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mikemtnbike Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2015 Posts: 2796 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 12:55 pm Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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The e bike debate is hotter than all threads about oil types, engine conversions, wheel sizes, gear ratios, and best way to do your own XYZ van project combined. AVOID!
Have fun, PDM. _________________ 1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual
Last edited by mikemtnbike on Tue Dec 18, 2018 12:58 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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vwhammer Samba Member
Joined: May 20, 2006 Posts: 998 Location: Boulder CO.
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 12:56 pm Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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The rear motor on my bike does not go unless I am pedaling.
So I am still actually doing something when I ride.
Is it as strenuous as not having a motor?
Nope.
What my ebike does is make me feel like I need to go really fast everywhere.
As such, I am pedaling my butt off and am still huffing and sweating when I get where I am going.
Off road you can not simply sit back and let the motors do all the work.
It really is still a workout.
The power of the motors is limited, well on my bike anyway, so I still have to help out considerably when I get to the steeper sections.
What my ebike does is let me go riding with friends who ride everyday and are obviously more physically fit that I am.
It allows me to keep up so we can carry on without waiting for me.
It simply gets me out on a bike when I might otherwise sit on my butt at home.
It does not scare me now when they ask if I want to ride to a street fest the next town over.
I can and still do ride a regular bike for several miles on occasion but the ebike just makes it that much easier and enjoyable.
I am also usually the pack mule for our group when we go to events.
You can pedal all you want without power if you choose and just kick it in for the hills.
I do this pretty often because is seems silly to waste the battery when I don't need it.
Of course my bike weighs 50 lbs now and only has 7 speeds so its not as easy to ride without power as it used to be.
At the end of a 25 or 30 mile trail ride, to reserve power and to make it hard on myself, I did ride for a couple of miles with no power.
I also did it to ease my guilt for not being as worn out as all my friends after a fast, hard ride session.
Lastly a friend and I have been working on loose plans to do some long distance ride out west somewhere using an electric two seater trike with a trailer.
This would have a bunch of batteries and some solar panels for shade as well as charging.
We would, obviously, have some chargers on board so we might be able to do some gorilla charging (stealing a plug near a soda or vending machine) while we camp or eat.
Anyway I would probably never dream of such a thing on a regular old people powered machine.
Ok I have rambled on and derailed the Vanagon content long enough.
That's all for now.
Last edited by vwhammer on Tue Dec 18, 2018 1:00 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Stuartzickefoose Samba Post Whore
Joined: February 07, 2008 Posts: 10350 Location: SoCal for now...
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 12:58 pm Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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In not even reading this I will toss out a complaint. I got passed by a fat kid in jeans on a e bike the other day while I was hauling ass up a hill on my real bicycle....wonder why he was fat...
_________________ Stuart Zickefoose
2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual
206-841-7324
[email protected] |
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Love My Westy Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2007 Posts: 1838
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 1:08 pm Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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vwhammer wrote: |
How much do you ride that you might need to charge your bike so often.
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We usually only ride for a couple of hours whiich takes the batteries down 20 or 30 percent. The need to recharge is to keep the bikes topped up while we are camped off-grid in Baja. We do have a Honda generator, but prefer to charge the bikes with solar if possible. |
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pdm777 Samba Member
Joined: August 06, 2012 Posts: 348 Location: Clovis, CA
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 1:50 pm Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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Alright you naysayers...
I have a health condition that results in
very few red blood cells/compromised stamina.
Electric bike lets me get out and keep up with friends.
I ain't got no Spandex, no fancy shoes.
My bike is torque sensing plus pedal assist,
meaning I can set the level of assist.
Level 1 Eco is quite a workout (heavy bike)
Level 5 Sport is blood-doping Superman.
Besides, Electric Bikes are FUN!
_________________ 1990 Westy Full Camper |
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vwhammer Samba Member
Joined: May 20, 2006 Posts: 998 Location: Boulder CO.
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 2:10 pm Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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Yep they are just plain fun.
I have not seen anyone, including my bike snob friends, get on mine and not get a grin on their face the moment they hit the throttle for the front motor and start pedaling with the rear motor assist set on high.
It's hard to describe the feeling as you are whisked from 0 to 25mph in a couple of seconds with nothing more than the whir of the motors and the scuffs of the front tire as it struggles to maintain traction.
It's fun.
The things you can conquer off road with 2wd are pretty unbelievable as well.
At full charge this thing puts down about 1800 watts.
