[JustSomeKid]

I have a 1/2 horsepower Sears garage door opener with stripped gears. It has a starting capacitor and there are 3 wires coming from the motor (forward, reverse, negative?). Could this be used on a bike or am i just wasting my time?

 

[Qer]

I would say you're wasting your time. It needs 120 Volt 60 Hz AC power and somewhere there things will turn pretty complicated using that, unless you rebuild it thoroughly wounding it for a lower Voltage.

You're probably much better off trying to get hold of a small DC-motor, for example from a fork lift.

 

[EVfun]

Not likely. Most garage door opener motors I've seen (which means the few I've owned) are capacitor run 2 phase AC motors. Each of the phases are connected at one end and then to neutral. Each of the phases are connected to opposite ends of the motor run capacitor at the other end. For forward one end of the capacitor is connected to the AC hot wire, for reverse the other end of the capacitor.

The point is, you would need an inverter to run a capacitor type garage door opener motor. They won't run on a DC supply, like batteries, directly.

 

[Ziggythewiz]

I think it depends on your usage. If you ride your bike 20-30 feet back and forth this motor would be ideal.

 

[sophiamia]

I guess it a total waste of time, you need an inverter to run the garage door opener, DC power supply will not work on them. The electric motor and gears should be work right so that you can easily operate the best garage door opener. also, Most garage door opener motors are AC models.