View Poll Results: Should gas powered bicycles be admitted to the forum?
Voters: 71. You may not vote on this poll
Are gas powered bikes welcome here too?
07-30-08, 02:55 PM
#101
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Maybe there are more places on the earth than just ontario, canada?
07-31-08, 12:15 AM
#102
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You think signs have room for all the fine print regarding exceptions? They're simplified for a reason. In the Seattle area, we have those signs as well, but the law allows exceptions for electric bicycles.
07-31-08, 05:38 PM
#103
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I checked the websites for the trails in my area and all they say on the topic is "no wheeled motorized vehicles".
08-03-08, 12:42 AM
#104
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Did someone walk in our room full of non-smokers smoking a big fat cigar?
08-03-08, 09:59 AM
#105
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I'd welcome discussion of other forms of powered bikes besides just electric. I'm interested in a possible long-range commute with some sort of velomobile-like vehicle - and from what I can see, electric just doesn't have the range quite yet. I could see using a very small ICE able to either supplement the electric drive when the battery goes flat, to to provide get-home power. Why not just use the pedals - I think weight is an issue.
It's interesting to me that GM is working very hard to bring their "Volt" concept car to market. One of their parameters is 100-mile range. I was talking to one of their engineers, and he related that it's not just a matter of sticking batteries and an electric motor in an existing car - to get the range they need, EVERY COMPONENT in the vehicle must be re-engineered and optimized for low current draw. He said, for example, that just going to the parts bin and sticking in a regular Delco stereo drops the range from 100 miles to 65 miles! (Also, they are planning to include a small ICE just to run a generator to provide "get-home" power for when the batteries go flat.)
Sianelle, how about a separate ICE forum so that we don't contaminate the electric purists?
It's interesting to me that GM is working very hard to bring their "Volt" concept car to market. One of their parameters is 100-mile range. I was talking to one of their engineers, and he related that it's not just a matter of sticking batteries and an electric motor in an existing car - to get the range they need, EVERY COMPONENT in the vehicle must be re-engineered and optimized for low current draw. He said, for example, that just going to the parts bin and sticking in a regular Delco stereo drops the range from 100 miles to 65 miles! (Also, they are planning to include a small ICE just to run a generator to provide "get-home" power for when the batteries go flat.)
Sianelle, how about a separate ICE forum so that we don't contaminate the electric purists?
08-03-08, 09:25 PM
#106
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Could always go to motoredbikes forum where they seem to have this already figured out...
I originally hoped a BIKE forum that accepted electric assist bikes would provide benefit to the evolution of this technology. Truth is, they don't like us much and don't share anything from the bicycle world to this emerging technology.
We have a lot more in common than we have different but that "different" is just too much prejudice to overcome...
I originally hoped a BIKE forum that accepted electric assist bikes would provide benefit to the evolution of this technology. Truth is, they don't like us much and don't share anything from the bicycle world to this emerging technology.
We have a lot more in common than we have different but that "different" is just too much prejudice to overcome...
08-04-08, 06:54 AM
#107
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You know? What really troubles me about the electric bike aversion to ICE's is, well.......where do the electric bike advocates think the electricity that charges their batteries comes from?
I can look out my back patio door, and over the top of the hill behind my house I can the tops of the stacks of Duke Energy's Beckjord Generating Station. We're talkin' real acid-rain producers, here. Sometimes at night I can hear them blowing out the tubes (or whatever it is they do under cover of darkness), and next morning my windowsills and my wife's car is covered by a fine film of black dust. This puppy burns coal, that's delivered to the site by barges pushed by diesel-powered towboats, and which in turn is delivered to the barges from the mine in West Virginia by trains pulled by diesel-electric locomotives.
Recently I read a report that the electricity-generating industry is worried about what will happen every evening when all of those electric-car drivers plug their cars into the grid to charge 'em up for the next day's commute.
Gives the term "rolling blackout" a whole new meaning, doesn't it?
Electricity is a unique commodity in that it is the ONLY product that is consumed the instant that it is made. When you switch on that light bulb, or plug in that battery charger, those electrons that are the power that you are using are seen as an additional load at the generator AT THAT INSTANT! They must travel to your duplex outlet over wires AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT. This means that generating capacity has to be available, not for the average load over a day or a season, but for the PEAK LOAD AT ANY INSTANT! It the capacity isn't there, then the voltage - the pressure that's moving the electrons along, drops, and we get brown-outs.
