Topic: My new wheels

[Nemesis]

Ok so they aren't impressive, they get me around. 

[FoaS_XC]

I have wanted one for several years, can't afford it, though. I love it :-)

[Brush Wolf]

Nice but way too small for around here, we have lots of very steep hills to deal with.

[Nemesis]

I bought mine locally for $995 Cdn.  My sister bought hers through the internet for a little over $700 Cdn.  Mine is 350 watt and steep hills are issues hers is a dual 350/500 watt with the 500 watt available for hill climbing and acceleration.  The dealer she bought from also has a dual 500/800 watt for those who really need to hill climb or accelerate.

[Age]

It sure fooled me I thought it would be car or a truck.I still won't wear a bike halmet.

[stoneyface]

i've always wanted to steam punk a scooter or a vespa or something like that

[Sirgod]

Very nice Nem. I've looked at those electric Bikes before, But never thought about a scooter.

Stephen

[Nemesis]

Very nice Nem. I've looked at those electric Bikes before, But never thought about a scooter.

Stephen

Under Ontario law it is considered a bicycle.  Local law restricts it to 32km/h (20mph) and you must be at least 16 and wear a helmet.   Unlike Age a helmet doesn't bother me.  It is fully powered and you need not pedal but it must be possible to pedal it (my sister has the pedals dismounted on hers but in her "trunk" in case of a picky cop).

With what I know know now I should have bought the next size up as I am too close to the weight limit (max 220#s) for the one I have which restricts my range.  (Good incentive to lose about 20 lbs over the summer ).  The original battery was a dud and I had to pedal it part way home (not easy) and there have been other issues but mostly it has been a success.  I charge it at home then again at work to get back again (my new bosses range from suggesting I charge it at work to ordering me to do so).  Over the last 7 weeks I would estimate I have put on at least 800 miles and maybe more than 1000 (no odometer for some reason).

[Capt. Mike]

So..

Riding a moped is like making love with an older woman....a lot of fun until somebody sees you        

Enjoy your toy..I'd get run over here in Nebraska

Mike

[Nemesis]

So..

Riding a moped is like making love with an older woman....a lot of fun until somebody sees you        

Fortunately a long time ago I gave up caring what other people think of my "fashion sense".   Which is a good thing as I don't have one. 

As to mopeds, legally here they are quite different.  Unlike my E-Bike a moped must be licensed and insured and the driver must also be licensed.  An E-Bike on the other hand requires no license and no insurance.  I always figured that they messed up by putting the licensing and insurance on mopeds as the end result is you see very few of them here and most of those are illegal home conversions of mountain bikes.

Enjoy your toy..I'd get run over here in Nebraska

Mike

For me it isn't a toy but a means of transportation.  Quite an effective one too since I can use the ever increasing number of bike lanes.  Some of those lanes are quite excellent, some are old and poorly designed but there are quite a few.

When I ride it to work it is to work evenings the local traffic flow is the other way.  On the way home it is the middle of the night and most of the few cars on the road go the other way again. 

During my time off when I ride I avoid rush hour and mostly stick to the side streets.  The only difficult thing is getting up the Niagara Escarpment (locally called "The Mountain" even though it isn't one).  The easiest route is a route called the "Rail Trail" but it takes me way off course and therefore reduces my effective range.  The alternate routes are access routes that can only be taken if traffic is minimal as otherwise it would be dangerous in the extreme and I'm not that stupid. 

[Capt. Mike]

I didn't know you live in Niagara!  I grew up kinda across the river in Tonawanda..Delaware St, a block south of the armory, now the Tonawanda Castle..

Jeez, I was back there six weeks ago for a musician's conference, even took some pic's...


Mike


Mike, I had to remove a bugged attachment from this post, just re-upload it and remove this edit of you want. - Bonk

[Nemesis]

I didn't know you live in Niagara! 

Mike

The escarpment stretches a long way.  It would take 2 full charges on my e-bike to get to the falls.

