Here you go Farmboy.

I like seeing all that is available but for some of us, the years and wear and tear on the body preclude most of these devices. I didn't find anything in search so I wonder if there is a reason there isn't much mention of gas powered transport. I am eyeing one of these for my new (to me) Savage Cub. It would fold and fit in the back seat (I fly alone) and get me everywhere I need to go. Any first hand knowledge or opinions?

https://www.diblasi.com/specs.htm

WYflyer wrote:I like seeing all that is available but for some of us, the years and wear and tear on the body preclude most of these devices. I didn't find anything in search so I wonder if there is a reason there isn't much mention of gas powered transport. I am eyeing one of these for my new (to me) Savage Cub. It would fold and fit in the back seat (I fly alone) and get me everywhere I need to go. Any first hand knowledge or opinions?

https://www.diblasi.com/specs.htm

The idea of lifting a 64 pound minibike in and out of the back seat of a cub is a deal killer for me.

Then there's the ambiance of being propelled by what is essentially a chainsaw with tires...not around my campsite, please.

Electric assist bicycles are pretty amazing if you haven't tried them. I thought they were a gimmick until I tried one...they're the real deal. So much better than a gasoline engine on every level, except perhaps cost.

Bike Friday now has an electric conversion for their legendary folding bikes.

https://www.bikefriday.com/bicycles/bio ... ric_assist

For those not familiar, Bike Friday is a custom maker of folding bikes that have a cult-like following among their owners. They are a real quality product...in fact some hard-core bikers have given up on their standard proportioned bikes and just ride their 'Friday's. They've been around a long time and a lot of the first bikes they built are still on the road today. Good stuff. Many of them can be bought with a hard cary-case which converts to a trailer for the bike.

The Bionix conversion adds about 20 pounds and comes in at $1,800, so realistically you're looking at $2,500 and up for a electric Bike Friday. I say "and up" seriously. There are so many ways to customize them and so many cool modifications that it's easy to get into serious money. A friend of mine started out with a $1,500 Pocket Llama and got it up to $5,000, without electric.

One nice thing is if you decide it's not for you they're EASY to sell. Lots of demand for used Bike Friday's out there.

There are cheaper options out there for sure, but if someone is looking for a high quality folding electric bike, here it is.

Farmboy wrote:A fellow over on supercub.org doesn't worry about space, just weight.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzVYS ... XFEVGZWdTQ

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzVYS ... lVDa19xeE0

Hopefully the links work.

He doesn't worry about drag either apparently, with unfaired quad shock gear and that scooter hanging off the side

Hammer wrote:Bike Friday now has an electric conversion for their legendary folding bikes.

https://www.bikefriday.com/bicycles/bio ... ric_assist

For those not familiar, Bike Friday is a custom maker of folding bikes that have a cult-like following among their owners. They are a real quality product...in fact some hard-core bikers have given up on their standard proportioned bikes and just ride their 'Friday's. They've been around a long time and a lot of the first bikes they built are still on the road today. Good stuff. Many of them can be bought with a hard cary-case which converts to a trailer for the bike.

The Bionix conversion adds about 20 pounds and comes in at $1,800, so realistically you're looking at $2,500 and up for a electric Bike Friday. I say "and up" seriously. There are so many ways to customize them and so many cool modifications that it's easy to get into serious money. A friend of mine started out with a $1,500 Pocket Llama and got it up to $5,000, without electric.

One nice thing is if you decide it's not for you they're EASY to sell. Lots of demand for used Bike Friday's out there.

There are cheaper options out there for sure, but if someone is looking for a high quality folding electric bike, here it is.

Or..... you could get a Bike Friday of your choice, and convert it to e power yourself. I'd go with a BAFANG BBSHD mid drive power unit for the power train. That way you have gearing, a hub drive is ONE SPEED. Sure you have multi gears for pedaling, but the electric motor is ONE SPEED. To be fair, that makes it simpler, and many just getting into E bikes types go for the hub motor scenario, I did. Then I saw the light, and my last two conversions are mid drives, so now my motor HAS GEARING. Oh yeah, you'd have up to 1500 watts of power available also, that and the aforementioned gearing and there is simply no comparison in the performance level.

Cheaper too...... Luna Cycles sells the BBSHD for 700 bucks, for a complete conversion kit with display etc. The battery Friday offers "is another thing". They don't specify the manufacturer, they could be no name Chinese knockoffs/counterfeits, (unlikely as Friday does have a good rep, but possible) rather then genuine S. Korean and Japanese made Panasonic or Samsung cells, the ONLY kind Luna sells, one of if not the biggest importer of e bike battery packs. Friday fails to mention the AH capacity or the voltage, but I bet it's around 10 AH and 36 volts. that's a battery of 360 watt hrs. Luna sells a similar "Dolphin pack" type battery, using the Panasonic cells, for $425.00 but it's 52 volts and 13.5 AH! That's 702 watt hrs, almost twice as much of the stuff that makes the wheels go round. So, for around the same weight, less if anything, you get WAY more performance, for $1125.00 instead of $1800.00. A few hours of your time for the conversion, and you are good to go. The totally silent mid drive also keeps the motor weight more centered cg wise, unlike the one speed hub motor.

Those low powered hubbies are OK for riding around town, and especially with those small wheels on pavement, but really suck doing any sustained climbing. It's like comparing a stock C-152 to a modified bushed out Super Cub, they both fly but one is much more fun! My BBSO2 BAFANG conversion (little brother of the BBSHD, I got it because it's 3.5 lbs lighter) weighs all up(speaking from memory) 42.5 lbs., has 9 electric motor speeds, anywhere from a rock crawler low to a well over 30 mph high, full sized wheels with front suspension, on and on. I wouldn't trade what I have for a dozen Bike Friday's! I have around 2 K $ in it. But I do agree if you want a small tired folder for town work, Bike Friday seems to make a decent product and be a good company, I'm not knocking them, but there are much better ways to go electric. Especially if you really want to go somewhere off road and uphill. Backcountry, as it were.
BTW, they're range estimates are very, extremely, optimistic, but without them specifying the battery size it's hard to say how much.

Two days ago I flew over to Mackay, and three minutes later (how long it takes to get the bike out, unfold it, and install the battery) was riding up 1600' vertical and several miles up to the old mining site to the west. I only stopped due to deep snow. I'll go back when it melts as the last time I flew by I saw the upper mine workings at around 9K. It was a great ride, and best of all I was home by noon since I had a crane job to do! For the absolute best info on e bikes, go to http://www.endless-sphere.com, the "general e bike discussion" forum is the one you want. Taking e bike advice from someone on this site (except for me of course ) is like going to FLYING magazine for info on off airport flying.

TruckTent wrote:



I got a self balancing unicycle for the plane last week. It's the perfect airport mobility device. I can take it just about anywhere I could ride a bike. The one I have will do 20 mph and has an easy 25 mile range. Not that hard to ride for tailwheel pilots.

Time for an update on my electric unicycle: I've had it about three months and it's far more useful than I imagined. I have over 300 miles on it. I am still in one piece. I occasionally commute to work on it and it has taken me the 24 mile round trip without recharging with plenty of reserve battery. I'm averaging 12 mph over a mix of bike lanes and city sidewalks.

The wheel I have has just over 1 horse power (840 Watts) and a 680 watt hour battery. It's second nature to ride after the first month. The only issues I've had with it is occasional overheating when it's hot out on the steeper long hills that we have in Seattle.