Are we in the electric Vehicle Revolution?

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Tyler6357

Tyler6357

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Mar 15, 2012
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biknut said:
Tyler, near the end of the vid they claim 150 km (93 mile) range. I think that's probably with their optional big battery.

It sounds like we ride about the same, because most of my rides are 40+ miles too. Some a lot shorter though. Since our experiences are so similar I'm sure you'll be able to give my riding impressions consideration. I've been riding china girls about 3 1/2 years now, but I've only had an eBike since December. This is my best china girl.

This is Stunner



It's a pretty good china girl. In perfect conditions it tops out at 40 mph, and it has a 44 mile range on it's 1/2 gallon tank. If you want to make this bike, get ready to spend $2000. That's what it added up to. Of course all my labor was free, and I want a raise LOL.

So when I tell you I hardly ever ride it anymore since buying an eBike, you at least have to question why someone like me would toss a nice china girl like this by the wayside for an eBike.

Now if you know what eBike I'm riding you may say it's not a fair comparison, and maybe it's not, but even if all I had was a Stromer, I'm pretty sure I'd feel the same way.
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Well, the guy does say that the standard battery goes 20-25 miles for a single charge. I can't believe he is lying in his own commercial. He does say that he sells a better battery but I didn't hear the part about it having a range of almost 4 times the standard battery but maybe I missed it. 93 miles would be acceptable. Do you know how much the good battery adds to the $3500 price? Also, how many times is it estimated that you can charge a battery like that before it fails? I would really like to know that. How much do they weigh? Is it possible to carry a spare?

My most basic concerns are:

(1) I know that batteries can be kinda temperamental sometimes. I know that if you don't use them they can go bad just sitting unused. I would be worried that if I didn't ride it for several months that the batteries will go bad unless I kept current running through them often.

(2) I live in the mountains, my rides are probably longer than an average bike rider, also, I ride up long steep grades and I weigh almost 200lbs. I'm worried the batteries and/or the electric motor would burn out quickly.

(3) The limited range of e-bikes. My china girl can go 40 miles on a tank of gas and to extend it's range I only need to stop at any gas station and mix, this takes 5 minutes not 5 hours to recharge.

(4) Risk: like I said earlier, I feel uneasy leaving my $600 china girl locked up in public places for even short periods of time. It might be impossible for me to leave a $3500+ bike locked up somewhere ready to get stolen from some guy with nice bolt cutters. I would be worried that I would lock it up somewhere and come back to find my bike got ripped off or the batteries are gone. I am very uneasy letting even my cheap china girl out of my sight.

(5) The cost. Maybe the biggest detractor, haha, it is for just about everything isn't it? :) But I already have a nice running china girl motorized bicycle that meets my needs. I can't justify putting up big bucks for an electric one when there is a cool boat I have my eye on, you know, priorities man! :) But, hey, that's a nice china girl you have! Good job! I think it's great that you have both!
 
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biknut

biknut

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Tyler I think for now riding china girls are best for you. There's no reason for you not to. I can tell though, that you're curious enough that as time goes by it's going to be eating at your brain, just like it did mine LOL. I'm sorry if I infected you, but trust me, after you're assimilated into the borg, you'll find it's not so bad LOL.
 
Tyler6357

Tyler6357

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Mar 15, 2012
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biknut said:
Tyler I think for now riding china girls are best for you. There's no reason for you not to. I can tell though, that you're curious enough that as time goes by it's going to be eating at your brain, just like it did mine LOL. I'm sorry if I infected you, but trust me, after you're assimilated into the borg, you'll find it's not so bad LOL.
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Oh you are right, I am curious about them, not to the point of eating at my brain, haha, but I like bicycle riding. I fully admit that I have no experience with e-bikes. I've only seen cheap ones on the roads around here, and I usually whiz right by them and go on my way. But I don't think anything I have written is unusual, I mean my concerns are all reasonable. I don't think any of the questions I have asked are unreasonable ones to ask. Enlighten me if you can, I'm not dismissing anything out of hand, who knows, in the future I might actually own one, I try to never say "never" :)
.shft.
 
