The Rise of the Electronaut's

I really could care less about going over 20 mph on a bike.

I don't want 6 kilowatts, 1 is enough.

The only scary time I had on a motorized bike was doing 30 in the bike lane and having an SUV that did see me but kept turning left anyway until he was halfway across the road and then stopped to let me go by.

People in cars just do not expect bicycles to be doing 30. Even when they see them.

Ever since my first experience with a brushless drivetrain in my RC trucks and boats, I have been a firm believer in electric power.
The day they come up with a battery that gives me comparable range and power to my gas tank and that DOES NOT cost as much as some small buildings, I'll be riding electric.
Right now, suitable batteries are FAR too costly for a budget strapped builder like me.

Mine only cost about as much as a gas CRF50 but I'm going to wait for the battery technology to catch up to the faltering economy, and come down to reality pricewise before upgrading from AGM batteries. I'm worked after 15 minutes from the massive torque this thng has anyways, and as a pit bike the charge lasts all day at the track.

I could never justify paying $10k for a bicycle, there would have to be a miraculous motorcycle for sale to justify that price to me, around here you can buy RC51's, Aprilias and Ducatis for about $7k, and they're about as exotic as it gets.

All those reasons are based on local regulations, not the practical science rationale on the matter.

And by the way, being a lemming doesn't count for style points if they're all jumping off a cliff while burning their savings, or using credit to dig their own resting places! lol

Mike B said:

I really could care less about going over 20 mph on a bike.

I don't want 6 kilowatts, 1 is enough.

The only scary time I had on a motorized bike was doing 30 in the bike lane and having an SUV that did see me but kept turning left anyway until he was halfway across the road and then stopped to let me go by.

People in cars just do not expect bicycles to be doing 30. Even when they see them.

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Gosh I have known that cut them off feeling a bunch of times in my pedal days. They would turn off right smack in front of me. On a electric bike can only imagine the potential invisibility.

My Morini gaser. they bloody well know I am there. The noise makes me feel very safe. When I go electric mebbe I should have a way slower bike? Makes sense.

Yeah Baby!

I have plenty of modes of transport.

Car, 2 motorcycles, 5 motorized bicycles. They all have a role.

If I have a long way to go - car or motorcycle.

Bad weather - car

Grocery store, light load - motorbike

Farmer's market, local festival - motorbike (best 'cause roads blocked)

Long fun ride - motorcycle

It really was scary. The guy saw me, we made eye contact, he kept coming and so did I. He was turning left into a strip mall parking lot and I was coming straight up the bike lane. Just as I was going to squeeze the binders tight he stops in the middle of the road.

I will never ride a bike with loud pipes. I don't like the noise and neither does anyone else. I put 2 mufflers on my gas bikes because they are too loud stock.

My 885 cc Bonneville and my 650 cc Burgman both make way less noise than my 50cc motorbikes with 2 mufflers. Maybe I'll put 3 mufflers on em.

Silence is golden -

I know I owe my life to one thing. Cruising along and not making any real racket at all. At this point we are all well behaved... but one problem. I am and will be entirly and utlerly invisible. Some sixty thosand miles of quiet pedaling taught me well.

Then I blip my throttle. They see me. Works flawlessly.

Mebbe I can get Ice Cream truck recordings to play on my electric?

Don't get me wrong I like electrics and will have one soon. Just glad I am alive lol.

biknut said:

...It took me all of about 30 seconds to get used to riding in silence, and now I consider the silence one of the biggest advantages over a gas bike.

I haven't noticed any additional danger from people trying to run me over. They were always trying to run me over before, and they're still trying to run be over now lol.

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Agreed, noise or not - or even a big dippy orange flag, people are oblivious and can't be relied on to notice anything. Ride as if you're invisible 'cause you are

In my town people hear the two stroke racing racket and come out of the woodwork for a family walk or scoot or bike with the kids and wave and smile as they see me, there's some negative nellies, but those folks giving me crap about riding in the neighborhood are the same clueless blobs screwing up the freeway by parking in the fast lane in their hybrids or driving their 6000 lb SUV's like they have the accel/handling/decel of a Porsche Boxster without looking where they're going. If a loud bike makes people notice your existence and give proper space, I say it's a good thing. It's better to have some people that don't like racing or the sound of a two stroke revving out complaining to you than being just another road splat statistic as it seems that motorized bicycles are particularly disregarded on our roadways and its sad to hear when another avid rider goes down due to negligence or obliviousness.

Take it however you want, I like silence too, and I'm sure hikers appreciate the sweet quiet sounds of nature, and would like an electric trail bike for that purpose. I totally respect the CA laws regarding electric bikes, allowing electrics up to 750W (1hp) on the trails because I've almost been slammed by pedal powered downhill riders while taking a stroll on the off road trails around here, so if it's gonna be quiet, it should have some sane limit for power output and potential speed.

As electric cars become more prominent, and pedestrians and cyclists get caught out by their silent operation, I expect that artificial engine noises or alert tones will be required on all electric cars. The SAE is so concerned with the safety of lower forms of transportation that they are widening the engine to hood clearances and front bumper crush structure standards of modern autos to prevent pedestrian and civilian casualties from crashes. I agree that a crappy sounding car or truck in your neighborhood, or a poorly carbureted misfiring motorcycle can be a nuisance, but at least you know that they are there and by acknowledging their existence and position you can avoid having a potentially fatal accident with them.

