"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
02/13/2019 at 14:50 • Filed to: Two Wheels Good, Engine Swap
5
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"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
02/13/2019 at 14:50 • Filed to: Two Wheels Good, Engine Swap | 5
| 24 |
Let me preface this by saying that I’m
**not**
buying anything. The parental figures of Oppo have been successful in convincing me to adult my way through this new year. That means my tradition of buying new smarts and my new tradition of amassing a hoard of motorcycles are both on indefinite hold...
at the very least until I get my safety net back.
With that out of the way, onto an idea that this time came with sobriety!
As indicated in any of my recent posts, I’ve long had an itch to engine swap something. I cancelled the Ruckus clone engine swap and instead I decided to get rid of it. But had I decided to follow through on the swap I finally figured out how it could have worked:
1) Start with a Ruckus clone or some other cheap scooter with a lot of open space and not a lot of weight:
2) Remove the engine (this also removes the CVT and rear wheel). This will leave a nice space for you to play with. However, you won’t have a swingarm or wheel.
3) Get a swingarm. I did some research into the engine mounting holes for a Ruck and they’re actually a perfect place to mount a swingarm. Get a swingarm for an older bike and you’ll even have preexisting holes to remount the Ruckus suspension. Something like this:
4) Get a rear wheel that’s about the same size as the front.
5) And now for the heart of the operation. This project may actually be a perfect fit for a Predator engine. These engines are normally reserved for minibikes, but I’ve seen them used on road bike projects because they’re so dead simple to mount (square mounting plate), run, and mod ify. I’ve watched guys get 70+ mph out of these things, too. I mean, it can’t be any worse in reliability than the GY6 you just removed, right? lol
If you wanna get really silly, a Predator 670cc v-twin can also be crammed into tiny spaces and it actually sounds really nice.
However, the beauty of this idea is that you can use literally any engine you want so long as you can get it to fit and use a little sorcery to get the motor mounted. I also really like the idea of using a 400cc two stroke from a dilapidated enduro, as well.
6) Pick your transmission poison. If you go with a normal motorcycle engine and transmission, just connect it to a sprocket on your new rear wheel (you may need to play with sprocket sizes, of course). For the Predator, you can easily get a torque converter (and maybe jackshaft) to snake its way to that rear wheel.
So what does Oppo think? Have I truly lost my mind...er...lost my mind even more?
MUSASHI66
> Mercedes Streeter
02/13/2019 at 15:01 |
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“Easy” if you have extensive fabrication and welding experience, plus a shop to do it in, and time and money to buy all the parts. Or, money to pay a shop to do it for you. Unless it’s a direct bolt-on, it’s never easy.
bob and john
> Mercedes Streeter
02/13/2019 at 15:12 |
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I think you need to either build an actual rukus or get a proper bike to screw with. enough with the ‘clones’ and wanna bes. none of them work well , they are all shit. which is WHY they are $10 and a sad, under the table han die on craigslist.
Pickup_man
> Mercedes Streeter
02/13/2019 at 15:14 |
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If it were me, I’d find a 85, 125, or better yet a 250cc liquid cooled two stroke fro m any of the big four. Small, lightweight, terrifying power for a thing like a R uckus. I have nothing against the Predator motor swap, but I have this irrational dislike of using a utility engine in a street application. Just feels too, crude, to me. But if you like it, then go for it. An old air cooled 2 stroke would be good too, just make sure to pick one that has decent parts availability.
atfsgeoff
> bob and john
02/13/2019 at 15:24 |
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Yep. Without a dedicated garage and fabrication tools and a serious passion for tinkering, I wouldn’t bother with any of that.
If you like to ride more than repair, save your pennies, sell off most of your fleet and buy a
well-cared-for Japanese bike made sometime this century.
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Mercedes Streeter
> bob and john
02/13/2019 at 15:29 |
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Wait, I’ve been getting screwed out of handies all this time?!
The only reason I’d use a clone for this is because I already have running and reliable proper bikes that I wouldn’t want to rip a perfectly fine engine out of. At least with a clone nothing of actual value is lost. lol
But yeah, for anyone else wanting a monster engine in a tiny body , just do a real one.
Decay buys too many beaters
> Mercedes Streeter
02/13/2019 at 15:37 |
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“Let me preface this by saying that I’m **not** buying anything.”
As for the swap. It all seems easy enough until you really start trying to piece together something that works. My ninja 300 swap idea seemed easy and feasible until I really started getting into gritty details beyond mounting engine and connecting it to a wheel.
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Mercedes Streeter
> Pickup_man
02/13/2019 at 15:39 |
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My Ruck clone actually had a 150 from the factory. To date that is the scariest thing I’ve ever ridden and I have a knack for bikes that have bad handling.
