The Gas Bicycle Project

[gas bicycle]

Well I've decided to try out a gas powered bike kit this time around. I already have two electric bicycles and decided to add a gas powered bicycle to the mix for good measure. After searching through all the different kits I decided on The Chrome Knight Motor Kit by JNMotors . The kit was a little more expensive than the normal Chinese kits but I wanted something that was already modified and needed no upgrades. If you are looking for a gas powered bicycle kit the site KingsMotorsBikes has a really good selection and some good prices on stock kits. The prices range from $119 to $199 for a complete kit prices fluctuate depending if you are looking for a 2-stroke or 4-stroke kit. Anyways should have my kit any day now. I will take some pictures of the install process and make a few youtube vidoes to show off the new ride.

My main deciding factor in a gas powered bicycle was that I really like the fact that I can go on long distance trips and only need to stop at a gas station to fuel up. The advertised MPG for most kits is 100mpg to 150mpg so while it burns gas it is still much greener to ride one of these than to drive a car around town. With my electric bikes I can get close to the beach but have to turn around unless I want to peddle home up hill and I already know I don't want to do that.

I love my electric bike and will still ride them around town. I just need a long distance bicycle and the price of a high AH battery is just to much for me right now. I almost feel like I am cheating on my electric bikes by building a gas bike, but hey I never said I wasn't going to build a hybrid in the future did I

[gas bicycle]

I just noticed they have a Nitrous Oxide System for $35. I don't want to use any NOS with a new motor but for that price I will have to consider it in the future if not for the performance at least for the novelty of it.

[mountainbiker]

Originally Posted by gas bicycle

Well I've decided to try out a gas powered bike kit this time around. I already have two electric bicycles and decided to add a gas powered bicycle to the mix for good measure. After searching through all the different kits I decided on The Chrome Knight Motor Kit by JNMotors . The kit was a little more expensive than the normal Chinese kits but I wanted something that was already modified and needed no upgrades. If you are looking for a gas powered bicycle kit the site KingsMotorsBikes has a really good selection and some good prices on stock kits. The prices range from $119 to $199 for a complete kit prices fluctuate depending if you are looking for a 2-stroke or 4-stroke kit. Anyways should have my kit any day now. I will take some pictures of the install process and make a few youtube vidoes to show off the new ride.

My main deciding factor in a gas powered bicycle was that I really like the fact that I can go on long distance trips and only need to stop at a gas station to fuel up. The advertised MPG for most kits is 100mpg to 150mpg so while it burns gas it is still much greener to ride one of these than to drive a car around town. With my electric bikes I can get close to the beach but have to turn around unless I want to peddle home up hill and I already know I don't want to do that.

I love my electric bike and will still ride them around town. I just need a long distance bicycle and the price of a high AH battery is just to much for me right now. I almost feel like I am cheating on my electric bikes by building a gas bike, but hey I never said I wasn't going to build a hybrid in the future did I

Although you don't need to deal with the hassle of batteries, the downside to gas-powered bicycles in the US is that many states categorize them as mopeds and require licensing, insurance (and possibly titling, which could be problematic). Some states treat e-bikes as mopeds too, however, many that do make a distinction between high-powered and low-powered e-bikes and only include high-powered e-bikes that travel over 20 MPH in the definition of moped. Good luck. Are you going to have to license and ensure your gas-powered bike?

[gas bicycle]

Originally Posted by mountainbiker

Although you don't need to deal with the hassle of batteries, the downside to gas-powered bicycles in the US is that many states categorize them as mopeds and require licensing, insurance (and possibly titling, which could be problematic). Some states treat e-bikes as mopeds too, however, many that do make a distinction between high-powered and low-powered e-bikes and only include high-powered e-bikes that travel over 20 MPH in the definition of moped. Good luck. Are you going to have to license and ensure your gas-powered bike?

