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i looked into the velomobile and recumbant options but, as cool and good and idea as they may seem at first there are a few things to note about them.
1. low top speed - they're still classified as bicycles and as such they are limited to 20mph top speed before you have to get it registered as a motorcycle anyway. Not to mention that even if you did go faster than 20mph, bicycles and recumbents are not designed to handle day to day strain of 40mph on city streets, motorcycles have much sturdier chassis and suspension because they are designed for such activities.
2. Less visible - Velomobiles and recumbents are lower to the ground than a motorcycle or bicycle because you are more reclined. It makes you less visible and if you're not holding up with traffic that's a recipe for disaster in a high traffic area like where I live.
There are also factors of parking the thing. Most people will see a motorcycle parked in a parking lot and just pass it by, it's a motorcycle after all. The thing to consider with Velomobiles and Recumbents is that because of their size, if you park them in a parking lot, and especially a congested one like the one at my office, it's very likely that it will not be visible with the other cars around it. All it would take is one person in a rush to swing into the spot quickly and the whole thing would be totaled. Then, there is the matter of price. Velomobiles are the only thing that fall into this problem, but they are pretty pricey. I was looking at some of the more aerodynamic models (in hopes of upgrading them to run at faster speeds more easily) and they run between 10-15 thousand dollars which is WAY more then I could get this $500 rolling chassis for and then put all the parts for the electric conversion on for.
Thanks for the suggestion though, I would certainly have gone right for the electric bicycle if I was in more of a position to have something that isn't quite as fast as a motorcycle.
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