From grown up children to environmentally aware commuters, everyone appreciates a motor on a bicycle.

The notion of sustainable transportation has been growing locally in Southern Arizona and Spooky Tooth has been there fanning the flames...

Since the enactment of A.R.S. 28-2516, Spooky Tooth's motorized bicycle bill, thousands of Arizonans have been able to realize the benefits of daily commuting via electric bicycle or gas powered bike motor. At 150+ miles per gallon for gas and zero emissions for electric, the environmental impacts are minimal and the cost savings huge.

Our focus is quality. Spooky Tooth Cycles is a bicycle shop and fabrication facility that is serious about the quality of our work. We take pride in our craftsmanship and our unending support for daily commuters. Our attention to detail is unmatched in the powered bicycle market. And by putting our knowledge into your hands, we can train our customers to be self reliant motorized bicycle mechanics, confident that they made the right decision to leave the car at home and ride a Spooky Tooth motorized bike to work.

150 Miles Per Gallon (article)

Death Race is an annual motorized bicycle race Spooky Tooth has been sponsoring for the last 6 years. It has grown in popularity so much that not only do we have riders from all over the Western US show up to win, but we also have to hold a second race. This one around Halloween, The Undead Race!

At the first race 6 years ago, we went to the mountains in the Tucson desert with our outlaw bicycles and raced back to downtown as fast as lightning passing cars and street lights hitting 50mph downhill through Gates Pass. I fondly remember Nicole Dejiacomo winning that first year beating me by 7 seconds. Since then we have been finding ways to make our bikes faster and the race track safer. P1 Race Track in Tucson is a hairpinned dream. Off the starting line the confusion of corners simultaneously fires excitement and nausea as the first knee-slider narrowly wipes out the starting pack.

Recently I sold the business to our young friend "MiQ" Morrison. He was in the midst of planning the Undead Race and assuming new management of our bicycle shop when he quickly and tragically passed away. He lived free and fast. I would like to honor him with this, the Spooky Tooth Cycles Undead Race.

Everyone is welcome! Electric or gas as long as you can legally call it a motorized bicycle you qualify for racing. A jaw dropping great time, an excuse to party and promote a community movement of alternative transportation.

Come on out next Saturday for an event so fun and wild you may never see the likes of again...

Need extra power, faster speed, or a set of bomb-proof wheels for your gas powered motorized bicycle?

We've compiled a list of a few of our unique products and services.

NEW! SkyHawk Engine Kits now include a high performance CNS carburetor

Available in 80cc (66cc) or 48cc engine size

150 miles per gallon

Speeds of 19 to 45mph depending on gear ratio

48cc GT2B, 55cc GT3, 60cc GT33, 66c GT5

Among mid frame mounted bike motors, there is no comparison for the quality of the SkyHawk bicycle engine. The difference is night and day.  Such a bold engine deserves a bold statement, and Spooky Tooth stands behind it with the following:

Innovation and Implementation of New Technologies.  Spooky Tooth Cycles and Grubee Inc. are constantly searching out ways to constantly make the SkyHawk bicycle engine line even better.  Whether it means the application of RTV sealant to engine seals or the procurement of long life gasoline resistant gaskets, we are always making upgrades to the SkyHawk engine kit as new technologies become available.

3 Month Limited Warranty. This SkyHawk bicycle engine kit is covered by a limited liability warranty.  Spooky Tooth Cycles warranties that your SkyHawk bicycle engine will be free from defects in material and workmanship for 90 days from the date of purchase and that the remaining balance of the kit parts are to be free from defects in material and workmanship for 30 days from the date of purchase.

Toll Free Customer Service and Technical Support Hot Line. Should any problems arise, allow our experts to troubleshoot for you.  Our technical expertise is unrivaled.  We are the best and one of the oldest in the business and can usually walk every customer through the right diagnoses and repair of their motorized bicycle.

Click here to purchase the SkyHawk bicycle engine kit.

The SkyHawk GT5 is the culmination of years of work, research and pressure from every side to create a superior bicycle engine.  It looks like a standard 80cc engine on the outside, but the advantages will be increasingly noticeable after extensive riding.  The SkyHawk GT5 is a more expensive engine to produce, however, the seasoned motorized bicycle owner knows that quality components pay for themselves many times over.  We will guarantee that your engine will be free from defects for 3 months, and that your kit parts will be trouble free for 30 days.  If any questions arise, call our toll free line.  We are loyal to our customers.  At any time during installation or while riding in the future, we can help you troubleshoot over the phone or you can browse our extensive installation manuals online.

How do you compare one bicycle engine to another?  Some would say, "This is the best!", but how would you back it up or how would you know?

What does is take for an engine to work?  Air, fuel, compression, and spark.  If all of these are present, you can have an engine that you will be extremely happy with for years because of its great successes in what you are using it for.  But, let's say that one or more of those elements are missing.  Maybe you're not getting a spark, there are carburetor issues, or perhaps an air leak occurs because of a bad case casting.  These are relatively common problems that, unfortunately, our bicycle engine industry has had to suffer through because of a lack of concern from manufacturers.