One advantage that an ICE engine has is that the demand on the infrastructure is not as immediate. You can draw the gasoline and oil that goes into the tank from a supply that was refined weeks or months ago. This tends to average-out supply and demand.
As to pollution, yes, the little 2-cycle motors are pretty dirty, but come on, we're talking 50cc's here, not 3000 to 5000 cc's, the size of a typical V6 or V8, or maybe 2000cc's for a 4 cylinder. Since the motorized bike motor is so small it just doesn't produce that much pollution - the pollution is measured in ppm of a sample of the exhaust, and though the ppm may be higher for a 2-stroke, the total volume is so low that the impact to the environment is much smaller than from the output of a typical car motor.
I can look out my back patio door, and over the top of the hill behind my house I can the tops of the stacks of Duke Energy's Beckjord Generating Station. We're talkin' real acid-rain producers, here. Sometimes at night I can hear them blowing out the tubes (or whatever it is they do under cover of darkness), and next morning my windowsills and my wife's car is covered by a fine film of black dust. This puppy burns coal, that's delivered to the site by barges pushed by diesel-powered towboats, and which in turn is delivered to the barges from the mine in West Virginia by trains pulled by diesel-electric locomotives.
Recently I read a report that the electricity-generating industry is worried about what will happen every evening when all of those electric-car drivers plug their cars into the grid to charge 'em up for the next day's commute.
Gives the term "rolling blackout" a whole new meaning, doesn't it?
Electricity is a unique commodity in that it is the ONLY product that is consumed the instant that it is made. When you switch on that light bulb, or plug in that battery charger, those electrons that are the power that you are using are seen as an additional load at the generator AT THAT INSTANT! They must travel to your duplex outlet over wires AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT. This means that generating capacity has to be available, not for the average load over a day or a season, but for the PEAK LOAD AT ANY INSTANT! It the capacity isn't there, then the voltage - the pressure that's moving the electrons along, drops, and we get brown-outs.
One advantage that an ICE engine has is that the demand on the infrastructure is not as immediate. You can draw the gasoline and oil that goes into the tank from a supply that was refined weeks or months ago. This tends to average-out supply and demand.
As to pollution, yes, the little 2-cycle motors are pretty dirty, but come on, we're talking 50cc's here, not 3000 to 5000 cc's, the size of a typical V6 or V8, or maybe 2000cc's for a 4 cylinder. Since the motorized bike motor is so small it just doesn't produce that much pollution - the pollution is measured in ppm of a sample of the exhaust, and though the ppm may be higher for a 2-stroke, the total volume is so low that the impact to the environment is much smaller than from the output of a typical car motor.
08-04-08, 09:02 AM
#108
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You know? What really troubles me about the electric bike aversion to ICE's is, well.......where do the electric bike advocates think the electricity that charges their batteries comes from?
I can look out my back patio door, and over the top of the hill behind my house I can the tops of the stacks of Duke Energy's Beckjord Generating Station. We're talkin' real acid-rain producers, here. Sometimes at night I can hear them blowing out the tubes (or whatever it is they do under cover of darkness), and next morning my windowsills and my wife's car is covered by a fine film of black dust. This puppy burns coal, that's delivered to the site by barges pushed by diesel-powered towboats, and which in turn is delivered to the barges from the mine in West Virginia by trains pulled by diesel-electric locomotives.
Recently I read a report that the electricity-generating industry is worried about what will happen every evening when all of those electric-car drivers plug their cars into the grid to charge 'em up for the next day's commute.
Gives the term "rolling blackout" a whole new meaning, doesn't it?
Electricity is a unique commodity in that it is the ONLY product that is consumed the instant that it is made. When you switch on that light bulb, or plug in that battery charger, those electrons that are the power that you are using are seen as an additional load at the generator AT THAT INSTANT! They must travel to your duplex outlet over wires AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT. This means that generating capacity has to be available, not for the average load over a day or a season, but for the PEAK LOAD AT ANY INSTANT! It the capacity isn't there, then the voltage - the pressure that's moving the electrons along, drops, and we get brown-outs.
One advantage that an ICE engine has is that the demand on the infrastructure is not as immediate. You can draw the gasoline and oil that goes into the tank from a supply that was refined weeks or months ago. This tends to average-out supply and demand.
