Go Motorbikes: Recent Episodes
Go Motorbikes
Whether you ride an ebike or a motorbike, we found the perfect DIY solution for a quick release, removable bike basket. And you can even use a milk crate.
The post DIY Removable Rear Bike Basket – Quick Release for eBikes appeared first on Go Motorbikes.
Before we finally decide to buy an ebike, or a motorbike, we make up a hundred reasons why we need one. “Because it’s fun” should probably be enough of an argument, but maybe you have to convince someone else in your household why buying a new bike is more than just pleasure.
And so, we imagine all the practical, convenient, time-saving and even money-saving reasons why riding on a motorized two-wheel bicycle is in our future. Often that means trips to the grocery store, commutes to work, weekend errand runs. This electric bike will help you carry stuff, lots of stuff. So you’re probably going to need a basket on the back of the bike.
But sometimes you also want to carry people, and a basket would get in the way. Other times, you want to go for a trail ride, and a bulky rear basket is more suited for urban exploring than muddy off road adventures.
If you ask anybody, they’ll tell you the most simple solution is to use zip ties. And if you only plan to remove the basket once a month, maybe that will work for you. I’ve got a Yamaha TW200 dual sport motorcycle with a milk crate on the back. The custom rack took a while to install, but you only have to do that once on a motorbike. The milk crate, on the other hand, took about 15 minutes and maybe 20 zip ties to get the crate on solidly.
Me on my Yamaha TW200 with a milk crate But while that works for some bikes where you leave the basket on semi-permanently, to be honest the zip tie method can be incredibly wasteful if you go through a lot of them. And for me and my ebike, I wanted to remove the rack several times a week, maybe even a couple times during a busy riding day.
At my work I’ve got a bike locker and they make those things so tight there’s hardly any space to get the bike in, let alone one with a basket attached. It’s basically a rectangle metal box, divided in half along its diagonal side, so that two triangle lockers are made from one box.
You push the bike rear first, so the widest part of your bike – the handlebars – are at the widest part of the triangle. If I could easily remove the rack to insert the bike, I could place it next to the front tire, lock up, and be ready to hit the grocery store on the way home.
Or at least that’s the tale I told myself when I went out shopping for electric motorbikes.
After a lot of experimentation, I ended up with a DIY rear bike rack system that allows just about any basket – even a milk crate – to go on the back of any bike with a rack. It can be removed or reinstalled in seconds. This is easy to do and will work on your ebike, probably. It’s perfect on this Ariel D-Class electric scrambler bike.
The search for a quick release rear bike basket If only there was a quick release rear bike basket, something easily removable, yet sturdy enough to carry precious organic vegetables in between traffic. And something that didn’t require 15 minutes or a bag of plastic trash every time you wanted to install the basket.
Homemade solutions abound, and many of them use the quintessential milk crate. But to be honest, none of them seem that easy to make, or they look a little too Frankensteiny. Are there any pre-made quick release baskets?
There are indeed some quick release rear racks out there, which can serve as the base for a quick release basket – but they’re all made for typical bikes with standard components and frame dimensions.
And unfortunately, most of the scrambler style ebikes or fat tire motorbikes have unique frames and designs that don’t lend themselves to off the shelf bike accessories.
For example, the Topeak QuickTrack MTX system looks like a perfect solution for easily removable baskets and cargo bags. For a base, the QR Beam Rack is an incredibly simple quick release rack that mounts to a seat post. Done, right? If you have a bike with a seatpost, like the Rad Power RadRunner, sure, but most electric bikes we’re looking at have moped or banana style seats mounted to the frame, so this won’t work.
What about the ultra popular Topeak Explorer Rack? That looks like a perfect base for a quick release basket system. Sadly, even though the rack comes in a variety of sizes for different brakes and uses, none of them will fit our bikes.
Surely there’s a way, though?
I’ve actually had a Topeak Explorer sitting on my normal bike for over 10 years now, along with the Topeak Rear Bicycle Basket.
It’s become such a permanent fixture to the bike that I totally forgot that it was a quick release system.
When I noticed it, I quickly removed it and ran it over to my motorbike, tried fitting it on the back of the bike’s rack, and then tried a few dozen other attempts, but nothing worked. The rack’s legs were never going to fit on a non-standard bike.
