Mini Gas Motorcycles and Mini Motorbikes

Mini gas motorcycles are more expensive than electric pocket bikes however the additional cost is well worth it. If you have the additional cash available you should purchase mini gas motorcycles over electric pocket bikes each and every time as there are loads of advantages in owning mini gas motorcycles.

Electric pocket bikes can only be ridden for a maximum of thirty to forty five minutes on a single charge. Once the time is up the electric pocket bike has to be recharged, a process that takes around four to five hours. Mini gas motorcycles can be ridden for hours on end and you only have to stop to refill the mini bike with gas, which only takes a few minutes.

Electric pocket bikes are less powerful than stock mini gas motorcycles. Since the mini gas motorcycle is more powerful it is faster, which makes it more fun, and can be used by heavier riders. Most electric pocket bikes have a maximum user weight of one hundred and seventy five pounds where as mini gas motorcycles can carry heavier riders.

You can modify mini gas motorcycles to make them even more powerful and faster, which leads to even more thrills. There are various modifications available, including spark plugs, reeds, carburetors, rocket keys and big bore kits amongst many other things. It is not possible to tune an electric pocket bike so you are stuck with a stock pocket bike that may, or may not, be fast enough for you.

There are loads of different body modifications and trick bits available for mini gas motorcycles. The same modifications are not available for electric pocket bikes.

In years gone by mini motorbikes were used to introduce young children to the world of motorcycle racing, and this scheme was particularly popular in the European countries of Italy, Spain and Portugal. Many world class road racers started their motorcycle racing careers racing mini motorbikes, including the awesome Valentino "The Doctor" Rossi.

Whilst mini motorbike racing is still used to get youngsters in to motorcycle racing, this sport has developed and it now has a cult following of adult men and women that race against each other in their own cups.

In order to get the most out of mini motorbikes you are going to need to tune them up to enhance the engine and produce more horsepower.

1) High performance spark plugs

A high performance spark plug has a longer rotor, resulting in less spark loss or the chance of spark scatter in the cap as the spark "jumps" the plug gap. Replacing the stock spark plug for a high performance spark plug is the easiest way to tune your mini moto and simply involves taking a plug spanner, loosening and removing the original plug and then screwing in a high performance plug. If all you do is change the spark plug you aren't going to see much of an increase in either power of performance.

2) Performance rocket keys

A high performance rocket key will advance the timing and make the engine fire a little earlier, which will help to improve the bottom end, i.e. give you a little more acceleration at the outset. When using rocket keys it is important not to overdo it as too much and the engine will burn too hot.

Rocket keys are cheap and readily available, which makes them a popular mini motorbike engine modification.

3) High performance fibreglass reeds

A backflow of fuel and air to the carburettor will result in in-efficient combustion, and a loss in performance. The reeds are used to prevent this backflow so they are very important. Whilst the reeds do a great job there is always some backflow, so the idea is to minimise this as far as possible.

The stronger the reeds the smaller the backflow and the more efficient the engine, which consequently leads to better performance.

4) High performance race exhaust

An engine will perform better when it can breathe and quickly remove the burnt gases to create an increased flow of fuel and air back in to the chamber. Stock exhausts are fine and will remove the gases, however if you want the engine to perform even more you are going to need a high performance exhaust.

High performance exhausts not only provide more power but they also look cool and sound awesome. Replacing a stock exhaust with a performance exhaust is not a difficult task and something you can easily do at home.

5) Big bore kit

A big bore kit effectively increases the cubic capacity of the engine. So an 80cc big bore kit is bolted on to a 50cc mini motorbike, hence turning it in to an 80cc mini motorbike. As you'd expect fitting a big bore kit gives the most noticeable increase in power and top speed, and if you really want your mini motorbike to go fast this is the modification you need to do.

Fitting a big bore kit is a task you can easily do at home, although you will need to take your time and make sure you follow the instructions properly. Cutting corners is going to end up in an unreliable engine that could fail at any time, so make sure you follow the instructions to the letter.

Once the big bore kit is fitted you will have to "run it in", which means running the engine at low speeds and low revs in order to let everything bed in. You need to make sure you run the engine in for the specified amount of time otherwise you risk damaging the engine, which is going to end up very costly.

6) High performance clutch

A high performance or up-rated clutch will help you get your mini motorbike off the start line. If you tune the engine and leave a stock clutch there will be too much power running through the clutch and it will slip and eventually fail.

Stronger springs and heavier plates are needed to stop the clutch of a tuned mini motorbike slipping, therefore this is an important modification. Since the clutch has no effect on the top speed or peak power of the mini motorbike many people seem to forget about upgrading the clutch.
It is worth pointing out the above modifications are used to tune gas powered pocket bikes only. If you own and ride an electric pocket bike you cannot modify and tune your mini motorbike in the same way.

If you really want to get the most out of your mini motorbike you are going to need to do all of the things above. You can do one or two of the modifications, however you may not see much of an increase in power or in top speed but this depends on what you do. For example, if you only change the spark plugs you are not going to notice any change in power or top speed at all, but if you fit a big bore kit that's a different story.

It is worth remembering the more you tune your mini motorbike engine the less reliable it will be and the more maintenance it will take to keep it running in tip top condition. You can't simply tune the engine of a mini motorbike and not expect to have to keep working on it so, if you are not prepared to put in the additional time, effort and costs involved in tuning your mini motorbike then my suggestion is to leave it stock.