E-bike vs. Gas?

Electric is all very well at lower power but 1000watt motors are more expensive than a petrol engine.

BSA

Esteban said:

In MY opinion, 35, even 30 ,, is too fast to be riding a BIKE.

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Depends on the bike! On an unsuspended road bike, with the additional weight of the drive system, that's true. But on a dedicated downhill mountain bike like an Iron Horse (fully suspended, 8" discs, 8" travel etc) it's not a big deal.

There's a continuum from bike to moped to motorcycle, and the changes are pretty gradual along the way. Pick whatever point along that curve you are comfortable at.

Let a few people get seriously hurt or killed doing 40 , on a BIKE,, & watch what happens.

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Generally the government doesn't care much about adults killing themselves doing stupid stuff. Now, start killing _other_ people (or have kids kill themselves) and they get very concerned.

I have to weigh in on this one. I have had & currently have various versions of both. At the end of the day its all gonna depend on the "use" of the bike. I recently sold a 1000w setup over anger & bunk batteries & now find myself missing it for short 2 mid-range trips (95% of my travelling). My gas bikes are simply superior in power & long range hauls. As far as the need for speed, I tend to over-build all these toys as they rarely deliver as promised & the extra power is always appreciated on a big hill. Bugs in your teeth are just a bonus.

500 watt and 1000 watt electric bike as fine so long as they don't have plastic fairings all over the bike. Gas is more noisy, and electric is quieter.

I have a hubmotor electric, a happy time and a few regular bikes.

The electric is perfect for cruising the beach among the pedestrians or slowly cruising downtown on the road, sidewalk, alleys, parking lots, etc. It will do a short commute of a couple miles very well. Its easy on the ears. At 17 mph it is fast enough in town. I can do all kinds of short cuts through parks, trails and sidewalks. I think it is probably faster than a happy time bike in downtown riding because of the short cuts you can take. You can get away from traffic using sidewalks or trails. People think you are just riding a regular bike, the cops don't care. You can stop to take a break, sitting on the bike, talk to someone, watch some bikinis, and then when you want to go, just press the button and you magically and silently roll away. It is quiet and clean. Unfortunately it slowly starts to run out of power after about 10 miles or a half hour of full speed riding. It sucks to wait a few hours till it recharges.

The happy time is fun and will let you ride as long as you can sit on it. It is better for country roads, although if you want to show off your toy, you can ride downtown and on the beach. But as long as the motor is on the noise is a little annoying. You have to ride it more like a motorcycle, no cutting through parks or over sidewalks (although you could, but you would probably eventually get busted). Cops are going to be tougher on you if they decide to hassle you. Neither of my bikes are legal but I still ride them. I usually ride the happy times out of town where there are not many cops. The motor will push the bike faster than it should go over potholes. Happy time is a little less reliable than electric, although there are more reliable motored bikes out there. Happy time is oily, greasy and stinky. It will take you places far away. On smooth country roads, happy time is king. Trails are pretty fun too.

The regular bikes are quiet, clean and require just a little effort. I like the regular bikes best for distances under 2 miles. They are not as good at hills and require a lot of effort on hills. They are not as fast but you get some fresh air and exercise.

I use all three and like them all.

I say do both.
http://www.motoredbikes.com/showthread.php?t=7756

Electric for starting off,get a tiny rear sprocket for the Happy Time,have the Happy Time take over when the electric gets you at around 15 mph,while the Happy Time is running your electric setup is charging your batteries.
Depending on how small your rear sprocket,speeds here may even hit 50.
Yes. That's a Hybrid.
Welcome to the future.

Gee Large, that's gett'n complicated and heavy. Tell you what, you work on that, I'll take the Hayabusa out for a spin this morning.

I watched that documentary "Who killed the electric car" and basically that vision will never happen any time soon for the petroleum industry pawns everybody so I agree that we really need to go electric. Even though we burn coal at more than 50% of our electricity we are still ahead of the environmental game according to some studies.
rchapman,your cool but you gotta lay off the judgmentals. The reality is that a lot of us have used and are still using Happy Time engines. WE know about the shady ways it gets here. But attacking the users are like the environmentalists burning every Hummer they see.

kerf said:

Gee Large, that's gett'n complicated and heavy. Tell you what, you work on that, I'll take the Hayabusa out for a spin this morning.

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I want a Hayabusa too...with ape hangers.

The problem isn't the oil companies, it's that the internal combustion reciprocating engines are just very good at what they do. Many strides have been made in electrics but they still can't do what a gas burner can do. Part of that is because that the IC success has created the infrastructure to support it. I can gas up anywhere but where can I swap batteries or fill my fuel cell with hydrogen. Exotic batteries are getting much more efficient than lead acid but they are very, very expensive.

By the way, if you believe in Global Warming, I have a deal for you on some swamp, ugh, I mean some water front property.