Building a motorized bike?

[mj]

There is a lot of good advice here so far. Here is the best:

Buy a cheap dirt bike. You will be farther ahead than trying to cobble
something together on a WalMart bike.

Buy a good brand name bike if you want to pedal.

And I hope you will take no offense to this...but a WalMart bike is the
Yugo of the bike world. It is not built for a 20 mile ride. Get a good
brand name bike for those distances (stay away from Schwinn). Gary
Fisher, Trek, Giant, Cannondale are all good names.

I ride 6 miles one way to work just about every day. I usually skip
when it is raining really hard, cold temps, (I drew the line at -11
this winter), or if we got 8" of snow and the plows haven't gotten out
yet.

Mike

 

[Ignoramus11316]

To add to this, a very good, solid nice bicycle can be bought at a
garage sale for a fraction of what a Walmart's bike would cost new.
Mine cost me $2.

i

On 1 May 2006 19:24:39 -0700, mj <[email protected]> wrote:
> There is a lot of good advice here so far. Here is the best:
>
> Buy a cheap dirt bike. You will be farther ahead than trying to cobble
> something together on a WalMart bike.
>
> Buy a good brand name bike if you want to pedal.
>
> And I hope you will take no offense to this...but a WalMart bike is the
> Yugo of the bike world. It is not built for a 20 mile ride. Get a good
> brand name bike for those distances (stay away from Schwinn). Gary
> Fisher, Trek, Giant, Cannondale are all good names.
>
> I ride 6 miles one way to work just about every day. I usually skip
> when it is raining really hard, cold temps, (I drew the line at -11
> this winter), or if we got 8" of snow and the plows haven't gotten out
> yet.
>
> Mike
>

 

[Jeremy Parker]

"Ken C. M." <[email protected]>

> I have to agree with the other reply of building something. If it
does
> work out, it wont be a bike any longer.

It will be a vehicle with a motor - a motor vehicle. There will be
laws about registration and about how it may, or may not, be
constructed.

Jeremy Parker

 

[stryped]

x-no-archive:yes

But a dirt bike is not street legal would it be? You would still have
to license, register, etc.
Gunner wrote:
> On 1 May 2006 10:25:17 -0700, "stryped" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >x-no-archive:yes
> >
> >I posted a few days ago about using a bike to get to work to save on
> >gas. I live about 20 miles away. I have a place I can park my truck and
> >ride from their. It is 14 miles away.
> >
> >I rode this weekend my Wal Mart trail bike. It too roughly 24 minutes
> >to go 4.6 miles and that included time it took to fix my chain that
> >came off when shifting.
> >
> >Always wanted to toy with the idea of adding a motor to my bike. I have
> >seen those ones with rollers that drive the wheel but I would think it
> >would wear the tire down with regular use. A better way to go seems
> >like a chain and sprocket but then I would not be able to pedal if the
> >motor quit working or I just wanted to use it as a regular bicycle,
> >right?
> >
> >All of this 20 miles is open roads, no stopping bacially highway
> >driving. (Not in a city).
> >
> >I have a 3 horsepower Briggs and stratton at home that I thought of
> >playing with but I am guessing it would be too heavy. (??) I bet it
> >would fly though.
> >
> >Any advice?
>
>
> Yes. Buy a used 250cc-350 Honda 4 stroke dirt bike, resprocket it to
> road gears and simply drive it to work everyday. I suspect you will be
> money and time far far ahead by not building your own. A small road
> bike would also be good, but not as nimble.
>
> If I could carry all the needed tools and materials on my BMW
> R90/6..Id be riding it daily. Which I did for well over 5 yrs when I
> was managing a company 45 miles away.
>
> Gunner
>
> "I think this is because of your belief in biological Marxism.
> As a genetic communist you feel that noticing behavioural
> patterns relating to race would cause a conflict with your belief
> in biological Marxism." Big Pete, famous Usenet Racist

 

[stryped]

x-no-archive:yes

But a dirt bike is not street legal. Or am I missing something.

 

[MikeMandaville]

Stryped wrote:

> have a 3 horsepower Briggs and stratton at home that I thought of playing with but I am guessing it would be too heavy. (??) I bet it would fly though.

I respond:

To give you an idea of what to expect, speed-wise, here are some free
plans for a minibike which calls for a two-and-one-half horsepower
engine, just one-half horsepower less than yours. The speed is claimed
to be ten miles per hour:

http://www.vintageprojects.com/mini-bike/mini-bike-plans.html

 

[Paul O]

stryped wrote:
> x-no-archive:yes
>
> But a dirt bike is not street legal. Or am I missing something.
>

I think what mj meant to say was "mountain bike" (bicycle) instead of
"dirt bike" (motorcycle).

paul d oosterhout
I work for SAIC

 

[Gunner]

On 2 May 2006 05:15:06 -0700, "stryped" <[email protected]> wrote:

>x-no-archive:yes
>
>But a dirt bike is not street legal would it be? You would still have
>to license, register, etc.

