I've been running a brc for over 100hrs now and wanted to give a review separate from my frame build thread.
Custom frame build link.
My brc is on the old pre 2016 motor so the starter system is problematic as always so I ran it for a long time with just the kick start. The motor without the estart is 61 pounds and the pipe is about 2 pounds heavier than a 300 so probably be about the same weight as a new 300 if your man enough to kick it. The estart won't turn it over with a 12v battery even with the compression release. I've since added the estart back on with a tiny 22v 4.5ah lipo from a rc car and it's starting pretty fast but it must be in neutral with the decompresion release on or it won't even turn over. If anything breaks or wears out on the starter I'll probably give up on it and just kick it.
The biggest down side is it still vibrates way more than a counter balanced 300 or 450. I was going to sell it but I re balanced the crank and changed the frame and it's not to bad now. If you run a stock frame and don't have sensitive hands it will probably be fine for most. Just don't expect it to be perfectly smooth.
The power is great for snow biking. I think the reason it's not been more popular is because most of the guys I've seen use them for a trail bike and install a recluse clutch. That's just dumb. Don't ever put this on the dirt unless you ride dunes. The low end is strong but it's still not going to go anywhere in deep snow unless you get into the mid range. Then it goes off big time with unstoppable torque. When I got it, it had a wide ratio so I had to use the clutch between the gappy gears but once you got the pv open it would never back down. Now it has the 5 speed sx gears and it's perfect power for deep snow.
In the hard spring snow it's annoying because it forces you to idle around in a big gear so it stays smooth on a load but it pulls almost anything at idle in the spring.
It uses a ton of fuel even with perfect jetting. It's been perfectly reliable other than a few oil leaks. It came with an aftermarket plastic clutch cover. Dumb idea.
Now that I made friends with it, I'll probably keep it for a while. All the wear items are dirt cheap and it never seems like it's working very hard so should last a long time.
I'm done riding for the year. We still have tons of snow but this elnino crap weather is miserably gloomy and drizzle every afternoon so I try to ride in the morning when it's sunny but the snow is just too hard and rough for my old body.
Here are some pics from a 100 mile adventure ride we did to a cabin a month ago when the snow was still smooth.
Custom frame build link.
My brc is on the old pre 2016 motor so the starter system is problematic as always so I ran it for a long time with just the kick start. The motor without the estart is 61 pounds and the pipe is about 2 pounds heavier than a 300 so probably be about the same weight as a new 300 if your man enough to kick it. The estart won't turn it over with a 12v battery even with the compression release. I've since added the estart back on with a tiny 22v 4.5ah lipo from a rc car and it's starting pretty fast but it must be in neutral with the decompresion release on or it won't even turn over. If anything breaks or wears out on the starter I'll probably give up on it and just kick it.
The biggest down side is it still vibrates way more than a counter balanced 300 or 450. I was going to sell it but I re balanced the crank and changed the frame and it's not to bad now. If you run a stock frame and don't have sensitive hands it will probably be fine for most. Just don't expect it to be perfectly smooth.
The power is great for snow biking. I think the reason it's not been more popular is because most of the guys I've seen use them for a trail bike and install a recluse clutch. That's just dumb. Don't ever put this on the dirt unless you ride dunes. The low end is strong but it's still not going to go anywhere in deep snow unless you get into the mid range. Then it goes off big time with unstoppable torque. When I got it, it had a wide ratio so I had to use the clutch between the gappy gears but once you got the pv open it would never back down. Now it has the 5 speed sx gears and it's perfect power for deep snow.
In the hard spring snow it's annoying because it forces you to idle around in a big gear so it stays smooth on a load but it pulls almost anything at idle in the spring.
It uses a ton of fuel even with perfect jetting. It's been perfectly reliable other than a few oil leaks. It came with an aftermarket plastic clutch cover. Dumb idea.
Now that I made friends with it, I'll probably keep it for a while. All the wear items are dirt cheap and it never seems like it's working very hard so should last a long time.
I'm done riding for the year. We still have tons of snow but this elnino crap weather is miserably gloomy and drizzle every afternoon so I try to ride in the morning when it's sunny but the snow is just too hard and rough for my old body.
Here are some pics from a 100 mile adventure ride we did to a cabin a month ago when the snow was still smooth.
