I have a new accessory on my Cruzbike, It's a 200watt road legal petrol motor to get me up and over those mountains. It's been a year since coming up with the plan to motorize a recumbent and what better bike to do it with than a Cruzbike, So now it's a 2 wheel drive, I dont know if it's the only 2wd bike in the world or not but it's just fantastic to ride, On approach to a hill I just reach down and pull the starter cord and up the hill we go with some pedalling as well to go even faster, A dream come true...
Cruzmota
- Thread starter currystomper
- Start date
currystomper
Well-Known Member
Re: Cruz
Coooolll!!
Coooolll!!
Well it's been about 9 months since the Cruzmota went on the road and it's hasn't looked back except for a fuel problem in Jan09, I reckon it was due to synthetic 2 stroke oil degrading the fuel and gumming up the carb so I cleaned out tank and lines and replenished with Stihl 2 stroke blend and it's now going like a rocket...I fell off my Kickbike in August08 & wiped out my knee which made riding anything hard but now I'm back Cruzin again...The Cruzbike conversion has been faultless, it still looks and handles like a new bike and I just can't believe mine is the only one I've ever seen, Wot's wrong with people.
Peder Torgersen
Guru
It seems you have a good solution, who makes the motor? You’re not the only one with 2WD there are some with electric assist on some Cruzbikes. http://www.bobmcree.com/the_electric_cruzbike.html
Some systems are too powerful to be legal in EU what motor did you mount? This model you have should also be legal here in Europe? I thought about 2WD for winter but so far my Sofrider has done well with only me as the engine! But my health can change and maybe someone else would like to have this mounted on there Cruzbike?
Peder
Some systems are too powerful to be legal in EU what motor did you mount? This model you have should also be legal here in Europe? I thought about 2WD for winter but so far my Sofrider has done well with only me as the engine! But my health can change and maybe someone else would like to have this mounted on there Cruzbike?
Peder
Hi Peder, This motor is a purpose built "Rotary" 200 watt model, designed in Germany, made in Taiwan and assembled in Australia but I'm sure they sell them worldwide, It's governed at 200watts maximum to comply with Australian law governing powered pushbikes, The wattage factor would be the same whether it's electric or petrol powered, The maximum allowed power varies around the world starting with us(Australia) at 200watts, Europe 250watts,New Zealand 300watts,USA/Canada up to 750watts. The big decision is Electric or Petrol and how far do you want to go, the extra weight of a flat battery convinced me to go 'petrol'.
rearengine
Active Member
Cruzmota
That is a great looking bike.. Is it gear driven or chain drive. The engine sets down nice and low witch is a good thing . to bad we don't live closer , We could drag for a beer :lol: I just put a gas engine on my Mongoose. Today was pretty nice out, so I took it for a spin. It runs out about 18 or 20 mph. It's a 40cc 2hp 2 cycle. I don't know about the watts part . I think I will put an electric front hub motor on my Rans I don't go far from home anymore. I'm sending some pix so you can see how I mounted it. When the lever is back it freewheels, when forword it locks it on the tire, and starts the engine and were off..
Take care Bill
That is a great looking bike.. Is it gear driven or chain drive. The engine sets down nice and low witch is a good thing . to bad we don't live closer , We could drag for a beer :lol: I just put a gas engine on my Mongoose. Today was pretty nice out, so I took it for a spin. It runs out about 18 or 20 mph. It's a 40cc 2hp 2 cycle. I don't know about the watts part . I think I will put an electric front hub motor on my Rans I don't go far from home anymore. I'm sending some pix so you can see how I mounted it. When the lever is back it freewheels, when forword it locks it on the tire, and starts the engine and were off..
Take care Bill
Mark B
Zen MBB Master
rearengine
Active Member
Hey Mark B !!
I finely got it. I just now clicked on ( it had to be done ). I've been going through some post , and it hit me thats a link.. Pretty clever on your part :lol: .. There was a time the title was close, but now the EASY RIDER part is right on.
That long wheel base bike is going to be a great ride when you get it done.. I have ridden under seat stearing .. Now I'm thinking under seat stearing on my Rans V2. :idea: I wonder if anyone has done that. Tinker,tinker, tinker
Bill
I finely got it. I just now clicked on ( it had to be done ). I've been going through some post , and it hit me thats a link.. Pretty clever on your part :lol: .. There was a time the title was close, but now the EASY RIDER part is right on.
That long wheel base bike is going to be a great ride when you get it done.. I have ridden under seat stearing
.. Now I'm thinking under seat stearing on my Rans V2. :idea: I wonder if anyone has done that. Tinker,tinker, tinker Bill
Mark B
Zen MBB Master
rearengine wrote: Hey Mark B !!