As to pollution, yes, the little 2-cycle motors are pretty dirty, but come on, we're talking 50cc's here, not 3000 to 5000 cc's, the size of a typical V6 or V8, or maybe 2000cc's for a 4 cylinder. Since the motorized bike motor is so small it just doesn't produce that much pollution - the pollution is measured in ppm of a sample of the exhaust, and though the ppm may be higher for a 2-stroke, the total volume is so low that the impact to the environment is much smaller than from the output of a typical car motor.
I can look out my back patio door, and over the top of the hill behind my house I can the tops of the stacks of Duke Energy's Beckjord Generating Station. We're talkin' real acid-rain producers, here. Sometimes at night I can hear them blowing out the tubes (or whatever it is they do under cover of darkness), and next morning my windowsills and my wife's car is covered by a fine film of black dust. This puppy burns coal, that's delivered to the site by barges pushed by diesel-powered towboats, and which in turn is delivered to the barges from the mine in West Virginia by trains pulled by diesel-electric locomotives.
Recently I read a report that the electricity-generating industry is worried about what will happen every evening when all of those electric-car drivers plug their cars into the grid to charge 'em up for the next day's commute.
Gives the term "rolling blackout" a whole new meaning, doesn't it?
Electricity is a unique commodity in that it is the ONLY product that is consumed the instant that it is made. When you switch on that light bulb, or plug in that battery charger, those electrons that are the power that you are using are seen as an additional load at the generator AT THAT INSTANT! They must travel to your duplex outlet over wires AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT. This means that generating capacity has to be available, not for the average load over a day or a season, but for the PEAK LOAD AT ANY INSTANT! It the capacity isn't there, then the voltage - the pressure that's moving the electrons along, drops, and we get brown-outs.
One advantage that an ICE engine has is that the demand on the infrastructure is not as immediate. You can draw the gasoline and oil that goes into the tank from a supply that was refined weeks or months ago. This tends to average-out supply and demand.
As to pollution, yes, the little 2-cycle motors are pretty dirty, but come on, we're talking 50cc's here, not 3000 to 5000 cc's, the size of a typical V6 or V8, or maybe 2000cc's for a 4 cylinder. Since the motorized bike motor is so small it just doesn't produce that much pollution - the pollution is measured in ppm of a sample of the exhaust, and though the ppm may be higher for a 2-stroke, the total volume is so low that the impact to the environment is much smaller than from the output of a typical car motor.
Electric bikes that use electricity generated from renewable resources are absolutely clean - even cleaner than human powered bikes (human food supplies need transport, often using fossil fuels).
By contrast, 4-stroke motors and especially 2-stroke motors are major polluters and destined to become a dead end thanks to their reliance on fossil fuels or energy wasteful corn-based ethanol.
The days of the ICE are coming to a close.
08-04-08, 10:05 AM
#109
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But natural gas, coal, and nuclear are pretty dirty. Would you rather walk through a cloud of coal smoke, or swim through some nuclear waste?
Dirty is dirty.
08-04-08, 10:16 AM
#110
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None of the above - I agree with you, however, my point is that clean options are increasingly being sought and delivered. We had a coal fired generating station near here that the government closed down in 2005 to the relief of many. When people can hook up to the grid and supply small or large amounts of renewable power generated through rooftop panels or windmills (as is possible in more enlightened communities), we will be able to eliminate more fossil and nuclear sources. Also, as conservation takes hold, such installations will become cheaper.
08-04-08, 11:02 AM
#111
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Personally I think that there is no one answer, but dozens of 2% to 5% solutions. We'll probably never get totally rid of fossil-fuel power in our lifetimes, but every step we take in that direction is a step in the right direction. This includes doing what we can to reduce consumption.
Right now, for many of us, the practical choice is to do SOMETHING, which includes HPV, electric power, or small ICE, or do NOTHING, and just keep driving that SUV.
When I can buy an electric car that can run at freeway speeds for 100 miles on a charge, and I can buy it for, say, the equivalent of $25,000.00, I'll be standing in line.
Right now, for many of us, the practical choice is to do SOMETHING, which includes HPV, electric power, or small ICE, or do NOTHING, and just keep driving that SUV.
When I can buy an electric car that can run at freeway speeds for 100 miles on a charge, and I can buy it for, say, the equivalent of $25,000.00, I'll be standing in line.
