I've been an avid car driver for longer than I care to recall, and i've always had a pet hatred for cyclists who use the highways, slowing down lanes of traffic and generally getting in the way, i never thought that I would ever be riding one again.
Recently, due to my lead foot, I was booked for doing 17 mph over the speed limit, which in my state of Australia gets you a mandatory licence suspension for 30 days. This meant that I was forced to look at alternate forms of transport and i'm not a big fan of public transport. I looked at my options in motorized bikes because they are legal to ride here without a licence as long as they make no more than 200 watts of power. At first, I was looking at electric battery powered ones but they had short range and long charge times, plus the batteries are mega bucks if you need to replace one. Something like this would have cost me about $1200.
So then I looked into gasoline powered options and I found a guy who made a 2 stoke engine that was restricted to 200 watts, which made it legal. He sold me the engine kit for $290.
Off to K-Mart for a $90 mountain bike.
A few hours in the garage and wallah, motorized bike for under $400!
Recently, due to my lead foot, I was booked for doing 17 mph over the speed limit, which in my state of Australia gets you a mandatory licence suspension for 30 days. This meant that I was forced to look at alternate forms of transport and i'm not a big fan of public transport. I looked at my options in motorized bikes because they are legal to ride here without a licence as long as they make no more than 200 watts of power. At first, I was looking at electric battery powered ones but they had short range and long charge times, plus the batteries are mega bucks if you need to replace one. Something like this would have cost me about $1200.
So then I looked into gasoline powered options and I found a guy who made a 2 stoke engine that was restricted to 200 watts, which made it legal. He sold me the engine kit for $290.
Off to K-Mart for a $90 mountain bike.
A few hours in the garage and wallah, motorized bike for under $400!