I finely got it. I just now clicked on ( it had to be done ). I've been going through some post , and it hit me thats a link.. Pretty clever on your part :lol: .. There was a time the title was close, but now the EASY RIDER part is right on.
That long wheel base bike is going to be a great ride when you get it done.. I have ridden under seat stearing
Bill
I actually got the Infinity on the road a little today. I was shocked the tires held air, so I threw a bottom bracket and crankset on, installed some brake pads, lubed up the chain and rode it down the street. Not too bad for a 16 year old bike. A $36 bike, at that!
Mark
rearengine wrote: Cruzmota
That is a great looking bike.. Is it gear driven or chain drive. The engine sets down nice and low witch is a good thing . to bad we don't live closer , We could drag for a beer :lol: I just put a gas engine on my Mongoose. Today was pretty nice out, so I took it for a spin. It runs out about 18 or 20 mph. It's a 40cc 2hp 2 cycle. I don't know about the watts part . I think I will put an electric front hub motor on my Rans I don't go far from home anymore. I'm sending some pix so you can see how I mounted it. When the lever is back it freewheels, when forword it locks it on the tire, and starts the engine and were off..
Hi rearengine,
That's a really neat looking machine you've built. Beautiful !!
My rear wheel is part of the motor and is gear driven, 200watts is like blowing a pencil across a desk,(useless) but legal due to Australia's dim view on powered bicycles.
cruzmota
Peder Torgersen
Guru
Here is an advanced electric wheel you don’t need wires. I’m not sure how much power it has but I suppose it can be made to meet the different requirements in the different countries. Using gas does of course have some advantage but there will be more good solutions for bicyclists to choose in the near future. People need more exercise and more people on bikes means less cars on the road! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29259226/
Peder
Peder
rearengine
Active Member
Peder1
Thats a great link. I realy think electric is the way to go, Much quieter than my Robin engine for sure. I haven't found a muffler for it yet. Even with a muffler 2 strokes are to loud. I wonder when that wheel will be available, What will it cost, how much does it weigh. Very intersting indeed.. Bill
Thats a great link. I realy think electric is the way to go, Much quieter than my Robin engine for sure. I haven't found a muffler for it yet. Even with a muffler 2 strokes are to loud. I wonder when that wheel will be available, What will it cost, how much does it weigh. Very intersting indeed.. Bill
Mark B
Zen MBB Master
While generally I agree that there are too many cars on the road and gasoline is dirty/expensive, the electric thing is a double-edged sword. First of all, here in the US, road upkeep is largely paid for by gasoline taxes. Less gasoline sold means less money for repairs. Also, electricity isn't really the answer a lot of people like to think it is. It really isn't that green, when you think about it. Most of your electricity is generated by one of three ways; coal burning, hydro and nuclear. Coal is carbon, stripped from the ground and reintroduced into the atmosphere. Hydro apparently does funny stuff to the water and the ecology around it. Nuclear produces nuclear waste and nobody wants that stored in their back yard. Granted, there are potentially some greener ways on the horizon to produce the electricity we need, but in the here and now, the grid is already strained.
Mark
Mark
Peder Torgersen
Guru
Most of our electricity is produced by water falls we do get some rain and snow!
Here is another option http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RevoPower
Peder
rearengine
Active Member
Hey Mark B !! When are you going to give us the answers. We pretty much have the first part..
John Tolhurst
Zen MBB Master
There will be no serious acceptance of any answer until everybody goes through the shock and acceptance that the end of the age of oil has in fact occured. This won't happen of course until we have come to the end of the age of oil, which is another 20 to 30 years away.
The other major shock that may lead to a mass change of thinking would be pestilence, and you can read the arguments and predictions around this scenario.
Or perhaps unthinkable changes of climate in particular places, I notice we just lost 200 Victorians in unprecedeented infernos over in south eastern Australia. Ten years of drought, and a week of temps at the 45 degC (120 degs F?) mark created firestorms with enough heat to melt glass. Nothing can survive that. Even if you build a bunker you risk suffocation.
The future of electricity for suburban use seems to be to collect on site. When you add in the efficiencies of home based solar panels, the economics look pretty good, especially considering the marginal cost of electricity production at 3:00 PM. With appropriate buy back regulations on recognising the marginal cost savings, this can work today.
Getting ourselves off oil and coal is the major headache. I heard talk of peak coal the other day, so maybe we just have to burn all the sorry stuff before we can move on. Which brings us back to pestilence I think.
The other major shock that may lead to a mass change of thinking would be pestilence, and you can read the arguments and predictions around this scenario.
