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Finally got to take the bike out for a solid shakedown. On the dirt roads it is great, cross country it depends on the country. There were many places I had to get off and cross logs or other obstacles. I also finally broke the factory chain and had to walk it out a mile or so. Overall I put maybe 10 miles on it pretty hard. Also made probably 14 additional short 1/2 mile round trips carrying gear to set up and then take down a camp (we need to pare down some). We also took turns all day going on short rides around camp.
I was able to fix the chain back at camp but will be replacing it with something better. So total of about 15-20 miles of hard use and the battery went from 56 to 51 volts. It's scary fast, I don't know the top speed but on the dirt I don't think I will ever find it. Even just going 15-20MPH is fine with me, just not having to slow to a crawl on the hills and sweat your butt off in 90 degree weather is amazing. You can go for a ride to cool off. I saw more game then I normally do, walking or driving. I don't think deer immediately recognise the sound of a bike compared to footsteps and you are going slower with better visibility than when in a car, not to mention how quiet it is, along with the speed you come up on them.
I have 2 other people now that want me to build them one after riding mine not that I would do this for money. I just think the powers that be need to re-think some rules. We are lucky here but from what I gather in Europe it's like they don't want people to get out of their cars. I even had the custodian of the land we were on approach us just as we were crossing the gate. I had a bolt come lose on the rack and he gave me a piece of bailing wire to fix it so he clearly could see what it was. We talked to him for 5-10 mins about all our plans and he never said a word about e-bikes yes or no. It was a forest service road that passes through 4 miles of The Nature Conservancy land and the guy was with the Conservancy, maybe a forest service ranger would see it differently.
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