The Elio's 4 Musts.

[3wheelin]

The range is about 100 miles with that extra tank on the back. That's a Golden Eagle engine kit. Centrifugal clutch allows the engine to idle when not needed. The pedals out front is a mod used to adapt the bike to a recumbent style cruiser. Front wheel peddling and rear wheel motorized makes this an all wheel drive recumbent. https://cruzbike.com/

Thanks for that info Folks. First time I've seen this kind of bike configuration and although I have not tried it, I know it's a more relaxed way of biking and more leverage in using the seat against your back to help the legs power the pedals more effectively. That motor is also impressive. Never seen one before until you mentioned it in your last post. I've seen some bicycle motor kit at Walmart website and can be had for about 100 bucks and not that hard to install but this Golden Eagle engine kit is fully assembled and compact w/even the gas tank in the motor unit itself. It should be a breeze to install although it's more costly. Well, you sure doing your part living up to the whole ELIO idea.

 

[Rickb]

The Copenhagen Wheel, a simple solution to adapt any bike with motor assist is one of my four must haves.

 

[3wheelin]

The Copenhagen Wheel, a simple solution to adapt any bike with motor assist is one of my four must haves.

3wheelin' is really getting to you Rickb!

 

[RSchneider]

I do a fair share of cycling but I have my concerns with those recumbent. The group I ride with there is a guy who has a cruzbike and two other recumbents. What I see is this. When he climbs, he's all over the road (which shows up on the cruzbike video). This was true with the other recumbents he has and every other one I have seen over the years with various riders. It's fine when you are on an open road with no traffic and a good sized shoulder but the problem is, that doesn't exist most of the time. I'm riding the edge of the pavement because I don't want to even get close to any car. A big truck is even worse. With that recumbent, he's always crossing the white line on those climbs. Stopping on a hill means, you are going to walk it to the top.

Another issue is 4 way stops in traffic. If you are a cyclist, you have to stop or you will get ticketed. On a recumbent, they never want to stop because it's not very good for stop and go. He tries to time it and just run signs and lights. We knew it would come back to haunt him and sure enough, he got a ticket.

Then there's riding in a group. It's OK but he's much faster than us on a downhill but we kill him on an uphill. It's constant passing. Then there will be the long distance rides of like 100 miles in a day where you are with 7K other riders. Every time there's a stop, you have a few thousand cyclists maneuvering themselves around. The recumbents just get off and walk it in and out because they don't have the maneuverability.

As for the cruzbike, it is easy to do a donkey kick. Almost too easy. There's too much weight on the front tire. It gets a bit hairy when going 35-40 downhill on one and you need to get on the binders for an emergency. More than once, I've seen it almost go over at a high rate of speed, plus the rear brake is worthless as the wheel locks up.

I understand why people ride them but they are not the cure all for cycling. Then there are the trikes and they are nice but hard to see with cars, plus not great for that dreaded narrow shoulder.

Here's one that is an oddball bike: https://www.elliptigo.com

 

[WilliamH]

Remember, the Elio only has to deal with motorcycle emissions. Thus no compliance for the required 150K miles and no emissions inspection over the life of the product. Add into that, it can pollute more NOX than a TDI VW (which is what VW got nailed for). So, it just comes down to what you want to look at when it comes to being green. When you celebrated that VW was caught for creating smog by selling 450K TDI's here in the US over a 6 year period, Elio will surpass that number by 2021 and double that number by 2023.

VW got nailed for lying about their emissions!
Not only did they lie, they intentionally falsified the test results.

 

[3wheelin]

I do a fair share of cycling but I have my concerns with those recumbent. The group I ride with there is a guy who has a cruzbike and two other recumbents. What I see is this. When he climbs, he's all over the road (which shows up on the cruzbike video). This was true with the other recumbents he has and every other one I have seen over the years with various riders. It's fine when you are on an open road with no traffic and a good sized shoulder but the problem is, that doesn't exist most of the time. I'm riding the edge of the pavement because I don't want to even get close to any car. A big truck is even worse. With that recumbent, he's always crossing the white line on those climbs. Stopping on a hill means, you are going to walk it to the top.

Another issue is 4 way stops in traffic. If you are a cyclist, you have to stop or you will get ticketed. On a recumbent, they never want to stop because it's not very good for stop and go. He tries to time it and just run signs and lights. We knew it would come back to haunt him and sure enough, he got a ticket.

Then there's riding in a group. It's OK but he's much faster than us on a downhill but we kill him on an uphill. It's constant passing. Then there will be the long distance rides of like 100 miles in a day where you are with 7K other riders. Every time there's a stop, you have a few thousand cyclists maneuvering themselves around. The recumbents just get off and walk it in and out because they don't have the maneuverability.