Most dirt bikes come street legal to the best of my knowledge..with
head lamps and stop lights etc. And yes..you will need to register,
license etc.
However generally..costs are very minor.

Gunner

>Gunner wrote:
>> On 1 May 2006 10:25:17 -0700, "stryped" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> >x-no-archive:yes
>> >
>> >I posted a few days ago about using a bike to get to work to save on
>> >gas. I live about 20 miles away. I have a place I can park my truck and
>> >ride from their. It is 14 miles away.
>> >
>> >I rode this weekend my Wal Mart trail bike. It too roughly 24 minutes
>> >to go 4.6 miles and that included time it took to fix my chain that
>> >came off when shifting.
>> >
>> >Always wanted to toy with the idea of adding a motor to my bike. I have
>> >seen those ones with rollers that drive the wheel but I would think it
>> >would wear the tire down with regular use. A better way to go seems
>> >like a chain and sprocket but then I would not be able to pedal if the
>> >motor quit working or I just wanted to use it as a regular bicycle,
>> >right?
>> >
>> >All of this 20 miles is open roads, no stopping bacially highway
>> >driving. (Not in a city).
>> >
>> >I have a 3 horsepower Briggs and stratton at home that I thought of
>> >playing with but I am guessing it would be too heavy. (??) I bet it
>> >would fly though.
>> >
>> >Any advice?
>>
>>
>> Yes. Buy a used 250cc-350 Honda 4 stroke dirt bike, resprocket it to
>> road gears and simply drive it to work everyday. I suspect you will be
>> money and time far far ahead by not building your own. A small road
>> bike would also be good, but not as nimble.
>>
>> If I could carry all the needed tools and materials on my BMW
>> R90/6..Id be riding it daily. Which I did for well over 5 yrs when I
>> was managing a company 45 miles away.
>>
>> Gunner
>>
>> "I think this is because of your belief in biological Marxism.
>> As a genetic communist you feel that noticing behavioural
>> patterns relating to race would cause a conflict with your belief
>> in biological Marxism." Big Pete, famous Usenet Racist

"I think this is because of your belief in biological Marxism.
As a genetic communist you feel that noticing behavioural
patterns relating to race would cause a conflict with your belief
in biological Marxism." Big Pete, famous Usenet Racist

 

[Gunner]

On 2 May 2006 05:20:14 -0700, "stryped" <[email protected]> wrote:

>x-no-archive:yes
>
>But a dirt bike is not street legal. Or am I missing something.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Hond...50012QQitemZ4636181065QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Hond...iewItemQQcategoryZ6708QQitemZ4635034578QQrdZ1

http://www.off-road.com/dirtbike/features/2004/whichbike/


Let me rephrase that..search for Dual Sport...means its a street legal
dirt bike.

Gunner

"I think this is because of your belief in biological Marxism.
As a genetic communist you feel that noticing behavioural
patterns relating to race would cause a conflict with your belief
in biological Marxism." Big Pete, famous Usenet Racist

 

[spaco]

In the 1950's I had a "Travis Bike Motor". That's the kind that mounts
onto the front fork and drives the front tire with a sort of grind
stone. It's not something that you'd put on a "skinny tired" bike, but
it worked well. Yes, it wore the front tire out faster than normal, but
so what?
That outfit came with a nice comfortable seat that was a lot larger
than normal. It was great for motoring, but got in the way of my legs
when pedaling. It would go up to 35 miles per hour, faster than I
usually wanted to go on a bike like that. Even though it did pedal
pretty easily, it did add about 15 pounds to to the bike.
If you really want dual fuel (you OR the motor) then that is the way
to go. I think they are still around, and mabye even a version where
the motor mounts on the rear wheel.
But if I were you, I'd decide which way to go then optimaize for it.

Pete Stanaitis
-----------------

stryped wrote:

> x-no-archive:yes
>
> I posted a few days ago about using a bike to get to work to save on
> gas. I live about 20 miles away. I have a place I can park my truck and
> ride from their. It is 14 miles away.
>
> I rode this weekend my Wal Mart trail bike. It too roughly 24 minutes
> to go 4.6 miles and that included time it took to fix my chain that
> came off when shifting.
>
> Always wanted to toy with the idea of adding a motor to my bike. I have
> seen those ones with rollers that drive the wheel but I would think it
> would wear the tire down with regular use. A better way to go seems
> like a chain and sprocket but then I would not be able to pedal if the
> motor quit working or I just wanted to use it as a regular bicycle,
> right?
>
> All of this 20 miles is open roads, no stopping bacially highway
> driving. (Not in a city).
>
> I have a 3 horsepower Briggs and stratton at home that I thought of
> playing with but I am guessing it would be too heavy. (??) I bet it
> would fly though.
>
> Any advice?
>

 

[Alex Rodriguez]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...

