Pocket Bikes Guide
Pocket Bike Mods | Pocket Bike Racing Information
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Pocket Bikes | Advanced Mods
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To get the most out of your pocket bike there will be a few modifications you can make on your own, and some you cannot. The most effective modification you can make to your pocket bikes will cost you a pretty penny and you won’t want to install yourself unless you happen to have a bike shop, which I know some people do. There are four major moves you could do to your bike that will turn your new toy into an incredibly powerful machine, and dangerous without proper precautions.
After you the head kit is installed, a full circle stroker crank will make your bike a 52cc. This mod is best suited to an engine with a head kit and to get maximum boost the crank must be balanced to your piston. You will need a good and experienced bike shop to do this for you. The crank will cost something between $110 and $130, plus whatever the bike shops charge. Once you have the full circle stroker crank installed you will never want to ride a bike with a half circle crank.
For even more power, you will want to allow more fuel into your engine and faster. It is time to upgrade to a four petal dual reed cage. With 2 dual reed sections allowing for 4 reeds, this gives you improved fuel flow and power throughout low, mid and top end. You will not be disappointed and this mod can be had for approximately $120 to $200.
With a headkit and a good carb, your next step up is a handmade Italian race exhaust—the Zocchi CAG Race Pipe. For anywhere from $160 to $200 you will feel the difference in the power increase from low, mid and top end.
You are going to need a bike shop with whom you trust and who understands the vision you have for the future of your pocket bike experience. With proper porting and tuning, you can get the modifications to work in perfect harmony with your engine. With all some lesser remaining mods and a timing key, you can easily add about 15mph to what stock pocket bikes could do out of the box.
Pocket Bike Street Legality
Pocket bikes are like regular motorcycles but tiny in size. Their beginnings mirror that of go-carts, guys with leftover parts in their garages and too much time on their hands turned their passion for building things into pocket bikes.
For the most part, pocket bikes are not street legal in the United States. Although specific laws vary from state to state, most models do not met the necessary requirements and are therefore illegal for use on public roadways. The limiting factors are often size requirements since more states require the seat of a motorcycle to be at least 25 inches off the ground. There are a number of violations they can get you o. Just to name a few, pocket bikes don’t have indicator lights for night driving. Since they’re so slimmed down, these mini bikes don’t have rearview mirrors or horns or signaling lights for turns. They do not have plates since the states won’t allow the bikes to be registered for a number of reasons and unregistered vehicles cannot be operated on the public streets. The mufflers are too small to guard against noise pollution, and they cannot be insured. Just being on the street on a pocket bike is considered reckless driving. All these factors, among others, could warrant a ticket up to $2,200.
Some models of larger “super” pocket bikes, with headlights, turn signals, brake lights, a horn and speedometer meet nearly all the requirements and can be registered in most states for legal street use. In most cases the only modification is adding a rearview mirror and brackets for a license plate. Some states will allow you to register the bike as a unique/homebuilt, if there are only minor modifications needed to meet the requirements.
When using a pocket bike on public roadways, it is treated much the same way as a motorcycle and the rider much have some form of insurance. The bikes are also required to go through regular inspections and the rider must wear a helmet. Some states will classify the pocket bikes as mopeds while other considers the pocket bikes full motorcycles. If it is classified as a regular motorcycle, then a special motorcycle license is required. Otherwise a regular drivers license will be enough.
Pocket Bikes | Intermediate Mods
If you’ve read my earlier post about beginner mods for your pocket bike, then you have an idea where this next list is headed. These are some mods you can do to pocket bikes if you’re up to spending a little more per mod and if you did the basic mods yourself then these shouldn’t be too hard of a step up.
Most pocket bikes come stock with CAG card that is only 12.88mm. By upgrading to a larger carb etc. 14/14 or WT-603 which are the most popular choices in carbs when it comes to racing you increase your engines performance all round by allowing more fuel and air to get burnt and this will increase your low, mid and top end power. A new carb will run you about $90-$160, but the improvement in performance is totally worth it.
A Fatboy Exhaust and Tank is an awesome exhaust system upgrade over the stock exhaust. It is popular among pocket bike racers around the world and many race winners swear by it. It’s a very cheap upgrade and will really open up your engine, the Fatboy Exhaust is that big, it comes with a smaller fuel tank so the pipe can fit. Expect to shell out at least $90-$160 for this mod.
For light people, a 2 shoe clutch is a modification must have. For about $40 to $70 you will instantly feel the difference from a 3 shoe clutch with springs, the only down side to this modification is you must adjust the springs perfect for when the clutch engages.
High Performance Piston Rings offer more compression and are a good cheap investment, as little as $10 to$20 will give a small increase in power.
A lightened piston is a lot better than the stock piston and is of much better quality. For $30 to $50 you will get a small increase in power.
One of the most important mods that can be done is getting a cylinder ported to your engine. A cylinder with boost ports, larger exhaust ports and the correct squish set, will give an insane power increase, Very good for the money at around $80 to $90.
These mods are for the more experienced racer that can handle a lot more power over stock, these parts will be best installed by a shop rather than risk doing it yourself. You will be amazed at the power increase to your pocket bike with these mods.