Time to reintroduce the most fun hobbies I've ever come across. Folks who try a demo ride return with a smile every time. I hope to convey some of that fun in this series.
I use Made in USA knowhow. These are the record setters in every category, (don't tell anybody, the Bonneville record this year was 46+ mph, we have one hitting 52+!!)
"Motor Assist" bicycles is the legal term to describe the topic, which has so many features and options, it will take a series of diaries to do it justice.
Follow the leader (I'm gonna show him how to get away from the crowds!!)
As "Theghostofkarlafayetucker's sockpuppet", I hope to do a series of diaries, one day per week, finally encapsulate the many aspects of this hobby. Apologies for the cut and paste look to this introduction, I had to wait a week to post, and Tuesday was my ideal target launch.
:::::::
Approaching 100 bikes built since 2005, later I'll get technical, show some of the installation tricks and tips I've learned. With punctureproof tubes & tube liners, and new type of Kevlar tire, you too can build a reliable piece of transportation.
Whenever I get a chance, I jump on Rocinante and ride with the wind, seeing America for $10 per day. Top speed is 35 mph, so I can cover 250 miles pretty easily. I've seen more of the area around my house than all the school bus drivers combined, had adventures that would get Billy the Kid in a good mood.
One of Obama (or Bill Clinton's )Secret Service agents wanted to know "how the heck do you keep getting in front of the parade?" at the Battle of Selma in 2007.
And I've done over 50 newspaper interviews along the way, introducing the concept.
Instead of reaching a few strangers per day, my idea is to spread the idea via the small town press, reporters have fun with stories. I include my contact information, so with the internet, I can easily help others skip the learning curve.
I spend a lot of time talking, that is one thing that guaranteed about riding MB's, you talk to a LOT of interested folks. My main message nowadays? J*O*B*S
One thing I've found in my travels....when a Hyundai or Kia or Mercedes planning committee comes over to the US to search for possible plant locations, because the Euro/Asian societies are bike friendly, they specifically seek places that either have bike lanes and trails, or who will build them.
It is another two-fer, fresh air and exercise for the employee without the gymnasium expense, and less asphalt/security costs. With the catalytic converter crime wave going on, fences are having to be erected now, and patrols hired to keep criminals out.
The incentive in the $750 Billion Dollar Bailout bill is aimed at those large corporate industries too, who can take advantage in major ways. They can put up a bike barn that holds maybe a 100 slot rack, it won't matter how many employees use it, they could get reimbursed, 100 times $240 per year.
::::::::
1903 was a big year in the history of motorized bicycles.
The Wright Brothers gained the mechanical skills essential for their success by working for years in their shop with printing presses, bicycles, motors, and other machinery. Their work with bicycles in particular influenced their belief that an unstable vehicle like a flying machine could be controlled and balanced with practice.[10] Their bicycle shop employee Charlie Taylor became an important part of the team, building their first aircraft engine in close collaboration with the brothers....
<snip>
On 23 March 1903 the Wrights applied for their famous patent for a "Flying Machine"
In 1901, William S. Harley, age 21, drew up plans for a small engine with a displacement of 7.07 cubic inches (116 cc) and four-inch (102 mm) flywheels. The engine was designed for use in a regular pedal-bicycle frame.
Over the next two years Harley and his boyhood friend Arthur Davidson labored on their motor-bicycle using the northside machine shop at the home of their friend, Henry Melk. It was finished in 1903 with the help of Arthur's brother, Walter Davidson. Upon completion the boys found their power-cycle unable to conquer Milwaukee's modest hills without pedal assistance. Will Harley and the Davidsons quickly wrote off their first motor-bicycle as a valuable learning experiment.
In 1903 a young gentleman from San Francisco by the name of George A. Wyman rode, pushed, pulled, carried, and crawled his 1902 "California" brand motor bicycle from San Francisco to New York City. He achieved this monumental undertaking before the first automobile crossing by Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson (in his Winton Automobile) and made better time, finishing his adventure in New York City at the "New York Motorcycle Club" rooms, 1904 Broadway, a mere 50 days after departing San Francisco. Amazingly, over half of Mr. Wyman's journey was accomplished by pounding over the ties of the trans-continental railroad as there were no "real" roads in the sense that we, in the modern age, have come to think of roads- asphalt, concrete, or tar and gravel, to travel upon.
