powering down my motorized bicycle

GoldenMotor.com

paul

Well-Known Member
Dec 23, 2007
5,547
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Kalamazoo, MI
well the big bike had a flat last week so I used the mountain bike with the smaller magic pie on it. it cruises great on flat ground which we have very little of and no pedaling needed however going up the mountains and hills you have to pedal. you have no choice. anyway I got out the shower today and thought it looked like I lost some weight, jumped on the scales and sure enough I lost 4 pounds. anyway I took the smart pie and put it on my cruiser and gonna ride it for a while and see how much weight I loose. my wife asked me why not keep the big motor on and not use it as much,. I just laughed and said you wouldn't understand. anyway I have read a few company's that sell motorized electric bicycles big push is fitness and they have coaches ect... optibike is one of them. their whole sales pitch is fitness based and story's of weight and health issues corrected riding a motorized bicycle.
dnut
 

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
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Dallas
Congratulations on losing a few lbs Paul. I'm on a campaign myself at the moment. I like the idea of being able to pedal, and pedal assist under power at the same time, but so far all my china girls quickly outrun my bikes gearing.

Somehow it seems more natural to pedal assist an ebike than a gas powered, but I'm not real sure why. Maybe in the hopes of extending the range a little. The Bomber I'm waiting for has 9 pedal gears, and I understand top gear is tall enough that you can pedal assist up to about 45 mph. If that's true it should be a real fat burner considering it weighs almost 120 lb.
 

paul

Well-Known Member
Dec 23, 2007
5,547
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Kalamazoo, MI
I think it is because most gas bikes at least the ones i built do not free wheel well at all and my electric bicycle does, their is little difference in pedaling it with the motor on it and the regular bicycle wheel. not sure what it is, but like you said pedaling an electric bicycle to assist the motor seems natural.
 

Avalanche

New Member
Jan 24, 2013
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Rhode Island
if you're looking to get your fitness up or lose weight, try sprinting up the hills or on the flats. i have a very easy pedal gear on my motorbike (36x22) so the only way to be able to make the bike go faster is by pedaling very fast when going uphill. i like short quick sprints though.
 

paul

Well-Known Member
Dec 23, 2007
5,547
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Kalamazoo, MI
that's what I am doing, this island is all mountains and going up them is where I get my exercise, I try to keep the bicycle at 24mph from the bottom of the mountain to the top. their I few flats and I am usually resting on them and let the motor do all the work, i put on average over 100 miles per week on my electric bicycles however up till now they were all done with the big motor which i seldom pedal
 

Avalanche

New Member
Jan 24, 2013
48
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Rhode Island
i usually cruise at 27-28mph on my 66cc china girl but on the hills the engine bogs down to 24mph so i like to pedal quick to get back up to 27mph.

helping your electric motor along must help keep it and the controller cooler and save battery life i imagine as well.
 

paul

Well-Known Member
Dec 23, 2007
5,547
44
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Kalamazoo, MI
ya that's what I try is to do the same speed up hill as I do on the flats. this smaller motor does around 24 on the flats and that's about as fast as I can pedal anyway when going up hill. so even the small hills I will pedal up to keep the 24mph speed
I agree on saving battery and keeping engine cool however I have never had a problem with either. most of my rides are 10 to 20 miles and the 15ah battery gets close 30 miles a charge with the smart pie motor.