This Page was updated:
02/20/2008 09:17:39 AM
My Take on that side of the Hobby
This picture clipped from FIREBIKES
I have been staying away from the 2 Stroke kits from the beginning of there presence in the U.S. I knew when they came in to America that they had no future here. If you are environmentally aware at all there is no argument about them. I am by the way a 2 cycle fan for sure. They are a lighter engine and have less parts and higher RPM range. Until they develop a oil to mix in the gas that is biodegradable and cause NO green house emissions I will be steering clear from them. I do not care what technology is added to the 2 cycle engine it will still pollute. The 4 cycle kits on the other hand interest me and would be willing to test them out for sure. I have some phone calls in to Don Grubees distributor here in the states. They have not returned my call. They are located in Bozeman, Montana and have a web site called bicycle-engines.com
I suppose that would mean that if I needed a part for my engine and they were the distributor it would be impossible to get any help at all as well. Come on guys!
Roy
There are a lot of the 2 cycle engine kits still available in the U.S. I would consider them good only for off road use. You could run them and maybe you will never have any trouble with Johnny Law. I would much rather be riding a Electric Bike or a Motorized Bike that has a 4 Cycle engine on it. Then if they did hassle me I would have a good argument. Whizzer Makes one but they are not the cheapest to get in to and they are still single speed with belt drive. They due pass all Federal Laws and Regulations and come with a Certificate of Origination. (Which means you can register it legally as a moped) They also have upgrades to generate more power from local U.S. venders. Debbie at Whizzer is very helpful and a pleasure to talk to as well.
There some to be some politics involved with all the U.S. venders selling on eBay and on small websites in the States and beyond. A good resource is to go to motoredbikes.com they have the biggest group of custom bicycle guys in one stop I have seen on the net so far. They did hassle me when I signed up because I put my www.50sville.com website in my registration info. I'm really not sure why but it has some political situation to do with there venders. They are a sponsor driven website and are trying to be loyal to there paid vendors is my take. I have a GruBee page on my site and Google ads and the moderators got all excited for reasons only they know.
Here is a nice article written by Jim Wilson of Bike Rod and Kustom.
I have just been in contact with Don Grube and here is the link to his website. He is one of us and is into the motorized bike stuff even more than me. Grubee Website More to come on Don Grube. Thanks Roy
More FIREBIKES retro series. I am told that they can be purchased with out engine. Contact Firebikes.