There is a guy known as UnclePunk13, from Washington State, famous in the MB circles, who has tried to emulate Wyman's feat, right down to the knickerbockers. He has a thread in one of the forums telling of his cross country attempts:
Uncle Punks Across America preface
San Francisco to New York; Two months livin' on the road. My dad drove a small truck pulling a small pop up camper. Actual miles ridden- around 2,500. No speedometer, odometer, cyclometer, so that's a guess... Planning another west coast to east coast (The Horse 'Stampede' to the Smokeout rally) next summer if I can get the Whizzer done, broken in, and reliable.
He is using a variety of entirely different engine systems than me. He's one of those enthusiasts building exact replicas and museum quality duplicates. I have a similar type customer named Jack, who you will read about down the road.
In the MB forums, I have pretty much proven I could get from Charleston SC to the Pacific coast in 16-20 days. All's I'm waiting for is some type of sweepstakes to be placed on the line, I'm ready for a transcontinental race.
Uncle Punk13's post
I'd like to do other countries in my time on this earth but I don't know if that will ever happen, so for now I'll continue to try to explore this America of ours... Bamabikeguy has me beat by a long shot. Search his posts- he's a wild man!!!
:::::::::
Back in the nineties, I wrote an Apocalyptic Comedy which featured motorized bikes as a survival tool. In 2004 I found my fuzzy concept in Popular Mechanics, with the top tested unit being my starting point.
From the Original Popular Mechanics 2004 article:
Compared to a chain drive, the belt offered negligible drag when pedaling. Since the belt drives a nylon ring that fits around the spokes, you can run knobby tires if you so choose. A friction drive, on the other hand, limits you to a smooth tire.
Installation of the Golden Eagle engine kit was easy and took about a half-hour.
The performance of this little 2-stroke is amazing. It's rated at 1.2 hp, but unlike more powerful, less efficient designs, it delivers more power to the wheel.
We clocked 33 mph out of the box--the engine started instantly with a yank of the pull cord. It uses a centrifugal clutch and thumb-lever throttle. You pedal away from a standstill to ease the initial load on the Kevlar belt, which is said to last up to 5000 miles.
Our test area was in the Adirondack Mountains, so we had plenty of hills. The engine never faltered and took on the grades with verve. It was a delightful, fun ride.
When the first engine I bought climbed the steep hill, a half mile from my driveway, I shouted "EUREKA" and I was hooked.
You know a hobby has gotten ahold of you when your Christmas wish list has "abrasion miter saw" as the number one item, in order to make a unique modification to the bikes.
:::::::::
After building about 10 units, and using all the available engines GEBE offered, I became one of Golden Eagles unofficial testers in 2006. That was when the GEBE drive systems made massive improvements. And just this month, Dennis, the genius owner at GEBE, made another innovation, with a clutch housing modification. Things keep getting better and better.
In 2004, the motor was over 75% efficient, in early 2006 GEBE beefed up the belts and drive gears, they are now over 90% efficient. According to Click and Clack, as a comparison, (weight to engine to momentum/speed), a standard vehicle may be anywhere from 2-7% efficient.
The Zenoah/RedMax setup from 2004 is no longer available, (as I understand it, Korea bought 100% of future production from Zenoah).
Rocinante has the newer Tanaka "Pure Fire", which is quieter, cleaner, and gives more performance, mileage is anywhere from 160-200+ mpg.
Lately I've built a lot of mostly city commuting bikes using the 4 stroke Robin Subaru 35, and feedback is extremely positive.
:::::::
So, the two engines I use are the Robin/Subaru EH035 and the Tanaka PF 32cc.
Old inefficient Two stroke engines, common in those powered by internal combustion engines ("Happy Time" made-in-China two strokes are still dirty like the old ones) , often emitted more pollution than automobiles due to partial combustion of the upper cylinder lubricant necessarily included in the fuel (this is not the case with newer 2 stroke motors such as the Tanaka "Pure Fire"). One Swedish study found that running the older inefficient 2-stroke lawnmower for half an hour pollutes as much as a 150 km trip in an average car. Fortunately those older two strokes are not in common usage on motorized bicycles having been replaced by super clean four stoke engines (such as the Robin Subaru EHO35 and EHO25), and clean two strokes such as the Tanaka (Pure fire) engines.
