The performance between the GX31 powered recumbent and this FWD upright are pretty close. With what limited riding I've done on the upright (weather's wet and cold lately), the recumbent seems to beat the upright for top end speed. I think that's due to a combination of better aerodynamics and a slightly higher high-gear. They say 90% of resistance on a bicycle above 20mph is wind resistance, so the laid back position of the recumbent is a huge speed advantage. When I commuted on it, simply folding one arm in towards my body and pointing my toes forward would boost my speed by one or two mph. As for gas mileage, like I mentioned in another post, I commuted a month and a half on it once, nine miles each way and didn't use up the gallon of gas I had in my one gallon tank. Yes, I do miss the suspension. It was almost sinful it was so comfy. But the Cloud 9 seat on the upright is pretty great.
The upright seems to have more raw power though with the slightly bigger engine, but less top end speed. I built it for climbing a killer hill home with groceries, and will probably switch back to the 22 tooth drive cog from the 18 tooth cog, forcing my wife to pedal a bit going up hills so I can enjoy higher speeds.
When test riding it up the killer hill, the pavement was wet, and I purposely rode off into the sandy shoulder to see what happens up a very steep hill with FWD on wet sandy pavement. Yes, the front wheel slipped, especially when I leaned backwards. Leaning forwards reduced the slippage. Riding back out onto the wet pavement stopped the slipping altogether. This was a *really* steep hill, probably greater than 10% incline.
I'm surprised more people in this forum don't try FWD solutions. They solve a lot of problems. The hardest thing about it was building the fork. Am wondering if there'd be any interest in people purchasing a replacement "front end" (fork, front wheel, derailleur, motor and reducer) as a kit. You could pretty easily convert any bike to a geared, motored bike while retaining the pedal performance of a decent bicycle
As for motorizing a faired bicycle, yes performance and economy would be phenomenal, but crosswinds would be dangerous, and mixing with "real" motorized vehicles at the speeds you'd attain would be too.