That’s when it hit me: I’ll just cut the legs off.
How to make a DIY removable rear bike rack To make a quick release removable rear rack, you’re essentially going to hack the legs off a Topeak Explorer Rack. Then, you can choose one of their baskets or bags that fit the track system. My favorite is this simple rear basket.
Elsewhere in the Topeak QuickTrack system is a Trolley Tote Folding Basket looks kind of amazing – you can cart it around the store on wheels, fold it up when it’s not in use, or just fill it up with fresh fruit and admire it on the back of your bike. The Topeak Trunk Bag also looks useful for bike trips. Topeak also makes panniers using the quick track, and even a heavy duty drybag trunk bag. So many choices!
Ok so you take the Explorer Rack, clamp it down on a table or work bench, and hack off the legs. Sounds simple, but please be careful. A cheap hack saw would work just fine – I ended up using this battery powered jig saw. It came with a blade purpose built for metal. No sparks and the whole thing took about 10 minutes.
You could stop here and place the Explorer on your bike and you’d be ready to go. But on my Ariel D-Class, the sawed-off ends would dig into the seat a little, and I didn’t want to damage the seat. I could have just placed the Explorer rack directly over the stock bike rack – not touching the seat – but then it ends up being a little too long for my preference.
So what I did here was get a few packs of Sugru moldable glue – it’s like play-doh that turns into hard silicone after a few hours. And then all you have to do is make a ball around each incision point, let it set, and you’re good to go.
You need half a pack of Sugru for each incision bump to cover up, so a total of 3 packs. They come in different colors, but the simple Black 3-pack will match the best.
After the Sugru balls are hardened, you can now place the leg-less Explorer Rack on the back of your bike, tie it down with a few zip ties, and your quick release basket now has a base. Go ahead and try out your Topeak basket on – feels good and solid, yeah?
If you’re worried about the yellow release button disengaging during riding, you can add some kind of backup system – like a bungee – to keep the basket attached firmly. I also like to use a bungee to ensure that nothing falls out of the basket. If you have loose items in there, you may want a couple bungees, or even a cargo net, but for me I usually have items in a little tote bag.
Quick Release Removable Milk Crate If you want to use a different basket than what Topeak offers, you’re in luck. You can actually buy the QuickTrack Fixer 6 sliding base individually, and then screw that into the bottom of just about any basket. This makes it probably the easiest and best solution for a DIY quick release rear bike basket.
I wanted to try it out with a milk crate, since I like the look and utility of milk crates, and also since I have a few bikes it would be nice to have more than one basket. So I ordered a spare Topeak Fixer 6.
The base is a folding plastic piece that goes on the end of your milk crate (or other basket), and you use the included plastic connector pieces to screw it in. Two connectors go on the bottom of the basket, and one connector goes to the front of the basket, to attach the plastic quick release mechanism.
Now, since the milk crate has a lot of peaks and valleys and isn’t flat like a standard basket, the Fixer 6 plastic connectors sit a little farther from the base than on a standard Topeak basket. So, the included bolts aren’t going to work. I found that using some standard 1-1/4 inch wood screws worked just fine, and saved a trip to the hardware store looking for longer bolts to match the stock hardware.
Another little issue is that the plastic connector pieces are an elliptical shape, and at the 90 degree corner where the base meets the front of the milk crate, the connector pieces are a little too big and bump into each other. If you went ahead and screwed them in anyway, the front of the quick release clip would be angled downward, and that would make the release button not very secure.
So, the easiest thing to do is to remove the top of the elliptical, just cut a straight line right above the screw holes. Then the two pieces can sit flush next to each other. The problem is, what’s the best way to saw through such a small little plastic piece? Trying to clamp it down to a table gives you no room to actually saw, and most people don’t have a vise grip laying around.
So I found the easiest method was to score the line with a knife – you can use a ruler or just free ball it. And then use a 1/2-inch chisel – little by little along the score – by placing it on the plastic carefully, and then hammering the top of the chisel. That’s a much quicker way to cleanly cut the plastic, rather than hack sawing for a long time.
You can finish the job by sanding the plastic incision line to make it smooth and profesh – in case other people are looking, or you want to take a picture of it for a motorbike blog.