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16v4nrbrgr

16v4nrbrgr

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Mar 17, 2012
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There are a lot of much better engines than the happy time out there, you just have to be willing to make a mount for it and figure out things yourself.
 
BarelyAWake

BarelyAWake

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Jul 21, 2009
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biknut said:
BarelyAWake said:
...As the vast majority of my daily riding needs is no more then 30 miles @ 30mph & I like to save my tinker time for projects & not maintenance, my humble $1000 ebike does jus' fine by me. Having said that - when get turns to go & I wanna head out for state lines & then some, well I've a lil thumper for that too... different tools, different jobs lol ;)
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BA, I interpret this as, you would only ride a gas bike if you had too LOL.

The revolution has only just started. Soon the excuses for needing to use a gas bike will no longer exist. After that our gas bikes will quickly become curiosity's much like model Ts are today.
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That interpretation may be going a bit far biknut, I think it's readily apparent I'm a die hard motor/fuel polygamist - if it has a motor I play with it & enjoy it for what it is, or tinker it till I do.

Every motor & fuel type has it's own distinctive advantages & disadvantages, I'd never disregard an entire class so callously, only specific applications that may fall short of the mark compared to another.

I'd drive the heck out of a Model T & happily, they were wonderfully small, surprisingly fuel efficient & infinitely repairable, economic vehicles - as with so many things, we could relearn a lot if we chose to cast an eye back from time to time :)


http://www.summitpost.org/model-t-ford-on-ben-nevis/393404



"The revolution has only just started."

It's been on for more then a century now, 'lectrics fighting for a place from the very beginning, all the arguments the same then & ever since lol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehicle
 
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cannonball2

cannonball2

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Oct 28, 2010
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16v4nrbrgr said:
There are a lot of much better engines than the happy time out there, you just have to be willing to make a mount for it and figure out things yourself.
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I agree. Not knocking the CG so much as stating my experience with them. I have built 10+ MBs in the last several years most documented here. All IC, none a CG. I do think that the CG has Improved over the years. They can be an interesting challenge to those who like to tinker/mod. To the people that have and like them, great, enjoy! The comparison I made was based mostly on two entry level builds, and cost.

The technology we are beginning to see in electric vehicles is pretty exciting. The most sold single type vehicle today(trusting memory here) is the Ebike. As I remember electric cars in the past came and went. Now the major manufacturers are getting on board. This is truly I feel the beginning of the what may be the "E" age. Global concerns are helping usher it in.

For those of us that still think the Ebike is a slow short range/lived vehicle visit Endlesssphere and see whats going on!
 
silverbear

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
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For me there are several attractions with electric bikes,trikes, and cyclecars. Silence is one, much as I like the exhaust sounds coming from my gas motors. The biggest attraction is their acceptance by the powers that be. There is a constant anxiety for me in riding my gas powered bikes, with a lot of confusion in the state legislature and a feeling that even if something is pretty much legal today, it may not be a year from now. Very clearly the trend is away from gas engines and toward electric motors. Who wants to be hassled? Not me. Who wants their build to be confiscated? Not me, for sure.
I admit to subterfuge. My 99cc Predator engine has a 50cc sticker on it. And my 147cc Jacobson engine I will try to pass off as 50cc and will likely get away with it mostly because I am an old fellow and ride sensibly. But I am breaking the law and know it even though I feel like the law is over zealous if not stupid. I would like to ride with a sense that I am fully within my legal rights. Must be nice.