08-07-08, 07:22 PM
#112
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Some guy's home made bike using a weed whacker/strimmer bolted onto a bicycle. Claims he gets more than 20mph and 100mpg.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLpX7n0MJwM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLpX7n0MJwM
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Recommended reading for all cyclists - Cyclecraft - Effective Cycling
Condor Cycles - quite possibly the best bike shop in London
Don't run red lights, wear a helmet, use hand signals, get some cycle lights(front and rear) and, FFS, don't run red lights!
shameless POWERCRANK plug
Recommended reading for all cyclists - Cyclecraft - Effective Cycling
Condor Cycles - quite possibly the best bike shop in London
Don't run red lights, wear a helmet, use hand signals, get some cycle lights(front and rear) and, FFS, don't run red lights!
08-07-08, 08:12 PM
#113
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I don't really see much of a reason for not allowing gas-powered bicycles on this forum too just like electric-powered bicycles. The argument that 'electric bikes don't pollute' doesn't hold true: the electricity its battery was charged with was most likely produced in a gas, coal or nuclear powered plant. (And *yes*, I know small gas engines are perhaps dirtier than a well-engineered electric power plant. But it becomes just a matter of degrees then, doesn't it ? How much 'pollution' is allowed for it to be a valid topic on the forum...).
You seem to forget that oil needs to be extracted. If you're in the U.S. you're most likely using Canadian oil which comes from Alberta oil sands for the most part. It uses a very messy extraction method.
Then you have to account for moving all this oil to the refineries. Next, you have to refine the oil. Then you have to transports the oil to the retailer. And finally, and this is the funniest part: THE RETAILER USES ELECTRICITY TO PUMP THE OIL INTO YOUR CAR!!!
The old argument that electricity is messier than oil is very outdated. From the source to your car (or bike), electricity is far cleaner. And let's not forget that with e power you have many options. With oil, you have very little.
Example: Using geothermal energy you could actually charge a Bionx battery 100% overnight.
Don't perpetuate the false myth of messy electricity that the gas companies are spreading around. Look it up yourself, do the math and it's pretty obvious which is cleaner.
08-07-08, 08:15 PM
#114
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Maddyfish really has no clue what he's talking about.
08-07-08, 08:20 PM
#115
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Lets not forget something important here: eBikes don't use that much electricity anyway. And if you charge at off-peak hours it's even better still.
I know the electricity in my eBike is from Hydro power. Can you claim the oil in your gas bike is cleaner than that?
08-08-08, 11:38 AM
#116
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I cannot imagine why Sianelle, as our forum moderator would post such a divisive topic on the electric bike forum. To what purpose or advantage is there to discuss something so obviously off topic when there are forums out there for motor cycle enthusiasts.
As to some of the posts, they are verging on purposeful misunderstanding. Just what part of 'green energy' is it that can't be understood?
Small engines are noisy and smelly as well as polluting. ebike at worst are quiet and only indirectly or minimumly polluting.
As to some of the posts, they are verging on purposeful misunderstanding. Just what part of 'green energy' is it that can't be understood?
Small engines are noisy and smelly as well as polluting. ebike at worst are quiet and only indirectly or minimumly polluting.
08-08-08, 06:23 PM
#117
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Sometimes it's worth kicking off a divisive discussion in order to turn up some new points of view. As a former alternative lifestyler/smallholder and ex-vegan I fully understand what it is to be green and how to step lightly upon the earth. I love my electric assisted tricycle and it has done considerable real work since the day I first built it up in my workshop. I fully agree about the quietness factor with electric vehicles as I quite often say my prayers while I'm out on my tricycle and there is definitely something about riding an electric assisted HPV that makes one feel in harmony with one's surroundings.
However I do find that there is a practical limit to just how far one can go with an electric tricycle. I have a small 1977 model car that I could use, but I don't think it is appropriate to use such a vehicle to run myself around unless the weather is so foul that I might endanger my health by staying with using an HPV (and I am working on a weatherproof HPV btw to reduce my car use even more).
A bicycle with a small motor, - a motor-bicycle, - is perfect for me when I need to go further afield over our district's rural roads; - and I have not the slightest intention of terrorising small towns or upsetting folk on wilderness trails either! I know it's not the most ideal solution, but it is much better than passively driving my car about and expecting to find a total waste of space called a parking space in which to leave my car when I get to my destination.