I live in California so as long as it is under 49cc you don't have to license it(at least that is what I understand). The kit I am getting is a 66cc kit but it doesn't say that any place on the motor so there is really no way for anybody to know if it is 49cc or 66cc the sizes look pretty much the same (Please note the 80cc kits are really 66cc kits). I talked to a guy who sells complete bikes with gas motors and he has been pulled over a few times for doing 45mph in a 35mph zone but was only ticketed for speeding the 1st time around. The second time the same cop busted him and apparently did his research after the first ticket. This time the cop cited him for speeding, not having at least one handle bar mirror, and not using a dot2 helmet. I have not heard of anybody having to license a bike yet but that doesn't mean it isn't the law either. If it is true with a gas bike then I think the same would apply to an electric bike. I think if you are going below 20mph that you are not going to get messed with but if you are flying down the road doing 45mph on a bicycle with no helmet, mirrors, or anything then the cop is going to bust you 100% of the time. He just had to go to court and show that he now had a mirror and helmet then his fine was reduced to $25.

I will look into licensing it to see what is involved just for the heck of it. Not sure about insurance or if you can get one for a bike so will have to look into that as well. Hopefully there are some other people here that have a gas bike that can give us some feedback as this is all new to me as well.

My plan is to stick the kit on and ride it if I get pulled over I will play dumb which shouldn't be to hard to do. I plan to have a mirror and dot 2 helmet already so hopefully I will not get messed with to much. I have been driving my electric bikes doing 30mph+ without any harassment so I am thinking I will be safe. The motor also comes with a silencer so it should not be obnoxiously loud. Anyways there is only one way to find out how the cops will act. Will keep you posted.

[gas bicycle]

Been looking around for a dot helmet. I think I am going to go with a German Style helmet I found a site that has a carbon fiber look helmet on sale for $39 here

Found this store on ebay that has them for $19 right now plus $15 shipping. Same state so I should have it pretty quickly.



If anybody knows of a good place to get a german style helmet online with good prices please let me know. I am looking for a carbon fiber german style helmet matt black would be my first choice but any black one will due. The two listed above are not real carbon fiber which is what I would prefer.

[gas bicycle]

I got my jnmotors gas bicycle kit on Saturday and ended up selling it to a friend at cost instead of using it. I am going to use a 66cc stock grubee skyhawk gt5 kit my first time around. They are only $150 for a complete kit so it was hard to pass up.

Should have it completed by wednesday at the latest. Will post some details then.

[go4it]

Shame on you!! I hope your going to at lease show some respect to your ebikes and put up a devider between them and this new intruder so your faithful old friends won't see it, hear it or smell it. Electric rules.... LOL...Let us know how it works out for you.

[mountainbiker]

I haven't considered a gasoline kit because I don't want to deal with registering and insuring a gasoline powered bicycle. I don't have that problem with the e-bike. Now if I had a e-trike similar to the one in the You Tube video in this link, I might mount an onboard generator for recharging battiers since I already have a Honda generator like the one in the video. I wouldn't need to worry about licensing it and insuring it, but the range would be extended significantly.

YouTube - Hybrid Trike 130 Miles Per Gallon !

[gas bicycle]

I have the kit installed and have been breaking in the engine for the past few days. Will upload some pictures in a couple of days after I finish up some mods.

Some lessons learned and tips so far.

Use 242 loctite on ALL bolts on the bike. I used loctite on the mounting bolts and a few. Normally this is not an issue but my rear brakes were not working since I was just going for a test drive and was still getting the rear brakes lined up and adjusted. Since the bike has a motor it acts like a slow brake when you let off the gas so coming to a stop was not an issue. The bolts that hold the gas tank on came lose a few hours later so I will ad some loctite to those as well. Basically if there is a bolt you don't want to come lose then you should loctite it. These engines vibrate pretty bad at high RPM during the break in period so loctite is a must.

add some rubber or padding in the motor mounts to reduce and prevent vibrations. I hear that once the motor is broken in after about two tanks of gas the vibrations are pretty much removed but I don't think it can hurt to add some rubber padding to the mount bolts while doing the install. I have heard of people using cut up inner tube or tires so I went to peb boys and got a 56 piece tire repair kit for around $7. It has all kinds of pre cut shapes and sizes of rubber which work great as a vibration reducer. I already added some between my gas tank and frame. Not only does it remove the vibration but it also helps get a better grip and improves the contact area. I purchased some black silicon caulking from home depot which I will use to fill in the cracks or spaces that look like they may help reduce the vibrations.

