Tim
From Vancouver, WA
September 26th, 2008
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I now have approximately 2 months of use
and over 500 miles on my Golden Eagle motorized
bicycle. The product is absolutely fantastic,
and I have nothing but praise for the company
and its customer support.
My bicycle is a 2008 Novara Metro purchased
at REI. This is a comfort bicycle that was
specifically acquired with the intent of
adding a Golden Eagle engine kit. It has
26" wheels, a shock absorbing front
fork, and 24 speeds. My wife also has a motor
converted bicycle that is the same model
type, but with a women's step-through frame.
The Novara bicycles are
a good choice for
the engine retrofit, but
they come equipped
with mountain bike gearing,
which doesn't
really allow for peddling
at the higher speeds
attainable with the motor
- you can't peddle
fast enough to keep up
with the engine. For
this reason, I'm looking
into the possibility
of changing the crank sets
to something with
higher gearing ... more
in line with what
is found on road bikes.
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On both of the installations,
it was my desire
to position the motor up
high, directly above
the tire and perpendicular
with the ground
(not leaning forward or
backward by any amount).
In this location, however,
I found that the
drive belt competed for
space with the rear
brake boss of the bicycle.
To solve the problem,
I decided to make a bracket
holding a set
of 3 small roller bearings
to push on the
belt and divert its path
away from the brake.
I have only limited fabrication
tools and
welding ability, but I
was able to get the
job done, and the finished
item worked exactly
as planned. The bracket
was fastened to the
rear brake boss using the
same screw holding
the brake arm. Since the
fastening point
is a single screw that
can allow the roller
bearings to pivot out of
alignment, the bracket
design includes a metal
rod that rests against
the rear stay to prevent
any upward movement
from the pressure of the
belt. With the addition
of this bracket and bearings,
there is a
very slight amount of friction
added to peddling
in the non-engaged mode
of operation. This
added tension would not
be present without
this modification, but
it does eliminate
any belt flapping that
can take place when
peddling without the motor.
The bracket and
roller bearings have worked
flawlessly for
all the miles we have put
on the bicycles.
Here's a picture of the
belt diverting bracket
and bearings, as seen on
my wife's bicycle:
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We decided to purchase
the Robin-Subaru 35cc
4-stroke engine with trail
gear, and a Velocity
super heavy-duty rear wheel
with 105g spokes
for each of the bikes.
With the trail gear,
we find that the bicycles
comfortably cruise
at 22 to 23 mph on level
and slightly up-hill
roads. At full throttle,
they scoot along
at just under 30 mph. Only
the most aggressive
hills require peddling,
while most can be
tackled at speeds ranging
from 12 to 19 mph
with little, or no peddling
at all. We get
approximately 26 miles
to a tank of gas with
hardly any peddling to
assist the engine.
If we slow down to where
the bicycle gearing
can be used to assist the
motor, we can peddle
to get even better gas
mileage.
These bicycles are so much
fun to ride, I'm
constantly looking for
excuses to go somewhere
just to use my bike. I
regularly use it for
30 mile round trips that
only take a bit
more than an hour and a
half to complete.
The bicycles have also
been used for touring,
where we have traveled
over 100 miles in
a day, fully loaded with
supplies and clothing.
We have equipped both bikes
with front racks
and removable touring bags.
A rear rack suspended
from the seat post provides
the right amount
of clearance above the
engine to allow the
use of a basket. I've added
rear stays to
our racks, which provide
additional support
and extra stability. The
stay pieces on the
non-engine side of our
racks keep a rear
touring back from leaning
into the engine
and wheel, and also provides
a place to hook
the bottom of the bag,
so that it doesn't
lean out while making left-hand
turns. The
rack stays are bolted to
the large engine
bracket and provide the
additional benefit
of supporting the motor
while changing the
rear tire.
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We've added fenders, rear
kickstands, front
and rear lights, bicycle
computers (for reporting
speed, mileage, trip distance,
etc.), upgraded
seats, bottle cages, and
frame mounted tire
pumps. The tires on my
wife's bicycle were
changed to a brand and
style that include
Kevlar fibers for flat
protection. I highly
recommend doing this, as
my bicycle has stock
tires and I've had 2 flats,
yet my wife has
had none for the equivalent
mileage. I would
also recommend tires with
a reflective stripe.
If you've been driving
a car at night and
had a bicycle cross your
path with reflective
tires, you'll know how
well they work.
I've included a few pictures
of my bicycle
showing everything but
the rear touring bag.
In the last picture, I
just returned from
our local garden center
with 2, 1-gallon
potted plants, a 4"
potted plant, and
a new digging trowel. With
all its carrying
capacity and versatility,
I like to think
of my bicycle as the SUV
of motorized bikes.
Thanks for a great product,
Tim
Vancouver, WA |
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