As a result of the poll and all the comments I've received I'm going to place two 'sticky' threads at the top of the forum, one for 'Other Alternative Energy Powered Bicycles' and one for 'Gas Powered Bicycles'. Posting off-topic outside these threads in the greater Electric Bike Forum will make me very annoyed; - please be warned
The experiment has moved onto stage II and if demand is proved over time then I shall take steps to formally request a separate 'Motored-Bicycle' forum where such things as steam, compressed air, wind, petrol, diesel & etc can be discussed.
However I do find that there is a practical limit to just how far one can go with an electric tricycle. I have a small 1977 model car that I could use, but I don't think it is appropriate to use such a vehicle to run myself around unless the weather is so foul that I might endanger my health by staying with using an HPV (and I am working on a weatherproof HPV btw to reduce my car use even more).
A bicycle with a small motor, - a motor-bicycle, - is perfect for me when I need to go further afield over our district's rural roads; - and I have not the slightest intention of terrorising small towns or upsetting folk on wilderness trails either! I know it's not the most ideal solution, but it is much better than passively driving my car about and expecting to find a total waste of space called a parking space in which to leave my car when I get to my destination.
As a result of the poll and all the comments I've received I'm going to place two 'sticky' threads at the top of the forum, one for 'Other Alternative Energy Powered Bicycles' and one for 'Gas Powered Bicycles'. Posting off-topic outside these threads in the greater Electric Bike Forum will make me very annoyed; - please be warned
The experiment has moved onto stage II and if demand is proved over time then I shall take steps to formally request a separate 'Motored-Bicycle' forum where such things as steam, compressed air, wind, petrol, diesel & etc can be discussed.
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OMNIPOTENS aeterne Deus, qui nos secundum imaginem Tuam plasmasti, et omnia bona, vera, pulchra, praesertim in divina persona Unigeniti Filii Tui Domini nostri Iesu Christi, quaerere iussisti, praesta quaesumus ut, per intercessionem Sancti Isidori, Episcopi et Doctoris, in peregrinationibus per interrete factis et manus oculosque ad quae Tibi sunt placita intendamus et omnes quos convenimus cum caritate ac patientia accipiamus. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
08-10-08, 12:29 PM
#118
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...Side question. He has a 49cc ebay Chinese made 2 stroke clip on motor. It uses an odd ball size drive chain. I've been to bike shops and motorcycle shops. Bike stuff is too small, motorcycle stuff is spaced wrong (it uses very short links). Any ideas where to look for a chain?
https://www.motoredbikes.com/
~
08-10-08, 01:03 PM
#119
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Electric bikes that use electricity generated from renewable resources are absolutely clean - even cleaner than human powered bikes (human food supplies need transport, often using fossil fuels)
08-10-08, 01:03 PM
#120
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By way of an experiment I've decided to allow gas (petrol) powered bikes to be discussed here too as many issues around applying non-human motive force to a bicycle are issues in common; .... However when it comes to seriously technical questions about these sources of energy it might well be better to seek out a specialist forum in which to find the answers you might need. ...
A few points I might add-
....Discussing the legality issue is a mess, because the laws on motorized bicycles vary widely. Zeuser loves to spout Canada law, but Canada doesn't rule the world. In the US, every state has its own laws on the subject. Some states allow both, some prohibit both, some allow with various restrictions, and a couple only allow electrics (which is rather misinformed IMO, but anyway). And other countries have it all different ways too.
,,,,
I think it would be WONDERFUL for there to be consistent legislation across the US for allowing these bicycles. Part of the problem that motorized bikes have now is that the markets is relatively small, due to the uncommon nature of use. I'd expect we would see much better products if there was a much larger known market to serve.
....I don't see how it's any different philosophically to add a motor to a bicycle that is either gas or electric; you're pedaling less either way. "But! But! I still pedal!!!" There's people out there who will only ride penny-farthings, and they think you're a wuss for riding a bike that has gears. The question is, if someone could use a car to get around or a motorized bicycle, which would you (as a bicyclist) rather have? Certainly getting hit by the motorized bike will not be pleasant, but I'd much prefer that to getting hit by the much-heavier and potentially much faster car.
....The pollution aspect is rather debatable, in terms of "which causes more". With electrics, the main pollution is not in the charging them daily, but in the manufacturing and disposal of the batteries--and there's pollution involved, even if the batteries are recycled. No nation on earth has yet had to deal with ongoing production, maintenance and disposal of battery-powered vehicles on a large scale, so how well that will go is anybody's guess. Would you want to live next to a battery-manufacturing plant? Or how about the battery-recycling plant? Most people I expect would not take that deal, even if they provided lots of nice bike paths in the area.
