Holy abandoned thread Batman! Has it been 3 years already? Really?
I love this thing and I ride it almost every chance I get. I don't park it in the fall until we get below freezing temps or the streets are icy/salty, whichever occurs first. They practically canceled winter this year so I got an early start on this years riding season!
It has sealed lead acid batteries so the performance loss in cold temps is really noticeable. That could be largely avoided by bringing the batt pack in to keep warm (it is easily removable), but I simply park it at that point.
Clocked it against a car and another motorcycle; they both say it goes 26 mph. I haven't noticed any cops giving it any special attention, even when I go down the nearest 2-lane highway. Surprisingly, I've gotten thumbs-up from occupants of ginormous SUVs, and questions about if I'd sell it, or where to get one. Who'da thunk that? Everyone seems to like that hubmotor- I sure do.
I've taken to charging it with plain ol' 110v- the charger can be fed 110 or 220. The 220 is much faster, but due to outlet access the 110 is much more user-friendly. (Sorry Jeff, I didn't see your post back then!)
Mods? Oh yeah, just not the ones I initially thought. Still no speed/miles instrumentation. Guess I don't care that much- I know how far and how fast it'll go.
The cool rack has been deleted in favor of a modified banana seat. That rack weighed 26 lbs! vs the lil bike seat which weighs almost nothing. I liked that rack but changed it out in favor of the seat to 1) take that weight off, and 2) sit down over a foot lower to make my carcass a bit more streamlined and much more comfortable as well. Pedaling it was a joke anyway so I've abandoned any pretense of having the ergos to do significant pedaling; now I sit down in there chopper style. I went with a rear "bodywork" delete at the same time, but the rear fender remains.
During an "experiment" to see if rolling resistance would be reduced by swapping out the front wheel for a 24" MTB wheel, I mounted the bike wheel and simply disconnected the front drum brake and went brakeless on the front... where I then discovered that this thing has regen braking!
I pulled the front brake lever- who's cable is now dangling in space- and it still slowed to a stop! Cool. It's very nice to have but coasting to a stop is still better when possible.
I've not done a proper test to quantify the r.r. but that bike wheel swap is definitely a keeper, if only because it transformed the rather heavy, dead feel of the stock steering to a
very noticeably different lively, light, and responsive feel. IIRC that was another 10 lb. loss.
I've read (on Allert's site) that bicycle tires quite likely have half the r.r. than 17" scooter tires. I believe it but have no data to confirm.
Once committed to that wheel, the knobby tire was sent packing in favor of a new Schwalbe high pressure street tire. Adapters were also fabbed up to remount the front fender a bit "further away" so it clears the much taller tire. Too bad switching the rear would be such a chore.
As Ferris Bueller sez, "If you have the means, I highly recommend one!"
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