Once you have these two plastic pieces fixed, you can now lay them all out and mark where the Fixer 6 meets the front of the milk crate. Do a little eyeballing to see where the front of the Fixer 6 meets the milk crate, drill a couple holes to the crate, and try threading in both screws, and then adjusting the holes as needed. It’s okay if you drill the hole too big – the plastic connector pieces will hold everything together.
At this point, the milk crate still juts out a little, so it’s impossible to get the Fixer 6 completely flush. You could certainly add a little piece of wood or something between the Fixer and the milk crate, or just leave it like I did.
Once the milk crate is on the bike, you’ll find that it has a little give – up and down – when you hit bumps. That’s because the Fixer 6 goes only halfway through the milk crate.
For my ebike – which doesn’t have suspension – the bumps can be a little hairy. So I like to carry a bungee to secure the back of the milk crate to the underside of my rear rack.
For the top of the milk crate, I also like to use either a bungee or two to secure contents from falling out, or you can get a cargo net cover. It works really well. I’ve been taking the milk crate and Topeak basket out for grocery runs, along with the handy Tom Bihn Truck grocery bag, and so far nothing has fallen out.
The Topeak Rear Basket does have one advantage over the milk crate – it comes with a carrying handle. So, you could remove the basket when you get to the store, walk around with it, and then re-attach it when getting back to your bike. But honestly that seems like a lot of work when your tote bag has built-in handles that are just fine.
Lastly, I like to add some reflectors to the milk crate back and sides. The 3M 1-inch reflective silver tape roll is powerful stuff, but it doesn’t stick well to a bumpy surface like a milk crate. But if you stick a little Gorilla tape first, and then the 3M reflective tape, you’ve got a solid combo that won’t go anywhere.
And just to be safe, I also hang a Cygolite bike tail light on the back of the Topeak Explorer rack. Now you’ll be more clearly visible than a UFO.
So there you have it, two methods of fitting either an off the shelf Topeak basket or a DIY milk crate to your ebike, moped, motorbike, or whatever you ride. And now you can decide at any time if you want to carry cargo, because that’s what you told your partner you were going to do with your ebike, or if you want to ride solo, just you against the wind, far into the sunset, carrying nothing except a barely charged phone in your pocket.
The post DIY Removable Rear Bike Basket – Quick Release for eBikes appeared first on Go Motorbikes.
Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman just finished their 9000-mile Long Way Up tour, and they rode Harley Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycles. Yes, really.
The post Long Way Up on Harley Davidson LiveWire Electric Motorcycles appeared first on Go Motorbikes.
The series “Long Way Up” starring Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman has just completed their 8,000 mile trek across South and Central America, all on Harley Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycles.
What we have here is maybe the most genius play against electric skeptics. If you wanted to promote how electric motorcycles can perform as good or better than regular ol’ motorbikes, this is the way to do it.
You combine the world’s most mainstream motorcycle adventure show, with the world’s most die-hard bike loyalists, the Harley Davidson crowd, with possibly the worst geography for an electric motorcycle distance test. And every second of it is being filmed.
Although the show hasn’t been released yet, Ewan and Charlie rolled into Los Angeles on the same LiveWire bikes they started the journey on, within the original time frame they had given themselves. So even before we know any details, clearly this is a huge win for the electric motorcycle.
Why Long Way Round and Down Can Influence The Public If you haven’t watched Long Way Round, or the follow-up Long Way Down, you can stream both series on Amazon Prime Video, or watch them on Youtube.
The first journey takes Ewan and Charlie from London to New York City across Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Alaska, Canada, and the northern United States. That’s over 19,000 miles traveled on motorbikes in a little over 3 months.
Here’s the final episode in Long Way Round, a recap of their first tour. This episode isn’t available on Prime Video, so it’s a nice treat if you haven’t already seen it:
A few years later, the two friends reunited with their producers for a second adventure, this time from the tip of Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa, across Europe and Africa and in places that seem pretty sketchy for anyone, let alone a couple actors who are more accustomed to movie sets than jungles.