>How do I properly adjust the chain? So adding a motor is a bad idea?

YOu need to adjust your derailleurs so that the chain doesn't get tossed
off the crank when you shift gears. There are limit screws on the derailleur
you can adjust. I suggest taking a peek at www.sheldonbrown.com .
Adding a motor is probably not the best idea.
--------------
Alex

 

[Jasper Janssen]

On 1 May 2006 16:07:02 -0700, "Chalo" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Not sure what you mean there. I used to pay $140/yr for liability
>insurance on my Suzuki GSX1100G back in Texas. Now in Washington, I
>pay nothing (because WA does not require liability insurance on
>motorcycles).

Isn't it a good idea to have it nonetheless? Or does your personal
liability insurance cover it?

Jasper

 

[mj]

LOL.
Nah, I meant a motorcycle. I guess I did not know that a dirt bike was
not legal on the street. But come to think of it, I guess I don't see
them very often either.
A mountain bike would be my choice. 14 miles one way would not be too
bad until it got really cold.
Mike

 

[Chalo]

Jasper Janssen wrote:
>
> Chalo wrote:
>
> >I used to pay $140/yr for liability
> >insurance on my Suzuki GSX1100G back in Texas. Now in Washington, I
> >pay nothing (because WA does not require liability insurance on
> >motorcycles).
>
> Isn't it a good idea to have it nonetheless? Or does your personal
> liability insurance cover it?

It depends on what you mean by "good idea". My first concern should I
be in a serious motorcycle accident is whether I have health insurance
on myself, which I do. I suppose my second priority is to have life
insurance on myself, which I do.

But do I think the risk of causing massive property damage or injury to
someone else on my motorbike is very high? No. Certainly it's not a
high enough risk to justify voluntarily doing business with people who
bribed the government into requiring me to buy their profit-making
product. I can be coerced into buying it, but I won't voluntarily do
business with that kind of gangster.

Chalo Colina

 

[MikeMandaville]

I should have mentioned that the mini bike in the plans which I posted
the link to is geared for off-road use. Of course, with gearing
designed for on-road use, a person could do better, speed-wise. Also,
the Yahoo group minibikebuilders has free plans for about a half-dozen
different motorcycles of all sizes, including a tricycle. The plans
are in the "files" section, with additional links to plans being posted
in the archives. Since this is an unmoderated group, there is
therefore no waiting period to join and access these plans, and, of
course, there is also a number spam posts in the
several-hundred-message archive:

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/minibikebuilders/

 

[Werehatrack]

On 2 May 2006 20:46:10 -0700, "Chalo" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Jasper Janssen wrote:
>>
>> Chalo wrote:
>>
>> >I used to pay $140/yr for liability
>> >insurance on my Suzuki GSX1100G back in Texas. Now in Washington, I
>> >pay nothing (because WA does not require liability insurance on
>> >motorcycles).
>>
>> Isn't it a good idea to have it nonetheless? Or does your personal
>> liability insurance cover it?
>
>It depends on what you mean by "good idea". My first concern should I
>be in a serious motorcycle accident is whether I have health insurance
>on myself, which I do. I suppose my second priority is to have life
>insurance on myself, which I do.
>
>But do I think the risk of causing massive property damage or injury to
>someone else on my motorbike is very high? No. Certainly it's not a
>high enough risk to justify voluntarily doing business with people who
>bribed the government into requiring me to buy their profit-making
>product. I can be coerced into buying it, but I won't voluntarily do
>business with that kind of gangster.

I know that locally, health insurance policy applications explicitly
include "Do you own or ride a motorcycle?" in the questionnaire, and
I'm told that the rate adjustment for a "yes" in that category is
steep[1]. I know that Texas will happily sell any insurance company
(or anyone else, for that matter) a list of all of the Texas-licensed
drivers with a motorcycle endorsement on their driver's license.



