Are 2-Stroke Bicycle Engine Kits worth it? Let's find out!

I bought the bike engine kit on wish.com/ but it took a month or so to arrive. Here's a like to one I found on Amazon: 2 stroke bike kit: amzn.to/31i5M6W Recommend shopping around for the best price! Thank you, Todd

This looks fun, which means it's probably illegal where I live (NYC).

I daily drove one of these for almost two years. I got the 80cc kit for about $125. The only issue I had was a cracked top plate. I want to call it a head but it's not really. Anyway yeah it was absolutely terrifying to ride at 40mph on a rickety pawn shop bike. But honestly it was worth it.

When I was a kid, I lived in Iran (1958-1960) and I saw quite a few bicycles puttering about with 2 stroke motors affixed to the handlebars. Everything there is very much spread out, and hot, and dry. You could get heat stroke pedaling from village to village (I lived in a little port town called Abidan) but the guys I saw riding these contraptions looked quite pleased with themselves.

I’m 75yrs old & in 1962 I started as a trainee motor mechanic when 2stroke engines were legal here in England the Southwest in a town called Taunton in the county of Somerset . . . . . . I found this video extremely interesting & have great admiration for the author/mechanic . . . . I’d love to have been able to have met & worked with this dude . . Jim .

This video is 2 years old and you still read and reply to comments posted 1 day ago, you’re the most underrated content creators on YT and you have my up most respect

4th year after trusting your review and buying one of those kits here. It still runs flawlessly after a lot of abuse and neglect both in trail and regular commute. The only thing that failed after first year was the stock chain, stretching up to the point of sagging (replaced with garage door chain, which only stretched by 1 link in 3rd year so far). This thing really changed my life becoming my main way of mid-long range transport (Especially great for hauling bags of potatoes when 2 large milk and bread crates are installed. My heart would probably give up on regular bike if I tried to move all of that around). Thanks.

My grandfather from NJ got me involved in motorized bicycle kits. He had a 2-stroke that sat on the front of the 10-speed and used friction against the tire to run the bike. I would always ride this contraption when I would visit him as a kid. I was enthralled. A few years later I saved enough grass cutting and snow shoveling money to buy a kit that Sears had. The kit used the same method of drive and after a few years and many friction wheels replaced I graduated to a moped and finally motorcycles. Good memories. Thanks for making this video. 😉

What I love the most about your videos is, you get straight to the point and dont try to fluff the length of the video, this is the quality content I appreciate.

Some pointers for people who're interested in using one of these based on my experience of about 2000 miles: I built a bike with a 49cc varient of this engine back in 2011 and used it for going to college. I used a steel frame to avoid the metal fatigue the vibrations would cause to some aluminium frames making them weaker. Even painted it and did a 100% custom job, she was a lovely yoke to potter around on here in Ireland. -The slang term on the internet for this specific engine is called a "happy time engine" because very few of them last beyond 2500 to 3500 miles due to poor quality components. -Heavier bike frames are more suitable and lighter ones(i.e. racing bikes) have less material to support these. -Disc brakes on at least the front are really mandatory because in the rain standard bicycle brakes will seem absolutely terrifying, trust me on that. I installed a 180mm hydraulic disc brake on the front personally. -Replace the chinese spark plug straight away, they suck. -The original spark plug caps are also terrible, I bought an NGK one for 5 euro in a motorbike shop. -I ran 25:1 after the break in and accepted spark plug cleaning duties to increase engine life. -The front left engine cover is highly prone to water ingress and in light rain was caused the electrical system to fail on me twice meaning I've had to replace the stator. If I was building another one I'd drill a hole on the bottom of that compartment for drainage and seal up the rest of it even better than I already did. -The clutch arm actuates a pin inside the engines sprocket that relies on that sprocket cover being on very tight. The pin and arm are made of very poor quality steel and it's a completely dry metal to metal contact so I highly advise regualr grasing of it and carrying some kind of screwdriver to tighten the cover if it gets loose or you'll be pedeling a very heavy bicycle home very slowly. -The exhausts and their bolts can rust very quickly if not looked after. -The petol tanks 4 studs are low quality and directly welded to the tank so they strip easiliy. -Bring a small pre measured bottle of 2 stroke oil with you so you can just dump it into the petrol tank when empty and fill up at any petrol station. -Ensure the carb screws are set correctly. -Do not use off road tyres on paved roads. I had a small accident because extra weight + low traction + slight leaning = bad time. -Hgher tyre pressures than normal are required for the excess weight. I stopped using mine in Ireland in 2012 as the laws were changed and the motorized bicycle then fell into the category of a moped even though it was under 50cc. Fail to follow tthe laws where you live at your own peril. If any of you guys have any questions that I haven't answered already I don't mind.

I installed a 4 stroke engine kit on my sons mountain bike. We had to modify it because the bike had hydraulic disc brakes on it but it worked great. He rode it from Malta Montana all the way to Moose lake Minnesota pulling a 2 kid carrying trailer full of camping equipment & food & he had a camping backpack he wore. It took him 9 days but he was sight seeing along the way.

In years of experience, concerning transportation methods, I have found that the better it looks or the better it functions, the more likely it can be taken from you.

By watching this video when i was 10 it got me into this hobby. Built my first bike and I love it. Now got 5 motorized bikes. You really inspired me thank you so much!

Hey Todd! To minimize the engine vibration, get an old tire and cut it into strips. Use the strips between the engine and the frame to prevent engine vibrations from being transferred to the frame. Anything rigid connecting the engine to the frame (chain guard, muffler, etc) should be isolated from the frame as well. Thanks for your service!

I never knew that you could use compressed air to get the rubbed grips off of handlebars. This guy definitely knows what he's doing.

Part Two: I got it running pretty good, the motor finally stays put. The chain tensioner made a mess of the frame and was no good from the start, so I ordered a spring-type. While it works, the spring itself requires a major upgrade in order to use it on the roads around here. Moderate bumps are okay, but one good pothole over a curve and the chain falls off. The spring isn't stiff enough, nor is it in the right place. Therefore, I'm going to take a much stiffer spring and hook it to the frame of the bike until I can get a set of motorcycle-type wheel adjusters built for a mountain bike. My recommendation is to get the motorcycle type wheel adjusters from the start and cut the chain to the right length. Tension devices are normally for things that stay put.

I've built a few of these. If you build a bicycle for the engine it's awesome if you are just trying to slap it on a random bike you'll get mixed results. Best one I have found for an engine kit is the older Schwinn Heavy Duty. They have much thicker spokes, better bearings, and beefier frame that fits the engine perfectly and the bike is a much better quality than the Walmart bike stuff you get nowadays.

most amazing part of this whole video...the handbar grip removal with the air nozzle...

In my town we call them tweakermobiles

I built one of these 12 yrs ago on a tandem bike. Still runs great. 31mph on GPS via my phone. Bike weight is 87 lbs, 1 person @ 160. I use AMSoil racing 2 stroke @ 32:1 mix. 87 octane. Swapped out head studs for better and a few other tweeks. Never broke down. Let the carb run rich. Dont resize jets. If you push it like I do it likes to be rich to protect it's self.