Moved here from the general cycling forum

So are you going to bolt a goped to the seat post, or what?

The problem with working with gasoline engines indoors is ventilation. When I was 16 years old, I knew some guys that were working on an enigine in the basement of the parent's home, and the fumes were ignited by the water heater. A big whoomp and they got the scare of their young lives. Fortunately they got out and the fire was small. Since them, I've heard about guys that put appliances with pilot lights in their garages, and suffered the same surprise.

I guess lithium packs can burn too. I don't keep mine inside the house.

Wow thanks for all the replies guys, wish I had seem them earlier, for some reason it doesnt notify me for all yoru posts, just 1 or 2 I'd love to post a picture of my bike, I have to wait 10 posts it seems first?

Definitely not legal here, and I would whip out my phone and call the non-emergency police # the minute one got on a pathway or in a bike lane. Last thing I want is to suck down even more exhaust.

Not legal in socal either although I've seen a few over the years. Plus, isn't there a separate thread (sticky) for ICE above?

I have had the gas powered guys whip past me in a bike lane in excess of 30mph. It is unnerving and dangerous. The only blessing is that you can hear them coming. If they are illegal , the police do little to stop them. It angers me that anyone could be that inconsiderate and annoying. I am not sure where they belong, but definitely not on bike paths or even MUP’s. I don’t know why this was moved to the ebike section, they are completely different than electric assist bikes in that they are noisy and polluting. The electric bikes are more like a bicycle with assist for those that need it.

Since November 2019 I started exercising everyday nearly, using a stationary bike in my apartment and some basic free weights, I was 273lbs when I started and today I'm 237 towards my goal of 200lbs. I hope this spring/summer helps when I'll be able to walk/bike outside. What do you guys/gals think? for weight loss is outside bike good?

Post(s) shouldn't be here. If you agree send a report.

I disagree, unless there is no pedal power at all. There is a gas bike thread as a sticky that has been here for years. Which just proves that nobody notices stuck threads.

At the very least it's a moped. What that has to do with e-bikes escapes me even if you can pedal it, theoretically.

I have seen this guy riding a bike with a added engine. man it is like looking at a super cheap e bike performance but with noise.

To me the question would be, WHY? If this was 1950, ok , stinkmotor it is. But, it's not 1950 and we do have wonderful electric motors, batteries and controls.
All these elements go on a bike with no problem. It's not even hobby level, it's practically like you can go to IKEA, pick up a kit and convert your bike.
Why in the world would you want to put a filthy engine on anything today?

gas is a lot cheaper to build if you consider the battery. OTOH, I was passed by a guy with a gas bike a couple of times on my way to work. Then a week later, his bike was leaning up against a fence by the side of the bike path, apparently abandoned.

Social considerations or economics aside, this is not a motorbike forum, it's an electric bike forum, and the entire site is bicycle-oriented. The ICE boys (I love motorcycles and have had at least three or four concurrently at times) have their own outlets. It's inane to include motorcycles or ICE mopeds.

I look at them all the time, just not interested; probably the rest of the contributors have the same orientation.

Pedal assisted by gas motors has always been allowed in here. With the rapid increase in the popularity of ebikes, we will revisit that policy. But as I noted before, there is a stuck thread about gas motors so it's not like you shouldn't have known it was allowed.

We don't allow motorcycle questions, but the OP isn't talking about a motorcycle

If you keep bumping the thread it won't go away

Since this thread has become more about what is or is not allowed, I'm going to really go off on a tangent (my apologies). Even considering the battery, gas is not a lot cheaper to build if you consider that for approximately 100 years we've been letting fuels and petrochemicals leak into the ground and water. Every time I prime my 2 stroke blower (great machine that it is) I see a little spray of fuel come leaking out of the primer bulb. Could anybody estimate how much gas, diesel and petrochemical products have leaked a drop or two at a time since we went to internal combustion? Let's not even talk about the air.

The gas motor vs. ebike thread should be allowed EVERYWHERE.

Some time ago I had a conversation with someone in the medical field who commented that the link between autism and vaccines is NOT proven and that the link between fuels/petrochemicals and autism (plus a whole lot of other diseases) is NOT disproven.

If you go to any parking lot, any time that the pavement is a little wet, you'll see the gleam of gas, diesel and oil leaks, all over. I noticed it a few months ago in a parking lot and it was, personally, sickening.

100 years of that and who knows what it causes.

Anyway, my point is: Let's talk about gas vs. electric on any forum, any thread. Let's consider the cost of the battery as a capital improvement and not an expense. This way we can rationalize what we'll have to do and spend to (hopefully) make things right.

All posts in the prior Gas Bikes thread got moved to this thread covering all types of alternative power. That’s the purpose of this thread which got a “sticky” so it remains at the top.

I spotted this gBike on July 4th. The owner and I had a good chat. He said the kit cost $300 several years ago. It is a 105 cc two-stroke, and he says it will take him 55 mph and gets 90 mpg.

On the left side of the bike is a bigger sprocket for the gas drivetrain. The rider bump starts it by pedaling the regular power train.

A pretty good value, it seems like.

Honda started out making small gas engines for attaching to bicycles to help delivery people get around after WW II. That made sense at that point in time.

I have a few of these, I use a higher quality Chinese kit (Zeda) and they are around $179, I've had good luck with them, and a lot of miles. Most of the ones I build are 66 cc's. They require adjustments from time to time, so you need a little mechanical knowledge.

What do you look for in a donor bike and where do you get the kits? Aliexpress? Why 66cc instead of 80 or 100?

I use engines from bicycle engines.com, they advertise them as 80 cc's but they are actually US 66 cc's, and have well enough power they are 2.9 HP. It's a good company with people you can actually talk to on the phone in the US if you have a problem. The quality on kits from Amazon, e bay etc for $100 are scetchy. You need a steel frame bike with a 36 spoke pattern, aluminum wont take the vibration of a 2 stroke. These are not for everyone, and you need a little experience with gas motors, but they will get you where you are going and will cruise at 30 MPH ( they will hit high 30's but you are pushing that speed for a bicycle). The do make 100 cc kits if you want to get nuts with speed. There are a lot of youtube vids on installation and set-up, a decent bike and kit you will have $500-$600 into.

I've seen these gas powered bikes all over socal. They seemed dangerous to ride.