Took my first long ride today..

Warner

Member
Local time
4:12 AM
Joined
Jun 3, 2008
Messages
541
Location
Chicago 'burbs
I took my first long ride today - I went out about 10 miles from my house and back - 20 miles total; part of the route to my work. Impressions?

1 - Traffic is an issue, and I wasn't in that heavy of traffic really. Definitely something to think about and definitely be aware of. More than once as I was approaching an intersection the car misjudged my speed and thought about pulling out in front of me.

2 - The bike kicks booty! For the most part I was cruising around 30, plus or minus 3 mph. I think I got as high as 35 once. Bike feels fine at this speed. On my commute to work, I'll pretty much keep the thing wide open most of the time.

3 - I think it's totally feasible to ride this 40 miles round trip.....from a capability standpoint, meaning the bike will do it without any problem. Riding in rush-hour traffic will be interesting. There are really only 3 high traffic areas that I'll have to ride on, and each one is less than a mile long. 3 miles out of my 20 isn't too bad I think.

4 - People don't know what to think! The cars don't understand how I could be going 30 mph while pedaling so little! Haha. Ghost pedaling at 30 sure feels strange! As much as the hard core cyclists probably hate these things, I had more than 1 wave to me.....not realizing I was under power other than my own. My cammo job is REAL good. Once I get the engine noise lower I don't think anyone will know what the heck is going on.

5 - While I didn't see any cops, I didn't get pulled over, either. One ride certainly isn't a litmus test, but it made me feel good at least!

6 - Even though it's motor assisted, there still is some work involved in riding! Esp with my gearing where I pedal up to at least 10mph before hitting the gas.

7 - I could probably fit both of my dogs in my panniers! Those things are freakin' HUGE! I'm happy I bought them! I only have a handful of tools in them for now, but I WILL use this bike as a grocery getter for sure!

So there's my report after my first long ride,

Warner
 
It's great isnt it?! We sure surprise alot of people on our motored bikes. I have had people miss judge my speed many times and pull out in front of me, or pass me before I get a chance to pick up any speed. They must be thinking WTF after they pass me, and I am right on their arse a few seconds later! My bike is a blast!

I am used to people miss judging my speed. Before I got into motorized bicycles, I drove a 93 Plymouth Sundance duster that I modified. It did 0-60 in about 5.5 seconds, and had a top speed of 140+ mph lol. i had alot of close calls with that car. People didn't expect it to accelerate so fast!!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It's great isnt it?! We sure surprise alot of people on our motored bikes. I have had people miss judge my speed many times and pull out in front of me, or pass me before I get a chance to pick up any speed. They must be thinking WTF after they pass me, and I am right on their arse a few seconds later! My bike is a blast!


Hahaha...that happened to me, too! They'd pull away and I had my bike it top gear so I would accelerate up to 10 mph slowly....then hit the gas. I'd catch up to them then. There was a couple mile stretch today where there were lights - the cars would get ahead of me but because of the timing of the lights, I'd catch up to them each time. It took me the same amount of time as it took them to travel those couple/few miles. Pretty cool!

Warner
 
the cars would get ahead of me but because of the timing of the lights, I'd catch up to them each time. It took me the same amount of time as it took them to travel those couple/few miles. Pretty cool!

Warner

Yep! THat happens to me all the time. I have had soooo many people roll down their windows and ask me where I got the engine, and if I would build them one. Or they say something like "THAT THING IS AWESOME!!!!"
 
Yep! THat happens to me all the time. I have had soooo many people roll down their windows and ask me where I got the engine, and if I would build them one. Or they say something like "THAT THING IS AWESOME!!!!"

And they are RIGHT, it IS awesome!

Warner
 
Back
Top