That initial desire led Michael to design and fabricate CNC conversion kits for small manual mills and lathes. The Rodgers’ household garage has been converted into a shop where Michael machines the majority of the kit components using a huge five-axis CNC mill, while his wife, Shelley, runs the massive CNC lathe to machine the ends of the ball screw threads sold with their kits.

Popular around the globe —­ 40% of CNC Fusion production is shipped to overseas customers — Michael and Shelley are known for providing quality equipment and customer support second to none.

-Nick Raymond

I got the FreeRadical Classic extension kit with cargo deck and giant panniers, and added the WideLoader cargo shelves and KickBack kickstand. Xtracycle favors a mountain bike platform, not road, because the wheels are stronger. I bought a 2002 Cannondale MT2000 mountain tandem with a stong, American-made aluminum frame, and hydraulic disc brakes and quality tires for safety.

If you have any background in bikes, the kit is easy. Components are good quality; a “snap deck hook” failed on me, but I’m a heavy-duty user. The documentation is good, and if something wasn’t mentioned, a quick YouTube search had it figured out — the Xtracycle community is rad, and totally open source.

The kit bolts to the bike in three strong and strategic places: the dropouts and rear triangle near the bottom bracket. Moving the rear wheel back 15 inches doesn’t affect the handling on such an already-long bicycle. From my local bike shop I got a 10-foot hydraulic cable, a tandem rear derailleur cable, and another chain. I completed my cargo-bus-cycle with a Rock the Bike Mothership sound system. Now I ride around with my friends listening to music like we used to do in a car!

The ad brought back kid-time memories for me, as I had dreamed of one day owning a Whizzer, the classic motorized bicycle. It was the only vehicle you could purchase new during World War II. Now I could make one!

The kit arrived from China in three weeks. I opened the box to find that every nut, bolt, washer, and other sundry parts were not packed in tidy little plastic bags but were loose and had obviously rolled around in the box during its journey to me. I had no idea if parts were missing, as there was no assembly manual either.

I went online and found an assembly manual PDF and an assembly video at Gas Bike (gasbike.net). (They also sell a variety of bike motor kits.) Then I picked up a cheap used mountain bike.

Now for the coup de grace — the engine and control mounting! Actually, the process went quite well. The kit uses a chain-driven sprocket that clamps to the rear wheel’s spokes. I found I was missing a part and readily located a replacement at a scooter shop.

Since the now-motorized bike has no starter, I had to get on, aim it downhill, let out the clutch, and hope it started. It did! A nice pop-pop-pop noise like a baby Harley came from the muffler. I turned it uphill and was amazed at the torque that came from that tiny engine.