Old Guys Simplex moto-peddle bike

[indian22]

Wise council Tom & advice I accept. I add extremely slow and short to the safety guidelines of initial test rides , with through observation & inspection both during and after each outing. I also don't stray far from my tools. I walked the current build home on it's only outing to this point rather than risk damage to bike or rider. Thankfully I was only a block from home when I observed the problem which I was aware of before the ride but wanted to observe under tension. No breakage or damage just being cautious after I learned the spacing required for the reduction gear to function properly.

Wheeled rides can and will hurt you. If anything looks, sounds or feels off; the what and why needs discovery immediately. Reality often warns us, if we pay attention, that our conception of "Good enough" really isn't.

Rick C.

 

[indian22]

I finally got two more 20 amp hr. lithium packs for my e-mountain bike which makes 60 amp total with some pedal assist that's good for 16 mph average over 120 miles. I've got two separate long day trips planned for this Fall that I'll need this kinda' range and may require one extra battery pack to make one of those.

Built out a Cranbrook frame with spare parts yesterday for an exercise town ride, pedals nice for a cheap piece of crap. No motor ever on this one. I did use 12 ga. spokes and decent tires and added a nice Schwinn suspension saddle.

Rick C.

 

[MotoMagz]

Its awesome that you go riding daily or almost every day. I have not taken a long ride in a few years. So what kind of distance are you talking on one of these fall trips?

 

[indian22]

Its awesome that you go riding daily or almost every day. I have not taken a long ride in a few years. So what kind of distance are you talking on one of these fall trips?

Daily riding is a great habit LOL! This will not be another 500 mile jaunt like I took last Fall and that's for certain. Two separate rides. We have a beautiful National park to the South of my home that's nestled into some old red granite mountains with multiple lakes ranging from tank size to large & a State park with a large, pretty lake at the extreme west end of the same granite formations. With allowances for riding out each destination & the round trip home; 150mi. & 120mi. respectively. I have reservations for a small cabin at the State park and I'll camp the National park. Day trip not exactly the term I should have used in the prior post. I hope to have another rider or two on these, but last years group plan really fell apart....much longer ride on that one though. Depending on how much fun we're having and how well we recover from the ride to the parks these might be three day trips. Two if I ride alone & Covid can determine all the above plans.

I travel light, basic tools, tubes CO2 cartridges, lights, are the bulk of the weight and of course the batteries. All this carried on the rear rack and the misc. stuff in a medium size back pack which I keep light, under 10 lbs. and water on the frame. Several towns along the routes to stay hydrated, stretched out and relax a bit. These aren't torture rides along back roads like last Fall.



Rick C.

 

[indian22]

Just a few hours after I boldly proclaimed "No motor...blah, blah, blah on the Cranbrook..." "Piece of crap blah..." a friend saw the bike in my drive and asked if I'd sell it, "Why sure says I... " Long and short of it he has a 500 watt, 36v. rear hub motor and it's going to be a Cranberry blender electric home appliance in spite of my vow. I count my new found Franklins and have a sudden urge for a fruity adult beverage.

It also means I need to order another 36v. 20 amp lithium battery pack.

Rick C.

 

[fasteddy]

I always thought that Mr. Franklin would have been a great companion. Even more so when his likeness is printed on legal tender and in my pocket.

Steve.

 

[Tinsmith]

Hey Guys, Reading another Franklin biography and he likely would be a great companion. He would especially enjoy the E-bike!

Dan

 

[indian22]

I decided to get myself in better riding condition for my Fall trips this week and have averaged riding 36 miles every morning, Sunday was the longest 44 miles and I'm averaging about 12 mph on the electrics and pedaling full time. It's a pretty good workout for an old guy. Next week I want to bump the average rides up to 50 miles, which was what I trained on last year for my long ride on the hybrid. I'll be concentrating on using my mountain bike for the two rides planned this Fall. I want to get that number up to forty miles out and forty return, but not every day! Using the hybrid would make this really easy that thing is a goat crossed with a Jackass! If I get sore next week I may use it just to get out and ride for awhile, no pedaling.

114 degrees real temp yesterday afternoon, brutal, heat index was really high as well, but I'm riding early in the day and it's been really nice every day not much wind and a lot of cloud cover. I had a battery pack crap out on me this morning about five miles into the ride. Not sure yet what the problem is. Nice to have a backup and I completed the ride, 38 miles with no more drama. My route included ten miles of gravel today and many hills, lots of elevation change not huge; 600 ft. according to the trip planner but constant.

