I was watching Jay Lenos Garage earlier this week on youtube and he recently covered these small gas engine powered bicycles that are under 49cc so they are not classified as mopeds/motorcycles. Well I went and looked them up cause they looked kind of cool. Well they want $4,500 for them and I said nope too much money for something I might ride a few times then park.

So I went and did some looking and found there is a whole hobby for this so I found a guy down here in Houston building vintage style board racer`s. He had one that was a retro styled Indian racer




I looked and they were insane the one above just recently sold for $4,500 itself.

Well I did some more searching and low and behold found a site that sold Grubee Aluminum motorized bicycle frames with build in fuel tanks, looks identical to the one they used but they used the cheaper knock off Grubee as it doesn't have the rear tabs for rear disc brake caliper mounts. Well needless to say the Grubee frame I decided on is the GTA with a curved downtube that looks more vintage like a early Indian and all for $170.

So I am going to build me a retro style Indian cruiser and depending on how it goes I might build a racer like the one above with a more hopped up engine.

In the mean time my first question to the people on here is does anyone know what color early 1900 Indians were painted?

I did some searching and all I could find photo wise was a dark blue, dark green, black, yellow, or red. I don't want to do red as I fear it might grab the attention of cops too much even though the forum I am on claims the bicycle can be on fire going past them and they wont notice it. I also don't want black as its a pain to keep clean. So my only choices so far is Dark Blue, Dark Green, or yellow. The Dark blue looks like a very dark Ford Blue.

 

Well I took the first step, I purchased from Raw-Motors a Skyhawk GT2-A frame which I wasn't going to but I found out that the Grubee listed GTA frame on the initial site wanted to charge me $207.17 after shipping and I found out from looking at Grubee`s site that frame they were selling didn't look like his in his photos but the ones on Raw-Motors site did and it was called a Skyhawk GT2-A. Nice thing is no sales tax unless in California, free shipping on the frame and it was on sale for $145.

So I got my frame coming right now I just hope I get the 150/155mm width frame as his site states it comes in 135mm or 155mm but there was no way to select and I put in the shipping instructions I want the 155mm frame. I have a gut feeling its going to be the 135mm frame as it says 135 in the part number.

SkyHawk Aluminum Bike Frame GT2-A for 48cc / 66cc 2-Stroke & 4-Stroke Engines

Now on to the next headache. Finding a proper double springer fork set for this, the color to paint the whole unit. Then I need to find a nice vintage look headlight. I also need to do some more research on the 12v magneto I found for these china doll engines. Ive seen people state they were not happy with them so they junked it and installed a small belt driven alternator. Me I will take what ever headlight I find and modify it internally to be LED powered and I think that engine driven magneto should provide enough power to run one LED headlight.

 

Looks like a fun project

 

Going to follow, as I've started having interest in these retro styled motorized bicycles.

 

It should be fun. Right now electric bicycles are the new big thing but there is still a good market for theses gas powered ones.

Only down side is while doing some reading on electrical systems on these lots of people talk about the magneto generator and how it just doesnt perform. They also talk about the large drag on the engine with a electrical load. I dont see how a single led headlight could cause a major hp draw. I wouldnt drive the thing at night anyways but rather have a electrical light vs a battery powered light that might have dead batteries if you need it. But the real big thing i have to read more into is ive seen more than a few people claim the installation of the magneto generator caused the engine to run bad.

Since more people are into the electric powered ones there just isnt enough people out there trying to engineer a better way to generate electricity for a single head light. Some went so far as to use a wheel electricity generator well that i just dont think would be period correct not to mention the light gets brighter the faster you go. Ive seen some use a gear driven generator off the chain but same principle as the wheel generator.

Guess i need to just focus on the bicycle build first then the engine later on as that will be my very last step.

 

Well think I found an alternative for the headlight. Instead of using an electric headlight I realized early bicycles and motorcycles used carbide lights that used a chemical reaction via water to create acetylene gas to provide a flame for your light. They aren't exactly cheap but I have time to search for what I am looking for over time.

Part of me thinks it would be nice to use a motorcycle style acetylene generator that way I can mount it on the inside of the down tube and run two acetylene lines one to the front for the headlight and one to the rear for a tail light, which I found on ebay they had small 1" diameter tail lights made for this.

 

Very cool project, keep us informed..

 

Well a little update.

If anyone is to take part in doing one for themselves take this warning.

Do not I repeat do not buy from the following website stores they are all one in the same ran out of the same address with the same phone number.