....The tailpipe pollution of small engines is bad, especially for 2-strokes, but the 2-strokes are already being imported less due to EPA restrictions that took effect in 2006. The 4-strokes are not as bad and could be a lot lower with catalytic converters, but these are generally not available in the US. California has required them on new small engines since January 2007, but for the Robin-Subaru engine I have the only way to get one is to buy a California-legal engine that has one. I've tried a couple times to buy one for the engine I have (a model for which there is a California-legal variant) and they won't sell me one. For some reason the dealers cannot obtain that part separately.
....I don't ride on bike paths with my ICE-powered bicycle, even though legally in my state I can. It's my feeling that bike paths should be built only where they provide significant short cuts to the regular roadway, and not simply to provide a separate area from the roadway. And if you've got a ICE-powered bicycle, then it usually has the power and range to the extent that taking shortcuts really isn't necessary anyway. ...And that's the reason that ICE-bikes should be allowed, which is the same reason that ICE-cars are everywhere and electric cars are not. If the cost signifies the total energy expenditure and EV's cost more than ICE vehicles, then what do you think you're saving by using an EV?
~
,,,,
I think it would be WONDERFUL for there to be consistent legislation across the US for allowing these bicycles. Part of the problem that motorized bikes have now is that the markets is relatively small, due to the uncommon nature of use. I'd expect we would see much better products if there was a much larger known market to serve.
....I don't see how it's any different philosophically to add a motor to a bicycle that is either gas or electric; you're pedaling less either way. "But! But! I still pedal!!!" There's people out there who will only ride penny-farthings, and they think you're a wuss for riding a bike that has gears. The question is, if someone could use a car to get around or a motorized bicycle, which would you (as a bicyclist) rather have? Certainly getting hit by the motorized bike will not be pleasant, but I'd much prefer that to getting hit by the much-heavier and potentially much faster car.
....The pollution aspect is rather debatable, in terms of "which causes more". With electrics, the main pollution is not in the charging them daily, but in the manufacturing and disposal of the batteries--and there's pollution involved, even if the batteries are recycled. No nation on earth has yet had to deal with ongoing production, maintenance and disposal of battery-powered vehicles on a large scale, so how well that will go is anybody's guess. Would you want to live next to a battery-manufacturing plant? Or how about the battery-recycling plant? Most people I expect would not take that deal, even if they provided lots of nice bike paths in the area.
....The tailpipe pollution of small engines is bad, especially for 2-strokes, but the 2-strokes are already being imported less due to EPA restrictions that took effect in 2006. The 4-strokes are not as bad and could be a lot lower with catalytic converters, but these are generally not available in the US. California has required them on new small engines since January 2007, but for the Robin-Subaru engine I have the only way to get one is to buy a California-legal engine that has one. I've tried a couple times to buy one for the engine I have (a model for which there is a California-legal variant) and they won't sell me one. For some reason the dealers cannot obtain that part separately.
....I don't ride on bike paths with my ICE-powered bicycle, even though legally in my state I can. It's my feeling that bike paths should be built only where they provide significant short cuts to the regular roadway, and not simply to provide a separate area from the roadway. And if you've got a ICE-powered bicycle, then it usually has the power and range to the extent that taking shortcuts really isn't necessary anyway. ...And that's the reason that ICE-bikes should be allowed, which is the same reason that ICE-cars are everywhere and electric cars are not. If the cost signifies the total energy expenditure and EV's cost more than ICE vehicles, then what do you think you're saving by using an EV?
Last edited by Doug5150; 08-10-08 at 01:07 PM.
08-10-08, 01:36 PM
#121
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Bikes: Custom built tourer, custom electric bike, beaters everywhere
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The internet is a wonderful invention. It allows everyone who is connected to communicate with one another. By communicate I mean:
"The exchange of information using a common system of symbols, signs, behaviour, writing, speaking or signals."
The internet allows people at both ends of the socio-economic spectrum to communicate with each other. Some pretty diverse opinions are often held, some are supportable and sustainable, and many are not. Some communication is fact, some speculation and much is mere opinion and contradiction.
Bike Forums is a prime example of the diversity of communication on the internet. One of the reasons there are so many forums is to find a way of organizing discussion topics. It's much like a filing system and it only works when the filing system is used. When I have a topic I first head to the forum that most closely relates to the topic and post there.
