Noob in NE Ohio

Howdy Magic, welcome.

Yeppers, they are pretty alluring.

Might be of interest, a few folks did hybrids. E and engine driven.

Ayup, never ending series of compromises Magic.

After a while ya end up with a pile of parts and stuff and can wake up thinking about some thing and ya have the parts to do it, sort of. End up making compromises, lol.

Really strange addiction for sure.

Youngstown? Warren? Beaver?

Try a rear mounted chainsaw engine running the clutch drum right on the rear tire. Make the mount with plywood, a door hinge and a spring.

magicpuma said:

I took my first ride on a motorized bike this year: a friend's $2000.00, electric bike, which I fixed for him. What a thrill, so fast for a bike! silent, wonderful! But why so expensive? I had been lurking around these forums for some time, but the ride on a friends bike made me want one.

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One word: batteries.

The batteries are the single most expensive & important component of an ebike conversion, cheap out on the battery pack and you risk disappointment - insufficient range, excessive weight & frequent replacement.

They're the investment, getting the most out of any ebike means purchasing a pack with the most AH (amp hours) you can afford, preferably LiFePO4 for it's safety, longevity & comparatively low weight & smaller size.

magicpuma said:

I could see myself taking a long distance camping trip, or just getting around town. there is just something about a bike with a motor, I do love 2 wheels in general. I would need something with a gas motor for my purposes, but I could see myself with an electric too, and maybe a registered moped. I could probably build all three for the price of my friend's ride. He is always worried about losing charge too, so that seems impractical for all but very short rides.

Well, I hope to find other motorized bicyclists in the area and check out other MaBs. Planning a sub 50cc rear mount, maybe on my mountain bike.

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All ebikers obsess over "charge" regardless of how much they actually have lol - maximizing range is the name of the game, it's very similar to gasbikers squeezing every last drop of preformance out of an ICE

Much as I'm starting to love ebikes, for your "long distance" interests I will say that's still the domain of gasbikes as even were you to invest in the amount of batteries to get you to say the 100 mile mark, even with LiFePO4 it would become bulky & heavy to say the least, recharge times would be daunting and the cost... yea, well we'll just skip over that lol

For the daily commute & zipping about town? Now that's where an ebike comes into it's own... It's all about the right tool for the job tho, and what's "right" can only be decided by the rider heh

Welcome to the place magicpuma, can't wait to see what you come up with