Friction drive bike engine starting issues

zeguy1109

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Hi! I'm new to the forum, so please bear with me :D

So I just finished building my FD bike, It has a 20cc featherlite 2-stroke mounted with angle irons to my bike with a turnbuckle from the motor to the hub for tension. It tracks great, doesn't slip and when I move the bike, it sounds like the motor is starting, and it makes an occasional 'Pop' noise, but other than that it fails to start. While moving, it shakes a bit, heats up and you can feel exhaust coming out of it, and it responds to throttle (The noise it makes becomes louder) but it doesn't actually move the bike. The spark plug is new, the gas is new and mixed 40-1 with synthetic oil, and the motor used to run back when I had it on pull start. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!
 
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The spindle is about 4 inches long, and I used the stock flex cable nut to mount it onto the peg. My carb? I tried it at very rich, very lean and everything in between. Just some useful information:
-The exhaust while moving is cold
-The motor makes no smoke
-The spark is very faint
-The motor makes an occasional popping sound
 
OK! An update!

I had a Ryobi Electric start 31cc engine (I think it's an ES-30, but I can't be bothered to check now :eek:) And mounted it onto my universal bike mount, a simple little mount I dreamed up that I'm damn proud of.

I took off the clutch, mounted a bike peg, cleaned out the carb, yadda yadda. The engine ran on pull start and would die after a bit, or if it was given throttle. On electric start, with the engine not in contact with the wheel it also ran idle and would bog either within 60 seconds or if pressed against the wheel, so I'll take the mount off the bike (A simple task, I'm REALLY proud of that mount) and tune it, hopefully today.

However, what I was wondering was if I'm either too heavy or apply too much tension onto the motor. Not that it or the my beloved mount is bending, but maybe I'm not going fast enough (I do about 10 KpH trying to start it) or I weigh too much (179 pounds+reasonably heavy bike). With the motor off of the wheel, on electric start, the exhaust is hot. While pedaling the bike, the exhaust is cold.

So my questions, if anyone can help me out, are:
-How much tension should I have on the engine/mount?
-How fast, or in what way, should I start the motor?
 
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