GasBike.net
KingsMotorBikes.com
RawMotors.com

I ordered my frame from RawMotors and it was listed as in stock (didn't say out of stock like the GT2A-S frame) well by Wed I had no shipment confirmation so I emailed them asking for a status update on my order as I will be out of town Saturday. Didn't want the big box sitting outside all day for someone to steal. Well needless to say I never got a email from them so today I called them up at 1:15pm, 2:30pm, 4:00pm and 4:30pm and I called their other number listed on KingsMotors site at 4:45pm. I left one message on the first number I called four times and I got no answer nor reply from any of them.

I get home I checked the status on the website and my order history which had said approved under status now says back ordered. This change happened after I went back to work at 1pm as I checked it on my lunch break.

So I went to send them an email demanding my money back or I will report them to the BBB and will report them as fraud to my credit union. Well I hit send and my email which is the same address I sent my initial email to bounced back to me so they blocked my email so I cant email them.

So I will have to figure out tomorrow after I go to the bank how to file with the BBB over this to hopefully get these crooks shut down.

Like wise I posted the whole thing on the motorized bicycle forum I joined last week which is sponsored by GasBike.net as well as KingsMotorBikes.com. Maybe if I entice them on a forum they are supporters of maybe I can get them to answer me otherwise I will just have to not start this project for a while.

Honestly I am thinking of giving up this project already without even starting on it because of the simple fact that I have to deal with a scam artist like this and now will be without my play money for this project for a month or so which means I wont be able to re order till later. By time that comes around I would have lost interest in it and wont even order the frame then.

 

Couldn't you modify a regular bicycle frame and start from there..?

 

I could but a regular bicycle frame isn't really designed for the stresses motorizing puts on the frame. Not to mention you have to be careful with what you pick as the engine might not fit between the tubes.

Another problem I have is not only does the tank they sell for the kit look cheesy that bolts to the top tube, Ive seen lots of people talking about the tanks leaking due to how they clamp down.

I think I will just stick with going with the frame as shown in the first photo. I will just be buying it at $205.17 and pay for shipping atleast they have the real grubee frames and not knock offs.

I already cancled my card and filed for fraudulent charge with my bank they faxed it in and will review it first thing Monday.

 

Hopefully it all gets sorted out for you..

 

This is why I have a specific credit card with a low daily purchase limit... I use it for online purchases only.

I'm sure you will get your money back, but this should not stop you from your ideas.

After you posted the first post, I've been looking on line for a few electric folding bikes for my yacht.

 

Oh it wont stop me from giving this a try. It just had me very disgusted last night when I did the update.

I buy a lot of stuff online, I mean a lot of stuff. This is the first time Ive ever had this issue. I just cant see how this place has been in business since 05 doing this and have a F rating on the BBB and not get shut down or investigated for fraud.

Either way I have a credit card but work has been so horrible lately I am struggling to get it payed down enough for emergencies.

I just recently went to the IRS website again to request a transcript for my return for 2015 as I still haven't got it and I cant get it digitally as it wont let me create a profile. So I have $1,015 coming back to me on my taxs from 2016 and I still cant file because I need my AGI from last year to finish my online filing.

Once I get this I will use it to pay off all $480 of my credit card and use it for emergencies or for hobbies like this.

 

Well been a few days and I have decided to step away from the single speed. I will be going with a 7 speed build. This will add to the cost and take away from the vintage look as shown above. But it gives a lot more flexibility.

From the reading I have been doing I have seen a 36T sprocket is considered good all around use with no hill climbing. 41T sprocket is a general use that has a good balance of acceleration and speed.

With that said the shift kit I am looking at from SBP comes with a jackshaft that connects the 2 stroke engine to the jackshaft via a 10T to 17T sprocket. On the other side of the bike the jackshaft is connected to the chain ring sprocket is a 10T to 44T sprocket. Then the drive sprocket for the cassette is a 36T in the kit.

The Cassette I am looking at is a Shimano Touring MF-TZ31 7-Speed. This comes with 14T, 16T, 18T, 20T, 22T, 24T, and 34T.

Now with all this in consideration I found out from the forums I am on the math used to figure out what kind of toothed sprocket you have after going through all these sprockets.

So if I get rid of the 36T drive sprocket for a 30T in 7th Gear would be as if I was running a 34T sprocket. In 1st Gear it would be as if I was running a 84T sprocket.

This should give me a good range of acceleration and top speed.

I'm also looking at a SRAM X4 7-speed trigger shifter. This one does not have a integrated brake lever which will allow me to use the dual brake lever I found to hook front and rear disc brake cables to on brake lever. Then I can use my thumb to shift up or down for gears.

I have gotten away from the idea of doing a 1905 build so I wont be installing a vintage carbide headlight. I will be doing pure retro build which will give me more flexibility in things such as running a multi speed cassette vs single speed as well as the whole addition of a jackshaft.

 

subscribing....Im a motorcycle guy & live in NW Houston so want to follow the progress