the big thought

Yes but the whole idea of doing the conversion to a bicycle is that you always have pedals and for the record two strokes arn't unreliable or high maintenance

It would seem to me that both electric and gas drive would make the bike too heavy for a bicycle plus a 200lb rider. Those motor hubs are heavy from what I see plus the batteries are too..........add a gas engine and all the mounting hardware and your into motorcycle territory. For a bicycle I like the KISS principle.

I made a "hybrid" back when I was still messing with friction drives, had a 'Zap' electric friction behind the seatpost and a old "chainsaw" rack mount friction (33cc, bdamned if I can remember the brand). While the KISS principal is a good code to live by, there's nothing like a bit of redundancy to get ya home lol

It's true it was a touch on the heavy side, but separate from the usual woes of friction drives it was a wonderful machine! I'd use the gas motor for "highway" and rural roads, then shut it down and use the electric when I was in town as not to irritate the relatively psychotic coppers there.

Best yet I'd use both to assist getting up to speed and/or the getting up the steepest hills. I NEVER wanted to pedal the bdang thing cause of the weight and the fact it was a single speed - but I never had to. Even starting it I'd just use the electric to get up to speed then engage the gas motor to pop start it.

The only thing I didn't like about that bike was the friction drives and that was only cause of rain and living on a dirt road at the time. What with electric hub motors and these chinagirl chain drives - I see LOTS of potential for an absolutely awesome hybrid (tribrid?). Remember you don't need nearly the battery reserve as a pure electric so this would cut down some of the weight/expense.

As some electrics will gather a charge while coasting - this could help top off the batteries while underway with the gas motor. My 'Zap' was supposed to be able to do this, but I never really noticed as my battery pack was old and decrepit on that build. A shame the mag on these china motors doesn't put out more juice, but I suppose that's something that could be worked on.

If it wasn't for just the expense of a electric hub, I'd be on this myself - I love the stealth mode, let alone the fuel savings (not that mine uses a lot lol). I say go for it if you have the resources!!!

The "cool factor" alone is worth the build oh right - it'd also most likely be 2 wheel drive, how cool is THAT?

You have just won me over
Nothing wrong with pioneers, they are the reason we do not live in caves anymore

I've seen a few builds with a hub motor out front and a HT motor driving the rear. Properly set up it would be a very good system. While the engine is running you could get some recharge on the batteries and if the hub was set up properly you could get regenerative braking out of the deal.

If you had a long distance and mixed rural and city/bike path route an elec/gas set up would be excellent. When I ride on dedicated bike paths through parks etc. I always shut down the engine and pedal but switching to quiet electric would be a nice alternative. I know around here you can go clear across the city strictly via bicycle/pedestrian paths and there are always signs posted "no motorized vehicles" but I'm sure an e-bike wouldn't get looked at twice.

yes i will be testing this setup!!. i am hand winding the generator as we speak