Or perhaps unthinkable changes of climate in particular places, I notice we just lost 200 Victorians in unprecedeented infernos over in south eastern Australia. Ten years of drought, and a week of temps at the 45 degC (120 degs F?) mark created firestorms with enough heat to melt glass. Nothing can survive that. Even if you build a bunker you risk suffocation.
The future of electricity for suburban use seems to be to collect on site. When you add in the efficiencies of home based solar panels, the economics look pretty good, especially considering the marginal cost of electricity production at 3:00 PM. With appropriate buy back regulations on recognising the marginal cost savings, this can work today.
Getting ourselves off oil and coal is the major headache. I heard talk of peak coal the other day, so maybe we just have to burn all the sorry stuff before we can move on. Which brings us back to pestilence I think.
I just found out by accident while web browsing that the Queensland Transport Department sneekily banned petrol powered bicycles (cruzmota) late last year and here's me been riding around oblivious to the fact, I think it's a step backwards to ban this mode of transport since a lot of the older generation use them daily as opposed to fuel guzzling cars, Of course you can still use 200watt electric powered bikes complements of fossil fuel burning earth polluting power stations so I suppose that's something, Me however, will still be riding my smelly 2 stroke cruzmota until they take it off me and crush it...
The latest idea is a hydrogen fuel cell motor, it'll probably be super expensive and doesn't tell me what I'm looking for, That is, a transmission of some description that'll enable a piddly 200watt motorized bike to go up a steep hill coz the one they've banned won't...
The latest idea is a hydrogen fuel cell motor, it'll probably be super expensive and doesn't tell me what I'm looking for, That is, a transmission of some description that'll enable a piddly 200watt motorized bike to go up a steep hill coz the one they've banned won't...
Peder Torgersen
Guru
I have now mounted an electric assist on my wife’s trike. I have only had one short trip but it looks promising. She has health problems and will now be able to climb hills easily.
Many of the Cruzbike models are very good for putting on an assist. There can be different reasons for doing it.
Ole from Denmark has put on an assist on his Silvio and told me he is very satisfied with it.
One reason he put it on is the wind which they have a lot of in Denmark.
He rides 35 km to Copenhagen to get to work.
Peder
Many of the Cruzbike models are very good for putting on an assist. There can be different reasons for doing it.
Ole from Denmark has put on an assist on his Silvio and told me he is very satisfied with it.
One reason he put it on is the wind which they have a lot of in Denmark.
He rides 35 km to Copenhagen to get to work.
Peder
rearengine wrote: Cruzmota
That is a great looking bike.. Is it gear driven or chain drive. The engine sets down nice and low witch is a good thing . to bad we don't live closer , We could drag for a beer :lol: I just put a gas engine on my Mongoose. Today was pretty nice out, so I took it for a spin. It runs out about 18 or 20 mph. It's a 40cc 2hp 2 cycle. I don't know about the watts part . I think I will put an electric front hub motor on my Rans I don't go far from home anymore. I'm sending some pix so you can see how I mounted it. When the lever is back it freewheels, when forword it locks it on the tire, and starts the engine and were off..
From http://www.onlineconversion.com/power.htm, 2 horsepower [international] = 1 491.399 74 watt. I doubt that's legal in any first-world nation, but you probably won't be in trouble until you get stopped for something else. Also, friction-drive is simple but inefficient, so you may not be putting more than 750W to the road anyways...
vegaspaddy
Member
i found this cruzbike while surfing around you tube the other night,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM67hP-KXOI
the laws in the USA are very vague when it comes to power assist, and differ from state to state, but federal law states as long as your 50cc or under(power assist) and it is still a bike that can be powered by its own independent drivetrain, then it is still a bicycle and you do not need to register it, the rest is common sense on your part.
In case anyone was interested, this is a link to the powertrain, and no i dont work for the company i just happen to have one on a cruiser i own and it is a blast to ride.
http://www.bikeengines.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM67hP-KXOI
the laws in the USA are very vague when it comes to power assist, and differ from state to state, but federal law states as long as your 50cc or under(power assist) and it is still a bike that can be powered by its own independent drivetrain, then it is still a bicycle and you do not need to register it, the rest is common sense on your part.
In case anyone was interested, this is a link to the powertrain, and no i dont work for the company i just happen to have one on a cruiser i own and it is a blast to ride.
http://www.bikeengines.com/
Thanks vegaspaddy for the power trans link, I can see it being a better hill climber than what I have, My bike goes up small hills but not the big steep ones of which there are many around here, If I build another powered cruzbike I'll be using the belt drive trans.
ozcruza (alias cruzmota)
ozcruza (alias cruzmota)
