidean plane

o wow

maeby

Aaalright I think this is the right thread to post my question... in short, I'm looking for a 26" rigid front fork, 1" threaded headset... WITH disc brake mounts!!!
and I'm starting to think that doesn't exist.

The long version is: I got a mid 80's mtb for free off of craigslist and threw on an 80cc Chinese suicide machine, had an absolute blast, but yeah nearly killed myself... twice. first ride the (probably original, yeah I know) tire fell off. Third ride the rear rim started resembling a washing machine with a brick in it, rendering the rear brake useless. Not that it did much anyway because of all the oil spitting out of the engine. fourth time one of the bolts for the engine mount fell off, engine tilted to the side and the drive chain got in the spokes. Seriously, it was a lot of fun... so now I have mag rims off of ebay, that might hold the weight a little better, but I have to upgrade to disc brakes. anybody I ask usually says not to weld to the frame and brazing wont hold the forces soo... any ideas. buying a new frame usually just brings its own set of problems, mainly that the engine never fits

2old

You can weld mounts on a steel fork AFAIK, but would need to repaint them. The front is responsible for 70% of the braking forces, so a front disc should suffice.

MikeyMK

Yeah, mine's that engine, i have side-pulls on chrome rims, they compliment the culture of the bike pretty well...

fietsbob

Might take half a block to stop ^^it.

dieth34

I myself work at the moment on a Hybrid E-Bike powered by a combination of High energy density capacitor, Li-Ion Battery and Hydrogen Fuel Cell.

BigSparks

Germans had wood powered V dubs during ww2. This steam powered unit makes me think of a wood powered bike...

Frankenbike27

had the same issue, can't seem to find those forks anywhere in the world! just some ideas i have are, magnesium front rims with the original rim brakes, work fine on my rear wheel now. stainless front forks, will take welding better for the caliper nuts. other than that i'm out of ideas. just remember of you use magnesium quick release rims to use the original tabs that hold the rim in place on open forks, just put it on the inside of the fork. almost lost my front wheel

cnnx

Hello, I want to try buying a complete gas bike kit and build it in my apartment, I dont think its legal to ride them in the street here but I would have fun building it and starting it for quick test rides. I found two stores online that sell these complete kits, gasbike.net and bikeberry.com, which one do you recommend? also are there any others?

Korina

Have you tried taking your bike out and pedaling it? It's a lot of fun.

cnnx

I sold my electric bike last year and took out my old regular bike a few weeks ago from my parents garage and cleaned it up and added accessories to it, havent ridden it in 4 years about, will take it out as soon as weather permits here in canada

BlazingPedals

Not going to check out the sites. I'll just say that if you add a motor and it cannot exceed 35 mph, it would be considered a moped in Michigan. Your local laws may vary.

Korina

Neat! When you get your 10 posts, post a pic of your old bike; we love bike pics.

Leebo

Try this, eat a big breakfast, free fuel, then pedal. Probably not going to get a whole lot of love on this forum with gas powered stuff. Cheers.

veganbikes

I can put a motor on any of my bikes in a second a really nice two piston joint. Still a bit gassy but no petroleum, thanks! Those bolt on gas motors are death machines waiting to happen and have no need to exist for any reason. We have motorcycles and we have quality e-bikes no need to turn a bike into something really bad.

If you are looking into suicide please visit: https://www.crisisservicescanada.ca/en/. We are also here to help in whatever ways we can but they might be able to help better. Keep your chin up and stay alive, death by lawnmower powered bike isn't glamorous.

dedhed

Hyperbole much? People have been putting motors on bicycles since the 40's. Wish I had an old Whizzer.

rosefarts

They're popular in my town with the DUI crowd.

veganbikes

Nope I stand by my statement. Bolting something to something it wasn't designed for is generally a very poor idea. Just because someone does something does not make it a good idea or safe. Having had several customers who have built these up over the years and they constantly tried to get us to work on them because they were always broken and needing parts or damaging the frame I can say I would call them death traps.

Synack42

Eh, to each their own... I can see the appeal, it's essentially a DIY ebike for someone who enjoys wrenching on motors. Would probably be a lot of fun on country roads -- away from traffic and pedestrians for sure. I'm in Michigan, along with another commenter; The thought of trying to register something like that as a moped here sounds like some bureaucratic fun though...

Personally, I like to eat... Cycling is my way of burning off the extra caloric fuel...

Korina

The noise and the stink would kill all the joy for me, and not pedaling would remove the point of the endeavor. YMMV, of course.

ThermionicScott 

We have a thread for discussing such abominations: Gas, Gashol, Alcohol or Diesel, & Alternative Powered Bicycles

Korina

ThermionicScott thanks for the warning.

CroMo Mike 

OP, search you tube, there are plenty of videos about motorized bike kits. It looks like there are 4-stroke kits that are better. The 2-stroke ones were widely used by commuters in China until their government outlawed them due to their contribution to air pollution. Chinese commuters are now using 4-strokes and/or electrics instead. I had a couple of Whizzers back in the late 1950's. They were real cheap on the used market, but not very dependable. Google and check your actual local laws before taking your creation onto the streets; don't rely on advice from random people.

Korina

Well, except when the advice is to go out and ride the bike as-is.