How to power your bike with a whippersnipper motor

Step 6: Riding

This is the fun bit. If u used an old motor like mine that is very unreliable and crappy, it would be best to carry out some maintenance on your engine. Also unlike me it would be wise to put brakes on your bike!!! I got quite a scare going into a busy intersection with thongs (flip flops, sandals) as my only brake.

Also check the legality of these kinds of mods, in NSW, Aust, to be legal it must be under 800watts of power and under 25cc or something. I’m sure cops would love to book someone causing trouble on a motorised pushbike.

My bike when the engine was running nice did 40kmh easy on flat. I put nitro fuel (15% nitro methane, the stuff used for R/C cars) in it one day and it went ballistic, it scared me.

The clutch on mine wore out pretty quickly coz its old n I’m heavy n didn’t want to pedal at all. But if your light or have a more powerful motor u don’t have to pedal ne time except for start off and really steep hills.

Thanks for reading my instructable and please vote for it in the Park Tool Bike contest!

Comments

[mista.v]

What about a killswitch or some kind of clutch to disengage?

[b-train]

Theres an ignition killswitch on the front of the engine near the pull start, and it has a centrifugal clutch built in.

[KiW]

WOW, thats just cool, I wanna have it too, but then you got the problem... cops... law... here in holland they dont allow your to drive on cool stuf only borring things are allowed here... damn still gonna do it with a cycle I have left some hwere in the middle of no where. thanks dude looks cool!

[boahen collins kwadwo]

In fact that is a great performance. keep it up. but please could you explain to me the mechanism involved . how the motor is able to power the bicycle [e-mail]

[tsulvin]

that's tight

[1Scray]

Do you have any action photos.....with you flashing a nice British smile!!!!

[risewiththefallen15]

hi i am doing the same exact thing you did in this instructable. although im using a motor scooter engine. i need help with mounting. email me at ([e-mail]) or (dlesterjr1@yahoo,com)

[lilrou15]

AWSOME

[chinnerz]

you wouldn't happen to know what is legal in the ACT would ya? or at least where i could find out? i rate this 5 outa 5

[b-train]

http://www.zbox.com.au/legal.htm

down the bottom is act, its basically the same as everywhere else, under 200w is ok over 200 u have to treat is as a motorbike or moped

[lukeyj15]

And What about Victoria. IS it the same as the ACT and NSW. Also I'm 12 does that mean I can ride it. Just one more question. Could I drive this on the road without a licence?

[blahblahblah135]

does this whipper snipper bike go up hills ok?

[b-train]

a 200w whippersnipper probs wont go up hill very well unless they are a very slight gradient or unless u weigh like 30kgs, im too heavy for any kinda of legal powered bike (85kgs) so i just used a motor that was over n hoped i didnt get caught :D

[chinnerz]

well idk i guess you could assist the motor by paddling

[chinnerz]

hahah, sweet. so making one which is 199w thx iou

[dilg]

Great job! Voting on this project because I made a similiar bike when I was a kid. It was a clutchless weed trimmer engine mounted to a Haro freestyle bike. We were limited to a few hand tools so the design wasn't nearly as neat as yours. I used a scrap of 4 inch square fence tube for the bracket. It was maybe 8in long and we cut off two sides with a hacksaw so that it formed a huge L-bracket. We drilled holes in the bracket to match the pre-drilled brake mounts on the back of the frame under the seat. Holes were also drilled in the vertical part of the bracket to match a few threaded holes on the face of the engine mount near the shaft. The shaft was only 1/2in diameter, so we centered a segment of 1in copper plumbing pipe over the shaft and filled up the void with plaster of paris :-) To add friction to the shaft we slathered it in two-part epoxy. As with your project we ran the original rear brake cable to the throttle lever on the engine. We clocked the top speed right at 35mph. My friend would ride downtown and back on a tank of gas!

[b-train]

thanx, 35mph thats pretty good, urs sounds like a ripper. i reckon if i take the clutch off i cld get a bit more outta it, the clutch slips a bit wen i ride it. thankx 4 the vote aswell

[atnekn]

Is there enough pressure from the top to rotate the wheel? Does it not slip or something? I have a chain driven motor bicycle and Im having some problems mounting the engine after the bolt vibrated out and Ive drilled into the casting and I messed it up a little. Suggestions on how to attach a motor to the frame?

[b-train]

yep theres enough pressure, i let the tire down a bit when i was mounting so i had a bit of room for error, also its pretty heavily knurled so it grips pretty well. if its starts to slip i just upped the tire pressure a bit. plus i made the mounts a bit tight so that when the motor was on they were slightly bent and flexed back to keeps tension, sorta like a spring. wat kind of motor do u have? i didnt do chain coz i though it might rob a bit off power and it chains are illegal for motorrised bike in NSW. but i worked with a guy who bought a kit, it was belt drive and just a 2 bits of thick strap goin over the top of the rear wheel (sorta like a mudguard holder) and one bit of strap from the seat post which holded it on, i think the company was "blackstar" ??? dunno neways i hope that helped though i could prolly help more if i saw the wat kind of motor it was