In Long Way Down, Ewan actually takes the crew to the area in Tunisia that was home to the Star Wars set for a long time. That’s when it really hits home, that these aren’t just a couple motorcyclists making their way through a backwoods adventure. Here is one of the most famous actors on Earth riding hundreds of miles on a motorbike through treacherous terrain, and in areas where he’s worth a lot more to local kidnappers than the average person.
But that’s sort of what makes this series so interesting to watch, especially for a beginning rider. You see a person like Ewan McGregor fall off his bike a lot. Like a lot a lot. And you see him get hit by a car. And get his eyes doused with gas. He’s got more going on in his life than most of us, and yet he still chooses to risk it all for the thrill of riding a motorbike.
That kind of endorsement for riding motorcycles has a powerful effect. Even Ewan’s wife became envious and decided to learn to ride a motorbike, despite her initial fear of its inherent danger, just to join the crew on part of their journey. So, it’s no surprise that Long Way Round and Long Way Down have an influential effect on all kinds of people – non-riders, new riders, and long-time bikers who want a different kind of adventure.
The Ultimate Endorsement for Harley Davidson LongWire Electric Motorcycles The reach and influence that this series can have on both new and experienced riders is as good as gold for the motorcycle company that sponsors the trip. You couldn’t buy that kind of marketing even if you tried.
In the beginning of the series, Charlie and Ewan actually tried to get KTM adventure motorbikes for their trip, but the company backed out at the last minute. Maybe they didn’t think the trip was achievable, or maybe entrusting their brand to a couple unproven actors seemed risky.
Either way, it could be terrible PR for a motorcycle company if the entire world watches their flagship bikes fail to do the very thing they’re designed to do: go on an adventure. And so for that reason, or maybe other factors we’re not privy to, KTM backed out.
BMW GS Adventure Bikes Took the Initial Risk BMW stepped up and provided their top end GS adventure bikes, along with some off road training, protective gear, and support during the trip. How did the bikes fair?
They fell down a lot, like a lot a lot. And their frames broke and had to be re-soldered by some kind strangers along the backroads of Siberia. And one bike completely broke down.
But you know what? None of that mattered. These were some of the gnarliest roads imaginable, where you wouldn’t expect any vehicle to get through, let alone a two wheeled top-heavy bike. In fact, the crew’s support trucks crashed and crumbled on those same roads.
So even though we see the BMW bikes tumble a hundred times, the series is an immense endorsement for BMW Motorrad. There’s no doubt that thousands of new BMW customers were born as a result of Long Way Round and Long Way Down.
Long Way Up – A Decade Later with New Technology Fast forward over 10 years later and the world has changed in tremendous ways. First, we now have GoPros and 360 cams and drones and all sorts of filmmaking tools to document a touring adventure.
Whereas in 2004 and 2007, during the first two series, motorcycle helmets had to be outfitted with very early adventure-cam technology that was usable at best. Most of the series was actually shot by a third motorcyclists who worked as a cameraman on both trips, riding alongside Ewan and Charlie during every harrowing minute of the expedition.
You can imagine the cat and mouse game that is required to document a motorcycle trip. First the cameraman rides up a ways, stops and gets out his equipment, sets up a shot, signals to the subjects to go ahead and ride past him as he gets maybe a few seconds of shots of the bikes going toward and away from him. Everyone stops, the cameraman puts the equipment away, rides ahead, and does it all over again.
So needless to say, we’re excited to see how filmmaking technology might change the look of Long Way Up, even though the same cameraman and crew came alongside this trip.
Harley Davidson LiveWire Range and Charging Time But the real change here is obviously the bikes. It was hardly yesterday when we learned that Harley Davidson LiveWire bikes were ceasing production – if only temporarily – because of issues with their slow chargers. That’s in addition to the fact that the LiveWire motorcycle is not really an adventure bike in the first place. It had to be modified for the show. Modified how? No one knows yet.
Why not Zero Motorcycles FXS? It certainly appears ready for a rugged adventure, and the company has had lots of years of electric motorbikes under their belt. An endorsement like a very publicized trip through South and Central America by the likes of Ewan McGregor and company would certainly be a boon to Zero Motorcycles.
But clearly Harley Davidson is investing a lot into going electric, and so they got this gig, and now that the bikes have made it back, the stage is set for the LiveWire to make a splash in 2020.
