60 mph electric mopeds

[Jay McKinsey + 1,489]

Huck Cycle’s 60 mph electric mopeds get new VINs, paving way for legal riding

[markslawson + 1,042]

5 minutes ago, Jay McKinsey said:

Huck Cycle’s 60 mph electric mopeds get new VINs, paving way for legal riding

 

There is nothing wrong with this although I would have thought it old news, or perhaps the US is just catching up. I recall writing (or maybe I just edited) stories about ebikes perhaps a decade ago.. If people want ebikes then let them have ebikes and they certainly make a lot more sense than electric cars as a commuter vehicle over comparatively short distances. If green crazies start imposing their weird e-car dreams on you in your state, then buy an e-bike for commuting and keep the SUV for serious trips. 

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

28 minutes ago, markslawson said:

If green crazies start imposing their weird e-car dreams on you in your state, then buy an e-bike for commuting and keep the SUV for serious trips. 

I think these guys have done a knock-off on my design.  I build an electric bicycle that has a 5 KW hub-motor and can do 45 mph on 2-3/4-inch tires, which is about as fast as I would wnt to run on a bicycle!   But you get a 40-mile range on a standard battery pack, and you can change out the battery with only two bolts in less than a minute, and carry two spares in the saddlebags attached to the much-longer frame, in back. 

Running 60 on a bicycle is, in my view, asking for it.  the idea behind the powerful hub-motor and 45-mph speed is to keep up with the traffic flow for suburban commuters heading for the train station, where they currently have no spare parking.  Put that bicycle into the bike rack, lock it up, and off you go to the City.  No need to do the "kiss and ride" with the wife playing chauffeur!  (and no license plate, either!) Cost you Six Large, though, for my version.  

[Douglas Buckland + 6,308]

Most people can’t even ride a teched out motorcycle safely at 60 mph...on a bike....boneyard bound.

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

34 minutes ago, Douglas Buckland said:

Most people can’t even ride a teched out motorcycle safely at 60 mph...on a bike....boneyard bound.

Leave James alone.  He puts his ass on the line for motorcycle riding!

[ronwagn + 6,290]

3 hours ago, Jan van Eck said:

I think these guys have done a knock-off on my design.  I build an electric bicycle that has a 5 KW hub-motor and can do 45 mph on 2-3/4-inch tires, which is about as fast as I would wnt to run on a bicycle!   But you get a 40-mile range on a standard battery pack, and you can change out the battery with only two bolts in less than a minute, and carry two spares in the saddlebags attached to the much-longer frame, in back. 

Running 60 on a bicycle is, in my view, asking for it.  the idea behind the powerful hub-motor and 45-mph speed is to keep up with the traffic flow for suburban commuters heading for the train station, where they currently have no spare parking.  Put that bicycle into the bike rack, lock it up, and off you go to the City.  No need to do the "kiss and ride" with the wife playing chauffeur!  (and no license plate, either!) Cost you Six Large, though, for my version.  

You are braver than I am Jan. I would love to ride your bike out away from vehicles, at about 15 MPH. I think I would have to pay about two grand to do that. Would I be buying junk at that price?

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

7 minutes ago, ronwagn said:

You are braver than I am Jan. I would love to ride your bike out away from vehicles, at about 15 MPH. I think I would have to pay about two grand to do that. Would I be buying junk at that price?

It is a perfectly stable machine, you can ride it quite comfortably at 30-35 if you like, nice and smooth, the gyro effect in the big wheels keeps it from getting squirrelly.  I displayed it at the local (Vermont) fairgrounds, both the Governor and the Lt. Governor  made a special trip out to ride on it, they both came back grinning from ear to ear.  The Lt. Gov is now the Governor, he went out for about 20 minutes, I found out later that he races those "stock cars" in this dirt oval of perhaps 1/4 mile, that is a big sport, he is always the champion driver!  He even drives that special dirt car up to the Capitol Building and parks it in the Governor's spot all covered in dirt (!).  So, now I am a favorite manufacturer in Vermont.  He is not a customer, though; he rides a seriously big badass motorcycle for fun, something like that monster that Douglas sports around on  (I think it is a big Harley).  Basically a gasoline kind of guy!

Tell you what, sell you one for $3500.  Special deal.  I have these big saddlebags on it so I can go grocery shopping in town without using the car, or go get a car part in a pinch from the parts store, or down to the post office.  Nice to ride.  What you want is something that is just fast enough to keep up with most of the traffic, OK so the 50 mph speeders are not touchable  (unless you modify it further, then it could go 55), but what you want is to be fast enough so that the relative speed is small enoough that they don't run up your tail and mow you down.  And in a city environment such as say Deerfield Mass or Darien Connecticut, it works just great, the car traffic tops at perhaps 40  (posted 30, but the reality is different), and you seamlessly flow with the traffic.  And it costs you a dime a day to run!  You arrive at the "office" nice and cool, not all sweaty as with a bicycle that you actually pedal.  Cheers. 