After hanging around in the ebike trade for as many years as I have, I've discovered there are really only three different types of users.
First, there is the USER. The user is trying to sell you something and the less you know about what you are buying the happier they are. They lie about motor and battery performance. In Bike Forums, these users are mostly selling those horrid little electric scooters. They weigh more than 500 pounds with a passenger and are not bicycles. I've been flamed many times by these users. They all seem to be retailers trying to promote their crap.
The second are the real users. People who have ebikes and want to improve their knowledge or need some advice starting out. I'm happy to share my knowledge with these people because they are for the most part, kindred spirits. I invite these people to my journal
The third group are the abusers. They are rude, have poor spelling and grammar and want to put a washing machine motor or their stolen bicycle and go '50', which I assume means 50 miles per hour as I suspect they come from the Ozarks.
If you've managed to get this far reading this missive, then thank you. I'm coming up on my 60th birthday and I figure since I'm in good shape, I may have another 20 years. They weren't kidding when they said life is short. The truth is that I can choose to spend 20 years getting annoyed with minion low lifes or I can dance in the sun with people who think dancing in the sun beats living under a culvert.
I choose the latter.
Read more...here
08-10-08, 05:07 PM
#122
Sister Annie
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Location: Hauraki Plains District, New Zealand
Posts: 1,519
Bikes: Retro Hercules adult tricycle, 1953 Hercules ladies roadster, 1950s Wearwell fixed gear 'Club' pathracer, 1980s Malvern Star 'Super Star', 1980s Healing GTX-105 Arabesque, 1980's Morrison Concorde & etc & etc.......
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Um.... It is Her actually. 
Thankyou for your input to the discussion Stokell. This is still the Electric Bike Forum and I take great care to weed out those who are just trying to sell something. Now that the two sticky threads have been put up there will be no more discussion of non-electric powered bicycles within the main forum itself.
As a woman who lives with a disability my ownership of an electric assisted tricycle has been immensely liberating and I shall always be an enthusiast for this mode of transport. However the fact remains that in this particular era of history many folk are looking for a less ecologically hungry way to transport themselves around and I happen to think it is worthwhile to keep an open mind on the subject.
The fact of battery disposal is going to be a future difficulty. We have just the one disposal plant here in NZ and in recent history there have been numerous leakages of dangerous gases and substances from the plant which has cause all manner of difficulty for folk living nearby. A high level of on-going plant maintenance and up-grading under government scrutiny has been necessary to keep discharges within Safety guidelines and I do wonder just how carefully future battery disposal plants in the developed world will work to remain 'green'. Or perhaps this will be yet another waste problem that gets solved for cheap in the Third World
Thankyou for your input to the discussion Stokell. This is still the Electric Bike Forum and I take great care to weed out those who are just trying to sell something. Now that the two sticky threads have been put up there will be no more discussion of non-electric powered bicycles within the main forum itself.
As a woman who lives with a disability my ownership of an electric assisted tricycle has been immensely liberating and I shall always be an enthusiast for this mode of transport. However the fact remains that in this particular era of history many folk are looking for a less ecologically hungry way to transport themselves around and I happen to think it is worthwhile to keep an open mind on the subject.
The fact of battery disposal is going to be a future difficulty. We have just the one disposal plant here in NZ and in recent history there have been numerous leakages of dangerous gases and substances from the plant which has cause all manner of difficulty for folk living nearby. A high level of on-going plant maintenance and up-grading under government scrutiny has been necessary to keep discharges within Safety guidelines and I do wonder just how carefully future battery disposal plants in the developed world will work to remain 'green'. Or perhaps this will be yet another waste problem that gets solved for cheap in the Third World
__________________
OMNIPOTENS aeterne Deus, qui nos secundum imaginem Tuam plasmasti, et omnia bona, vera, pulchra, praesertim in divina persona Unigeniti Filii Tui Domini nostri Iesu Christi, quaerere iussisti, praesta quaesumus ut, per intercessionem Sancti Isidori, Episcopi et Doctoris, in peregrinationibus per interrete factis et manus oculosque ad quae Tibi sunt placita intendamus et omnes quos convenimus cum caritate ac patientia accipiamus. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
OMNIPOTENS aeterne Deus, qui nos secundum imaginem Tuam plasmasti, et omnia bona, vera, pulchra, praesertim in divina persona Unigeniti Filii Tui Domini nostri Iesu Christi, quaerere iussisti, praesta quaesumus ut, per intercessionem Sancti Isidori, Episcopi et Doctoris, in peregrinationibus per interrete factis et manus oculosque ad quae Tibi sunt placita intendamus et omnes quos convenimus cum caritate ac patientia accipiamus. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
08-13-08, 05:38 PM
#123
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stockel,
you've got the b*lls to say it like it is! Rock on!
