I put together an ebay kit 10 years ago now. I typically only use it when I drop my car off for a state inspection. I can leave the bike on a trunk carrier.
They are super dangerous. You go 30 MPH down the shoulder. Cars coming from side streets assume you're going 12 MPH like a pedal-cyclist and cut in front of you. Brakes should probably be upgraded. The handlebars don't have lead shot like motorcycle ones and vibrate so your palms go numb. People honk because they think I'm illegal (I'm not) and that honking gives them some sort of right for revenge.
If I lived in the earthquake zone of California I would definitely have one of these in the truck so I could get home without walking 25 miles when the roads are jammed up.
I've always wondered about those. I see the same little Mexican men riding them around town near me,but they're always riding them on the sidewalks. Are they not street legal or require a driver's license to operate?
They’re cool but you sound like the “ annoying thing “ Hate to say it but an E bike makes more sense except for the case where you need it after an earthquake when you have no power.
The Chinese engine is a vibrating monster. Plus the drive hardware is very low quality. However, pick the right bike chassis, alter a few things for reliability, and it's a fun little toy. A couple of my friends built them. Bob sold his and went to the electric design below.
The thing is, today's electric bikes can perform exceptionally well, they don't leak (so you can throw it on it's side in a car/truck) and don't vibrate. My friend built an electric really fat tire bike. It's amazing. It's much like this pic:
The speed and range are also impressive. I think he gets about 40 miles range at a cruise speed well over 20MPH. Really, the thing's an absolute blast. That's all the way from Jupiter Farms to the beach and back, easily on one charge.
The Farm project guy said the engine was crude. He took the head off. The back off torques on the head bolts varied by 3 pounds You cut a head gasket out of a piece of card flashing. My brother and SIL have fat tire bikes. They must be a gas on the beach. 2.2125s are plenty wide for me. One of the Tour de France cheats was an slectric motor hidden in the frame. 40 mile range, ehh? Thank you, I'll be surfin the interweb .
For $99 on ebay (years ago when I played with one), it was worth that just for fun.
I put about 400-miles on it and sold the whole setup to a neighbor kid - who ended up driving it all over for a couple of summers.
I opened this thread expecting to see a gas powered bicycle...like hydrogen, or compressed oxygen...duh, Americans !
They were popular here...by people who lost their license. Either they got their license back and are driving in their car, or the cops got serious about them.