[ronwagn + 6,290]

I am very happy for you Jan, you should be proud of your bike and skill in building and riding it. We have a nice bike trail that I would drive on at a slow rate and seek out other bike trails plus I need one for my wife, maybe. I will probably start with an inexpensive folder bike. 

Colonel Allen West was riding a big Harley the other day and is now in an ICU because of a careless auto driver. I hear about motorcycle wrecks all the time. I want to ride where the worst thing I can do is bang myself up a little bit without the help of a car running into me. 

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

1 minute ago, ronwagn said:

Colonel Allen West was riding a big Harley the other day and is now in an ICU because of a careless auto driver.

Yup, that is a huge problem.  And there are lots and lots of careless motorists out there, also those who think they have the greatest skills but are yacking or texting on those cell phone machines.  Here in Vermont there is a concerted effort to promote rural tourist cycleing, complete with the construction of old train tracks to bicycle (and hiking) trails, which works nicely because of the easy grades on old rail trails. Yet we still lose four cyclists a year to car collisions. 

Vermont also has highly competitive bicycle races, somewhat like the Tour de France.  What makes them greuliing is the requirement to pedal up from about 400 feet elevation over a mountain pass at 2,400 feet.  When they hold flat-road races, the State Police provide escorts, well announced, and the locals do not leave their driveways until the "pack" goes roaring by, followed by more State Police cars.  The Governor absolutely does not want any car-bike collisions, not with those cyclists riding in a pack of fifty or 100 and doing 40 mph, Lance Armstrong style.  The locals are very careful, when they go blasting by my place the lead car is behind the state police car and he stops at driveways where there is a motorist ready to depart, holds up his hands in a Stop gesture, then you nod, he takes off, and then whoosh! the pack comes roaring by! 

On one mountain pass there are these road signs in the triangle form to warn of Danger, with a cyclist going flying over the handlebars in a pictogram, and underneath the writing:  Danger, cyclists stay in control, very steep grades!   And we still have to send the rescue squad to go fetch the reckless ones out of the woods and from the ravines, they can really go flying.  Oh, well. 

[ronwagn + 6,290]

I have seen one motorcycle rider sent flying over the car in front of him. Also other wrecks. We had one guy in a small town hit a deer and go flying for a long ways. I have heard of many other local deaths. I like air bags unless they send metal through your body. I have to take my  2 1/2 year old Nisan NV 3500 in for an airbag recall. It is frightening to know I have been relying on a dangerous airbag all this time! I figured this problem with airbags would have been handled by now!

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

5 minutes ago, ronwagn said:

I figured this problem with airbags would have been handled by now!

Airbags are dangerous devices, especially to drivers, passengers, small children, and your dog.  But remember the reason airbags were developed.  The US Feds mandated what were called "passive restraint systems," so that if you got in and drove off and didnot fasten the safety belt, you would still be protected from ejection, either through the side window or the front windshield if that popped out.  At fist the industry attempted the "automatic safety belt" with that retainer devisce in a track  that ran up the side of the front pillar and up and over along the roof line.  But that was cumbersome and mechanics loathed it as it cycled each time you opened the door.  Sothey developed the airbag, and now the bag deploys so that when you crash there is something to keep you from going through the window.  If everyone fastened up the standard cheap safety belt then there wiould be no need for the airbag.   

Hoepfully, none of the airbags will ever work in any of my cars.  Put on the belt, you are plenty safe, and don't drive like some drunken lunatic. I have yet to have my first crash, and I have been at it for a half century.  Not that hard:  drive prudently, don't speed, and leave distance.  All there is to it. 

[Douglas Buckland + 6,308]

44 minutes ago, ronwagn said:

I have seen one motorcycle rider sent flying over the car in front of him. Also other wrecks. We had one guy in a small town hit a deer and go flying for a long ways. I have heard of many other local deaths. I like air bags unless they send metal through your body. I have to take my  2 1/2 year old Nisan NV 3500 in for an airbag recall. It is frightening to know I have been relying on a dangerous airbag all this time! I figured this problem with airbags would have been handled by now!

Funny enough, they now have motorcycle jackets with built-in sirbags that inflate if you unintentionally leave the bike. Sounds like a good idea for serious riders.

[Douglas Buckland + 6,308]

https://m.motoin.de/Clothing/Airbag-clothing:::23_2585.html?refID=02&language=en&refID=02&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4-DshKTO6QIVFT5gCh2iKQsUEAAYASAAEgKufPD_BwE

[Douglas Buckland + 6,308]

@James Regan Should Get two or three!

