I have a Bike E and I've never had the rear wheel off. It is the 21 speed with the 3 speed rear hub. Is it difficult to get the wheel off to replace the tire? Would it be difficult to just convert it to a 7 speed with a regular 20 inch wheel and a 7 gear cluster?

As I remember, the only inconvenience is disconnecting and reconnecting the gear cable. How often do you have a flat tire to fix for that to be an issue?

The problem with eliminating the internal gear hub is gear range. You won't be able to go very fast due to the 20" wheel.

The IGH cable disconnects without tools. You can leave the shift chain dangling, just be careful to not damage it. If you're curious, it unscrews easily from the hub. JUST DON'T LOSE IT! After that, just use 15mm box-end wrench to undo the bolts and drop the wheel out. Note the position of the cable in the quick-connect thingie, so you can position it correctly (length) when you re-assemble.

Edit for a PS: While you're there, dribble a few drops of oil down the chain and into the inner workings. Lubing it regularly keeps it running!

It is actually pretty simple. You remove the connector that attaches the adjusting rod (goes into the rear hub) and then take the wheel off as you would for any bike with a rear derailleur. Here's a picture of the connector https://picasaweb.google.com/1100556...15664227034722 If you pinch the metal part on the left side of the connector it will slide off the threaded rod. Use the hint shown so that you get it reconnected at the same place on the threaded rod. If so, the 3 speed hub will be adjusted correctly. There is an anti-rotation washer on one side of the hub to keep the axle from turning in the rear dropouts. Put it back the same way it was when you took it apart.

The funny thing is, I've never had a flat and I've had this bent since it was new. I got a screamin' deal on it at my LBS when they quit making them. I used to live up in the Black Hills here in South Dakota and I even off-roaded it quite a bit in cow pastures. Now I live in town. I guess I was just sitting here at work thinking about that, and that I should just replace the tires because they're so old. That got me thinking about how to take that wheel off.
The question on converting it was because I've been thinking about adding a hub motor and commuting to work on it. Its uphill all the way to work and I'm trying to go easy on my knees in my 50s with a history of family arthritis. Doug at GoCarLite.com says he can lace a 16 inch wheel motor for me,(front) but I wondered if I should have it on the rear wheel so all of my weight would be on it. I'll just go with the front wheel option as it will be easier to install.

Thanks for all of the helpful replies on removing the rear wheel, and especially for the link to the photo, VegasTriker.

The front wheel on that Bike-E is pretty lightly loaded. That wouldn't be my plan.

Also, the nuts and axle that go with the Sachs internal hub have a very unusual thread size. Commonly available nuts for BMX/child bike axles will not fit on the Sachs hub. Whatever you do, do not lose the Sachs axle nuts, because replacements are just IMPOSSIBLE to find!

I've never tried, but they are definitely metric; so SAE stuff won't work.

They are an uncommon metric size: 10.5mm x 26 TPI. Here's some good info: Sachs and SRAM Internal-Gear Hubs

Thanks everyone, and thanks VegasTriker for the IM, I don't have 50 posts yet so I wasn't able to respond. I'm going to look up the trikes in your avatar/signature. I've never really looked into one of those.

Reading this thread, you mentioned getting a 16-inch wheel laced for an electric drive hub. If I remember correctly (which happens less and less,) the rear on a Bike-E was 406 (20-inch) while the front was 349 (16-inch.)

There are a number of electric bike conversions that put the hub motor in front. It avoids the problem of interfacing with the gear cluster and disk brake (if present).

I'm not sure I'd do this on a BikeE- there's not much weight on the front wheel and hence less traction.

The OP bought an e-bike in a 350W version similar to this SSR Motorsports Sand Viper 500W Electric Fat Tire Bike 2016 - On Sale Now at Bikecraze.com! so i would suspect the BikeE conversion isn't an issue any more.