Kawasaki Concours Forum

Mish mash => Open Forum => Topic started by: gPink on June 21, 2020, 06:18:00 PM

Title: Electric bicycles.....
Post by: gPink on June 21, 2020, 06:18:00 PM
.... either home built or store bought, low cost/low maintenance is a necessity.... anyone with any experience?

I only live about a mile from work so I don't ride the c14 as it doesn't have time to warm up. I am looking for a non-cage alternative.

I haven't ridden a pedal bike since I got my first motorcycle back when dirt was young. I care nothing about the exercise aspects of bicycling as I get plenty at work.

I'm leaning toward building with a used bike as a starting point. There's a lot of info on the webs to sort through so if anyone has any insight I would appreciate the input.
Title: Re: Electric bicycles.....
Post by: VirginiaJim on June 22, 2020, 05:06:05 AM
Interesting project.  Keep us informed.
Title: Re: Electric bicycles.....
Post by: maxtog on June 22, 2020, 05:35:09 AM
I live about 1/3 mile from work.  Originally I walked, but that was annoying because I had to interact with people at a time I was always in a rush.  Then I had a tiny foldable bike, which did nothing but draw attention and was uncomfortable.  Then I got an electric scooter.  It didn't have much ground clearance, was unstable, didn't like wet, and the batteries needed replacement every year or so for some reason.  And there were always problems with SOMETHING- the chain, the throttle control, etc.  Plus it was heavy.  Finally, I switched to a full-size 21 speed aluminum bicycle.  That has worked out very well.  Not sure I will ever worry about an electric one.

This has been over a a long period, mind you. 
Title: Re: Electric bicycles.....
Post by: VirginiaJim on June 22, 2020, 04:49:28 PM
https://electrek.co/2018/04/21/weekend-project-build-your-own-budget-friendly-electric-bicycle-for-under-500/#:~:text=Installing%20the%20electric%20bicycle%20conversion%20kit&text=To%20install%20the%20hub%20motor,the%20throttle%20to%20the%20handlebars. (https://electrek.co/2018/04/21/weekend-project-build-your-own-budget-friendly-electric-bicycle-for-under-500/#:~:text=Installing%20the%20electric%20bicycle%20conversion%20kit&text=To%20install%20the%20hub%20motor,the%20throttle%20to%20the%20handlebars.)



Title: Re: Electric bicycles.....
Post by: MAN OF BLUES on June 22, 2020, 06:10:33 PM
WAS AT dOLLAR gENERAL STORE A COUPLE MONTHS BACK.. saw a mountain bike, with a small motor attached, and was looking at it closely for like 5 minuts when the kid came out, and posed "wassup', i told him it was a bit intresting, he told me he converted it for like $200 off e-bay stuff.. let me actually ride it... it cranked out 35 mph no problem. small engine, tank, and other stuff.. was cool.. some kids do have a grasp on "mods"... just saying.. $200 and a great MTN bike can be a real road demon.
Title: Re: Electric bicycles.....
Post by: T Cro ® on June 23, 2020, 05:04:19 PM
How about a one wheel scooter?

www.onewheel.com (http://www.onewheel.com)
Title: Re: Electric bicycles.....
Post by: MAN OF BLUES on June 23, 2020, 06:32:37 PM
How about a one wheel scooter?

www.onewheel.com (http://www.onewheel.com)


that XR looks like a blast... but at $1800, and my age.. I'd break a freaking hip for sure..
(not funny.. my local best pal is recovering from a left turn assasin, that placed him in ICU last week, broken pelvis, hips, split kidney, and spleen...) just bought him a wheel chair, for his return, when he gets out of P/T... and he's only 50... but has 12 kids..  ::) ??? ??? :'(
Title: Re: Electric bicycles.....
Post by: gPink on June 23, 2020, 06:56:07 PM
I gotta go with Rich on this one, T. It was all I could do to not break things on sidewalk skates as a kid.
Title: Re: Electric bicycles.....
Post by: MAN OF BLUES on June 23, 2020, 07:08:20 PM
I gotta go with Rich on this one, T. It was all I could do to not break things on sidewalk skates as a kid.