For most people who are even considering an electric motorcycle, it’s not the price tag that’s a barrier, although $30,000 is certainly not nothing. But it’s the range, or lack thereof, in an all-electric vehicle. There’s even a word for it: range anxiety.
The Harley Davidson LiveWire range is estimated at somewhere between 100-140 miles before needing an electric refuel. If a fast charging station is available, it can be charged to 80 percent in just 40 minutes. And with Teslas and EVs growing in popularity, there’s enough fast charging stations out there that makes cross country expeditions totally possible.
Well, at least crossing some countries. That’s why a ride through South and Central America is maybe the worst idea ever for an electric motorcycle. How many fast charging stations can you expect out there? Chile currently has 4 fast charging stations. Argentina has one.
Luckily, like Teslas and other electric vehicles, the Harley Davidson LiveWire has the ability to be charged using a standard outlet. For most people who intend to ride an emotorcycle on their daily commute, this means you can plug it in overnight and have enough juice to get through everyday and even weekend adventures.
But if you’re Ewan and Charlie and you plan to ride 300-400 miles per day, stopping every 100 miles and having to wait for 8-10 hours on a slow charger is challenging, to say the least. It’s not like you can bring a spare tank of electricity with you, like you can with a spare tank of gas. That would be a spare battery, and well, the batteries on these bikes is massive. The entire bike is sort of built around the battery.
Setting the Stage for Electric Motorcycles in 2020 And yet, they made it. 8,000 miles in about 90 days, on an electric motorcycle averages to about 88 miles per day. You can expect that some parts of their journey took all day to get through a small, rough patch, in between days where they were on asphalt near cities.
It’s the times where there’s absolutely no electricity around, not even a household outlet, that seems like a possible scenario during the tour. There’s talk about the crew having to use a local’s gas generator at some point during the trip. Or maybe they ran out of juice and had to depend on their support vans? We’ll find out soon enough.
The show should be out in early 2020 and maybe by then, the Harley Davidson LiveWire will be ready to change people’s minds about electric motorcycles. Or maybe the show will open the gate to more people learning about electric bikes in general, the kinds of motorbikes the average person can get behind, like the Super 73 S1.
Anyway, you can be sure 2020 will be an exciting year for electric motorbikes. And we’re looking forward to joining in on that excitement.
Harley Davidson LiveWire – official website
The post Long Way Up on Harley Davidson LiveWire Electric Motorcycles appeared first on Go Motorbikes.
The Super 73 S1 ebike rebirths scrambler style, fat tire motorbikes for a new generation. It's not the best electric bike today, but it will change your life anyway.
The post Super 73 S1 Ebike Review: The Beginning of Something New appeared first on Go Motorbikes.
When you think about an e-bike, you might think about the type of no nonsense transportation favored by the ride-or-die bike commuter, or the Montessori teacher, or the spry retiree with bionic knees. Something practical with a basket and a bell, something to get the job done, and electric mainly to help with the hills.
When the Super 73 first launched on Kickstarter back in 2016 or so, it seemed aimed at deleting that boring image from your brain with Instagram-worthy looks and a whole new riding ethos. Not so much no nonsense as full nonsense, in the best way possible
Now a few years after that initial crowdfund campaign, a whole new industry has been born. Along with thousands of new die hard ebike addicts. Along with us, and this new website, Go Motorbikes. Let’s get started!
Super 73 S1 Review – Ebike vs Motorbike For a lot of people, Super73 was the first time they thought about an electric bike at all. I remember seeing that first kickstarter, but I was too cheap and practical to pull the trigger on a 4-figure bicycle. But a lot of people did, and it was a success.
It was a new thing, but it borrowed a lot from some beloved cultural icons. It was part Taco mini bike, part New Belgium Fat Tire bar bike (with beer holder included in that original model) and part something else entirely.
It was the birth of the scrambler style electric bike. Or e-bike. But, that term sounds a bit too much like e-cig for us, along with all its swaggy YOLO 2010s hoverboard dipshittery. So, we just call them motorbikes. I hope that name sticks, because it’s descriptive of what this style of bike really is.