[1] health insurance rates here are nothing short of exorbitant
already; I haven't been able to afford any for the last 20 years.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

 

[Joseph Gwinn]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Chalo" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Jasper Janssen wrote:
> >
> > Chalo wrote:
> >
> > >I used to pay $140/yr for liability
> > >insurance on my Suzuki GSX1100G back in Texas. Now in Washington, I
> > >pay nothing (because WA does not require liability insurance on
> > >motorcycles).
> >
> > Isn't it a good idea to have it nonetheless? Or does your personal
> > liability insurance cover it?
>
> It depends on what you mean by "good idea". My first concern should I
> be in a serious motorcycle accident is whether I have health insurance
> on myself, which I do. I suppose my second priority is to have life
> insurance on myself, which I do.
>
> But do I think the risk of causing massive property damage or injury to
> someone else on my motorbike is very high? No. Certainly it's not a
> high enough risk to justify voluntarily doing business with people who
> bribed the government into requiring me to buy their profit-making
> product. I can be coerced into buying it, but I won't voluntarily do
> business with that kind of gangster.

Umm. All you have to do is to hit a pedestrian hard enough to put them
in the hospital for a while before he dies, or worse, cripple him. It
isn't hard, and if the deceased was well-paid, the bill from his family
for the lifetime earnings that will not happen will be quite large, and
in addition to the medical and support costs.

We just had a case like this, where a student (in a car, but never mind)
hit a man walking to the train station (on his way to work in the
financial district), then drove away leaving the injured for dead. A
friend of my wife's came by just after, saw the crumpled body, and
called 911, probably saving his life. The police did catch the student.

I don't know if the man has recovered enough to return to work, but he
will have permanent disabilities. I haven't yet heard what happened to
the student, but this certainly isn't going to help launch his career.

Joe Gwinn

 

[Dave Lyon]

>
> But do I think the risk of causing massive property damage or injury to
> someone else on my motorbike is very high? No. Certainly it's not a
> high enough risk to justify voluntarily doing business with people who
> bribed the government into requiring me to buy their profit-making
> product. I can be coerced into buying it, but I won't voluntarily do
> business with that kind of gangster.
>
> Chalo Colina
>

I wonder...Do you plan on using a mortician in the future.
They did the same thing.

 

[Q]

A motorized bicycle is a great idea for low income people who can't
afford to drive a car and can't peddle the distance. For under $300 you
can buy an engine kit and a brand new cruiser bike and have a vehicle
that will get you to work and back using a tiny amount of gas. I'm about
to hop on mine and begin my 28 mile daily commute, and I enjoy the ride.

Q


Joseph Gwinn wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> "Chalo" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Jasper Janssen wrote:
>>> Chalo wrote:
>>>
>>>> I used to pay $140/yr for liability
>>>> insurance on my Suzuki GSX1100G back in Texas. Now in Washington, I
>>>> pay nothing (because WA does not require liability insurance on
>>>> motorcycles).
>>> Isn't it a good idea to have it nonetheless? Or does your personal
>>> liability insurance cover it?
>> It depends on what you mean by "good idea". My first concern should I
>> be in a serious motorcycle accident is whether I have health insurance
>> on myself, which I do. I suppose my second priority is to have life
>> insurance on myself, which I do.
>>
>> But do I think the risk of causing massive property damage or injury to
>> someone else on my motorbike is very high? No. Certainly it's not a
>> high enough risk to justify voluntarily doing business with people who
>> bribed the government into requiring me to buy their profit-making
>> product. I can be coerced into buying it, but I won't voluntarily do
>> business with that kind of gangster.
>
> Umm. All you have to do is to hit a pedestrian hard enough to put them
> in the hospital for a while before he dies, or worse, cripple him. It
> isn't hard, and if the deceased was well-paid, the bill from his family
> for the lifetime earnings that will not happen will be quite large, and
> in addition to the medical and support costs.
>
> We just had a case like this, where a student (in a car, but never mind)
> hit a man walking to the train station (on his way to work in the
> financial district), then drove away leaving the injured for dead. A
> friend of my wife's came by just after, saw the crumpled body, and
> called 911, probably saving his life. The police did catch the student.
>
> I don't know if the man has recovered enough to return to work, but he
> will have permanent disabilities. I haven't yet heard what happened to
> the student, but this certainly isn't going to help launch his career.
>
> Joe Gwinn

 

[Werehatrack]

On Wed, 03 May 2006 13:23:31 GMT, "Dave Lyon" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>>
>> But do I think the risk of causing massive property damage or injury to
>> someone else on my motorbike is very high? No. Certainly it's not a
>> high enough risk to justify voluntarily doing business with people who
>> bribed the government into requiring me to buy their profit-making
>> product. I can be coerced into buying it, but I won't voluntarily do
>> business with that kind of gangster.
>>
>> Chalo Colina
>>
>
>I wonder...Do you plan on using a mortician in the future.
>They did the same thing.

This is one place where a little deregulation might go a long way. A
century ago, in much of the US, it was still legal for a family to
simply bury the deceased themselves in the family plot. I know that
there are states where this is not the case now.

--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.