Denali, hang out on some of the good e bike sites and you'll get a handle on it. I do see that when people introduce themselves and spec out what they are riding and how, they usually mention their weight, so yeah it's an issue. Keep that 105 lb wife happy, she can get by with quite a bit less bike. I've been heavily lurking on what seem to be the best sites out there on the subject:
Endless-sphere.com
electric-fatbike.com
and the company site of the outfit I bought my conversion motor for the Montague from: electricbike.com They have a custom one of a kind all carbon e bike there a Swiss guy built, billed as the lightest in the world!The electricbike site is a sister company to Luna Cycle, and they seem to be a highly respected and knowledgeable company doing all kinds of cutting edge stuff. The head guy, Eric, just told me he's also a pilot, 172's anyway. Between that and his e bike knowledge, I'd say "he's the man".

Here's a few shots of the Trail Viper. The handle bars are fully extendable to fit various sizes, as is the seat post of course, so you feel like your riding a regular bike. They also adjust in angle. The handle bars also fold as part of the entire folding process.

Chewbacca and the Trail Viper in the back of one of the smallest cars out there, a Toyota Yaris hatchback, no sweat.
Here's it with the handle bars sucked down and then folded over, and the seat off prior to pulling the battery, which you don't have to do to fold but it makes it lighter obviously

Fully folded, taking the front tire off using the quick axle disconnect is an option also. Folding/unfolding takes about 30 seconds at most. I still haven't had it off the mountain but am already impressed with the battery capacity, tomorrow will be my first town ride. I'm also picking up my sheared and bent aluminum deck plate for my custom storage box for it on the crane, once I fab that up it will be on board all the time Anyone who rides it gets a goofy grin on their face, just like the one at HSF, a real crowd pleaser.

I finally finished the Trail Viper storage box on the crane yesterday. It cost me more and took longer then I thought, sound familiar?! It's pretty slick though, in and out and ready to ride in about 20 seconds. With this out of the way, it was time to start on my airplane related E-bike project.




I tore into my Montague today, starting the mid drive motor conversion process, pulling the bottom bracket out was the first thing. This went much easier, after a couple hours of frustration and lots of WD-40, when I finally realized that the right hand bearing cup retainer nut was frigging right hand thread, so righty LOOSEY Only one special tool was needed, and I borrowed it, to pull the cranks, this tool cost less then 10 bucks I'd guess.

Unless I'm missing something, the Montague is a particularly good candidate for this 750 watt (over 1000 watts with the controller mod I have) BAFANG mid drive conversion. Most bikes have frame work in the way, so adding the motor means losing some serious ground clearance. The Mont has a unique frame, as a result the motor is able to tuck up high with no clearance loss. Most importantly, though I haven't had it back in the airplane yet, it appears adding this motor will not effect how it folds and fits in the S7-S at all

I also didn't realize that I'd be losing some weight by removing the front derailer and some other minor items, for good, so even though the finished weight will of course be higher, it will be lower then I thought.

After getting the chain restrung late today, I took it for a normal bike ride, and all appears to be AOK. Tomorrow I'll do the plug and play work, connecting the digital rider display, the electronic throttle, the E-brake levers (these replace the old brake levers and electrically tells the motor to quit pushing when you hit the brakes) and of course the battery. All these are pre-wired and quick disconnected, so simple routing will be the only work, keeping in mind not compromising the folding process.

That looks very cool, looking forward to hearing the performance.

What with the 30 +mph winds and precip the last few days, it has been fun working on this project. Today I mocked up two different battery locations, with carrying it in a backpack as a fall back, I've settled on under the horizontal tube, and am keeping it real simple, just some closed sell foam I had laying around inside a cordura bag I'm having sewn up tomorrow. The two web straps that will suck it up tight will be sewn in so I can't lose them, and when out of the bike the same bag will provide protection for the cells. If I get real lucky I can use the same tie down bike strap to secure the battery in the airplane, keeping it simple works every time, and light! I weighed it today, 48 lbs and some change, what I expected so no surprise there. With this battery location, the bike still feels balanced, the motor and battery weight are well distributed.