As for the cruzbike, it is easy to do a donkey kick. Almost too easy. There's too much weight on the front tire. It gets a bit hairy when going 35-40 downhill on one and you need to get on the binders for an emergency. More than once, I've seen it almost go over at a high rate of speed, plus the rear brake is worthless as the wheel locks up.

I understand why people ride them but they are not the cure all for cycling. Then there are the trikes and they are nice but hard to see with cars, plus not great for that dreaded narrow shoulder.

Here's one that is an oddball bike: https://www.elliptigo.com

Not unless you're riding FOLKS bike with gas motor assist!

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

I do a fair share of cycling but I have my concerns with those recumbent. The group I ride with there is a guy who has a cruzbike and two other recumbents. What I see is this. When he climbs, he's all over the road (which shows up on the cruzbike video). This was true with the other recumbents he has and every other one I have seen over the years with various riders. It's fine when you are on an open road with no traffic and a good sized shoulder but the problem is, that doesn't exist most of the time. I'm riding the edge of the pavement because I don't want to even get close to any car. A big truck is even worse. With that recumbent, he's always crossing the white line on those climbs. Stopping on a hill means, you are going to walk it to the top.

Another issue is 4 way stops in traffic. If you are a cyclist, you have to stop or you will get ticketed. On a recumbent, they never want to stop because it's not very good for stop and go. He tries to time it and just run signs and lights. We knew it would come back to haunt him and sure enough, he got a ticket.

Then there's riding in a group. It's OK but he's much faster than us on a downhill but we kill him on an uphill. It's constant passing. Then there will be the long distance rides of like 100 miles in a day where you are with 7K other riders. Every time there's a stop, you have a few thousand cyclists maneuvering themselves around. The recumbents just get off and walk it in and out because they don't have the maneuverability.

As for the cruzbike, it is easy to do a donkey kick. Almost too easy. There's too much weight on the front tire. It gets a bit hairy when going 35-40 downhill on one and you need to get on the binders for an emergency. More than once, I've seen it almost go over at a high rate of speed, plus the rear brake is worthless as the wheel locks up.

I understand why people ride them but they are not the cure all for cycling. Then there are the trikes and they are nice but hard to see with cars, plus not great for that dreaded narrow shoulder.

Here's one that is an oddball bike: https://www.elliptigo.com

My primary concern is that, with most 'bents, your head is at bumper height.
If you get hit with a conventional cycle, you'll commonly go over the hood and have a fighting chance of survival.
With a bent, the bumper hits your neck or skull and then runs you over limiting suitability.

(former road cyclists)
((off road only now))
(((because, physics)))

 

[Ty]

One advantage of EV's over ICE is that the EV's should be easier to recycle. Less liquids and parts to handle. Yes, there are some nice things about EV's. I also just read about the future demise of auto mechanics. They are predicting that once EV's are common, about 70% of mechanics will no longer be able to work on the EV's. Only the large dealerships will be able to afford the training and equipment necessary to work on the EV's or have access to the replacement parts. I wonder when the EV technology will become powerful enough for John Deere to make electric tractors, combines, etc., or Caterpillar making electric bulldozers.

I would also like to see more EV's with the capability to convert to 120VAC as a backup generator for emergencies.

I didn't think my Prius was difficult to work on. (The battery issue I fixed, that is) I would think that mechanics can actually be taught to work on newer vehicles...

 

[airforceguy6]

I didn't think my Prius was difficult to work on. (The battery issue I fixed, that is) I would think that mechanics can actually be taught to work on newer vehicles...

EVs aren't difficult to work on, you just have to change your knowledge set. I had an 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid while I was in Europe that was starting to have some low charge issues with the battery (was at around 130k miles). I bought a battery conditioner and installed it myself, and it was relatively easy to access the battery compartment and controller. Ran great after the fix.

 

[Folks]

Not unless you're riding FOLKS bike with gas motor assist!

I mounted another Golden Eagle engine on my wife's conventional Torker Bike. The price point for my bike is not as steep as most electrics too. It was as follows; $500 for the engine, $400 for the cruze convertion kit and $100 for the bike from Walmart. Weight all up was 80 lbs for a total of $1000. LOL not kidding. Great fun until the Doctor made my wife quit riding. We now own a pair of kick bikes. The Kick bike does not compete for speed with the chain drive bikes but its Low impact whole body exercise that is far superior to conventional bikes (no induced back problems or male proplems ) they both fit in the back of my Element.