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

5 minutes ago, Douglas Buckland said:

https://m.motoin.de/Clothing/Airbag-clothing:::23_2585.html?refID=02&language=en&refID=02&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4-DshKTO6QIVFT5gCh2iKQsUEAAYASAAEgKufPD_BwE

I like that $14 accessory, the rip-chord with the magnet that you attach to the bike, as you go flying off the ripchord pulls the pin on the nitrogen inflation system to inflate your bag just before ground contact, then the magnet disengages from the bike as you cartwheel off into oblivion....

Neat idea, a bit like that static-line that the paratroops used back in the day.  Still, the James Bond full-encapsulation Giant Avalanche Ball looks like a great bet, you just roll along!

[James Regan + 1,776]

1 hour ago, ronwagn said:

I have seen one motorcycle rider sent flying over the car in front of him. Also other wrecks. We had one guy in a small town hit a deer and go flying for a long ways. I have heard of many other local deaths. I like air bags unless they send metal through your body. I have to take my  2 1/2 year old Nisan NV 3500 in for an airbag recall. It is frightening to know I have been relying on a dangerous airbag all this time! I figured this problem with airbags would have been handled by now!

Here you go - This will tell you where you are in the world also when you land, GPS system installed- Bit expensive and has to go back to the maker to get set us after actuating. No excuses now....

 

Edited May 25, 2020 by James Regan

[James Regan + 1,776]

56 minutes ago, Douglas Buckland said:

@James Regan Should Get two or three!

When I bother to do things I normally like to take it to the limit (obviously), no point riding a 300KMH machine and ride it like a scooter or to pose around coffee bars, I leave that for my Harley....

Fast riding is for circuits - Coffee trips no - My high speed wrecks have all been on circuits Im not completely stupid...

Go Doug.........🤣

 

Edited May 25, 2020 by James Regan

[James Regan + 1,776]

The video above is the IOM TT, they have rules to not race in the rain....

Irish Road racing doesn't this is the real purest form of road racing, if you're interested.

These are the same guys as the TT but with big Kahonies......

 

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

1 hour ago, James Regan said:

These are the same guys as the TT but with big Kahonies.....

H A W T !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S.   What is that strap-on traction device, like a bandage, that those guys put on the tire (apparently for the rain)?  

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

3 hours ago, Douglas Buckland said:

@James Regan Should Get two or three!

Small, Medium and Large for layering!

[Douglas Buckland + 6,308]

25 minutes ago, Jan van Eck said:

H A W T !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S.   What is that strap-on traction device, like a bandage, that those guys put on the tire (apparently for the rain)?  

That ‘bandage’ is a tire heater. It keeps the tires warm and ‘sticky’ for the next time out. While racing the tires heat up naturally due to friction.

You actually need to ride motorcycles to fully grasp the skill (and lack of fear) that these guys have.

These guys, in my opinion, are much better riders than the F1 riders.

And no, my old Nightrod and I could not keep up with these guys (or James for that matter) if they stayed in second gear!

....I just look cooler going ‘slow’...😂

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

Back to electric.  Check out Jay Leno's Garage, Baker Electric Car:

 

 

[Douglas Buckland + 6,308]

2 minutes ago, Dan Warnick said:

Small, Medium and Large for layering!

So he bounces down the road looking like the Michelin Man after inflation...😂

[Douglas Buckland + 6,308]

2 hours ago, James Regan said:

When I bother to do things I normally like to take it to the limit (obviously), no point riding a 300KMH machine and ride it like a scooter or to pose around coffee bars, I leave that for my Harley....

Fast riding is for circuits - Coffee trips no - My high speed wrecks have all been on circuits Im not completely stupid...

Go Doug.........🤣

 

James is just jealous that I look so damn cool going slower....and that chicks dig me!😂

Anybody can go out and buy a 150kg Japanese/Italian/German crotch rocket capable of 300kph with all that traction control, engine mapping, ABS and ride it reasonably well. Real men ride an old 305kg Harley with no ‘whistles & bells’ that you have to muscle through the curves while you are going deaf!!!

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

3 hours ago, James Regan said:

When I bother to do things I normally like to take it to the limit (obviously), no point riding a 300KMH machine and ride it like a scooter or to pose around coffee bars, I leave that for my Harley....

Fast riding is for circuits - Coffee trips no - My high speed wrecks have all been on circuits Im not completely stupid...

Go Doug.........🤣

 

Man!  If that's what you're doing, you are a madman!  You know where the line is and deftly tease it a whole lot more than the rest of us mortals do.  May the motorcycle demons keep you safe and your pulse as high as your mere human body allows (I'm assuming that's redlined as well!)  Wow!  Fuxxxxg incredible!