Please consider and discuss, hybrid motorised bikes, its not as silly as it sounds

1/ legal issues affect many of us re petrol bikes. Laws are often largely honored in the breach, but why push your luck?

2/ low torque petrol power is a pain to start and for stop go work (as are chain drives)

3/ electric range issues ~go away with a regen capable motor and controller

4/ adding a front hub motor is simple and cheapish (NB, i really think the premium for a 2 speed one is worth it)

SO:

A front motor with regen and fast charge storage could charge the bike when under petrol power or braking. A; big, heavy, expensive battery is not mandatory. Just a; light, fast charge/discharge, ~5ah 36v one should do (36o watts of power for half an hour or 720watts for 15 minutes, even 1000 watts on a 3c max discharge battery like mainstream lifepo4 chemistry units).

Getting rolling on electric and dropping the clutch = electric start convenience

Use electric when cops are a risk, motor on back roads and hill climbs where the extra power is really appreciated. Once altitude is gained, a puny electric alone is fine. A QUIET petrol motor seems a must for similar reasons. Why push your luck.

Much of life is factoring risk. Get this one wrong, and once the local cop has warned you once, your petrol bike may as well be scrapped. They dont like their rulings, no matter how silly, being ignored.

Technically, it's only illegal if the petrol motor is powering it on a public road, maybe even if the motor is warm? "I only use that motor on private land officer" should work sort of.

A simple example is a farm kid rides to the edge of town on petrol, and switches to electric around town. If he is sensible, the town cop may well turn a blind eye, even if he spots him on rural roads.

Aside from the above, electric when it suffices, is so much more pleasant.

Much as I love my mid drive ebike, the chain and cogs have been the most troublesome bit of an otherwise very maintenance free, joyous workhorse.

For many, the extra traction of an AWD bike may have big appeal - mud/snow etc.

I have to say, its kind of cool that such cutting edge prius like automotive technology, is so readily accessible to DIY folk in the bike world. I predict that for EV autos to work, they have to be lighter and simpler. The minimalist Nissan Leaf, is 1600 kilos for gods sake. Its just too big an ask for batteries to propel such mass very far for a long time to come. 150 kilos should be easily doable for a four passenger tuk tuk/mini moke type vehicle made from bike framing and bits.
 
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If to me it were left I'd go with the plug in the wall type electric bike, simply because all mobile options to charge it would be impractical, with a gas engine on board it basically wouldn't be a big deal should the battery get left uncharged. A suitable pannier bag would be good to hold the charger if making longer distance trips.

Maybe dreams should be put aside for a few more years so the price of the technology drops even further. Could be that at some point the cost for an electric system will be highly competitive with gas in both price and durability.
 
I do like the idea of a front hub motor 250w electric and Li batteries.
A rear drive single speed 48cc China Girl is a pragmatic start.
Fuel efficient and capable of 30mph.
I gotta build it...

Ya, they sound great!
http://grubeeinc.com/Hybird.html

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I don't think you will get the performance you think you will.

Even with a really well adjusted clutch, a 2-stroke direct drive bike has a LOT of drag with the engine off!
Heck, you have to pedal start or ride when you run out gas, you know how much drag they have!

I don't think a 250W hub motor will give you more than a couple 'Power Assist' pedal starts before the battery dies, or maybe 1/8th mile on electric power only, but not both.

I think that was another gimmick to try to keep pedal start MB kits alive like the new battery powered impact wrench 2-stroke engine starter.
Ya, that is a real thing.
 
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