Comments from strangers about your bike

[Kent]

Today I went to the local motorcycle shop to get my second inspection http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=49390 and while the mechanic and I were going through our dance together, a guy on a harley pulls up also to get his inspection or to discuss getting some work done. Anyway, a thousand questions and he just couldn't get his eyes off of my bike.

So finally, as i get on to go and start pulling away out the garage door, he says "Is it running?'

Spoken like a true hog owner. What, no noise, smoke or death rattle?

 

[zener]

About 85% of strangers ask me how much it cost.
Than i tell them some hundred hours research and work and additional the money i spend.
They mostly can't belive how expensive it is becouse it don't look so.
On a motorcycle u instantly see if its 1 grand 5 grand or 10 grand (the more bigger and/or custom the more he pay'd)
Most people don't realise that i never have to run to a gasstation anymore and that therefore this ebike is way less expensive over the long run than any other 2 wheeler. :wink:

 

[Joppo]

Fun to read all the comments here

Got a lot of the same questions as you guys, but when they say: isn't it expensive ?? I'll always say: isn't it expensive to go out on the pub to ??

Where I live the gas price is about 2,6 US dollar after my morning math so ppl is always positive and want one too.

And when shopping at the store it's always a crowd of kids standing around the bike and admire it.

Edit:
Forgot to say, I don't get so much comments from strangers when I'm riding but when I'm overtaking those "speed bike ppl in a tight condomdress" with my bike trailer and the kid is singing some stupid song. Hahaha there faces is like, wtf just happened
Gonna mount my actioncam on the trailer so I can zoom inon there face and have a lough :lol:

 

[alsmith]

It's the equivalent of around $8.33 for a US gallon over here in the UK- the 'highest price in the developed world'.

 

[cal3thousand]

It's the equivalent of around $8.33 for a US gallon over here in the UK- the 'highest price in the developed world'.

But I understand much of it is for taxes used to upkeep the roads.

Here, I pay nearly $.40 per gallon in taxes and the roads are literally sh*t. Funny thing is that the gas prices in my little nook are the highest in the USA and the roads are the worst and much of the oil comes from just offshore. I can see the oil derricks from the beach.

 

[Dauntless]

That's because they don't spend it on the roads. Remember the ballot initiative to put the $9 billion a year into the pension fund that was so far behind? Oh no, Gerry Brown said, he'd NEVER just take it and spend it on something else. So he was just laughing when he said he'd changed his mind. Except he HADN'T changed his mind, he was lying from the start.

Brown's latest thing for the roads is a 'Partnership with business.' As in business is the silent partner with money and Brown is the partner who doesn't bring anything to the partnership but controls everything.

Not sure what's going to bring the price down on a NICE bike. You want to get beyond putting an eZip kit on a WalMart bike, it'll cost for who knows how long into the forseeable future. It's funny to think that you can get a 30 year old 250cc Honda that's a real motorcycle for under $1k, but a 40 year old 50-90cc Cub style moped without pedals is usually over $1k. The scale doesn't seem to fit.

 

[alsmith]

Britains roads are currently in a terrible state, the worst it's been. They increased the budgets last year but it's going to be years before they fix the existing ones, never mind those that develop during this repair period. All they've done for years is fill holes so they are back even bigger the next year. I've dented two rims and got punctures when I couldn't avoid the holes (car/lorry leaving nowhere else to go). Apparently claims for damages caused by the roads are at an all time high.
£12bn 'catch up cost' of plugging potholes, Drivers angry over potholes on Britain's roads, Councils 'trapped in an endless cycle of road repairs' AA: Britain's roads 'unfit for purpose', Damage to vehicle claims 'rose by 20%' in 2013

 

[Kent]

Besides all the questions mentioned above, which I guess we all get sooner or later, there is one which I get and is usually from a moving vehicle so i have only a couple of seconds to respond.."Hey, what is that?'

Or in the local vernacular "Hey, WTF is that?" :lol:

Instead of going into the long story about the evolution of my mountain bike, I now simply say "Its an electric moped"

When you think about it, that's about right.

 

[mateusleo]

It's the equivalent of around $8.33 for a US gallon over here in the UK- the 'highest price in the developed world'.

But I understand much of it is for taxes used to upkeep the roads.

Here, I pay nearly $.40 per gallon in taxes and the roads are literally sh*t. Funny thing is that the gas prices in my little nook are the highest in the USA and the roads are the worst and much of the oil comes from just offshore. I can see the oil derricks from the beach.

Here we pay about half the price in taxes and I bet the roads are still worse

 

[parajared]

on the KMX Typhoon:
Wow, that's a pretty fancy looking wheelchair you have there.
What the heck is that thing you are sitting on?
Why not strap one of those wind generators to the front of the thing?

