Thanks for the info!
I see your point blazing.
I'd consider a motorbike... but driving a Prius, getting 200 mpg for even just a gas-powered
bicycle is pretty much a joke for me. I might as well keep driving locally if I were to consider a motorbike
. This electric kit is one of the best kits out there, using lithium batteries (ecospeed 37 volt). The kit weighs about 25 pounds... and should take the bike ~35-45 mph. Other costs add on from the accessories, like a TailSok.
No getting gas... no fumes... no maintenance outside regular bike care... and no noise... easy to just pop into the hatch. I can't do this with a motorbike. Sooner or later I'll be getting solar panels... making it all the more efficient. (and I don't have the image in my mind of a gas motor belching out gobs of smoke in the tailpipe).
Having a friend who actually hit a biker coming out of a parking lot... and how fast some drive here... I would never consider taking my upright on the road... but would a powered one.
Also, with a powered kit I can bike down to the rail trail. Everything here is spread out... and even if I had the legs for the hills and distances here, I wouldn't have the time for it at unpowered speeds... especially given the kind of time I have these days. IE I wouldn't ever take out my upright beyond the short commute to my school.
Those are my reasons for going the expensive (and heavily modified rather than 'made for') route rather than getting a gas-powered or custom electric bicycle or motorbike/cycle.