It's A little overkill and my battery does not care for full power blasts too often but, obviously, it's fun. |
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Yellow Rabbit Samba Member
Joined: August 31, 2005 Posts: 1146
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 2:33 pm Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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E bikes are perfect for couples when one person is an avid cyclist and the other is a casual rider. They are the perfect equalizer of both speed and distance. |
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shagginwagon83 Samba Member
Joined: February 07, 2016 Posts: 3800 Location: VA/TN
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 2:39 pm Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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Yellow Rabbit wrote: |
E bikes are perfect for couples when one person is an avid cyclist and the other is a casual rider. They are the perfect equalizer of both speed and distance. |
Yeah my friend's have like $3000-5000 mountain bikes. I'm riding a $500 trek bike. They're always waiting for me at the top of the mountain. As soon as I get up there they're wanting to go. Like let me take a breath, I just climbed this on a huffy. _________________ Brandon
"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin
Instagram @joannthevan |
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jackbombay Samba Member
Joined: October 19, 2007 Posts: 2723 Location: Eastern Idaho
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 4:46 pm Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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Based on my experience with reality I'm going to suggest that the only viable solution to charging Ebikes from a van is a 1000 watt honda generator, they are tiny, very lightweight, and they might make less noise than my sewing machine. If the Ebike will only get ridden once a week it could be charged while driving of course, but to have reliable "access" to the help of the Ebike motor a small generator is the only way to go IMO. _________________
Gas struts to pop your top easily!
Pop Top strut kits now available for late Bay window Westies
Samba ad here.
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Yellow Rabbit Samba Member
Joined: August 31, 2005 Posts: 1146
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 4:51 pm Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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You can find quality e bikes with 75-100 miles of range. If you are riding 15-20 miles a day, you could camp several days without worrying about charging. Beyond that, just stay at a place with shore power once a week. |
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vwhammer Samba Member
Joined: May 20, 2006 Posts: 998 Location: Boulder CO.
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 5:44 pm Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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I agree with the last two comments.
Get a bigger bike battery or a tiny generator or spend a lot more on house batteries and solar and everything else associated with that.
Those really are the only realistic options. |
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dobryan Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006 Posts: 16503 Location: Brookeville, MD
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danfromsyr Samba Member
Joined: March 01, 2004 Posts: 15144 Location: Syracuse, NY
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 6:48 pm Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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but if I can pull enough BTUs from solar for AC, then I surely can charge our pair of E bikes for a beer run. _________________
Abscate wrote: |
These are the reasons we have words like “wanker” |
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Love My Westy Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2007 Posts: 1838
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 9:37 pm Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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I'll probably be using our Honda 2200 generator to charge the bikes on this trip.
I topped up the two ebikes today with the generator and it only took an hour. The Honda, on eco mode was really quite quiet, I could hardly hear it over the ambient noise. In the future we may purchase a lithium ion power source that we can charge with solar panels. They are pricy, but so were the bikes. |
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jackbombay Samba Member
Joined: October 19, 2007 Posts: 2723 Location: Eastern Idaho
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 9:42 pm Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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Love My Westy wrote: |
I topped up the two ebikes today with the generator and it only took an hour. |
So it took about $.80 of gas to charge the bikes, pretty hard to beat that with solar panels and lithium batteries. _________________
Gas struts to pop your top easily!
Pop Top strut kits now available for late Bay window Westies
Samba ad here.
DIY artificial rain gutters (ARGs) |
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Abscate Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 22665 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 4:20 am Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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My ebike halves the time to get to ShakeShack, with a stop at FiveGuys for dessert _________________ .ssS! |
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jackbombay Samba Member
Joined: October 19, 2007 Posts: 2723 Location: Eastern Idaho
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Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 8:39 am Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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Abscate wrote: |
My ebike halves the time to get to ShakeShack, with a stop at FiveGuys for dessert |
I'd like to think there are healthier destinations you could point your Ebike at! _________________
Gas struts to pop your top easily!
Pop Top strut kits now available for late Bay window Westies
Samba ad here.
DIY artificial rain gutters (ARGs) |
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dobryan Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006 Posts: 16503 Location: Brookeville, MD
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vwhammer Samba Member
Joined: May 20, 2006 Posts: 998 Location: Boulder CO.
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Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 9:21 am Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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Too bad Generac's iX 800 was not that great of a generator.
It would have been perfect to lug around for ebike charging.
If one wanted something wicked cheap and are out there alone where some noise won't bother you or your neighbors, you could get one of those 2 stroke harbor freight generators that puts out like 7 or 8 hundred watts or something like that.
I bought mine in 2012 when a derecho blasted across our region and we were without power for 10 days.
Of course the temps were in the low 100s nearly the entire time we were without power.
I hooked a boat tank up to it and ran a 5000btu window ac unit for 7 or 8 days non stop.
I still have the generator and it still works just fine.
I think it cost me $89. |
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vwhammer Samba Member
Joined: May 20, 2006 Posts: 998 Location: Boulder CO.
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Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 9:30 am Post subject: Re: E Bike Charging From Your Vanagon |
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danfromsyr wrote: |
but if I can pull enough BTUs from solar for AC, then I surely can charge our pair of E bikes for a beer run. |
Yes you could. |
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