The stock spark plug and wire are pretty cheap so I bought a new set from sickbikeparts.com they seem to have the best prices and ship priority mail so you get your package quickly. I went with the NGK BPR6HIX Iridium Spark Plug it was only $6.99 compared to the NGK B6HS Spark Plug which was $2.49 so for a couple bucks I figured I would go with the better plug. The Magnecor plug wires were $6.49 so I didn't really break the bank on this purchase. I also ordered the Heavy Duty High Performance Air Filter at $17.95 as well since the stock filter is pretty cheap and doesn't allow for much air intake. While I was at it I ordered the "Clutch Cover for standard Chinese 2 Stroke engine" which is supposed to reduce the noise from the engine this cost a woping $5.95

Will add some photos and update on additional upgrades soon...

[gas bicycle]

Originally Posted by TEXX

gas bicycle ..

We are still waiting, photos of your bike, and the installation of this kit.

Thank ..

I will post a video and some pics in the next day or so. I was going to do it tonight, but with that full moon I just had to go for a ride

Below are the gas bicycle performance and upgraded parts I installed over the past few weeks:

1. Heavy duty high performance air filter - $17.95 from sickbikeparts.com
2. Aluminum exhaust gasket - $2.49 from sickbikeparts.com
3. JNMotorsbikes expansion chamber exhaust - $69 from jnmotorsbikes.com
4. Extremely high heat silicon heater hose to connect new exhaust - $13 per foot from napa auto parts (Part number H506)
5. Fuel filter - $4.95 from sickbikeparts.com
6. NGX BPR6HIX iridium spark plug - $6.99 from sickbikeparts.com
7. Magnacor High performance spark plug wire - $6.49 from sickbikeparts.com

I actually ordered parts from sickbikeparts 4 separate times so if you know what you want you can save shipping charges if you get everything up front. They do ship everything priority mail and shipped everything the same day I ordered it so I got everything within two days which is good because I likes to get my stuff ASAP.

The air filter was a must since the stock filter is a joke. The stock exhaust gasket had a hole were it blew out so it was making some strange noises so the aluminum was a good addition. The expansion chamber exhaust made a HUGE difference the torque and added HP was apparent immediately.

I used the high heat heater hose for many reasons for one it was easy to install and required no welding at all. After cutting off the old exhaust the diameter of the pipe was 3/4" and the expansion chamber was 7/8" the heater hose Inner diameter or ID is 3/4 even though there is a difference in size the 3/4" side fit perfectly and the 7/8 side was installed easily since the silicon hose is rubbery and expanded to fit over the pipe easily. All that was required was some hose clamps and I was done. The other benefit was it completely removed 100% of the vibrations I would have with normal exhaust tubing. I was also able to snake the silicon tubing along my frame for a close and secure fit. For the record I tried normal heater hose from pep boys but it did not stand up to the heat and I could smell the rubber melting. The new silicon is having no issues at all.

The fuel filter has not been installed yet. I keep meaning to do it but as soon as I go to the garage and see the bike I immediately go out for a ride. I replaced the spark plug and wire because the stock ones are very very cheap and I didn't want to have an issue while I was 30 miles away from home. The main thing I noticed with the new plug and wire was the idle was much smoother not sure about performance since I also installed the air filter at the same time.

I used to have some vibrations at high rpm but the removal of my bicycle chain guard removed a lot of that and the replacement of the stock exhaust with the expansion chamber attached with silicon hose removed all remaining vibrations.

Video and pictures to come soon...

Update: I was going to do the video yesterday but while doing a top speed test my gas can sprung a leak. I think the bolts were tightened to much so the bolt that is attached to the can has a little tear in it. The can came lose initially so I tightened it up to much this time around. Should of just used some locktite instead of overnighting it. Anyways need to get another gas can then I will do the video. Should have it replaced in the next day or so.

[gas bicycle]

Originally Posted by TEXX

gas bicycle ..

We are still waiting, photos of your bike, and the installation of this kit.

Thank ..

Hey TEXX,

Did that boost bottle make any difference in your opinion? I was thinking about that mod and the NOS kit but my bike is already pretty scary fast and I am not sure I was to push my luck. I don't really need any more top end speed but some added torque never hurt anybody!