Push bike with a petrol engine added.

[Landsurfer]

Now some one has spent a lot of time on that, Looks a bit like a lawnmower engine?

It's one of those <£100 kits sold on E Bay ....

 

[Bonefish Blues]

vehicle construction and use regulations, tax, insurance,mot, to name but a few, a bit like having a home made motorbike fitted with pedals in the hope that you wont get in deep brown stuff, just thinking thats what they are home made motor bikes? Some are very well made and actually look great but lets hope no one owning one is ever involved in an accident.

I doubt the wrath of the law would bear down tbh, unless I'm missing something obvious.

 

[Drago]

Googled the kits put of curiosity. Less than a hundred sheets!

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Googled the kits put of curiosity. Less than a hundred sheets!

Chinese engine with cylinders of cheese, I believe

...and likely won't respond to remapping terribly well, before that thought enters yer head!

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Completely illegal and if stopped they'll be done for riding an unregistered motorcycle, no MOT, no tax, no insurance and no helmet plus anything else that can be thrown at them.

The sort of chavs who ride these don't give a shoot though, as the law is ineffective. Threats of driving bans and prosecutions don't make any odds if the rider has no licence anyway, no assets to seize, and no cash in the bank. You can charge someone with every motoring offence under the sun (if you can catch them that is) but someone with no licence won't care about getting a ban, and if they've got no money and no assets you can fine them all you want but you won't actually get any of the fines paid.
There's also the assumption that you can catch them. Well, unless you've got police also on motorbikes you'll struggle to do that. These ferals will just nip through all the back alleys, go through parks and waste ground, and go places the law will have trouble following. And if the worst comes to the worst and they have to bail, they're abandoning a £50 bike, which is probably stolen anyway, fitted with a £100 engine kit.

 

[Landsurfer]

The Gentleman that i took a picture of .. proudly showing me his bike, was in his early 70's.
A retired GP, retired parish councillor ... and all round good chap .... not a friend, but i have had dealings with the parish council and recognised him ..
Guess what, he wasn't wearing a helmet ...

 

[PK99]

Hope this is not a duplicate thread.
Walking to the shop earlier a young guy came past me on a standard hybrid but with a petrol engine fitted.
I waved him over for a chat.
He told me you can buy the engine for £80 off ebay.......he fitted his himself. I just checked and he is right
Told me he gets up to 40 mph.
OK......it was noisy and looked odd but it seemed to do the trick.
I imagine its not legal as he was on the road and with no helmet but my point is, I didn't know they existed.

quite a common sight when I was in Cuba in February

 

[classic33]

The sort of chavs who ride these don't give a shoot though, as the law is ineffective. Threats of driving bans and prosecutions don't make any odds if the rider has no licence anyway, no assets to seize, and no cash in the bank. You can charge someone with every motoring offence under the sun (if you can catch them that is) but someone with no licence won't care about getting a ban, and if they've got no money and no assets you can fine them all you want but you won't actually get any of the fines paid.
There's also the assumption that you can catch them. Well, unless you've got police also on motorbikes you'll struggle to do that. These ferals will just nip through all the back alleys, go through parks and waste ground, and go places the law will have trouble following. And if the worst comes to the worst and they have to bail, they're abandoning a £50 bike, which is probably stolen anyway, fitted with a £100 engine kit.

They get the vehicles seized, and not always whilst in use. Seven complete motorbikes were siezed locally by the police, a year ago, along with a load of other stuff as well. "Gut instinct" by a PCSO put her in the correct place to see the one being wanted/followed being hidden and prevent it being brought back out.

Recovery vehicle took the lot* away. With police vans removing items from the house. The lost more than just the one bike.

The law on police pursuits involving motorbikes changed last year.

*Vehicle related items at least.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

The sort of chavs who ride these don't give a shoot though, as the law is ineffective. Threats of driving bans and prosecutions don't make any odds if the rider has no licence anyway, no assets to seize, and no cash in the bank. You can charge someone with every motoring offence under the sun (if you can catch them that is) but someone with no licence won't care about getting a ban, and if they've got no money and no assets you can fine them all you want but you won't actually get any of the fines paid.
There's also the assumption that you can catch them. Well, unless you've got police also on motorbikes you'll struggle to do that. These ferals will just nip through all the back alleys, go through parks and waste ground, and go places the law will have trouble following. And if the worst comes to the worst and they have to bail, they're abandoning a £50 bike, which is probably stolen anyway, fitted with a £100 engine kit.

Agree. There's a pot head near me rides a petrol powered scooter around, makes a hell of a din, he rides along pavements at 20mph, races through junctions on the road at 30mph plus, no helmet insurance etc, smokes a big spliff everywhere he goes, riding along in a big cloud of green smelling smoke. He knows he's not getting touched by the law, he lives in a bedsit with cock all in it and he's never had a driving licence.

All a good old harmless giggle of course, right until he smacks into an 8 year old schoolgirl and changes her life forever by fracturing her skull.

 

[DRM]

Seen one of those on the series following Aussie police round, one of the traffic police referred to it as an Abo's Harley, and now in this country, the police have been given authority to ram these idiots and knock them off before they get on a rat run of paths and alleyways and can't be stopped, it seems to have cooled them off a bit from riding like prats now they're at risk of getting flattened, seen as scooters are used a lot to courier drugs to the end customer

 

[screenman]

View: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/106093606088457/?hoisted_items=423351272022627


If anyone want a project.

 

[Jon George]

View attachment 561237

The engineer in me wonders how he managed to find space to insert the engine drive sprocket (and how its attached), whilst the cyclist in me asks how the hell he can ride it with the saddle at that angle!

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

The drive sprockets are quite a crude flat pressing and are simply bolted through the spokes and clamped to them. They aren't the final word in engineering finesse, but those engines aren't very powerful and don't produce masses of torque.
That guy's conversion is actually quite neatly done and he's chosen a nice strong Nottingham-made Raleigh frame to install it into. It looks like a lot of fun, strictly on private land of course Officer!

 

[fossyant]

We've got more of a problem with youths on unregistered MX bikes tearing about popping wheelies. I'm just waiting for the day one of them wobbles straight into the front of a truck.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

We've got more of a problem with youths on unregistered MX bikes tearing about popping wheelies. I'm just waiting for the day one of them wobbles straight into the front of a truck.

Darwin's law in action. Let's hope they don't cause too much damage to the truck they hit.