I carry the same tools and service equipment with me that I would use on a long trip so I'm set for almost any problems not involving complete frame or wheel failure. I also carry a lot of water to help me get used to extra weight of camp gear etc. that I'll have to carry on the real rides, which wont include much water.

 

[PeteMcP]

Hey Rick, Never mind an old guy. Those kind of miles daily is a pretty good workout for anyone. I'd be lucky to rack those numbers up in a month. lol.
Your battery pack failure gives me cause for concern. With me just about ready to debut my first e-bike, I'm wondering what the chances are of this kind of thing happening? Speaking personally, because of wife Jen's virtually 24/7 care requirements, I'm only ever able to slot-in the occasional bike ride of no more than half an hour, usually before Jen is awake. I'd hate to think I was 10 miles from home on BLUE BAMBOO faced with a surprise battery failure. If that was to happen, hilly terrain round these parts would involve a lot more pushing than pedaling home - and with my AF, that's not an option. I'd hate to think resorting to carrying a second battery was a pre-requisite to enjoying a little e-biking now and then.

 

[indian22]

Right you are Pete breakdowns are bad enough, but with caring for another the consequences are a far more serious metric to consider.

This is my first electrical problem to date though I'm certain it won't be the last. Though I've been quite fortunate over the last dozen years or so of building and riding these things a lot; still there have been instances of things happening on the gas bikes and I'd think these electrics might fare a bit better but I've no actual data to back that up. This is just my second year of experience with electrics and I've been impressed to this point

I'll take responsibility for taking a new battery on a long ride, but I'd point out I had redundancy of systems and I was riding a mountain bike that doesn't need a motor in hilly country. It pedals great with no help. My hybrid is single speed but pedals ok, but has the option of gas backup to electric as well. My e-fat tire is also fixed but pedals really well, although big hills would need a walking push. At this point it's not really setup for problems that pop up on long rides. I took one on it anyway this morning and got within 6 miles of home and had a flat, first one in several years and literally thousands of miles of riding. I pushed it 4 miles and finally caught a ride the last couple of miles on a livestock trailer filled with fresh bull crap. Cool morning no big deal. The flat II was not prepared for. My ride kit with every thing I needed to repair a tire roadside was packed and sitting at home. Again I take full credit for the situation I found myself in this morning; as I know better, but didn't do better.

Things happen in threes they say, and might be right, but I say better prepared and not need it than need it and not have it.

I still had a good ride, lovely cool morning and I made a new friend from Nicaragua...good thing I speak some Spanish 'cause he hasn't yet learned to speak Okie!

Rick C.

 

[Tom from Rubicon]

You are safe Rick, you also I expect had a #4. Not wearing pointy toed, high heeled $hit kickers. .
Tom

 

[FOG]

I got stranded on my old Yamaha in the middle of a 20 mile dirt road thru the mountains up to Big Bear. Forgot to check the oil tank and seized it. My fault. With no oil available for 10 miles in either direction there wasn't anything left to do but leave it on the side of the road and start walking. I did have my cellphone with me for once but where I was that wasn't any help!

Fortunately a short time later a Forestry truck towing a flatbed trailer came along and very kindly drug me and the bike back to civilization.

Another time I foolishly went better than 10 miles down down a favorite slightly curvy asphalt back road where I knew I wouldn't need a downshift. Flat on the tank and wide open in 5th the whole way wasn't kind to a gearbox with a short load of oil. Seized the trans that time. ME again! Naturally I didn't have my cellphone with me but I was near a Country Store. Borrowed a phone. Wife didn't recognize the number. You could grow a beard waiting for her to miss me! Hours later she finally picked up the phone and roused a neighbor to come get me.

When I got the bike apart I found the 5th gearset had achieved that blue/black color you only see when steel reaches around 900 degrees.

Lubrication matters.

 

[indian22]

Yesterday unprepared today prepared and it's a good thing...different bike same outcome, my photos don't convey how rough, spiny and treacherous riding these red rock shale areas can be. I fully expected another flat....no walking this time.

Fat bike photo from yesterdays ride. Rest from this morning probably looks a lot hotter than it was, but the terrain is knarley as heck and this is a relatively tame section.

