That's it! Throwing away my car(s) for good!

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Disposing of a Tempo is always cause for celebration

[Snax]

I just received my 50cc 2-stroke kit for a bike on friday. I was going to mount it on my Trek 4300, but it would just require too much alteration of the bike to be a good use for it. Fortunately I've been a bit of a junk-bike collector this last year and found a useable freebie in the pile of frames with plenty of odd parts to build up something useable - except for a good rear wheel.

I spent much of yesterday putting it all together with the best from the parts bin, and mounted the engine kit. All I need now is a rear wheel and to mount the drive sprocket and I'll be on my way to 120 mpg bliss. Ok, bliss may include smelling like a landscaper from the 2-stroke fumes when I get to places, but I plan to go carless at least thru september which should cut 75% of my fuel expense and $40/month in insurance.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Originally Posted by Snax

Fortunately I've been a bit of a junk-bike collector this last year and found a useable freebie in the pile of frames with plenty of odd parts to build up something useable - except for a good rear wheel.

Yeah I ended up with quite a pile too, need to get a decent one together from it, keep running out of tires (rot) and freewheels (I seem to bust them a lot) Thinking I'm gonna play with the arc welder I've got sometime and try and make some sort of recumbent out of the pile.

[Peakster]

I wonder how much MPG a person could get when that 50-cc engine is added and used simultaneously while pedaling. You could probably get a pretty decent speed too .

[Lug_Nut]

Originally Posted by Lug_Nut

I still have ... '00 Odyssey ... and I still have my '69 Saab, but neither of those have moved in the past two+ months.

Guess who discovered a depleted battery this morning?
Please don't condemn me for driving in today, I cleaned out my closet and brought in a week+ worth of clean clothes.
I'll put the solar trickle charger in the van tonight to prevent a recurrence.

[Snax]

I'm not really concerned about getting more speed out of the motor. It should push me to well over 30 mph on the flats, which is fast enough for me. (Cagers don't expect bicycles to be going that fast either, so it becomes even more of a safety factor with higher speed.) Although I'm probably going to put a 7 or 8 speed cluster on the rear wheel, I'm going to fix the derailers in one gear since I don't want to hassle with sorting the shifters out with the new clutch and brake arrangement. (Motorcycle style)

I think I can push economy out to well over 150 mpg too just by keeping speed down to 25-30, EOC'ing to stops, and pedal starting to 10 mph or so. I'll also be making the effort to actually pedal my fat butt to work, only to use the motor to get home in the heat of the afternoon.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Just thinking, those oldskool hub dynos should make enough current for high brightness white LEDs, for a lot more brightness than the "orange glow" older type bulbs. Just thinking they would be good set high for DRLs for bicycles to help be seen. I found in the dark, that even very bright battery headlights don't get seen until cars are on top of you unless you set them high. Which generally means you can't see where you're going outside of city lights. Anyhoo, just thinking I might get one of those, rig it through some small rechargable cells or a big capacitor for 5 mins reserve at intersections, and wire up two high brightness LED lamps, one set low for seeing and switched off in daylight and one set high for being seen. Might put the "being seen" one in a 4 inch or so reflector housing so it looks big enough to be a moped or scooter light, then you might get less issues with people turning left into you or pulling out into you. Due to them guesstimating your speed higher than 5-10mph...

[Snax]

Originally Posted by Snax

I think I can push economy out to well over 150 mpg too just by keeping speed down to 25-30, EOC'ing to stops, and pedal starting to 10 mph or so. I'll also be making the effort to actually pedal my fat butt to work, only to use the motor to get home in the heat of the afternoon.

Well that part has turned out to be complete BS. :P

#1 The bike is a ***** to pedal very fast without the motor due to the extra chain drag, so I've only pedalled to work once since I got the thing - on my normal bike!

#2 120 MPG is simply an unlikely target to reach without literally putting along all the time. If I want to get to work that slowly, I'd still beat it by pedalling the regular bike.

#3 I've been too lazy to find the soldering iron and fix up a proper kill switch for the motor, so no EOCs or leaving the engine off at stops. But that's my bad, not the motor's.

Regardless of the above, I've had my car insurance suspended for two weeks now and have gotten to work exclusively by bike. I don't plan to drive it or reinstate the insurance until September at the earliest, and will only take the wife's car to work if absolutely necessary.

[Peakster]

Originally Posted by Snax

#1 The bike is a ***** to pedal very fast without the motor due to the extra chain drag, so I've only pedalled to work once since I got the thing - on my normal bike!

That's crummy to hear. You'd think they'd make a centrifugal clutch or something for the motor chain.

Just to get everyone up to speed, I bought a new toy for myself on Saturday (and I've ridden over 60 miles on it since!):



It's a 1970s Fugi Arcadia road bicycle I found at a garage sale for $5.00! Apparently someone bought it years ago and never used it much afterward because looks and rides like a brand new bike. With a even a slight tailwind, I can do 25+ mph with it .

Furthermore, I'm fooling around with a possible Velomobile design for my future cycling. Something easy to construct yet relatively aerodynamic:

[Snax]

Originally Posted by Peakster

That's crummy to hear. You'd think they'd make a centrifugal clutch or something for the motor chain.

Well it is possible to rig it up on a freewheel, but that takes it back to requiring some other form of starter other than pedalling. Regardless, the pedals will still get me home if I need them.

Just to get everyone up to speed, I bought a new toy for myself on Saturday (and I've ridden over 60 miles on it since!):



It's a 1970s Fugi Arcadia road bicycle I found at a garage sale for $5.00! Apparently someone bought it years ago and never used it much afterward because looks and rides like a brand new bike. With a even a slight tailwind, I can do 25+ mph with it .

Furthermore, I'm fooling around with a possible Velomobile design for my future cycling. Something easy to construct yet relatively aerodynamic:

ABSOLUTE STEAL on the bike! I'd have given at least $50 for one in that kind of shape. Nice.