Scrambler Style Electric Motorbikes In late 2019, there are a lot of scrambler style electric motorbikes popping up on the market. Like alot alot. Many of these emerging companies seem to be branding experiments for existing Alibaba chinese designs from a couple of manufacturers. There are multiple brands that are just the same frameset with one of two or three hub motors, remixed in a number of permutations.
With all of this apparent growth and interest in this kind of bike, it seemed to make sense to start off by talking about the Super73, though. Even with only about 3 years on the market, it’s really the original gangster of scramblers. At least for the newly bike-curious.
I did not buy my Super73 new from Lithium cycles. That’s one of the cool things about waiting a minute before jumping headlong into the hot new thing. I was able to pick one up on Craigslist with about 15 miles on the clock, bought new by a guy who just didn’t use it. I think he might have had a bit of a crash and decided the thing wasn’t for him.
But, that’s none of my business. Do I think the bike is worth buying new at the current MSRP? I mean, sure. In fact, I’d buy one again in a heartbeat. It’s actually something you may suspect you’ll like, but don’t truly get until you ride the thing.
Super73 S1 Size – Part Moped, Part Trail Bike One of the first things you notice about a Super73 when you are lucky enough to see one out in the wild is that it’s actually pretty small. That short standover height and relatively diminutive dimensions are part of the appeal. It’s like an old Honda 90 trail bike, or a moped.
Relatively few people are going to be intimidated by it, and really just about anyone can ride it. That philosophy paid off big for the likes of Honda, and a bunch of other Japanese and european small motorcycle companies back in the hey-day of the scooter, in the 60’s and 70’s. You meet the nicest people on a Honda.
And just about every other garage in America seemed to have one… or two. So strong is the nostalgia for those heady days of farting around the neighborhood that certain classic models of the trail bike have become expensive collectors items, as well as the centerpieces of a rich aftermarket and modification industry.
Will the Super 73 still fire up on the third kick after 30 years of sitting around in a suburban garage? Probably not. But it’s certainly filling in a well loved niche in the culture… one that I think more people are going to looking for in the next few years.
Are Fat Tires on Ebikes Practical or Just Cool? The next thing you’ll notice about one of these bikes is the fat tires. I first started noticing fat tire bikes like this about 10 years ago, when I lived in Alaska. They became really popular, mostly on mountain bikes, for winter commuting and riding in snow. They look cool, are functional, if maybe a bit finicky and prone to flats if you aren’t careful.
But, I don’t think fat tires are really the headline here. At least not to me. I find the bike to be stable, and haven’t had any trouble getting traction or maintaining it. But, in a lot of ways they feel like more of a design element than a real necessity to make the bike what it is.
But I also can see how a 4” tire on a 20” rim is the right set up for an electric hub motorbike like this. It seems to be what just about every company is using.
Super 73 is Bad at Specs but Incredibly Fun Anyway For any practical purpose, the Super73 is pretty bad at being a bike. Its rear sprocket is a measly 14 teeth, and there is no shifting. If the battery were dead, you’d be a pretty uncomfortable slow poke compared to even the slowest of bikes.
But, criticising that kind of thing is missing the point. It’s a cruiser. When you ride a cruiser bike, speed is never the concern. It’s nice to be able to get up to speed, but you want to do it in style and have fun.
I find myself leaning on the throttle pretty hard when riding the S73. Peddling is generally just a way to get off the line and up to speed more quickly. That said, it’s really, really fun to pedal and shoot off like a little rocket and bomb down a downtown alley like you’re some kind of small town Casey Neistat.
Super 73 Design, Build, and Components The general design, build, component choice, etc. are pretty good. To be fair, I’m not a high end bike aficionado like most of the reviewers out there. In fact, I don’t intend these reviews to be highly technical or spec based – that information is out there in a ton of places, and I don’t think it’s useful except for reviewers themselves.
But, the general fit and finish and functionality of the bike is far less Chinesium than many of the other bikes in this class and price point. If you don’t really know what that means, nevermind. I tend to give a lot of points for design and sense of purpose – and Super73 has that in spades.
I also think S73 is better than most at frame design, color choice, seat design, etc. These elements all feel classic and speak to a larger group of people than not. A lot of the competitor bikes have one or two things that just feel off, or cheapo, or not right. Super73 feels like a factory built custom thing, and just comes off right.
