12 Mar 2018

Using a generator engine, a 24-year-old New Era College electrical and engineering student, Kaone Modimothebe put his creative skills at work by turning his old bicycle into a motorcycle.

 Modimothebe’s dream dates back to his senior school days when he started brainstorming the prototype for his bike.

The passion was further cultivated when he was admitted for tertiary education and the thought of him spending his living allowance on transport pushed him to using his savings to buy all he needed to get started.

The BMX frame bi-motorcycle, which has the suspension of a spring and shock absorbers, is powered by a second hand Honda GX160 four stroke generator engine. 

 With a self-made clutch from recyclable materials like some small springs, used diamond grinding and cutting discs, the engine can now run without the cycle on motion.

An accelerator lever has been connected to the frame with a speed control wire connected to an elastic rubber linked to the engine.

While some of the parts have been sourced from recyclable materials, most of the features of the BMX bike have not been tempered with as the sprockets are still intact for easier gear change, the braking system is also as it was.

Surprisingly his course of study is not in any way related to the mechanical know how of his passion, but it astonishes one to know that he learned the basics of bicycle mechanics, welding and working with engines through the Internet .

 Modimothebe said riding his machine was easy but one needed to be cautious as it moved faster than a normal bicycle.

 “You start the engine by pulling the generator pulley, allow it to run for some seconds, then pull out the screwdriver I use in balancing the clutch with the accelerator and then you accelerate and the wheels begin to spin,” he explained.

 Modimothebe said the further one pressed the accelerator the faster the bike would go, and that it  could reach the top speed of about 65 to 70 km per hour.

Quizzed on how safe his bike was, Modimothebe said as far as he knows the bike was safe apart from the fact that he once got involved in a minor accident, breaking his collar bone but that didn’t deter him from going on with his production.

“I want to end up taking it for testing so that it becomes road worthy,’ he said. Ends