Weed Whacker Powered Bicycle!

[XCVG]

Wouldn't the motor stall if you stopped?

Also, what's the LED Projector in your sig?

 

[Basement_Modder]

I just got a 50cc compact-sized chainsaw motor from my neigbor, FOR FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
Expect another bike soon! (EG, the first weekend after school starts, given I don't finish my portable early.)

 

[Caredo]

Now I understand why you wanted a better muffler on that motor.

Doesn't go quite as fast as I expected, but it's still a neat project.

 

[Basement_Modder]

Now I understand why you wanted a better muffler on that motor.

Doesn't go quite as fast as I expected, but it's still a neat project.

He said it goes 35, which is pretty fast for a bike. By that logic, my 50cc engine, when run with the same gear ratio/ wheel size, will go up to 57mph.

 

[Mario]

Also, what's the LED Projector in your sig?

I'll post a news thread soon.

Now I understand why you wanted a better muffler on that motor.

Doesn't go quite as fast as I expected, but it's still a neat project.

Acceleration is slow. I just didn't give a lot of time for it to get up to speed to make the video shorter. It gets super fast if you let it.

 

[grossaffe]

congratulations, you are officially a redneck

 

[Basement_Modder]

Wouldn't the motor stall if you stopped?

Most weedwacker motors coast after the throttle is released.

 

[Mario]

Wouldn't the motor stall if you stopped?

Most weedwacker motors coast after the throttle is released.

Yes. You can slow down to idle speed (about 5mph) before it stalls. Then you cut the engine and stop completely.

 

[ShockSlayer]

YOU DA MAN!

SS

 

[Jourdy288]

This is something I wish I had seen when I was a teenager. I had so many weed eater engines laying around then. Oh to be 15 again.

I'm fifteen and I have a bicycle I purchased for 7.50... %50 off sale, Goodwill, do the math... I'm going to make one of these one day, but I'm going to make mine a Prius, so to speak, electrically powered. Now all I need is a motor, battery etc., lol.

 

[snowpenguin]

This is something I wish I had seen when I was a teenager. I had so many weed eater engines laying around then. Oh to be 15 again.

I'm fifteen and I have a bicycle I purchased for 7.50... %50 off sale, Goodwill, do the math... I'm going to make one of these one day, but I'm going to make mine a Prius, so to speak, electrically powered. Now all I need is a motor, battery etc., lol.

I don't think he was saying he didn't have the money, just not the idea...

A prius is a hybrid, not an electric.

And don't go thinking you will be able to build an electric version cheaply, motors can easily cost upwards of $500, controllers, $500, batteries, heavy, $200 maybe.

 

[XCVG]

This is something I wish I had seen when I was a teenager. I had so many weed eater engines laying around then. Oh to be 15 again.

I'm fifteen and I have a bicycle I purchased for 7.50... %50 off sale, Goodwill, do the math... I'm going to make one of these one day, but I'm going to make mine a Prius, so to speak, electrically powered. Now all I need is a motor, battery etc., lol.

I don't think he was saying he didn't have the money, just not the idea...

A prius is a hybrid, not an electric.

And don't go thinking you will be able to build an electric version cheaply, motors can easily cost upwards of $500, controllers, $500, batteries, heavy, $200 maybe.

You can find deals sometimes something that I can never seem to do

 

[Mario]

I've got batteries and and a motor + controller from an old electric scooter! Guess what I'm making next!

And it isn't that hard to make your own controller. Make a PWM circuit with a beefy transistor that can handle the motor's amps.

 

[snowpenguin]

Alas, it's illegal in my city.

 

[XCVG]

Alas, it's illegal in my city.

I doubt Mario's contraption qualifies as street legal...

 

[snowpenguin]

Well, technically, in AZ it is perfectly legal for ANYONE to ride ANY "motor bicycle" electric or gas as long as they wear a helmet under 18. It isn't street, it's sidewalk, just like a commercial motor bike.

But in my town they're all illegal.

 

[βeta]

Why?

 

[snowpenguin]

I have absolutely no idea.

I dunno, the town is fairly upper class, and most of the people are older, say, 60s and up, maybe the sound? In AZ you have to put a good muffler on, but I don't know why they couldn't just say that here.

 

[Basement_Modder]

Nobody cares about this stuff here. They all have the attitude of "Bawwwwww, let teh kiddies have their fun."

 

[Mario]

Well, technically, in AZ it is perfectly legal for ANYONE to ride ANY "motor bicycle" electric or gas as long as they wear a helmet under 18. It isn't street, it's sidewalk, just like a commercial motor bike.

But in my town they're all illegal.

See, AZ is cool like that. I first considered making a boat with this weed whacker, and I was researching AZ and CA laws about boating and CA requires EVERYTHING to be registered, even canoes and kayaks. AZ says you don't have to register it if it has no motor or if it's under a certain horsepower. (I think 50?)

Also, wanted to show you guys this. I originally made the peg mount (what connects the peg to the motor) out of plastic, because it's what I had lying around. It was safety plastic and very strong and thick. I thought it'd be OK.

Well, I had the motor in front of me with the peg attached with my plastic. I start the engine. So far, so good. Then I push the throttle a bit. the motor jumps about 1.5ft in the air, the gas tank flies off, gasoline spills and I jump back, waiting for it to explode. Luckily, it stalled the engine and no sparks were created, so I edged back over there after a minute. The peg was at about a 45* angle to the motor and the plastic horribly skewed. Since it was safety plastic it just bent and didn't break. But it scared me enough to be very careful about the rest of the project.

This used to be a flat piece of plastic.