Originally Posted by
dminor
"...because it's not 1810 anymore."
I cannot say anything; I would not do it but I used to ride my dirt bikes a lot of places I should not have back in the day.
Why? It's a mountain bike. Even though it is assisted, it has no torque like a dirt bike does. I.e. you can't spin the rear tire or anything like that. It just takes away some of the muscle force needed to turn the pedals. It's no different than having someone with bigger muscles pedal your bike. And if you turn off the motor there's no assist at all.