Greetings northern CA

[Trunker]

Hi all!


I've been browsing for a few days and realized I never introduced myself. I'm doing research on motorized bikes / e-bikes, and although I still haven't gathered the courage to order one I'm already becoming an advocate! I'm hoping to start riding one to work every morning to save money, get exercise, etc.


It seems to me that if everybody were to start riding motorized bikes instead of cars the world would be in a much better place. The US in particular seems to be the farthest behind in this regard.


Cheers!

 

[2old2learn]

Part of the problem for the U.S. is its size. Our land mass is larger than all of a Western Europe. We still have vast unpopulated areas and can drive hundreds of miles and not see any developments. So for us, the automobile has been a necessity. After we completely empty all of Central and South America into our country, then we may have the population concentration of Europe, but that is still another few years away depending on who wins the White House next!

 

[The_Aleman]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Trunker]

That's a good point. Even so, in the populated areas the cities just don't seem to be very well designed for bikes. It's unfortunate to say the least. My hope is that eventually we will become less dependent on fossil fuels and with it our infrastructure will change!

 

[2old2learn]

I still have hope that we can solve the electrical density issue and move to electric propulsion. It's so much simpler.

 

[2old2learn]

Another thing that gives me hope, is that the smaller towns have been the leaders in making their towns bicycle friendly. Possibly because it is easier and cheaper to do before you have all the infrastructure already in place and then try to retro fit it into the design. The motorized bike issue will take some time to shake the legal bugs out of it. A motorized bike could easily do $10,000 dollars damage to a Bentley or a Lamborghini. No insurance, possibly no license, no tag and possibly a hit and run(literally). This has to be addressed. Regular bicycles could just as easily do the same thing. Perhaps it could be added as a rider to most drivers auto insurance. For those without auto insurance then some type of policy would need to be designed on a state by state basis.

 

[2old2learn]

When I was in High School, some of the kids would ride horses to school. We had a tether line tied between two older large oak trees and a water trough on the ground for them. You can't get much greener than that.

Wayne