Monday, April 14, 2014

Does an electric bike really work?







Hi everyone, I was wondering if a 36 volt 600w conversion kit, new, off ebay would really work??!?!? And if I could simply add it onto my bicycle? Please help! are they worth the money?


Answer
The real problem with these conversion kits is the huge variation in quality. Without knowing what brand, what's included in it, and what type of battery is included, if any, it's impossible to tell.

The best conversions kits for the average bike are the ones with a motor in the front hub and a quality controller. These allow you to leave the standard drive-train alone and let it be an assist to normal pedaling. This provides much greater range than running purely electric. You should look up the laws about the wattage allowed in your state. These are listed under motor vehicle laws since this is most definitely a motor vehicle.

Last is the battery.
Good: Lead-acid deep discharge (not your car battery). Not outrageously expensive and decent life.
Better: Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH). Better range, lighter, safe and durable.
Best: LiFePO4, or Lithium Iron Phosphate, is safer than your laptop battery, has the best range and durability. It is also the most expensive.

Last issue is of course the charger to keep your battery charged. The kit should include one.

All these little details are why the quality of the kit matters. If they have taken care of these and you are expecting a nice assist for the hills and a great range extender, these kits can be absolutely great.

If you are expecting a motorcycle like experience with long range and high speed, you are better off with an electic scooter or the new Brammo motorcycle available at Best Buy. The Brammo has a roughly 40 mile range (real world) and is a real motorcycle without the hassles of gas.

What kind of 250 dirt bike should i get?




j c


I have decided to get a 250 dirt bike next after having my xr 80 for 8 years. i will use it for mainly trail riding and racing the guys around town. what brand should i get, i have no clue what one is the best and what is the worse


Answer
There are a variety of good options for you. I would recommend a 4-stroke for trail riding for the wide powerband, the low end torque allows them to just keep on chugging. Though there are some perfectly capable 2-strokes out there for trails.
For trail riding, I would recommend against a moto-x or "racing" style bike. The gears are too close and the lowest ones are often too high for real technical trail stuff.
Some of the ones I am familiar with (through ownership) are the
WR-250 and the XR-250.
I moved up to the XR-250 from an XR-200 and it is a WORLD of difference. It surprised me greatly, so make sure you start carefully moving up from an 80. The engine is vastly superior, and it can do 3rd gear wheelies without popping the clutch :P. It's among the best off road machines I've ever ridden, the powerband is perfect. It also has disk brakes on both tires (unlike the 200), which you definitely want.

The racing derived bikes, like the WR (based off the YZ), is basically a racing bike with different gearing and a few trail oriented changes. Usually they keep the same high-output high-compression racing motors, which can be finicky. Some of them even recommend a rebuild after every racing season (or more frequent!), though trail riding doesn't put as much strain on it. The XR has an air cooled engine, which I've noticed can get VERY HOT in the summer when your not able to move very fast for a while. The racing derived bikes tend to be liquid cooled, but are a tad more high-strung. I've had issues with both bikes with hot starting, especially after being dropped (the XR not as bad, but sometimes it can be stubborn). If you get a bike that uses a decompress to help start (WR does, XR has one but doesn't need it), it helps if you can get one with an auto-decompress exhaust cam (greatly eases starting), or electric start (though I personally won't ride a bike that ONLY has an electric start). The WR I believe has come with a decompress standard for quite some time now (and I think electric start now too), but I had to retrofit my older model with the cam. 2-strokes do tend to start easier, I will concede that to them ;).

Things you want in a trail bike:
tons of low-end torque
disc brakes, front and back
lower, wide ratio, trail gearing
comfortable (enough) seat
probably more I'm forgetting...

almost all bike manufacturer's make a good trail bike around that displacement class. Hit up the bike forums and reviews and see what people have to say about the bikes your looking at.

best of luck on your decision and have a blast!

edit: forgot to mention, if you like the Honda CRF250, check out the CRF250X model, it is the Honda equivalent to the WR, with the different gearing, etc. from the full out racing bike.




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