On "motorized use prohibited" trails:
So those batteries are for powering your LED lights?
umm.... yeah

 

[mateusleo]

Sometimes i feel awkward when i have to explain that its not gas powered and the black box in the frame is a battery and not a motor. How the frock do they think its gas powered? It doesnt have any exhaust, not extra chains, no damm noise, no damm heat, its simple and quiet eletric bike. Sometimes they even ask me if its gas powered after i say that the black box in my frame is a battery, seems like they just ignore whatever i say and keep trying to find something related to gas in the bike. Is it that hard to notice that an ebike is an eletric powered vehicle and NOT gas powered? Give me your opinions please.

 

[amberwolf]

I sometimes get questions about what kind of gas engine it is or if the gas engine is in the big cargo pods, on CrazyBike2, cuz i has part of a handlebar tube sticking out the back on the left side as a place to clamp the bicycle trailer to. (until I can replace that with a regular car/truck style ball hitch, which I have all the parts for just need time to do it since I have to modify both bike and trailer at the same time).


Since they can't see any other motor, they assume it must have a motor or a gas engine either under the plastic "fairing" aorund the frame, or inside the big metal cargo pods on the back. Very few seem to have thought of or heard of the concept of hubmotors, so they dont' notice the one in the front wheel.

Some think that is a brake (usually they say "disc" becuase maybe they havent' heard of drum types?) cuz it's big and silvery. Perhaps they didnt' notice the big bundle of wires running up teh fork leg....


I do still get lots of comments, usually one a day or so, while it's parked out front at work (not directly at the front of the store, but across from it; I can't handle walking it thru the store around all the corners these days, to get it to the breakroom in the back of the store, and I can't park it right up at the front wall of the store outside anymore, so it takes up one of the car spots across the drive from the front windows--usually the one that would give the most "shade" near sunset from the meager "bushes" there).


Most are positive, some are unsure, a very few are negative. (maybe one every few dozen).

At least once it has inspired a customer to now always ride her bike around for shopping trips to places within a few miles of her apartment, instead of driving her car. She's considering buying an electric cargo bike to be able to do more, further, cuz it would cost her less than the gas for her old SUV that gets a lot ess than 10MPG in city traffic!

 

[The fingers]

They're remodeling the store at my night iob, so I've been charging near the exit; since the temporary breakroom at the rear of the store is too small for the bike. Many of the customers see it and recognize that it's the one I've been commuting to work on. One guy said he wanted to motorize his bicycle so I'm trying to convince him to go electric vs. stink.

 

[mateusleo]

They're remodeling the store at my night iob, so I've been charging near the exit; since the temporary breakroom at the rear of the store is too small for the bike. Many of the customers see it and recognize that it's the one I've been commuting to work on. One guy said he wanted to motorize his bicycle so I'm trying to convince him to go electric vs. stink.

I don't recomment eletric, in my area atleast, if the guy knows nothing about eletricity and has obviously no skyll when we talk about fixing your own stuff. Because theres no mainintence for the eletric parts, u can find mainintence for the usual bike parts, but for the eletric parts its near impossible. And since they will end up being mad when they make bad use and break the ebike and find no repair. Thats sad about eletric bikes for people that have no big knowledge...

 

[Kent]

Today's quote at the local supermarket...

"Boy, I bet you get 90 miles per gallon with that".

He meant well.

 

[kdog]

Re the aluminium triangle battery box in my frame one punter asked
Is that a water tank???
WTF!, in tasi (wet and cool) why the frock would I lug around like 15kg of water in my frame!!!
"Nah mate thats full of bateries, this is my electric bike"
Then a barrage of the standard Q's like does it charge while you pedal?
Sorry mate I gota go....

 

[dogman dan]

I love the way their brows furrow when I point out the electric motor built into the wheel. You just know they are still thinking gas motor, even after you say electric. The little hamster wheel in their head starts turning backwards as they try to grasp electric motor on a bike.

Really fun when I went to visit Amberwolf, and parked both of our bikes at McDonalds for a wifi session.

One car full of people just stood there gawping. Thinking WTH is this?

 

[amberwolf]

Yeah, there were more than a few poeple that probably see my bike there now and then, that when they saw *both* of them together actually paid some attention to them and wondered....

 

[drsolly]

"We're hoping that they breed".

 

[footloose]

"We're hoping that they breed".

These bikes are rare and exotic life forms… and well hell, what if they decide making whoopee is in the cards this weekend?
What would be the outcome?

 

[alsmith]

Check out the 4 wheelers.

 

[dogman dan]

I'm not sure that will work with two male bikes.

But I'm hunting frames to clone mine.

 

[Jason27]

I often pass by groups of students on my ebike. I can see that look on their faces. They are dumbfounded I am going so fast and their is no loud engine noise. I love it!

 

[cal3thousand]

I'm not sure that will work with two male bikes.

But I'm hunting frames to clone mine.

Your bike is a male huh?

I only ride girls

Now that I think about it, I should name my bikes like my cars.

 

[alsmith]

I don't know if there'll be anything interesting here but I came across this page about diy recumbents.