[Nemesis]

Two of my sisters and one other acquaintance have now bought E-Bikes as a result of seeing mine.  At least 3 others (one of which I haven't actually met) are thinking of getting one after hearing of mine.  (Source of their bikes)

I finally found out what caused one of my problems.  The tail lights stopped working and the store couldn't figure it out to fix it.   Not ideal for night driving but I do have reflectors (all the law requires) and near zero traffic to contend with on my night travels so I was not too concerned but a little annoyed.   It turns out the manufacturer instead of putting the wiring to the rear end around the latch that holds the seat compartment closed put it over it and therefore into the latch mechanism itself, the tail light wire was cut right through, the other wires were damaged (the left turn signal was intermittently functional due to being shorted).  I spliced in extension wire and routed around it and everything is now working.

I plan to stop by the store and explain the solution so at least they can check if any of their other bikes have the same wiring fault (and if so they can complain to the manufacturer).  Other people then need not have the same issues I have had. 

The bikes my sisters bought did teach me something to watch for when buying the bikes though.  They are classed by the distributor as dual mode 350/500 watt.  The law allows 500 watts continuous.  My bike is a 350 watt (continuous).  At first I couldn't figure out why my youngest sister who is lighter than I couldn't match my acceleration without kicking up to 500 watt now I know why.  The bikes they bought list the peak power not continuous.  Likely they are more like 250/350 continuous power.  So in the higher mode her bike matches the power of mine and she is enough lighter that she can out accelerate me.  It makes her bike less desirable though. 

One other thing has bugged me and I think I have a solution.  The batteries can't take being frozen.  If we have another winter like last winter it would be possible to ride the bike all winter (suitably dressed of course) if only I had a way to power it without freezing the batteries.  A portable generator and power inverter (110 v AC to 48 v DC) would be lighter than the actual battery and able to power it.  I could either mount it in place of the "trunk" or make a little trailer. 

I'm not sure if I'm actually going to try the "generator trick" but it would extend the machines range to be indefinite just as long as I carry fuel enough to get to a gas station to fill up.  It would also be much lighter than the battery (70 lbs) so I would have better acceleration or be able to carry more.

Overall I'm happy with my E-Bike and it does what I need.

[Dizzy]

OMG are those pedals? My dad used to have one of those a long time ago! Those are so fun. Like ridin a fat chick, fun till someone catches you. Bigballs u got showing us a pedalled motor scooter! hahaha.

[Nemesis]

OMG are those pedals? My dad used to have one of those a long time ago! Those are so fun. Like ridin a fat chick, fun till someone catches you. Bigballs u got showing us a pedalled motor scooter! hahaha.

They are indeed peddles.  The bike weighs 170#s so it takes strong legs and stamina to peddle it any distance (as I have done - first battery was a dud).

I learned long ago not to worry much what others think.  Some of my co-workers have tried bugging me about the E-Bike but stopped when they found out it didn't bother me. 

The E-Bike does what I need and that is what counts to me.  If you want to laugh - go ahead. 

[Sirgod]

I used to love going to Eureka Springs Arkansas, and renting a moped for the day. We would ride around , shop, it looks like mini Sweden down there, in the middle of the Ozarks.

Stephen

[Mentat Jon]

Nice scooter,I see more of them on the road these days...

[Age]

I didn't know you live in Niagara!  I grew up kinda across the river in Tonawanda..Delaware St, a block south of the armory, now the Tonawanda Castle..

Jeez, I was back there six weeks ago for a musician's conference, even took some pic's...


Mike

I can't see this image and I am using FF.

[Nemesis]

Nice scooter,I see more of them on the road these days...

Hopefully you are not seeing them in your professional capacity.

There appear to be 2 or 3 more of them now in my neighbourhood when there weren't any before I bought.  A co-worker (who did try and tease me about it) is now talking of getting one next year as his truck insurance is $700/month (I think drinking and driving but I'm not sure).

[Mentat Jon]

Nice scooter,I see more of them on the road these days...

Hopefully you are not seeing them in your professional capacity.

There appear to be 2 or 3 more of them now in my neighbourhood when there weren't any before I bought.  A co-worker (who did try and tease me about it) is now talking of getting one next year as his truck insurance is $700/month (I think drinking and driving but I'm not sure).

Heheh I did not mean that way,hehehe I ment more on the roads,a very little bit of fuel can take you almost anywhere a person needs to go in a metro area.