Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroMPG
I had a 49cc 2 stroke motor kit on my bicycle when I lived in the Cayman Islands about a dozen years ago. Bike was my only (vehicular) mode of transportation, but the weather was so hot, I was always drenched when I got to work for an afternoon shift.
So I got a kit mailed in from the U.S. and used the motor to get to work dry, then pedal home (and then go swimming in the ocean to cool off).
Oh, and also it was useful to outrun the pack of wild dogs that roamed around before my early morning shift. They liked to chase and kill things.
Hated the noise of it though - it was embarassingly loud! For my early morning shift, I wouldn't start the engine (AM = dog pack avoidance) until after I rode down the road a bit from my apartment.
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Seems like the mufflers/baffles that are shipping with them are actually pretty quiet these days. I'm not horribly concerned with noise, because I'll mostly be in the country areas of PA (remember, this thing is technically illegal).
I don't think my goals are too unrealistic for a 66cc (there's no such thing as an 80... it's the difference in US/Chinese measurement standards) motor:
Pedal start (check)
50MPH
At least 90MPG, prefer 100+
The first thing is already taken care of, because any smart user knows that the motors aren't designed to pull you from a dead stop (even though they will...). I'll be pedaling at road speeds, and will modify the throttle so that it DOESN'T idle at all. IOW - If I clutch it, she shuts down. I don't want this thing running all the time, which kinda makes goal #3 easier. Most "Average" users are seeing 100 or so MPG. Maybe my goal should be 150??
Goal #2 is the tough one. It's gonna require some gearing changes. And when I say "50MPH", I don't mean "50MPH on a flat with a tail wind... 3 miles later".
I want to reliably be able to maintain 50 MPH through fair terrain and accelerate to that point without too much effort. In fact, I'd like a <15 second pull up to speed. We'll see how that works out.
The main reason for the speed limit goal is that I'll be on rural roads, where there isn't ever much of a shoulder. Rather than have to keep stopping or slowing down to allow cagers to pass, I feel like I could sacrifice a little bit and at least make a valid attempt to keep the speed up close to standards. Of course, this may require some mild performance mods which will obviously deplete the max MPG figure, so some vigilance will be a requirement in determining proper balance, as well.