Gas or Electric Bicycles?
Rob Means of Electric Bikes (www.electric-bikes.com)
“If you want a scooter, but are still deciding between gas and electric, ask yourself a few questions,” Means says. “For example, we used the Go-Ped, the most popular gas-powered scooter for comparison. A Go-Ped with fuel weighs about 22 pounds. The Zappy weighs about 35 pounds. Both are small enough to fit in a duffel bag. Although you can sneak the Go-Ped onto public transportation, it is illegal to do so. Vizas and other gas-powered scooters are larger and much heavier. When folded, the Zappy will easily roll on its front wheel. A Go-Ped has solid wheels, so you won’t have flats. However, the tires wear out relatively quickly when ridden hard daily. A college student reported that the rear tire lasted about two months. Squeezing hole sealant, such as Slime (available at bicycle shops), into Zappy’s pneumatic tires will prevent most flats.”
Riding a Go-Ped in rain is a bit risky, according to Means. People have reported the drive spindle slipping on the wheel. Riding off-road on a Go-Ped is also a bit risky, because of tiny solid wheels and friction drive. Some users report that if it’s freezing outside, and they hit a puddle of water, the spindle may ice up. Zappy, with a notched belt drive, gets positive traction in the rain, cold and off-road. If you want to modify your scooter, get a Go-Ped.
Many after market accessories are available, even cooling kits. Few items are available for other scooters. If you need to bring your scooter indoors when you get to where you’re going, you may have problems with a gas-powered unit. Because of two-cycle fuel and the smell of burnt rubber from the spindle, a Go-Ped often smells. You may want to leave it outside when visiting friends. Electric, in comparison, is clean.”
According to Means, if left unmodified, the Go-Ped puts out about 82 decibels at full throttle when tested from 50 feet away. With a special intake muffler, 72 decibels is achievable. That’s the maximum allowed to motorcycles in the California vehicle code. The complaints of neighbors prompted one individual to confiscate his son’s Go-Ped.
Electric is clean, quiet and acceptable to neighbors. If an individual is willing to pay for performance, Means recommended an electric scooter with enhanced performance, such as the Turbo-Z, Exkate, or Badsey EMX Racer. All offer quicker acceleration than gas-powered scooters.
“Riding an electric bike doesn’t require a license, registration or insurance,” Means notes. “The investment and operating costs are small. Considering that fuel costs are near their 20-year lows, its much more likely they’ll go up rather than down. Even without a market driven price increase, the cost of gas may rise if a national carbon tax is imposed to reduce global warming. In 1973 when the oil embargo disrupted America, we imported about 40 percent of our oil. Now, we import 80 percent. World oil production facilities are at a capacity. The demand for oil from developing nations could bid the price up, as could any disruption of supply channels. Every year for the past two decades, the industry has pumped more oil than it has discovered, and production will soon be unable to keep up with rising demand.”
When using a gas/electric scooter or bicycle, be predictable, Means cautions. Don’t make sudden, unexpected maneuvers. Always wear a helmet. Learn basic handling skills. Basic handling includes riding with the flow and acting more like a slow-moving car. For bicycles, get a good headlight and a taillight and/or a large rear reflector in order to be equipped for night riding. Most importantly, is to assume that car drivers cannot see you, so ride defensively.
Basic bicycle handling includes proper seat height, picking the right gear, stopping by using both brakes, and scanning for traffic behind without swerving. Basic traffic skills include changing lanes, lane positioning depending on the speed of traffic and the width of the travel lane, lane positioning based on destination at intersections, and yielding and stopping when required by traffic rules.”
Brad Baron of Rad2Go (www.rad2go.com)
“Electric scooters require low maintenance,” Baron says. “Other than that, they’re quiet and they don’t emit odors and emissionsÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½..and they’re environmentally friendly. There are no age requirements in most states, and you get more torque than gas engines because you can drop all the power at once. Electric scooters ride smoother than gas-powered scooters and there’s no mess and no heat. The cost is about five cents to recharge, as opposed to refueling. Other advantages include no fumes, no guilt, happier neighbors, the chance of fire is greatly reduced, and the cost is lower for a unit.”
Jeff Champion of MicroPower (www.zipcycle.com)
“The ZipCycles are powered by a 25 cc, one horsepower HomeLite engine and the pollution output would be equivalent to any gas powered weed trimmer,” Champion says. “ZipCycles are at the moderate level for products of similar nature. Requiring little or no maintenance and getting around 140 miles per gallon of gasoline, a ZipCycle offers a minimal cost of daily operation. ZipCycles will propel the average rider (up to 250 pounds) at a top speed of 20 miles per hour, and offers an unassisted hill climbing ability of up to five percent, or nine degrees. Above five percent, hill climbing can be achieved with nominal pedal assistance. ZipCycles are safe and easy to operate.”
ZipCycles offer the ability to ride one of three ways – use of motor power alone; use as bicycle only, with no drag or interaction from motor unit; and use pedal and motor power simultaneously, according to Champion. A gas-powered bike for example, has unlimited range (just refill the tank), and higher speed. An electric bike is quiet, convenient and doesn’t require fuel. As I mentioned, a ZipCycle goes about 20 miles per hour.
“Our electric bikes go about 15 miles per hour,” Champion says. “We wanted to create an engine-assisted bicycle that was reliable, lightweight, could still be pedaled if desired, and could fit in a standard bike rack. However, it would have to look like an old-time motorbike. Not with a motor perched up high on the front wheel, or above the rear, for that matter. We wanted a real fuel burning engine purring away inside the frame where a motorbike engine should be, with the controls up on the handlebars.”
Staff of Bike Motor (www.bikemotor.com)
According to the Bike Motor staff, Dimension EDGE offers the best technology as an auxiliary power supply for virtually any bike, recumbent, fold-up and most tricycles. Bike Motor’s rear drive remains the safest. Only one of its engine systems will render a bicycle a motorized vehicle. Wasteful fuel consumption is eliminated, because with Bike Motor’s engine system you can achieve 200 miles per gallon and cruise at 30 miles per hour (or more, if you special order a system).
Dimension Edge is environmentally responsible, according to the Bike Motor staff. Its engines are clean. When California passed the CARB air quality controls, it outlawed many engines for use in the state. Bike Motor’s engines emit less than half the requirement. The system offers a selection of drive wheels.
Speeds range from three miles per hour to 35 miles per hour, depending on road conditions or incline. Drive ratios can be changed in minutes. The system rarely needs to be licensed and may mingle legally with motor vehicles on the street. EDGE operates in cold, wind and rain.
For more information, see the following: www.currietech.com; www.motoboard.com; www.kirksbikeshop.com; www.bikeengine.com; www.motorizedbikes.com; www.tonys-toys.com; www.xootr.com; and www.Scootercommuter.com.