I had a steel wheel skate board, in 1964.. and it was my joy, even in the inner city, with reallllly bad sidewalks to negotiate.. wore out my left foot "Ked's/RedBall Jets shoe", in one summer.. tried a modern board in around 1978.. busted my azzz.. but got that mastered.. re-learning lost muscle reflexes, accompanied by "modern" rollers.. today.. unhh unhhh.. not chancing it.. well, maybe.. I'll test it out on my grandson first.. then hop on... hehehehhehe
Title: Re: Electric bicycles.....
Post by: T Cro ® on June 23, 2020, 07:26:35 PM

that XR looks like a blast... but at $1800, and my age.. I'd break a freaking hip for sure..
(not funny.. my local best pal is recovering from a left turn assasin, that placed him in ICU last week, broken pelvis, hips, split kidney, and spleen...) just bought him a wheel chair, for his return, when he gets out of P/T... and he's only 50... but has 12 kids..  ::) ??? ??? :'(

LOL... My Grands have a couple and while I'm not going near it I'm absolutely amazed at these things. They take them out for rides that last for many miles. They actually handle hills quite well and get a regen on the battery while going down hill.
Title: Re: Electric bicycles.....
Post by: Nosmo on July 11, 2020, 10:58:59 AM
I am very conflicted regarding electric-assisted "bicycles".  In the urban area I now live, they are proliferating rapidly.  We have both older people who can't or don't want to pedal much anymore, and younger people who see them as an alternative to an actual motorcycle.  Consequently, the definitions of WHAT they are and HOW they are to be used get very blurry.  We have "bicycle"
trails, where pedal bikes are supposed to share with pedestrians, baby-strollers, skateboards, dogs-walkers, etc.,  and in some places the electric-assist bikes are allowed to use those trails.  Problem is, some of them go 30 MPH or better.

On the other hand, those same riders like to use them out on the streets in traffic, doing 20-30 MPH, with no regulation, no helmets required because the vehicle isn't defined as a "motorcycle", and hence no licensing, not registered, no motorcycle endorsement needed, etc.

They are too fast for the one environment, and too slow for the other, and in both cases, at least when I have witnessed them being operated, are often being operated dangerously and without consideration for the safety of others.  About a month ago, I was driving on a local freeway and a young couple, man and woman, were E-biking on the freeway shoulder, probably doing about 25-30 MPH or so, in an area that is signed "PEDESTRIANS AND BICYCLES PROHIBITED". 

Don't get me wrong, I am not against the E-bikes themselves, just how they are being used around here.  I think the devices are cool and would love to have one just for the fun of it, and someday may NEED one to get around, so I don't they should be banned or anything like that, just more clearly defined as to operation, etc., and some education that goes along with that.  Of course, as always, there's the human factor of using good judgement, which we all know is doomed to failure.

And don't get me started on those whack-o's who use the electric rent-a-scooters.................. :yikes:
Title: Re: Electric bicycles.....
Post by: MAN OF BLUES on July 11, 2020, 05:35:15 PM


And don't get me started on those whack-o's who use the electric rent-a-scooters.................. :yikes:

hey, beats taking chances riding my Snapper Forest Gump riding mower, down the side of the road to the corner convenience store, for a sixer and pack of smokes...
 :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :thumbs: :thumbs:
Title: Re: Electric bicycles.....
Post by: Nosmo on July 12, 2020, 01:13:24 AM
hey, beats taking chances riding my Snapper Forest Gump riding mower, down the side of the road to the corner convenience store, for a sixer and pack of smokes...
 :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :thumbs: :thumbs:

I'm sure that's true MOB, but a least your Snapper makes some NOISE, and it might go 10 MPH down hill, as opposed to 40 in absolute silence, while the rider is (who has probably already consumed the sixxer), tweeting, texting and twerking, barefoot, Daisy-Dukes, and earbuds at full-blast, an  hour after dusk, weaving between parked cars, from street to sidewalk and back again, and then to be dropped at the destination squarely across the sidewalk or at the end of someone's driveway, or, worse yet, ON THEIR LAWN.   :banghead: :doh: :shoot:
Title: Re: Electric bicycles.....
Post by: Boomer on July 13, 2020, 01:46:25 AM
Here the faster electric bicycles/scooters are only allowed on the road, not on sidewalks or footpaths or designated cycle lanes. Any vehicle that can do over 12mph on the flat under it's own power is considered to be a road vehicle and thus requires a drivers permit, insurance, and the vehicle must pass an annual safety check (MOT test). Therefore most of the faster electric bicycles here are all electric assisted, so pedalling is required or they won't move and if you stop pedalling then they slow down.