And then there were two

"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori) 08/19/2018 at 22:01 • Filed to: tooty scooty

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I know a lot of you were concerned about my motorized bicycle project when I first started posting about it. Correctly, you pointed out they’re expensive, unreliable, dangerous, and about the worst form of motorized two wheel transport. Being who I am I took this to heart and purchased a second one.

Oh that got you to click/ infiniscroll though? Excellent. Almost everything said in the first paragraph is true exceeeeept I didn’t buy the second one, my significant other bought one.

The original plan was that we’d buy and build motorized bikes together in tandem (though not a tandem motorized bike), but because of complicated adulting reasons I ended up building mine first. This turned out to be a good thing as it allowed mine to be held up as an example of what not to do.

However, some of you may have noted that this bike looks built. And dirty.

Indeed! Turns out some chap wiser than I was selling his on craigslist.

We turn up at this guy’s apartment to look at the bike. It was rather an odd moment because while both of us are well versed in buying beaters cars from randos, neither of us had bought a bike in this fashion. We winged it.

Still, the bike looked better than I had in the photos and seemed to have just a whole shit ton of stuff bolted to it, which is great. Honestly there is well over the asking price in parts on this thing... which is good because it wouldn’t start and the tires were flat.

Turns out the owner bought it from a friend but has absolutely no mechanical aptitude nor, apparently, any interest in learning. He decided to sell it when it wouldn’t go up hills without dying.

After a little investigation we determined the problem was likely to be fuel delivery. There was gas in the tank, but only a tiny amount was coming through the filter. My best guess is the in-tank strainer is clogged, but we won’t know until the tank is pulled and cleaned.

The park plug wire boot has a crack in it, which probably means that while it may not need to be replaced immediately, it should be replaced soon.

The most obvious problem with the bike, however, is that it was assembled “backwards”. The donor bike had the grip shifter on the right grip. On a standard build the motorized bike shift goes on the right, but instead of swapping the shifter around the builder decided to just install the throttle backwards.

I guess it works? TBD, but we’ll probably fix that, if possible.

The bike also came with an honest-to-god 12V system. The builder saw fit to take the magneto “accessory” output and connect it to a solar charge controller, which acts as a voltage regulator. This charges a small 14V (?) battery located in the rear box and also runs USB accessories. Neat! Not something I’d waste the time and energy on, but as someone already did all the work, it could make for a useful system.

It also came with a box of parts, tools, lights, and even a helmet! Seriously a good deal considering how much all that crap costs.

Still, a deal was struck, money changed hands, and we loaded the bike up and headed home.

Also: fun fact! A motorized cruiser bike does not fit into a Land Rover Discovery. That was a fun ride home...

So what is to do on this thing?

Well first off we need to get it starting and driving normally. We’ll pull drain and pull the tank and figure out the fuel delivery issue. If that doesn’t solve it we’ll reseal the intake and check the carb for proper operation and/ or move through the standard troubleshooting list.

These are not complicated machines.

Next up would be the check and adjust the brakes, thought they seem fine, and fully air up the tires.

Then we’ll look at swapping the throttle and shifter to a more standard arrangement.

Also we’re thinking lose all three baskets, but keep the rear container, and add a spring chain tensioner. Oh and add a working kickstand! The one one it is useless.

After that, the hope would be that we’ll have a clean 2nd Tooty Scooty (or should I say Twoty Scooty?) for less than a quarter of what I paid for my build .

I’m maybe a little jealous!

CompactLuxuryFan > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 08/19/2018 at 22:15

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Interesting! Definitely missed your first post on this. Would you mind sharing some specs (mostly range and weight) and/or pointing me to the first post? My true daily driver is actually an electric bike, which I adore! Would be interesting to see what an ICE can do. 

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > CompactLuxuryFan 08/19/2018 at 22:22

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Sure thing. I just added some related stories to the end of the post, but you can get most by going to its tag here . I also did a write up of all the laws that Oklahoma has on them here .

The tl;dr is the legality varies by state, but most will allow a 49CC or a 80CC motorized bike and mostly treat it as a bicycle. But, again, this varies wildly by state.

Range is theoretically about 50 - 75 miles, but I haven’t tested it yet.

They’re not very reliable, or at least the crap Chinese 2-stroke ones aren’t, but they are easy to work on and parts are cheap. It has been a fun toy so far.

I’d guess the electric bike is better in every way, but I was way too cheap to go that route. Those builds look like they are $1000+ and a motorized bike build can be done  for less than $500.

Nom De Plume > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 08/19/2018 at 22:47

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CompactLuxuryFan > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 08/19/2018 at 23:46

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My bike was $1000 exactly, but it was also pretty much the cheapest electric bike available back then (had it for around 14 months). It’s still a ‘ class 3' pedelec with ‘ class 2' throttle, which means it has a throttle you can use at any time but is only supposed to be able to power it to 20 mph and also it assists if you pedal up to 28 mph. However, I’m pretty sure those figures are conservative .

Range is supposed to be 25 miles but I’ve also found that to be conservative. Plus San Francisco is only 7 by 7 so it’s not an issue for me. I can actually bike most places faster than I can drive there!

Cé hé sin > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 08/20/2018 at 04:41

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Correctly, you pointed out they’re expensive, unreliable, dangerous, and about the worst form of motorized two wheel transport. Being who I am I took this to heart and purchased a second one .

This is a spl endid reaction and much to be encouraged.

CompactLuxuryFan > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 08/20/2018 at 19:31

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Just finished reading! Man, my bike is like 1000x “ better” than yours! The only problem I’ve had is rear spokes bending because SF streets are extremely bumpy and it has no suspension. They were hard to source initially but now I’m set! Glad you’re having fun!