Here is the certificate that comes with the Robin/Subaru, next best thing to electric, for about 60% the cost of a good e-bike setup:
And, once you have about a 1,000 miles on the Tanaka, you can change to synthetic lubricants that mix up to 100:1, and are even CLEANER.
:::::::::
I still have 2 of the now collector's items Zenoah engines, and this January I plan on putting one of them on a $700 steel recumbent bike, install a windshield.
An aircraft engineer up in Michigan has done this, he is claiming upwards of 350 miles per gallon. We will see if this is possible, I'll document it on dKos !
::::::::
Why wait on Detroit, do the math....if you can be transported around your community for .02 cents per mile, there is no need to buy a $30,000 hybrid. Your carbon footprint would be way way way lower with a bike in the garage, carrying you to the store or work.
And you would be active in the energy agenda:
Energy Plan Overview- Obama Administration Change.gov
* Provide Short-term Relief to American Families Crack Down on Excessive Energy Speculation.
* Swap Oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Cut Prices.
Eliminate Our Current Imports from the Middle East and Venezuela within 10 Years
* Increase Fuel Economy Standards.
* Get 1 Million Plug-In Hybrid Cars on the Road by 2015.
* Create a New $7,000 Tax Credit for Purchasing Advanced Vehicles.
* Establish a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
* A "Use it or Lose It" Approach to Existing Oil and Gas Leases.
* Promote the Responsible Domestic Production of Oil and Natural Gas.
:::::::
Police Departments are now on GEBE's, the only one that can meet the reliability standard. There are off-shooting ideas about the bicycle craze, I've seen college campuses with bicycle storage "lockup" boxes, similar to the ones linked here:
Economic opportunities for bicycle storage systems:
Bike Lockers, Bike Racks, Bike Storage & Bike Parking : Cycle-Safe, Inc.
Bicycle Security Storage Lockers, Racks and Equipment Introduction
:::::::
Here is an overview about Senate Passes Bailout Bill Loaded with Tax Provisions Including Bicycle Commuting Reimbursement
Clipping the important parts of Section 211 of the Senate Bailout bill:
Any qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement.
::::
Definitions- Paragraph (5) of section 132(f) is amended by adding at the end the following:
`(F) DEFINITIONS RELATED TO BICYCLE COMMUTING REIMBURSEMENT-
`(i) QUALIFIED BICYCLE COMMUTING REIMBURSEMENT- The term `qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement’ means, with respect to any calendar year, any employer reimbursement during the 15-month period beginning with the first day of such calendar year for reasonable expenses incurred by the employee during such calendar year for the purchase of a bicycle and bicycle improvements, repair, and storage, if such bicycle is regularly used for travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment.
`(ii) APPLICABLE ANNUAL LIMITATION- The term `applicable annual limitation’ means, with respect to any employee for any calendar year, the product of $20 multiplied by the number of qualified bicycle commuting months during such year.
`(iii) QUALIFIED BICYCLE COMMUTING MONTH- The term `qualified bicycle commuting month’ means, with respect to any employee, any month during which such employee–
`(I) regularly uses the bicycle for a substantial portion of the travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment, and
(e) Effective Date- The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2008.
:::::::::::
WAL-MART is about to screw up the e-bike business BIG TIME, selling a cut rate unit which all e-bike experts agree is underpowered and insufficient. Just more junk to clutter your garage.
Some folks get into the hobby out of necessity, like this Adam fellow whose story came in my e-mail's google-alert:
Winchester Star
Winchester — For Tanya and Adam Purvis, hope is encased in a tiny two-stroke engine.
They want to rebuild their financial lives and hope that motorized bicycles will play a role in turning things around.
Adam, 36, put together his first motorized bicycle during the Labor Day weekend after a friend showed him a similar bike.
When he saw the vehicle, which reminded him of the motorized bicycles — Whizzers — of the 1940s and ’50s, the regular tinkerer said his "gears started spinning."
Adam said he thought, "Wow, there’s got to be a market for that" in the current economic climate.
Think about it, teenagers could sock-away the savings from riding an MB to school, all that car insurance money could go straight into the college fund.
::::::::
For income tax purposes, I've called these MBs "cattle cruisers", "chicken checkers", "pizza delivery vehicles", "rehabilitation equipment"....but what I'm looking forward to is calling them is the best thing to come out of the Bailout Bill !!