New here, seeking advice!

[Fledermaus666]

Greetings all!

I just recently moved to Richmond, VA and the bike scene here is great. Though I have a solid bicycle that I use to commute to work and school (Electra Ticino 8d) I have another bike that I would like to build into a motorized bicycle. It might not be the perfect candidate, but seeing as I'm relatively broke I don't have much else to work with I think it's what I will have to use. Below is a link to the pictures of the hopeful motorized bike to be, my AMF Roadmaster Skyrider.

http://imgur.com/a/KuoWM

The bike is in decent riding condition, I've just had it tuned up at a local shop that deals with vintage and used bikes. It is way too small for me to pedal for long distances (I'm 6'4) so I figure it would work out well as a motobike.

Now the real question is, which engine kit should I be looking at? I have heard mixed reviews about the chinese kits such as Flying Horse etc. Financially these kits are more appealing, and I don't need a whole lot of horsepower. I would only use it to get around my neighborhood, to school and the store and back, and as a 'spectacle' bike sort of thing.

What are your recommendations? Thanks in advance!

-Fledermaus

 

[Moisstink]

I would say that is an ideal bike to motorize up. If this is your first I would find the next to cheepest kit on ebay and go from there. The kit is pretty solid
and if you have a damadged peice from transit these vendord do reship new pieces to cover the damadge. Take a couple hour to set it up and have fun, Then after a few weeks of silid riding do some modification. You should also check out your city/state laws on engine size. I have a 48cc which is the smallest of the three and can do 30 mph all day long. Legally I should be under 20. Think about getting rid of your fenders. I have heard they are 90 % the culpret for bringing riders down. If you have any problems mechanically this site has a pretty quick turn around for trouble shooting motorized issues. Most of them are not half as cool as the people on this site. http://motorbicycling.com/index.php Good luckl!

 

[raggedjim]

I have to agree with getting rid of the fenders. There's some pretty scary pictures on the web of fenders that have wrapped up motorized bikes.

Good luck, Rg

 

[Fledermaus666]

Forgive my naivete, but why is it that fenders cause such havoc? I'm not particularly attached to them, so I won't mind getting rid of them, I'm just interested.

 

[raggedjim]

Motorized bicycles vibrate... a lot! The fender braces on most bicycles are not very sturdy, sometimes the vibration will crack a mount and the rear of the fender will get grabbed by the tire and sucked up into the front forks and completely lock the front tire (not good at 20-30mph).

Anything that vibrates is worth stabilizing or removing.

Rg

 

[raggedjim]

Here's an example...

http://motorbicycling.com/showthread.php?t=20464

 

[Fledermaus666]

Woah yeah, guess the fenders will be the first thing to go. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[imthegrt1]

Great bike to use I got one too when u ready to start build I'll build mine to see if we can bounce ideas off each other

 

[Fledermaus666]

Sounds good! I'll start a new thread for the build when I get the kit, maybe in the next month or so (kinda broke right now). When I start it I'll link you to it. What color is yours?