R
retrophoto
Guest
First of all I'm 63 years old and riding a bike for the first time in forty-five years at least. I have a couple of nasty medical issues and one of them gave me a balance problem. I bought a bike to see if my balance had gotten so bad that I couldn't ride it. I fell the first ten minutes and gave myself a nasty strawberry and a bruised shoulder. I got a different bike and low and behold I could ride. Not only that my walking balance improved hugely.
I always had going motorized in mind. My wife and family, not to mention my doctors, want me to stop driving. I don't plan to lose my independence so the motorbike is my ticket to mobility. I'm not concerned with me being hurt just don't want to hurt anyone else.
I began with building a friction drive e bike. It actually has been a great experience. I can pedal it some for exercise and let it run on its own some to give my mind a good workout. However there are some real issues for me.
I built a couple of bike trailers to carry batteries. I wanted to increase the range. Then I had to increase the power to pull the large batteries. The battery weight decreased the range. Vicious circle. The range issue came to a head when I ran two electric motors total of 600 watts for five miles last week. The bike limped home the last half mile. Most likely with some battery conservation I could have done better but it didn't change the fact that the bike just wasn't going to give me the range I wanted.
All that said I am now determined to give gasoline a try. I just bought one of those made in china one lung two stroke toys. So I am not one of the gasoline engine about to bes.
I have only one area i seek advice about at the moment. I know there will be others. This probably isn't the place but....
What are the pros and cons to running the gasoline engine on a 24" wheel as opposed to a 26". The 24 would seem to be slower since it would travel less distance per revolution and the revolutions should remain the same for either engine. At least thats how it seems to my fogged mind. Frankly I don't want or need a lot of speed.
What I would like is a lot of hill climbing torque, so would the 24' mean more torque or no difference in speed or torque.
By the way HI... from NC
I always had going motorized in mind. My wife and family, not to mention my doctors, want me to stop driving. I don't plan to lose my independence so the motorbike is my ticket to mobility. I'm not concerned with me being hurt just don't want to hurt anyone else.
I began with building a friction drive e bike. It actually has been a great experience. I can pedal it some for exercise and let it run on its own some to give my mind a good workout. However there are some real issues for me.
I built a couple of bike trailers to carry batteries. I wanted to increase the range. Then I had to increase the power to pull the large batteries. The battery weight decreased the range. Vicious circle. The range issue came to a head when I ran two electric motors total of 600 watts for five miles last week. The bike limped home the last half mile. Most likely with some battery conservation I could have done better but it didn't change the fact that the bike just wasn't going to give me the range I wanted.
All that said I am now determined to give gasoline a try. I just bought one of those made in china one lung two stroke toys. So I am not one of the gasoline engine about to bes.
I have only one area i seek advice about at the moment. I know there will be others. This probably isn't the place but....
What are the pros and cons to running the gasoline engine on a 24" wheel as opposed to a 26". The 24 would seem to be slower since it would travel less distance per revolution and the revolutions should remain the same for either engine. At least thats how it seems to my fogged mind. Frankly I don't want or need a lot of speed.
What I would like is a lot of hill climbing torque, so would the 24' mean more torque or no difference in speed or torque.
By the way HI... from NC