Arrow Motorized Cycles
Story and Photos by Jamey Blunt
LA HABRA, CA, AUG. 22, 2012
Remember the old Whizzer motorized bicycles from the 1950s? Ever wonder what they might have evolved into with modern technology applied to this inexpensive form of transportation/ fun vehicle? Well, back in 2011, with gas prices always going ever higher and the economy in the tank, Dave Rush found an inexpensive way to have fun and go racing.
Coming from a flat-track racing background, Dave knew all too well how much money was needed to fund a solid racing program. But what about the guys or ladies who just wanted to race for fun, or even just ride for fun?
Dave found a Russian-designed, Chinese-built two-stroke engine made for attachment to bicycles. At first, Dave developed and tested his own reed boxes for these engines (which come in three different displacement sizes). Then he and his brother Jim attended a local race just for motorized bicycles. Suddenly Dave realized there were enough enthusiasts out there for him to market his reed box, as there was nothing available in the industry to enhance the performance of these 100-plus-mile-per-gallon bikes.
So it was that in 2012 Dave launched Arrow Motorized Cycles, offering reed-box kits, exhaust pipes, performance cylinders and heads, along with spare parts and some smaller items from his newly created website.
For publicity, Dave created a three-bike race team using neighborhood kids. They started racing in local races on asphalt (Le Grange in Apple Valley, California) as well as on dirt.
Dave’s initial concept for the bikes was that they would resemble flat-track bikes, since that was his passion and background, so this called for him to manufacture his own frames, gas tanks, and seats. He sourced existing 24-inch wheels and tires, and Shimano drive trains (sprockets, hubs, levers, calipers, etc.) with Avid rotors. The tires are 3-inch-wide dirt-track-style bicycle tires.
Dave prefers the 66cc engine called the “Grubee Skyhawk.” Stock, this engine produces 2 ½ horsepower, but with Dave’s modifications, he can reliably get 8 to 10 horsepower, and in this trim the bikes have been clocked at as fast as 50 miles per hour on the street. Total weight of an Arrow Motorized Cycles machine tips the scales at 55 pounds, with 6 ½-inch steel cranks (with standard pedals) and the 24-Sun rims. In this configuration, a buyer can expect to pay in the neighborhood of $1,500; of course, with lighter materials and more custom work, the price will head upward.
And how does the law regard these motorized cycles/ bicycles? (They do have pedals.) As long as you wear a DOT-approved helmet, adhere to traffic laws, and don’t exceed 30 miles per hour (right…), these bikes are not considered by the DMV to need a license plate or have the need to meet their codes. Think of it this way: You couldn’t keep up with Lance Armstrong on your own bicycle, but on an Arrow, you just might be able to. It’s like performance enhancing without the penalties.
For more information, you can reach Dave Rust at 562/640-1244, or check out the aforementioned website at www.arrowmotorizedcycles.com.