Dave made this informative video on how to attach a "Weed Eater" [string trimmer] motor to a bicycle. Used bicycles and string trimmers are easy to find and very cheap to buy. You could make this project for less than $100, maybe even less than $50. The information on modifying the clutch could be very useful in making robots too!
How To: Build a motorized bicycle
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Red Green lives!
Is there nothing in Ontario without rust?
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@anonymous ... aah, the rust belt - just like Michigan, we love our rust.
what makes me laugh is the statement that "Every city has a bearing supply store". I guess Canadians really like their bearings, there's nothing like that around me for at least 200 miles.
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Very nice DIY. If you don't have access to the tools to build this yourself, there are kits out there that mount on a bike. I have one of the Grubee kits mounts on a Trek Antelope 800. Works pretty good, and you just need a screwdriver and maybe a drill depending on your frame diameters. Clutch is manual, you just let out the clutch while riding and that starts the engine. They usually run about $250. Not as cool from the DIY perspective, but much easier. If you have the engine sitting around anyway, you could always build a DIY generator using a regulated car alternator.
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@anonymous:
NO, there is NOTHING without rust.
It's like a disease, plaguing all steel and iron-based products. Anything that isn't stored during the winter eventually gets infected.
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