"No country for old men"





Rick C.

 

[indian22]

Todays ride event free but in opposite direction. Red Cedar and lush native grasses vs. yesterdays red rock and "thorny pear" with only four to 5 miles separating them but each covering hundreds of square miles. My family's original Territory home was built from huge native cedar by my great Gramps and my Gramps they built a saw mill in the 1880's then felled and skidded the logs to the mill with mule teams. The framework was oak shipped in by rail to Fort El Reno and hauled by wagon some seventy miles to the home site. Few roads, no bridges but a ferry across two large rivers, others just forded. The interior of the house was also solid cedar and fitted like furniture. Floors, ceiling, walls, doors, built in cabinets and shelving all constructed of hand planed and smoothed red heart cedar. It smelled so good inside Grannies house especially when the big cast iron pot belly stove had a stew kettle on top next to the always fresh pot of coffee in the winter. My Granny was native American and liked nice things and Gramps spoiled her. It was a good match. It was a heck of a nice house located in the cedar belt but on the edge of white gypsum canyons with some awesome white alabaster canyons and large caves that we explored as youths, but that's another story & photos. Lots of greatly varied landscape in 50 mile radius of my home, but with some common denominators...really rough terrain, canyons, draws, small streams & endless sky!





Rick C.

 

[Tom from Rubicon]

Great narrative Rick, celebrating your section of Oklahoma.
From my experience, your State is famous for tornadoes and a Musical, and Sooners.
I am impressed by your progenitors wealth and how they used it. Only on quarter of my family was here post Revolution.
Farmers all so wealth did not accumulate, but being farmers no one went hungry. Then The New Deal brought us electrification so milking cows was not the back bending chore it had been.
Tom

 

[Tinsmith]

I got to play "Poor Judd" in the musical. Got to lay in a coffin while the chorus sang to me. (8th grade)

Dan

 

[indian22]

Thanks Tom and the state pleads guilty to all three for which we're known. My Father's family fled France after part of the family was martyred as Protestants. Kicked around the lowlands for a bit, then Britain and finally arrived in Maryland very early 1700's. My branch moved to Ohio after the Revolution and settled in Ohio just prior to the time of the War of 1812. After the Civil War great gramps moved to Indian Territory and built a life here all prior to the land runs and my Gramps married a native American and so was a true Sooner, but legitimized somewhat by his brides linage. The land run formalized title to about a section and a half of land with his sons but they rented, leased many more acres of "Indian land" for running horses and cattle.

My mother's family were also Sooner's and settled in this area, but they were mostly engaged in Federal law enforcement as Territorial Marshalls. Think "Rooster Cogburn" and John Wayne and you kinda' got the picture of my Great Uncle Marion Meler, the youngest of the boys. The Stewart's on my mother's maternal side were also lawmen and when combined with the Meler boys could makeup a formidable deputized posse of about a dozen relatives. I've got some photos of such a posse from a book on the subject matter & I think only one non relative was a part of that makeup.

I was fortunate enough to have spent many hours with my great aunt Eva and Marion as they both made 93 years and their memories were sharp. Eva wouldn't abide my Great Uncle to tell me tall tales though he tried and she would correct him much to his delight. He was a man killer and had the wounds to show for it and little else. This was also known as "Outlaw Territory" for a reason and a very few Marshall's were responsible for running some bad guys to ground they were helped in this by the Indian tribal police. The Army wasn't much help but did act as jailers for pending Federal cases.

Rick C.

 

[indian22]

I got to play "Poor Judd" in the musical. Got to lay in a coffin while the chorus sang to me. (8th grade)

Dan

There was some reality revealed in the play Dan; I visited an old church today (photo above post) it's much older than the "new" building that was erected in 1915, and I walked among the graves. So sad to see how many young children are buried and young mother's as well. Some buried about twenty years before the turn of the century. Mostly German heritage from the Russian Ukraine fleeing conscription of their young men into the army of the Czar.

Rick C.

 

[Tom from Rubicon]

Thank-you Rick, bringing forth a personal family history. My ancestors never made it past the Mississippi, until the 50's migration to California.
Tom

 

[FOG]

Rick, the recent Supreme Court decision to give the Eastern half of Oklahoma "back to the Native Americans" piqued my interest. I don't know what to think of it!

Is this symbolic or is there some substance to it?