Bicycle motors can be long lasting wonderful engines when proper care is given.  The process begins with a high standard of quality control with direct factory oversight from Don Grube himself, it continues with an education on installation and maintenance procedures given to the owner, and is followed up with a proper 3 month warranty and plenty of technical support via our toll free hot line.

Carburetor testing at the NT factory

To meet the strict 2008 US EPA/CARB importation restrictions, all SkyHawk motors are now equipped with a catalytic converter exhaust muffler which incorporates a Palladium Cartridge filter imported from Germany.  Although the standard bicycle engine has rarely emitted a visible exhaust with synthetic oil, it is a beautiful thing to see the new Palladium Cartridge filter exhaust completely capture excess atmospheric pollutants.

Final inspection by Don Grube

All SkyHawk engine kits include the following:

• SkyHawk bicycle engine with 3 month warranty
• 2.5 liter black powder coated gas tank with internal chrome plating
• 44T 9 hole drive sprocket and mounting hardware
• Palladium cartridge filter EPA approved catalytic converter exhaust muffler
• Sealed cartridge bearing chain tensioner (higher life versus old plastic roller)
• 410 Drive Chain
• Throttle assembly with right and left ergonomically shaped grips
• Throttle cable pre installed
• Brass fuel valve (versus cast aluminum valve)
• Over sized carburetor with fuel shutoff (GT5 only) and chrome air cleaner housing
• Factory tested CDI (capacitive discharge ignition)
• Push button clutch lever (for easy pedal clutch lock out)
• Inline adjustable clutch cable with heat shield springs
• Instruction sheets in clear English

Tool Kit & Extras

Other additions only found in the SkyHawk engine line include the following extra items in a tool kit for your convenience:

• 1 Gear puller tool kit to adjust or overhaul internal engine components
• 1 Spark plug wrench
• 1 Extra spark plug
• 1 Extra metal head gasket
• 2 Extra exhaust gaskets with a newly improved integrated steel liner
• 1 Extra carburetor idle screw
• 1 Extra spark plug boot
• 1 Front motor mount adapter plate for down tubes greater than 1-1/2"
• 1 Extra rear mount block and 2 long bolts to allow for higher chain ring clearance
• 2 Extra steel motor mount clamps

SkyHawk quality is unmatched and Spooky Tooth Cycles is proud to offer GT2B 48cc Round Head & GT5 66cc bicycle engines. "There is no such thing as perfection in China, but the GT5 is light years beyond the competition."

Click here to purchase the SkyHawk bicycle engine kit.

Click here to view the frame requirements for the installation of a bicycle engine

Still Deciding?  Click Here to View Our Installation Manual and Other Useful Information

Timing belts, like those used in motorcycles and automobiles, have long been the choice for superior power transfer.  Their operation is whisper silent with a longevity lasting hundreds of thousands of miles. Throw in the simplicity of CNC machined sprockets supported by 4 sealed cartridge bearings, and you have the new 4G Timing Belt Drive Bicycle Engine.

The 4G engine kit boasts an astounding 150 miles per gallon and all day cruising speed of 30 miles per hour. With a rope pull start for ease of use, these engines are designed for commercial and governmental use to consistently be ran at full RPM.

The 4G Timing Belt Drive is built for both the Honda GXH50 or its economically priced sister engine HuaSheng 142F. The 4G bicycle engine kit carries a 6 month warranty on the transmission, and a one month warranty on the engine.

The Huasheng 142F engine and the Honda GXH50 are nearly identical engines. For service of your new engine, click here to view the Honda GXH50 maintenance manual.

In a pound for pound comparison, 2 cycle engines, like the SkyHawk GT5, traditionally produce twice the power of 4 cycle engines. This means that a 2 cycle motor can pack twice the punch of a 4 cycle and can be produced smaller and lighter. This is beneficial when designing a power assisted bicycle. With the advancement of micro 4 stroke technology, all of this is changing. The new generation of micro 4 strokes, including the Huasheng 142F, are nearly as light and just as powerful as their 2 cycle counterparts. With a 4 stroke engine you won't have to mix oil with gas like you do with a 2 stroke engine, but you will need to change the oil about every 1,000 miles.  A 4 stroke doesn't need to cool off every half hour like a 2 stroke engine does, so you can run a 4 stroke all day long, even cross country.  A 4 stroke engine is generally cleaner and quieter than a 2 stroke as well as much more reliable. The technology costs more to manufacture, however, you will find that the reliability pays for itself many times over.  For fun, dependable transportation, get a 4G bicycle engine kit!

Click here to purchase the 4G Bicycle Engine Kit

Click here to purchase the 4G Bicycle Engine Kit

When speaking of a battery or battery pack we use the word nominal (in name only) to refer to the voltage, "a nominal 12 volt battery", or, "a nominal 36 volt battery pack."

The reason for this is because a 12 volt battery is rarely ever 12.00 volts. Most batteries have a working range of 11 volts as a low and 14 volts as a peak. If a battery goes below or above these numbers, permanent damage will occur.

With the growing popularity of the motorized bicycle and the DIY bicycle engine kits, many new products have been developed to meet the growing need to produce more power out of bicycle engines.

In this series of blog posts, we will be introducing and explaining the latest products that have been introduced into the market.