motorbike engine powered mower

[customrover]

Hi all,

I just purchased a ride on mower and im currently in the planing stages of putting a motorbike engine in it. It will not be used for any actual mowing duties, purely a toy.

Im just curious if anyone on here has done this before? Theres a couple of different ways to go about it and im just looking for opinions on the options, or suggestions for things i havent thought of.

Now the thing im still unsure about is the rear end. The easiest option would appear to be remain chain/sproket driven, as per the mower and bike were originally. Although i have seen youtube videos of some using what appear to be small/modified live axle housing from a car. Now while staying with the current setup, the standard gear wont cut it for the new power level, so ive been looking at different setups that i can steal from larger cc powered ATV's. My thinking is a straight rear axle over an IRS would be easiest to work with, so ive been looking at the Yamaha Raptor 700 rear end. Would it work with my project, or is there anything critical i need to look at?

Is there another way to go about it, or even a more suitable rear end setup?

 

[mullins87]

Straight chain drive, 3/4" or 1" solid axle supported by two pillow block bearings. That's the simplest setup.

 

[Buckshot 1]

:smile: Depends on the size of the bike engine. I would use an 1 1/4" straight axle with a keyway cut all the across. I an afraid if using a 3/4/1" axle it will twist of bend. Go to this site heymow.com you will find plenty of ways of doing it there.