I had it in the airplane today for the first time since mounting the motor, still just as easy, about as difficult as strapping down a infant seat in the back of the mini van (I've seen people do that), further proof that the S-7/S-7S and the Montague are made for each other! I've had some, most actually, of my most memorable landings on new sites I've stumbled upon, while the bike was onboard, and have gotten to think of it as a normal part of my gear, probably half of my TT hours solo have included the bike. That includes some of my power off dead stick ridge soaring even. So... I'm gained 20 lbs but should have vastly increased utility over just me pedaling, this will be like having a champion cyclist helping push, plus my contribution. I am also going to be upgrading my brake pads, tires probably, chain, shifter controls, and so on. In for a dime.....

I have the Montague converted now with the BAFANG mid drive unit. All up weight finalized at 46 lbs 4 ozs. This motor puts out around 1300 watts in short bursts, enough to make wheel stands possible whether you want one or not. Since you're working through the 8 gears on the rear hub, you can climb stairs in low, and go over 30 in high. Super quiet, really no noise other then tires, no noisier then any other bike anyway.

The fitting/folding into the S-7S procedure, or the car or whatever for that matter, remains unchanged and takes no longer, other then unplugging the battery and disconnecting the two attach straps and stashing it under my front seat. The entire process 3 minutes at most, less actually as I also made up some attach straps that have a quicker disconnect feature rather then a buckle, so less time fumbling with straps just click and it's secured. MY charger should arrive tomorrow, and I will then finalize how it will install along with the AC/DC inverter, giving me the capability to recharge the bike while flying. Making it secure in the plane while also super quickly removable of course.

I haven't had it on pavement yet, just snow covered dirt and gravel. Towing the trailer was no problem, the snowboard was just a photo op, but hell it may just be used like that at some point. I never got the right flying conditions combined with the right snow conditions last year, along with my work schedule, to make an XC to a airport with a ski area reasonably close. Salmon Id. comes to mind, about a 3 or 4 mile ride into town to a motel, then rent a car to hit the Lost Trail Pass ski area, the bike would get me and my gear to that motel no sweat. Plus around town later, I love a loaner car as much as most pilots and will continue to snag one when available but they often are not and I think the added mobility I'll have with this setup will be somewhat of a game changer. Yellow Pine from JC? Piece of cake. The multi plex movie theater in Kalispell Mt. clear across town from the old city airport? I'm there.... The trail up Sawmill Canyon north of Howe, that goes up to 9K +, done deal. These are all rides I've made in the past, they will be a LOT easier and quicker now, and new possibilities abound. I'll post a few pics of some of the ways I use this thing in the future. Less then 2K if I had started with a brand new bike, as I had one already out of pocket was about $1100.00. Meanwhile the little fat tired folder is being used on crane jobs, as expected it's nice to have handy on the spur of the moment, the reasoning behind having it on board at all times leaving the more capable Montague conversion for home and plane use.

lunacycle.com, gear supplier of choice.




If it fits in the S-7S it sure as hell can fit in the Toyota!

Again, apologies to Crzyivan13 for the Savage Cubs in reference, but the world thinks bicycles and Rotax bush taildraggers (and Italian girls) are cool. Promo poster proof:

Great poster, a copy would look good in my hangar!

I've had 3 or 4 pretty good crashes fooling around in the snow on these two different bikes. Snow riding is a bit different and takes some getting used to. Plus the ski area above my place is open so I'm snow boarding again, so at least I'm not unused to getting smacked around a bit. It's been fun leaving bike tire tracks in the powder before the county grader comes along, it gives the grader operator something to think about.

First flight on the skis coming up any day now, I'm ready just need a WX window, it will probably also be the first flight of the E-bike "system", nothing like actual use to work out any bugs. Folding it and putting it in the plane while in the hangar is one thing, doing it for real out on the frigid ramp will highlight any needed mods. I've made enough small changes to save time in securing it in the plane, to make up for the few moments longer the electrified bike will take. Should be under 3 minutes from shutdown to ride off.