Motor for bike

Hate to dampen your spirit of fun and making stuff, but.....

I would think it would be classified as a motorcycle and then all the regulations of same would apply. You would hate to spend time and energy on something like that and then find out you'd have to license it, insure it and drive it on the regular road like a motorcycle. Check local laws first. Remember even without laws, you are still open to law suits if you happen to run over someone or something.

Lane

I think there is a limit to when a motorized bike turns into a motorcycle. I belive it goes by cc in MN. A chainsaw motor would be a better choice than a B&S. Just think............ buy one of those West Coast logger saws and you could be to work in no time!

if you are going to work and not to school i have to assume you are an adult... adults go to jail, kids most of the time get released to parents... if you put a motor on a vehicle it is then classified as a motor vehicle and has to have all the things a motor vehicle needs to operate on the public roads.. the nice path on the side of the road is also considered a part of the public highway.... you need a regristration for the veh... license plate, insurance, safety features like tail light, head lights, etc. just like a regular motorcycle.... nice for a kid to tinker with and ride on private property, but for an adult??? well thats another story.....

All the above comments are true, but, WHAT A SHAME!!!

Ivan Vegvary

Do it. Whether or not it will be legal will depend on where you live. You'll have to find that out for yourself.

Most of the motorized bicycles that I've heard of use a friction drum against one of the tires, rather than a chain drive. Seems a lot simpler.

John Martin

I think it's nice idea but probably way more trouble than the result would be worth. The weed eater engines are going to turn way too fast to be able to get the gearing right. The 5 horse motor will be better but you're still going to have a BIG sprocket on the back or some type of ungainly jackshaft arrangement. The only place you'll be able to put it will be over the back wheel if you still want to be able to pedal and adding 30 pounds to the bike isn't going to make pedaling easy. That weight over the back wheel is going to make it handle funny. Even Wal Mart bikes have relatively thin tubing which is going to make solid mounting a chore. Plus you've got lousy brakes and a rear wheel not designed for that type of load.

If you sell the bike, the tiller engine and the weed eater motors, you could buy a small motorcycle... Or you could just pedal to work?

Regards,

Peter

I think it's nice idea but probably way more trouble than the result would be worth. The weed eater engines are going to turn way too fast to be able to get the gearing right. The 5 horse motor will be better but you're still going to have a BIG sprocket on the back or some type of ungainly jackshaft arrangement. The only place you'll be able to put it will be over the back wheel if you still want to be able to pedal and adding 30 pounds to the bike isn't going to make pedaling easy. That weight over the back wheel is going to make it handle funny. Even Wal Mart bikes have relatively thin tubing which is going to make solid mounting a chore. Plus you've got lousy brakes and a rear wheel not designed for that type of load.

If you sell the bike, the tiller engine and the weed eater motors, you could buy a small motorcycle... Or you could just pedal to work?

Regards,

Peter

Or even if -they- run over -you-, because you are running illegally.

Mike Patterson Please remove the spamtrap to email me.

Today a man can't build any kind of contraption he wants without having to consider gov. and ambulance chaser interference. At least the guy is thinking right... bicycle..... motor..... AHA.

Richard Coke

A lot of states passed special laws for mopeds. They were a big fad 20? years ago. I seem to remember that if they could not go faster than 18? MPH and that they had pedals like a bicycle that you did not need a registration or a license.

The laws are probably still on the books even though it has been years since I last saw a moped.

Pete.

"Peter Grey" wrote (clip) If you sell the bike, the tiller engine and the weed eater motors, you could buy a small motorcycle (clip)

********** Somewhere, I have the address of someone who sells a conversion for motorizing a bicycle, based on a chainsaw engine--was around $400, as I recall. It uses the friction drive referred to in earlier posts. I have seen it installed on the Dahon folding bike. It is so compact that the bike can still be folded and stowed in a car trunk.

One interesting thing about the friction roller drive is that it drives the bike at the same speed regardless of wheel diameter. E-mail me if you would like me to try to find the vendor's address.

In the past, when people have suggested various shortcuts on things like wiring, the group seems nearly unanimous in their objections--don't to it, it's unsafe, it's against code, and so on. Yet, the feeling in this thread seems to be that the safety requirements in vehicle code are a damned shame. I, for one, would hate to see the roads start to fill up with unsafe homebuilts. Am I alone in this?

You can do this. The tiller motor will be a bit heavy I suspect, and the weed eater motors will not produce enough power to really do what you want to do.

For this to work safely you need to be able to

a) keep your speed differential with surrounding traffic below some level.

b) have a suspension on the bike.

c) you would think that riding at night would require lights, so you might consider restricting your commute to daytime. However be aware that motorcyclists invariably run with lights on at all times to increase visibilty. It's a good idea so consider where the 150 watts you will need for lights would come from.

d) have adequate brakes on the vehicle.

I might suggest that if you want to tinker, buy the bike and begin outfitting it as you wish. At the *same* time, purchase a used, small, 250cc dual sport (street legal) motorcycle. These come stock with strong brakes, excellent suspensions, completely adequate lights that run 100% of the time, and at 250cc displacement a four stroke motor will provide enough zip to take you on the highway if you want. Cost for this will be well under $1K.

Then drive the dual-sport back and forth to work, while you work on your project!

Jim

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Pete, avoid my garage at all costs then. I have a Sachs and a Moto Guzzi moped in there both of which need to be restored. :) On the otherhand the law here in Nevada is a 50cc law if it is less than 50cc (most are 49.9) then you don't need to register it with the state.

Reno, Paul

And, of course, don't forget the MSF safe rider course, and suitable protective gear. Especially if you want to last long enough to finish your project.

Al Moore

Or, alternatively, though not very realisticly , we could limit driving licenses to those who can build their own vehicles. Of course I'm an anacronistic old fart who liked it better when sex was safe and cars were dangerous.

Here you can see why I feel this way.

Richard Coke

I figured that if was going to build a home-made scooter-bike, then he would not bother with any of that, so why do so with a real one?

Jim

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Because the real one will put him out in traffic. Now leathers and a full-face helmet might seem rediculous on a motorized bicycle, but once he gets onto a 250cc machine, he may need them at any moment. As some of us have had to learn painfully.

Al Moore

Great effort Richard, I had a lotus 7 with a Lotus twincam 1600 years ago back in the uk. great fun! Mine didn't look as good as yours does.

I've often wondered, how does one go about getting a home built car on the road over here? Where's the regs and requirements? If you're building mostly from scratch do you need a donor car registration kit car style or can you get it inspected and a vin and tag supplied? If so what regs must the vehicle meet? Seeing some of the hotrods on tv recently, built from scratch with no donor car parts it doesn't seem that they have to meet many of the current safty regs? so how does it work?

I wanted to import my TVR Griffith 500 when I moved to the US. Was told by Import agents that I couldn't because it wouldn't pass import regs because it didn't have side door bars, bumpers or the correct lighting or safety belts and wouldn't pass noise regs....

rgrds

Ain't that the truth. I used to race bicycles. Many's a time that I was on my bike in ultra protective Lycra and a "hairnet" helmet descending some hill at 50 MPH surrounded by fifty other cyclists. I'd think "If I were on my motorcycle I'd be in leather now with a full face helmet on." Sometimes I wonder how I survived those years.

Peter