Time to consolidate the home brew

I thought it was about time to consolidate the experiences I have had with friction drive. I will try to share what little knowledge I pick up along the way.

I like friction drive because it is simple and dependable. Not a lot can go wrong with the drive system once you get the mount and controls right. If the engine runs and the drive wheel is on the tire the bike will move. Well unless you have it chained down.

Friction drive can be as cheap as you want it to be. It is by far the easies home brew bikes to build. I have built and I still have one of the Chinese kit bikes. I love it and it gets a lot of attention but it is a high maintenance item. Not only that it isn't practical for the average person. It requires a certain amount of skill to build and keep on the road. I doubt that I will be able to fix all the things that go wrong. Parts are hard to find for them since they are not really popular yet. Also I am told that there is a wide range of manufacturers so it's hard to interchange the parts. I don't know any of that first hand just information passed along to me.

I have several friction drive bikes in various stages of construction at the moment.
I have a 33cc chainsaw bike, a 31cc weed whacker bike, and a 25cc helper bike I'm going to be starting in a week or so.

The thing I like about that chain saw engine is the 2 drive shaft support bearings. Usually when you see an engine with the starter cord on one end and the output shaft on the other it has a better drive shaft support. In theory it will last longer but costs more.

I deal exclusively in two stroke engines at the moment. They seem to be much less expensive. I am learning a lot about them as I go along. See you don't have to be a mechanic with my friction drive bikes. If they screw up either swap parts or just take them to the small engine shop. With a couple of wrenches you can pull the engine in a few minutes.

I have a weed whacker 31cc very near completion. The hold up on it is that I burned up my drill and have to wait for a new one from ebay to arrive. When I get it finished and test ride it, I will give complete construction details here. I should also be able to give you a pretty good idea of what the bike's performance is like.

If I run across something of interest I will try to pass it on. Comments are definitely welcome.