Fossil Free Friday: Passing on the Electric Scrambler Jones
(Getting it out of my system)
The Scrambler Jones
It happens more often than I want to admit. I go through a season of jonesing for a motorcycle to ride. It doesn't make financial sense, it doesn't make logical sense, and I know that if I had one, I would not ride it much. But I dearly miss the feeling of riding a motorcycle along a windy road on a beautiful day.
The latest jones has been slightly different - it's still retro and it's still electric, but this time it's dirtier - I'm jonesing for a scrambler.
When I look at what's commercially available, there's not much other than one very desirable bike - the Fly Free Smart Desert. Yes, I straight up want one.
The Scrambler Jones
It happens more often than I want to admit. I go through a season of jonesing for a motorcycle to ride. It doesn't make financial sense, it doesn't make logical sense, and I know that if I had one, I would not ride it much. But I dearly miss the feeling of riding a motorcycle along a windy road on a beautiful day.
The latest jones has been slightly different - it's still retro and it's still electric, but this time it's dirtier - I'm jonesing for a scrambler.
When I look at what's commercially available, there's not much other than one very desirable bike - the Fly Free Smart Desert. Yes, I straight up want one.
But they finished the pre-sale and haven't started the post-sale (and I could not afford either, snagit!)
Subtract the surfboard, the ocean, the cool helmet and jacket and goggles - that could be me!
What else is out there?
I've been an admirer of Royal Enfields for a while now and they're starting to offer a "trials" scrambler variant in other parts of the world, but there's still that whole petrol-sucking smoke-blowing issue that keeps the RE's off my real list. There is hope, though, in rumors:
A snippet from the article linked above
The real-world translation - We're talking about electric bikes, but we're a ways from building them.
More encouraging, though, is this cool home-conversion that has similar capabilities and a similar (build) price to the pre-sale Smart Desert.
Wait, did this post just go DIY? (It sure did!)
As cool as the Enfields are, I'd have to go with one of the early 1970's Japanese enduro/scramblers if I decided to build my own. Here in West Texas, they're much more readily available and much cheaper. They're also built on a smaller scale so they won't need quite as much juice to haul me about. Yamaha, Hodaka, Kawasaki, Suzuki - they all built bikes that would work great for an electric scrambler build. I've always been fond of the Yamaha AT-1's:
(Are you starting to see just how dangerous it is for me to start jonesing?)
Between AlieExpress and Craigslist I'm sure I could find the bike and running gear. So all I need is money and time and...
From the Lubbock Craigslist
Yes, I know - I'm a bit of a moron, but I see beauty waiting to shine! And I've been even more inspired since I ran across this Kawasaki on the youtube:
It's a rainy day in May here in Lubbock. And, as much as I'd like to be in the garage knocking out EV projects, I have work to do and bills to pay and, well, I guess I got that out of my system. How about you? What green project are you yearning to tackle? What green machine are you wishing to cruise into summer?
May we all find healthier paths and enjoy the ride! Be well, friends!
Whatever happened to the pigeon project? What would a good battery option for a moto bike that could use a golf cart motor?
ReplyDeleteHi Bob, thanks for your questions.
DeleteI posted answers in the most recent (5/28/2019) 2Wheels Maybe post.
Best of luck with your project.