The start of a new adventure...unless the wife says NO

B

BruceH

Guest
I had been looking into electric bikes for some time now. Being in Canada, we have Canadian Tire outlets that now market electric bikes. The price gets upwards of $800 or more.

I have been considering the commute to work by bike but the roads are not bike-friendly. The biggest problem is that there are people in cars who have never ridden a bicycle (or so it would seem with their lack of concern). There have been many articles and bike rallies about getting bike lanes and how people have been injured. One guy regales us with a tale of his ride to University where he is being passed by a rather large van that passes uncomfortably close to him, only to find that the van is pulling a wide flat-bed trailer. The trailer catches the bike tossing the guy into the curb where he narrowly misses being run over and suffers a broken collar bone amongst various other injuries.

It occured to me that if a bike could travel at least the speed of "rush-hour" traffic (which around here tends to be 40-50 km/h or 24-32 mph) then this sort of accident could be greatly avoided.

I happened across these gas engines for bikes and moreso the entire kits that take the guesswork out of retrofitting a bike with a motor (acknowledging that minor adjustments are always necessary).

Shortly thereafter I found this board which seems to be full of people with somewhat extensive knowledge/experience that would be of great help to me. That being said, I will definitely being posting questions over the next while.

Currently I have a Schwinn Cruiser 3-speed that is begging for a motor to be installed. My wife and I bought a "matched set" of these bikes a few years ago (mine red and hers blue) to go riding together. She stays at home and I am planning on attempting to remove one more minivan from the road on days that a favourable for riding.
 
Hey Bruce,

Staying up with traffic is easy. If you go on a Main Street thru 10 lights you will stay right up with everybody.

But the cooooooolest part is you find shortcuts.

Last month in Selma, at that political parade, Secret Service Agent Eric asked how I stayed ahead of the crowd....and I pointed at the alleys that cut thru every block, zip, zip, zip and I was back in front.

Anyway, it is fun, and I'm thinking that those flags I bought for $5 would be a very good item to install on city bikes.
 
I am looking forward to picking up a motor (and this is where I hope to gain some insight from all the current users). I see a lot of information out there and some "trash talk" of various vendors.

My ultimate goal is an 80cc 2-stroke but I am still trying to see if there will be a problem (environmental or otherwise) and have to go with a 4-stroke.

I see someone else experimenting with a 4-stroke on this site and it appears the motor is wider and I am not sure if that will be a problem. Any way, on to the proper forums for more research.
 
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