My vote is that there be regulations that all new motorized vehicles sound like something off the Grand Prix circuit and makes a loud beautiful sound for everybody to hear and then avoid contact with. Imagine, a Prius or a Tesla that makes the sonorous bellow of a a naturally aspirated Indycar or Formula One car, and all motorcycles being required to sound like a spastic bat out of heck in the name of safety... LOL it'll never happen, the general public has a distaste for motorsports and can't appreciate it.

biknut said:

...It took me all of about 30 seconds to get used to riding in silence, and now I consider the silence one of the biggest advantages over a gas bike.

I haven't noticed any additional danger from people trying to run me over. They were always trying to run me over before, and they're still trying to run be over now lol.

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I forgot to address this & it's the most important point - the silence safety advantage.

Folks like to say "loud pipes save lives" and at best, it's a controversial catchphrase usually used by those that like engine noise for other reasons - you'll rarely find someone saying that whom doesn't otherwise want a loud ride, based on safety alone.

While this makes it a bit more of a rationalization then a reason, the rebuttal is often "it attracts attention" which should indeed increase awareness & thus, that individual rider's safety - catch being you're still relying on others for your well being, even perhaps at the cost of another's as attracting attention and distracting attention are simply different perspectives.

Point being, the silence of an ebike or even a quieted gasbike provides much more of a trustworthy awareness - your own. You can actually hear other traffic & pedestrians around you and place them, this may seem inconsequential but in practice it most definitely provides far more a safety margin then that angry chainsaw sound, which even if beyond obnoxious may not actually be heard over the sound of their engine, their radio/headphones, their screaming kids.

So, while "loud pipes save lives" is debatable at best, the opposite most certainly has clear advantages over what is so often a dubious excuse to have a "cool" sounding ride - regardless, I'd sooner trust my own ears then theirs lol

Well, that may be the case in Maine where people are mindful of other folks, it's on the top of my list for places to live someday and I have family there, but in places where people are in a general mellaize and dazed out when they drive, letting them know that you exist and that you deserve a portion of the road is important. I cannot stress enough the importance of rider awareness and making sure you ride like you're invisible and taking the necessary precautions, the roadways in certain areas are packed with people with a blatant disregard for others. This is where the noise can be a major factor in separating a close call from an unfortunate accident.

When I hike the trails occasionally I really wish the pedal powered downhillers that haul serious butt would at least whistle when coming around a blind bend or coming up on you at nearly 40 mph.

I've been ran over by a race car being manually pushed into a garage by too many overexcited mechanics-in-training as well as by a BMX kid at a skate park not observing taking turns on obstacles and disregarding his path, so I fully understand how an accident can quickly happen by a massive rolling object moving at speed without proper control and guidance. To assume that the general public is going to wake up and start being assertive motorists is optimistic at best, they're planning to make automobiles self-driving in the near future because people have proven repeatedly that they don't possess the ability to pilot their own vehicles safely. At which point that silent-operating autonomously piloted vehicles dominate our roadways, I ask the Most High to have pity on our souls, as we are surely on a path to mass destruction.

For the record books.

16v4nrbrgr said:

Well, that may be the case in Maine where people are mindful of other folks, it's on the top of my list for places to live someday and I have family there, but in places where people are in a general mellaize and dazed out when they drive...

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It would be dangerous in the extreme to assume people on Maine roads are any more mindful then folks elsewhere - I like Maine too, but that's not a reason lol

16v4nrbrgr said:

I cannot stress enough the importance of rider awareness and making sure you ride like you're invisible and taking the necessary precautions, the roadways in certain areas are packed with people with a blatant disregard for others. This is where the noise can be a major factor in separating a close call from an unfortunate accident.

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I still fail to see the logic in asserting that somehow, by obscuring your own awareness you'll make up for another's lack thereof.

16v4nrbrgr said:

When I hike the trails occasionally I really wish the pedal powered downhillers that haul serious butt would at least whistle when coming around a blind bend or coming up on you at nearly 40 mph.

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Which brings up a few interesting points - first, are you implying that a quiet motorized bike poses more of a danger to others then a loud one & related, if all vehicles were loud wouldn't the resultant cacophony defeat the point? Second, if I'd ever seen or heard a "loud = safe" advocate that had equipped their Harley Davidson with bells & whistles, a constant beeping alarm instead of roaring pipes I might give more credence to the insistence that the argument is any much more then a rationalization, until then I'm still firmly convinced it's an excuse, one that might be believed but an excuse nonetheless. Compounding this phenomenon is the frequency of those that claim loud pipes save lives - but also don't wear a helmet, have few/no reflectors and substandard lighting & I'm still waiting to see any straight pipe chopper with orange safety flags... these are other reasons I view the claim with little other then skepticism, it seems odd to be so concerned about safety and yet not lol

Don't get me wrong, I love the sound of a well tuned roaring engine - what motorhead wouldn't? I just don't try and rationalize it for anything other then the self-gratification it truly is.