I actually have an irrational desire to see utility engines in road applications. Then again, I’m someone who tows trailers and offroads in city cars, so my opinion’s already a bit wonky.
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Mercedes Streeter
> Decay buys too many beaters
02/13/2019 at 15:44 |
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My ninja 300 swap idea seemed easy and feasible until I really started getting into gritty details beyond mounting engine and connecting it to a wheel.
Well that’s a disappointment. Good thing I decided to get another old school liter bike than follow down the rabbit hole my Ruck had me going into.
And I pinky promise, no purchases!
Biggus Dickus (RevsBro)
> Mercedes Streeter
02/13/2019 at 15:44 |
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No. There is only one acceptable motor swap: Panigale Motor.
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Mercedes Streeter
> atfsgeoff
02/13/2019 at 15:45 |
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If you like to ride more than repair, save your pennies, sell off most of your fleet and buy a well-cared-for Japanese bike
made sometime this century.
#shotsfired
To be fair, none of my 70s and 80s Japanese bikes have broken yet...
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atfsgeoff
> Mercedes Streeter
02/13/2019 at 15:52 |
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How many miles have you put on them though?
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Decay buys too many beaters
> Mercedes Streeter
02/13/2019 at 15:54 |
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Lol! I saw that. I still have yet to break in my new trailer hitch-ed miata on a random impulse buy. Soon hopefully, just sold the DRZ so now I have a motorcycle shaped hole in my shop
:)
Yeah, even with a decent amount of fab experience and resources, stuff really started piling up in terms of items that would need a ground up redesign to work.
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bob and john
> Mercedes Streeter
02/13/2019 at 15:55 |
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look, even i dont have that many bikes. point is, you ne ed to stop with crazy swap and RIDE. you lack the facilities to really make them work. Sell off what you can, spend on the money on something you will use and wont get blown off the road by a semi strong fart from a mouse, and add cowbell. literally.
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Mercedes Streeter
> atfsgeoff
02/13/2019 at 16:00 |
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According to the odometers, I put 3k each on both the Goldwing and GS850G, and both of those were bought in July and August, respectively. Prior to that I put 3k on the Buell Blast that was my first bike and another 2k on the Honda Rebel that accompanied it. Basically, so long as I didn’t need to carry a passenger I was always on one of my bikes.
Only my recent additions don’t have many miles, but for obvious snowy reasons.
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Mercedes Streeter
> bob and john
02/13/2019 at 16:04 |
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No worries about riding, I get in plenty of that. Unlike my smarts, I don’t buy bikes I have no plans on riding on a regular basis. I’m even going to bring the GS out of storage on Saturday to hit up the IMS show in Chicago this weekend.
But if you and Decay say it’s out of my league, I think I’ll trust you two.
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Mercedes Streeter
> Decay buys too many beaters
02/13/2019 at 16:12 |
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Oooooh, what do you plan on replacing the DRZ with?
Jeebus. Yeah, I have a friend who has a full shop in his garage and Madame DeLorean has some experience herself (she tried to make a Buell Blast into a cafe racer, it’s actually how we met ), but ground up redesigns sound like a nightmare.
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Decay buys too many beaters
> Mercedes Streeter
02/13/2019 at 16:23 |
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Probably a big ADV bike, the two big takaways from my road trip were that
1. I really like doing big road trips by motorbike and intend to do it a lot more
2. Pretty much anywhere interesting I’ll
end up on a road trip will have areas to explore that are not on road.
An
ADV bike is THE answer here, I never really “got” them before, but now I do. The ability to eat up miles on paved surfaces and still storm down any gravel roads I come across would be huge.
CRider
> Mercedes Streeter
02/13/2019 at 17:12 |
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You know how people put Hayabusa motors in Smarts? Well, w hat would be better for you than an actual Hayabusa?
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Mercedes Streeter
> CRider
02/13/2019 at 17:22 |
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Shhhh...A Hayabusa isn’t on my list of dream bikes, but really only because I’d probably have to have a traffic lawyer as my +1 everywhere I go.
Hooker
> Mercedes Streeter
02/13/2019 at 17:29 |
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Off topic: Any resolution on the creamsicle?
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Mercedes Streeter
> Hooker
02/13/2019 at 17:51 |
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Yep! My lovely lawyer got MBFS to agree to reinstate my account. :)
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atfsgeoff
> Mercedes Streeter
02/13/2019 at 21:53 |
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That’s great! I didn’t know you had so many miles on so many of them. Glad to hear they’re all working for ya!
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CRider
> Mercedes Streeter
02/14/2019 at 04:44 |
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That’s true, and it’s not like a 400cc two stroke Ruckus can get you into too much trouble, right? It’s the safe choice. The responsible choice.
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Hooker
> Mercedes Streeter
02/14/2019 at 09:20 |
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Oh. I just love this so much!!! So happy for you!!!!