Motorized bicycle

[Longshot270]

Does anybody over here know anything about them?

I had someone give me a Specialized Rock Hopper that had been involved in an accident. Basically a taxi ran over the back wheel and totaled the wheel. The rest of the bike was fine. I turned it into a fixed gear since they became popular over here and I wanted to see why (I still stick to my original judgement that they are just crazy hippie college students).

I researched rigging a trolling motor that I have laying around, chainsaws and weedeaters. After doing some bean counting it would be cheaper and less of a hassle to just get a kit

Here is the kit I'm most likely to buy
http://www.kingsmotorbikes.com/bicycle_motor_kits.htm
It is a 2 stroke, which IIRC usually have more power per pound.

Has anyone ridden one?

 

[01f1502wd]

hmmm no but i would like to. too bad its not an entire kit, you still gotta get the rest of it like handlebars, wheels tires etc..

 

[Longshot270]

I think they do have whole kits ready to go. I've already got 4 bikes so I'm going to use one of them.

 

[Zembonez]

I'm really surprised how affordable those kits are. Sounds like a fun project.

 

[Longshot270]

I'm really surprised how affordable those kits are. Sounds like a fun project.

Yeah, last year they were around $300-$400. I just ordered the 80cc (66cc) kit because it was about $20 cheaper than usual. I would have preferred the 48 cc because I wouldn't have to worry about getting a ticket but it was much more expensive than the bigger one. I'll just utilize the better acceleration to avoid detection.

 

[01f1502wd]

how loud is it? hell i might get a bike i can mod if its not too loud.

 

[Longshot270]

how loud is it? hell i might get a bike i can mod if its not too loud.

I don't know about the 66cc but the two that I have seen so far were relatively quiet. I'm pretty sure they were 49cc to be street legal. They were about as loud as a small chainsaw. Youtube has a bunch of videos, unfortunately I can't find any good ones right now because my internet at home is too slow. There is also a bunch of different aftermarket parts you can get. I'm sure you could find a quieter muffler, or you could weld on an exhaust tip to run it further back.


I've already started prepping the bike. I removed the fixed gear cassette (back set of gears) and put a 5 speed mountain bike cassette on the wheel hub. Also bolted the rear derailleur (gear changer) so I don't forget later on. Tomorrow I'll probably put the front brakes on but not attach the lever to the handle bar since I don't know for sure where everything is being mounted. Because of the clutch I wont be able to use a back brake, which I guess is fine because I'll have the ability to engine brake.

 

[Longshot270]

The kit got delivered to the post office this morning. Can't wait to pick it up.

 

[Longshot270]

So I picked the package up at the post office this morning, came home and got started.

First I dug through the box to see what goodies I got.

Then I got the bike ready

The first step (and most time consuming part) is mounting the engine. The fact that my Rockhopper has a strange frame only made it harder.

Next I had to put the rear sprocket on the bicycle rim. To make things easier I took off the bicycle gears.

Then I put on the chain and tensioner.

Next I put on the exhaust, levers, etc.

With some gas in the tank I pedaled out into the street. I dropped the clutch and surprisingly it fired right up. I cruised around for about a mile and came back to put on the speedometer and such. I went back out and was thinking, wow, this is almost too good to be true!

...it was

The engine sprocket had a tooth break off and the chain got broken on one side. I'm thinking the chain got eaten by the sprocket. I just sent pictures to the company with an explanation. Hopefully they'll send me replacement parts so I can get it back up and running.

 

[Texas Jim]

Glad to hear that it works...
Sorry about the dang bad luck...
Hopefully the Company will do the right thing...