You can see in this picture that it sandwiches the spokes between rubber washers.

Yep, most spoked wheels have 9 voids below where the spokes cross eachother around the hub. The gear just bolts to that area with some rubber washers to sandwich it all together. The down side is that the spokes WILL eventually break. They just cant take the strain of a 3.5hp engine driving them there.

I ordered some cheap aluminum mag wheels for the bike with a 6 bolt disc brake hub and a drive sprocket that bolts up to the hub directly.

Sweet Datz Just found this thread. One of my neighbors is on version X of his powered bike. Now, he converted one of those child trailer things to a cargo holder and put the engine there. His is loud enough you can here him coming from down the street when you're in the house. Not as whiney as those skateboards, but... Dunno if I can get pics, but I'll see. Have to have the camera ready just as he's going down the street. I've never met him. Anyway, You gonna put some sort of chain guard on the bike?

quick question. maybe i missed something.

If the the chain drive is attached to the rear hub, wont the pedals be spinning when you drive the motor?

if so, and its too fast what are you going to do with your feet while you are powered? or are you going to remove the "pedal system" all together and have just a motor bike?

It will be no different than a normal bicycle. pedal drive has a one-way ratchet that allows the wheel to overspin. thats how you coast without the pedals moving. With the engine running will be no different.

datz... very cool...

I biked for many years... one thing you might want to look out for is if your spokes collapse... the added stress from this motor must just do that… and it will cause your entire wheel to buckle and changes are you'll wipe it..

You might consider checking them, or looking into a heaver duty rear wheel / spokes.

I've anticipated problems with the spokes, so I have a set of aluminum mag wheels showing up soon with 6 bolt disc brake flanges and drive sprocket to fit. Should work nicely and I wont have to worry about spoke failure.

quote:

Originally posted by Fun5ten:
Sweet Datz Just found this thread. One of my neighbors is on version X of his powered bike. Now, he converted one of those child trailer things to a cargo holder and put the engine there. His is loud enough you can here him coming from down the street when you're in the house. Not as whiney as those skateboards, but... Dunno if I can get pics, but I'll see. Have to have the camera ready just as he's going down the street. I've never met him. Anyway, You gonna put some sort of chain guard on the bike?

Nah, no need for a chain guard. Just one more thing to rattle and fall off. The drive chain is far enough back that my legs arent anywhere near it.

I took the bike out for another 8-10 mile ride this afternoon.

I have a rear rack and collapsable basket set coming soon. (yeah, i know, it'll look funny) Should be perfect for going to the store, getting the odd car part, etc.

So far, I have about 38-40 miles on the engiine. I've gone through less than 1/4 gallon of gas so far as well. Once the engine is broken in, mileage will improve a bit too. So far, I'm quite pleased with it. Its sitting right around the 150mpg mark now and its not even broken in yet.

OK...how much $$ to convert my bike?

The kit was $250. I added another $100 worth of parts to make it a nicer install & improve reliability.

Things I bought in addition to the kit:
- Double line brake lever (to actuate both brakes from one lever): $13 online You need this because you need one hand for the new clutch lever.
- Speedometer: $10 from walmart
- High grade fasteners to replace all the low grade chinese crap on the engine: $26
- Double kickstand: $20 online
- Rear wheel rack (for more cargo capacity): $20 amazon.com
- Rear collapsable baskets $30 amazon.com

So, I spent a bit more for stuff you may not need, but it my bike be pretty functional for local errands.

For around $300-350, I could help you build yours if you want one. I have steel to weld up motor mounts, etc.

I'm still fiddling with a few things (The gas cap seals too tight when the tank is full and starves the engine for fuel. So, when the tank is full, every 3-4 miles I have to unscrew the cap a bit to let more air in. I think I'm going to drill a tiny breather hole in the top of the gas cap and call it good.

Also, I need to wire up a kill switch so I can shut the engine off properly. The stock kill switch shorts the magneto to ground and will eventually kill it, so I havent used it. The better way to shut the engine down involves cutting power (via a switch) to the CDI ignition box.

The chain tensioner is also a peice of junk, so I ordered 4 feet of #41 chain, some master links and some half links to eliminate the tensioner altogether.

To get the kit, go to http://www.livefastmotors.com/motors.html

Give Jim a call (CJR Imports). He normally does ebay & online sales, but you can pick up a motor kit cheaper in person with cash. I got the 70cc kit for $250.. his online price is $290. Technically, you need the 48cc to be legal, but there are no markings on the engines to tell them apart. Jim is in the I10/Riggs road area.

quote:

Originally posted by Desert Rat:
OK...how much $$ to convert my bike?

Also, what kind of bike do you have? The full suspension bikes are very tough to do. And on bikes that dont have the room for a frame mounted engine in the middle, you end up needing to do a rear mounted engine over the rear wheel.

Mine's a Trek and it's very similar to yours. Front shock, but no suspension out back.

Something to think about maybe next winter. I'll let ya know.

Ok.. We'll see how mine holds up between now and then too.

If you want to do it earlier than that, my build really only took 3 evenings to do. One could easily be built in a saturday.

'needs more chrome!'