I've got issues with the moderator too? Why does she have that annoying avitor and that latin at the bottom of every post? Does she think we don't know what is says? To me it says "I'm smarter than you, because I know latin".
They don't call it a dead language for nothing.
you've got the b*lls to say it like it is! Rock on!
I've got issues with the moderator too? Why does she have that annoying avitor and that latin at the bottom of every post? Does she think we don't know what is says? To me it says "I'm smarter than you, because I know latin".
They don't call it a dead language for nothing.
08-13-08, 05:42 PM
#124
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There is some wind, and solar in use. Not much at all. Statistically insignificant. Hydro power is in use, and is as clean as it gets (although there is a case to be made for hydro power's destruction of habitat due to backing up waterways).
But natural gas, coal, and nuclear are pretty dirty. Would you rather walk through a cloud of coal smoke, or swim through some nuclear waste?
Dirty is dirty.
But natural gas, coal, and nuclear are pretty dirty. Would you rather walk through a cloud of coal smoke, or swim through some nuclear waste?
Dirty is dirty.
08-13-08, 07:31 PM
#125
Sister Annie
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Hauraki Plains District, New Zealand
Posts: 1,519
Bikes: Retro Hercules adult tricycle, 1953 Hercules ladies roadster, 1950s Wearwell fixed gear 'Club' pathracer, 1980s Malvern Star 'Super Star', 1980s Healing GTX-105 Arabesque, 1980's Morrison Concorde & etc & etc.......
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stockel,
you've got the b*lls to say it like it is! Rock on!
I've got issues with the moderator too? Why does she have that annoying avitor and that latin at the bottom of every post? Does she think we don't know what is says? To me it says "I'm smarter than you, because I know latin".
They don't call it a dead language for nothing.
you've got the b*lls to say it like it is! Rock on!
I've got issues with the moderator too? Why does she have that annoying avitor and that latin at the bottom of every post? Does she think we don't know what is says? To me it says "I'm smarter than you, because I know latin".
They don't call it a dead language for nothing.
A prayer before logging onto the internet:
Almighty and eternal God,
who created us in Thy image
and bade us to seek after all that is good, true and beautiful,
especially in the divine person of Thy Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
grant, we beseech Thee,
that, through the intercession of Saint Isidore, Bishop and Doctor,
during our journeys through the internet
we will direct our hands and eyes only to that which is pleasing to Thee
and treat with charity and patience all those souls whom we encounter.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Almighty and eternal God,
who created us in Thy image
and bade us to seek after all that is good, true and beautiful,
especially in the divine person of Thy Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
grant, we beseech Thee,
that, through the intercession of Saint Isidore, Bishop and Doctor,
during our journeys through the internet
we will direct our hands and eyes only to that which is pleasing to Thee
and treat with charity and patience all those souls whom we encounter.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ah my former avatar. I will confess I love all things Steampunk; - here is the larger image from which my original avatar was taken.
__________________
OMNIPOTENS aeterne Deus, qui nos secundum imaginem Tuam plasmasti, et omnia bona, vera, pulchra, praesertim in divina persona Unigeniti Filii Tui Domini nostri Iesu Christi, quaerere iussisti, praesta quaesumus ut, per intercessionem Sancti Isidori, Episcopi et Doctoris, in peregrinationibus per interrete factis et manus oculosque ad quae Tibi sunt placita intendamus et omnes quos convenimus cum caritate ac patientia accipiamus. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
OMNIPOTENS aeterne Deus, qui nos secundum imaginem Tuam plasmasti, et omnia bona, vera, pulchra, praesertim in divina persona Unigeniti Filii Tui Domini nostri Iesu Christi, quaerere iussisti, praesta quaesumus ut, per intercessionem Sancti Isidori, Episcopi et Doctoris, in peregrinationibus per interrete factis et manus oculosque ad quae Tibi sunt placita intendamus et omnes quos convenimus cum caritate ac patientia accipiamus. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Last edited by Sianelle; 08-15-08 at 07:10 PM. Reason: Made a change to my avatar