I guess it only takes 1 bad ride.....

[novs86]

No three strikes with this guy!

http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/mcy/1394986034.html

[sugarshane]

seems like a good deal . . . I am having a hard time getting the vision out of my head though of him running into that shed,

[Bear45-70]

You can't fix stupid!

[Spreetard]

that takes talent. looks like he really nailed it too

[noiseguy]

Heck, I almost did that when I was 9 or 10, riding a Honda XR50 for the first time. Got a death grip on the throttle (incorrect wrist starting position); somehow I managed to get a message to my hand to let go and hit the clutch and brake b/f I hit the back of the garage. Rode around fine on it for the rest of the day after that. That could have been a real mess.

[novs86]

Heck, I almost did that when I was 9 or 10, riding a Honda XR50 for the first time. Got a death grip on the throttle (incorrect wrist starting position); somehow I managed to get a message to my hand to let go and hit the clutch and brake b/f I hit the back of the garage. Rode around fine on it for the rest of the day after that. That could have been a real mess.

Funny you say that. When I was 15 and had my Elite 50 in 1988. A friend just bought a new Jog and brought it over my house to show me. He had "the death grip" you speak of and ran into my garage at about 20 MPH. He busted it up pretty bad running into a lawn mower. He was fine but he walked it home crying the whole way afraid of what his Dad was going to do to him.

[noiseguy]

Probably worth mentioning since we're talking about it:

Correct grip on the throttle is with the top of your hand level to the ground, at the 3 o'clock position (looking from the inside at the top of your hand.) This makes full throttle at about 6 o'clock. If you watch guys launch on drag strips, you can see this technique very clearly.

This isn't typically a big deal on 50cc bikes, but it's good to get in the habit, esp. when you move to larger machines.

Starting at 12 o'clock (hand straight up) means that you'll end up at the 3 o'clock position at wide open throttle. A lot of guys/kids do this if they're new to riding bikes, as was my case. Do that on a bigger bike (or panic on a smaller one) and the rearward launch forces will make it nigh on impossible to slow down without letting go. Letting go is, of course, not what your body wants to do when it's being dragged off a bike. So you get the "Death Grip" phenomenon.

It's something to watch for before letting anyone ride a bike for the first time. Esp. if it's yours. Better still, don't loan your bike to anyone to ride unless you're willing to deal with the consequences of them crashing it.

[Lunytune]

Correct grip on the throttle is with the top of your hand level to the ground, at the 3 o'clock position (looking from the inside at the top of your hand.)

This isn't typically a big deal on 50cc bikes, but it's good to get in the habit, esp. when you move to larger machines.

Yes it is a big deal, if you've installed the 80cc bbk on an AF16. It will pop a wheelie in a heartbeat. Been thur, dun dat.

I've never had a bike that didn't have the weight to handle the power, but a bbk on an AF16 is a lot of power, more power than the frame is designed for. I'm wondering how the Sprees and SB50 are doing with the bbk. I guess I'll be finding out pretty soon as I'll be rebuilding wife's SB50 pretty soon.

BTW, the CL ad has been deleted so I have to guess at what happened.

[novs86]

but a bbk on an AF16 is a lot of power, more power than the frame is designed for. I'm wondering how the Sprees and SB50 are doing with the bbk.

A friend of mine put a AF16 engine in a Spree. I rode on it at 45MPH on 2.5x10 tires and guess what.... Its nuts. The rest of that scoot stock is not made for that kind of power thats for sure! Alot of updates such as bigger tires, better suspension and more supported frame are needed for it to be safe.

[elitedio]

Lunytune:
I don't have anything else to compare it to but the Elite E with the 86 cc motor isn't scary. Yes, I it will wheelie with full throttle off the line but my wife has never made it wheelie. She applies throttle more gradually. I am one of those riders who grabs the throttle at the top so I can give it full throttle quickly and at a comfortable angle. I kept my wheelbase pretty short, increasing it only 3". A longer wheelbase would give less tendency to wheelie.

I haven't upgraded the suspension at all and with me on it the suspension is working pretty hard. Particularly when over 50 mph. I have followed my wife running the Elite E over 60 mph and she thinks it is fine but weighs about 120 pounds in riding gear.

It is nice conversion, the weight is less than 130 pounds with the center of gravity very low. So with my wife on it she has what 12 hp with 250 pounds so 20 pounds per horsepower. Not real high performance but enough to be felt. About the same a 150hp car that weighs 3000 pounds.

[Lunytune]

A friend of mine put a AF16 engine in a Spree. I rode on it at 45MPH on 2.5x10 tires and guess what.... Its nuts.

I'm with you on that. It's nuts. The 80cc on the Elite is all I want. How can anybody handle the big bore stroked engine at 110cc? I definitely don't want that much on the Spree. The 56cc should do just fine with some porting and upjetting.

[noiseguy]

Oh, the CL ad? We should have cut and pasted that in. The guy rode the bike once, and ran it into the garage. The front plastics were all cracked up from the pics. Best part: Bike had 2 miles showing on the odometer.