Seeking advice on a no weld motorcycle/scooter.

[Ape_R]

To sum it up I am in need of either a bike which can preferably reach 60mph top speed (I don't plan on riding that fast most of the time) and has 150 miles of range. Currently there is nothing, of which I am aware, with that sort of range. My biggest concern is that I dont know how to weld, i have no welding experience, and i have no friends or family that weld. Would it be possible to convert a motorcycle with a shot engine without welding? If so are there any guides or tips anyone has to offer? Where should I start? Also I have access to many other tools and I know how to use some of them.

 

[e-beach]

Bicycles frames and bicycle components are not designed to withstand the types of speed and battery weight you want. If you want those kinds of speed and range, go either with an electric motorcycle, maybe an electric moped, or maybe a small gas powered motorcycle.

As for welding, you could purchase an inexpensive welder and learn how to weld.

 

[Ape_R]

Yeah I'm definitely aiming to take a used motorcycle and convert it. Going that fast on a bicycle is a good way to get yourself killed. I'll look into cheap welders. I assumed they were too expensive to just use for one project.

 

[e-beach]

Depending on where you live..

https://www.harborfreight.com/welding/welders.html

 

[Chalo]

Get a true MIG welder with a gas bottle and not the kind with flux core wire. You'll spend a little more up front but you'll be glad you did.

 

[Overclocker]

yeah get gas. i started off w/ fluxcore and it was just a waste of time. just had this small 15lb co2 tank refilled last week for Php300 or US$5 lasted more than a year w/ the kind of hobby-type welding that i do

the welder is the cheapest one i could get php8000 or US$145

then get 0.6mm or 0.023" MIG wire

 

[amberwolf]

To sum it up I am in need of either a bike which can preferably reach 60mph top speed (I don't plan on riding that fast most of the time) and has 150 miles of range.

You're going to need a lot of battery for that kind of range, especially at typical motor-vehicle speeds (even in traffic), even if you are riding on completely flat paved streets with no winds. This is generally large and heavy, even using the most capacity-dense cells you can get.

If your terrain includes hills or slopes, and there are winds, power usage increases, and moreso with more weight.

If your route includes a lot of stop/start traffic, or even slowdown/accelerate traffic, power usage also increases.

You can look at some of the other threads in this section I've posted in for guides on how to determine power usage for your specific situation, and from there how to determine required battery size, and how much you should add to it for unexpected detours, headwinds, road conditions, etc., and how much more you should add to that for aging losses over the time you will still require the max range to be available.


While it is possible to build no-weld framework, it will likely require more design and probably testing of interconnects to be sure it will be as strong as needed, vs a good welded joint, based on my own experiences trying this method for heavy-cargo bike and trike frames and trailers. Even my earliest worst post-practice welds had generally better results than most of my no-weld designs. I'm not an engineer of any kind, so that could just be my lack of knowledge/experience, but I'd venture that the same would apply to other non-engineers....


If you are on a severe budget restriction, and are certain you will never use it for anything but the one project some of the HF welders that do fluxcore can also do MIG; the one I have can but I have only used it for fluxcore. Someday I'd like to get a bottle of gas and some solid wire to try MIG welding instead. HF used to send out some decent coupons in the junkmail flyer bundle, but they stopped not long after the plague started, and have never resumed them, here.

Much of my early builds have been done with a version of this
https://www.harborfreight.com/welding/welders/mig-flux-welders/flux-125-welder-63582.html
which often had a flyer coupon for $99. It works, but it isn't very good. I still use it for stuff around here that can't be moved (fences, etc) that I also can't run a 220 extension cord out to, but can run the 110 cord to.

My SB Cruiser trike and most other things done now are done with a version of this
https://www.harborfreight.com/welding/welders/mig-flux-welders/flux-125-welder-63582.html
It's significantly better than the one above, even as just a fluxcore welder; I'm sure it'd be better than that as MIG but never tried that yet.

The major problems with any of the HF welders I've tried so far is their feed mechanisms are not smooth, and can cause stuttering during the weld, which can screw things up. They can be tweaked to work better, but they'll never be great.

 

[Dui ni shuo de dui]

I'd say the same as the others, just try and learn welding. That's what I did, for the very same reasons you mentioned (I knew nobody that could weld for me) and while it wasn't exactly easy at the beginning, it is a very useful and valuable skill to develop.
The MIG is probably the fastest and easiest tool, but TIG is quite a bit cheaper, produces beautiful and strong welds, and makes you look like a pro.
It is a bit more difficult to master, but after a bit of practice you'll eventually get it.

You could probably go for weldless solutions depending on your frame, but it will give you a lot more headaches for a lesser quality result.

 

[Scootdan]

I would recommend composite fabric or fiberglass cloth and epoxy as a great no weld building material. I love building with carbon fiber cloth, eglass fiberglass, and my personal favorite, Kevlar cloth and epoxy. Same stuff they make airplanes and race cars ( and race motorcycles!) out of. I learned fiberglass first to repair boats and later to build boats. Soon I was repairing my friends mini racing hydro boats and learned to use carbon fiber and Kevlar cloth. It is very versatile too because it works so well with aluminum and other metals. I often just reinforce metal parts to make them super tough. The toughest is Kevlar. They make super tough rock bashing kayaks with that. So this is the rear end of my big scoot, built with carbon fiber, Kevlar, and Eglass. My whole build doesn’t have one weld! It took me over 55mph today and I trust my life on it every day. Also e glass can be used to build things very economically. Probably the most critical part of my scooter, the steering head, I built with e glass - for overall toughness. 8)

 

[Chalo]

I would recommend composite fabric or fiberglass cloth and epoxy as a great no weld building material.

I am comfortable with you doing that, because you've been warned about it. I'm a lot less comfortable with you recommending it to others.

You can ride on a piñata in the shape of a scooter if it gives you jollies. It's not as benign if you tell somebody else to do it, and they get hurt as a result.

 

[Scootdan]

Ok. Just trying to be helpful.

 

[azeus17]

I feel that most motorcycle frames have a no weld solution. Sometimes you just have to get creative. I started out with the same goal on my yz project and have the motor mounted utilizing only the existing motor mount locations on the frame. No weld will usually mean having to make some additional bracketry, like I did, but it can be done with normal household power tools.
I plan to use other frame mounts to attach the battery.

 

[CONSIDERABLE SHOUTING]

Know that Scootdan I'm pretty sure, has been working and messing with composites and fiberglass for years. It's not a hard skill and material to learn and work with, but it requires a lot of consumables and can be VERY messy- Family owns multiple C3 Corvettes, ask me how I know!

Just get a MIG and gas setup and learn, tbh. You could go VERY far with a tube bender and patience/ingenuity, but I'm not sure how you'd attach the front fork and suspension to the frame.