Search:

BRYAN, Texas—For $4 worth of gasoline, Bryan’s Richard Garcia could go to Galveston. But for now, he’s happy just cruising from home to work for pennies a day.

A few weeks back, Garcia and Chris Bailey, who work for the Residence Life department at Texas A&M University, saw a student riding a motorized bicycle.

“We thought that would be a good way to beat the high price of gas,” Garcia said.

Bailey contacted the student, who suggested Garcia check out www.kingsmotorbikes.com, a Web site for a business in Atlanta.

Garcia, 54 and a lifelong resident of Bryan, ordered the two-cycle engine kit for $199 plus $46 shipping. Then he bought a Kulana bicycle from Wal-Mart for $99.

“The bike has to have a diamond-shaped frame,” he said. “The first bike I bought didn’t fit.”

The kit contains everything that’s needed to convert a standard mountain or cruiser bicycle: 80-cubic-centimeter motor, extra-quiet muffler, gas tank, chain, sprocket, chain guard, kill switch, clutch lever throttle and a bicycle frame adapter.

“My son and brother-in-law helped me assemble it, and it went pretty smooth,” Garcia said. “We had to take a link out of the chain, and it took awhile to connect the sprocket on the back wheel.”

Garcia filled the gas tank with a half-gallon of gasoline, mounted his new vehicle and rode around the block.

“All you have to do to start the motor is release the clutch,” Garcia said. “Chris helped me get the kinks out and showed me how to use the clutch when I needed to idle.”

According to the Web site, the motor gets about 150 miles per gallon of gasoline, but Garcia can’t attest to that because he is still on his first tank.

Garcia rode his motorbike to work from his home near downtown Bryan, approximately 5 miles, for the first time one recent morning. “It took about 15 minutes,” he said, “and it was a lot of fun. I got a lot of reactions from people. A guy on a Harley gave me a thumbs up.”

Garcia emphasized the need for safety.

“I wear a helmet and watch out for cars. I stick to the side roads. The bike has no trouble going up hills. It is very smooth.”

The bike has a maximum safe speed of 35 mph, Garcia said. “If you go faster than that, the bike starts to shake.” Before seeing the motorized bike, Garcia had thought about getting a moped, “but they were too expensive, about $2,900.” Another advantage of the motorbike is that, if you run out of gas, you can still pedal.

“I love it,” Garcia said.

Apparently, others are adopting Garcia’s strategy for dealing with expensive gas. The following note appears on the King’s Motor Bikes Web site: “Due to the high volume of orders, our shipping department is experiencing some delay on the shipments.”

For those who are mechanically challenged, King’s offers a fully assembled model for $460 and up.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, every owner of a motor vehicle must register it with the tax assessor collector in the county in which they reside. The operator of a motorbike must have a valid motorcycle driver’s license.