Better batteries and the possibility of building your own are making the switch to electric even more compelling. Another consideration for an old fellow like me who expects to be living in town in an apartment in a few years is that I have figured on having a motorbike that I could slip into the apartment to keep it secure. I suspect a gas bike would not be legal for fire code reasons so that once again I would be an outlaw geezer trying to get away with something. Slipping an ebike or etrike through the door would be another matter. Where's the fire danger in that? Where's the smell of gasoline?
As an old fellow I'd like to be able to tool around town or go for a ride out into the forest and know that I am fully within my legal rights to do so. It really is a big deal so far as I'm concerned. Why should fun have to stop just because I'm soon to enter my 70's with another ten or twenty years of riding around on a cool vintage bike or trike? I don't want a danged mobility scooter... scooting is fine, but with style and gears please. I want to build my own. And I want to be legal.
SB
 
biknut

biknut

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Tyler6357 said:
I fully admit that I have no experience with e-bikes. I've only seen cheap ones on the roads around here, and I usually whiz right by them and go on my way.
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I know exactly what you're talking about. Been there done that lol.

This is how I was infected by the eBike bug. A couple years ago I was riding my CG down the street on a nice warm sunny day, minding my own business, and having fun the way I like best, joy riding my bike across town. I was an ardent CG fanatic at the time, to the point that I not only bad mouthed eBikes, but even 4 stroke motor bicycles were trash in my mind. China girls were a gift from god, all other kinds on motor bicycles were a product of the devil.

Up ahead I saw a bicycle going my way. I was bearing down on him at light speed, but as I came close I killed my engine and coasted up next to him. I thought it would be cute to show off my CG to a bicycler before starting back up, and blasting off leaving him in my dust lol.

But as we rode along chit chatting I soon noticed he had a hub motor, and I realized he was riding an eBike. He ask me if I wanted to trade bikes for a short ride, and mainly because I wanted him to ride my bike, I agreed.

I wasn't impressed with his bike at all. It seemed to struggle to do 18 mph. My CG easily went 30. After not to long I wanted to trade back. Then we traded phone numbers, and went our separate ways. But it was too late, something about his bike bugged me. I couldn't forget it. It didn't vibrate. It rode off from a stop with power. It just didn't have any power anywhere else. He told me it only had a 20 mile range, and it was 500w, and he built it from a kit.

For the next 2 years I was happy enough riding my CGs, but I kept thinking to myself, if only an electric bike could go about 35 mph and have a 40 or 50 mile range I would probably dig them.

For me the price was never a big issue. I wasn't riding CGs because they were cheap, I rode them because I loved making, and riding them, and they were just right for me.

But still, something about that damn electric bike. I couldn't put my finger on it. It's complicated. No vibration, stealthy, and silent. You could probably ride it under power down a bike trail. But I still knew nothing about eBikes.

Then one day BAM, lighting struck. Some dummy on the Moped Army site made reference to something I'd never heard of. A Stealth Bomber electric bicycle.



It's very fast, very powerful, and has extreme long range. Everything I said an eBike needed for me to want one. I had to have one, and I love it. The only thing is it cost a fortune so most people won't be able to afford one, but the funny thing is knowing what I know now, this bike really is way overkill. I now have 3 friends with ebikes, none of which are as fast as my Bomber, but all of them are fast enough to meet my requirements for speed and range.

I've learned that our old perception of Wal-Mart eBikes with 20 mile range, heavy sla battery's, and 15 mph top speed has fallen far by the wayside. Most people still think that's what eBikes are about, and they have no idea what's happening to eBike technology.

One of my friends has a home built kit bike that has at least 3500w. It goes 40 mph, and has a 50 mile range. It will spin the front wheel like crazy taking off from a stop, with full body weight on the bike, and it cost less than Stunner to make. It's a real eye opener.
 
cannonball2

cannonball2

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biknut

biknut

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My best friend Bruce just sent me this email. I'm not sure what he riding, but it's probably his Road King. Bruce likes to go fast.


"A Tesla just blew by me at 110 and I'm doing 100 I tried to accelerate to keep up with
That **** he is out of sight now and I can't see for a mile. I'm on 121 at Stacy

Bruce "
 
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