Controller Display The controller display screen on the S73 is one of the simplest I’ve seen and is not too glossy or full of features. I think this is a great thing, and wish more of the competition would take this approach.
I don’t actually want a big, glossy color iPad on my bike. I don’t like the idea of leaving a bike parked on the street with that kind of unnecessary bling hanging off the handlebars. I just want simple, functional, and that’s what this bike has going on. It has 3 settings, so you can decided what speed range you want and control your battery usage. For me, I just tend to put it in the highest setting and leave it – but your mileage may vary.
Headlight The bike comes equipped with a headlight and tail light, both of which are pretty much necessary if you’re going to be riding at speed and in and out of traffic. You can turn off the headlight for battery savings I guess, but I wouldn’t do that. You really want to be as visible as possible, especially when the thing is Prius quiet.
I find the headlight to be plenty bright for safe and fun night rides, though you may want to make sure your beam is pointed at an appropriate height, so as not to fully blind the on-coming.
Seat and Footpegs The stock seat that comes with the S1 is that little wedge, and I replaced mine with the longer banana offered by Super73 almost immediately. I think you’d probably want to do the same.
Maybe a smaller, lighter rider wouldn’t notice as much. I also wanted to be able to have a child passenger periodically, and the longer seat easily accommodates us two up.
I added some basic BMX style footpegs as well, for stability for the passenger. When riding solo, I can use the pegs to sit more “Cafe” style on the bike. I assume I look like a flabby, bald monkey humping a football. But, you’re going to get the side eye from some of the moms at elementary school pickup no matter what you do.
Steel Frame If you’ve done any mountain biking or proper dirt biking, you know that suspension is kind of a big deal. The Super73 is by no means an off road machine. It’s a rigid steel frame and is not a cushy ride, despite what the fatty tires would try to have you believe.
The chain slaps the frame when you hit a pothole. But, that doesn’t mean it isn’t perfectly capable of handling a decent trail or gravel fire road at speed without beating you to death. You’ll have fun, I guarantee.
That said, it sucks on hills. You can make way up a modest grade if you’re willing to pedal. But, if you get to a big hill you may end up walking the thing. The ride down will be funner, I promise.
Fenders Being an Oregonian, I’m a pretty firm believer that any bike – motor or no – needs fenders. Regardless of how “cool” the bobber look may be, it’s largely impractical for anyone but the fairest of fair weather riders. If you plan on getting a S73, make sure you get the fenders.
They’re not made of the toughtest stuff, but they’re functional and still look nice. That is, unless you like having a muddy strip up the back of your shirt. Your call. I think the S1 comes stock with fenders these days, but other models have them as an accessory.
Riding a Super 73 S1 – Prepare for a Lifestyle Change For me, the Super73 came to life when I actually started using it. I have a revolving stable of bikes, vintage motorcycles, enduros and that kind of dad bling. I honestly am riding the Super 73 more than any of them.
I live in a small college town, and anything I want to do beyond leave town is within a 1 or 2 mile radius. Jumping on the S73 to go to the Trader Joes, or a business meeting or school pick up is just fun and honestly sometimes quicker than taking my pickup or a motorcycle.
It does fine in a drizzle, and I’m not really one to be precious with bikes anyway. I can throw it in the back of the pickup and take it wherever. For people who are truly new to riding, which I hope will be a growing number in the next few years as these things progress, I can see how exciting this can be.
I remember being about 12 years old when I first got a little Honda motorcycle. I could hardly sleep at night thinking about riding the thing. It’s a pretty great feeling, and I think you could have it with a Super73.
Like a lot of lifestyle products, there are some pretty serious Super73 fans out there. To those folks I would say – me too, guys. I think it’s a great motorbike. But, is it the best of the best scrambler style fat tire electric motorbike out there? Well, we’d like to find out.
So, we’re going to start getting our hands on some of the competitive models and do some videos and write ups. I think that in 2019 the Super 73 S1 likely isn’t the best, and 2020 is going to be a big year for these things.
What it is, though, is a lot of people’s first ride. And it has more style than just about anything out there. And for that, it’s special.
The post Super 73 S1 Ebike Review: The Beginning of Something New appeared first on Go Motorbikes.