2 Wheels Maybe

Black Tea -  they didn't hook me with the name, but the price, the stats, and the simplicity - goodness... The BlackTea website I'm blaming this one on Greg and Micah. Greg's been talking to me about converting an old Allstate Puch Saber to electric and Micah Toll already ordered a BlackTea citing non-buyers-regret from the Onyx launch. Just like Greg and I had been discussing - 72 volts and 3000 watts seem to be the sweet spot for small electric motorcycles. It should be able to cruise easily at 45mph and have a 35-mile range on just one battery. (BlackTea gives the option for a second battery to double the range.) It's been an ongoing discussion around here - a smallish electric electric scrambler. It was a growing flame in my project list that really heated up with the Fly Free Smart campaign . Back in the early 1970s, little gas-powered scramblers were everywhere and they were great fun and very economical transportation. From Honda to Hodaka , dozens of co...

after the storm there must be a calming                                        Desmond Dekker and Leslie Kong I've never really understood why people listen to the blues to get over their blues, but this week I've come closer. Yes, I know that upbeat music can be annoying when you're down, but depressing lyrics and minor chords, they don't lift me. So I decided to compromise a bit - how about depressing lyrics combined with some upbeat reggae music. (Yes, I am weird - reggae does not make me want to fire up a doob, but it sure makes me want to dance.) So, here's your soundtrack for 2WM Bicycle Distraction Day - Toots & the Maytals with "Time Tough": Time Tough Now that you have the tunes rolling, let's jump into this.  Distraction #1: Jeepers, it's a Junto! Cargo Bikes - you know how I love them big bikes. Today I learned about another cargo bike, but this on...

The didn't-make-it-this-time  Indiegogo campaign So, how did I miss this one the first time around? A big, bad, electric BMX straight outta Fort Worth - bring this thing on! As I keep looking at klunkers, I keep running across the big-boy BMX bikes. I keep thinking I want one. In the early '90's I bought my first mountain bike, and I enjoyed it a great deal, but I remember an initial disappointment when I realized that it was not just a bigger BMX with gears. The geometry was all wrong for wheelies and hops and jumps and such. Back then, there were companies making Big-Girl BMX bikes, but I wasn't aware of them until much later. A 26" Redline Big-Person BMX (for us retro dorks) So, I gave up wheelies and hops and spent a lot of time on my mountain bike, but the 10-year-old in me was always a little sad about the whole thing. (Which may explain why, forty years later, I've become obsessed with klunkers, Big-Being BMX bikes, dirt-jump bikes, and ...

Let's just jump into it: Convercycle The Convercycle (Click for original post) The Kickstarter was fully funded and closed, but you can still get one on Indiegogo for 40% off. Nope, I've never seen something listed on both, but the Convercycle fully funded on both crowdfunding sites. So, yes, you can still order yourself this transformer electric cargo bike for $1249 (before shipping) and can hope for it to be delivered this August. Dang, that thing is cool! Fly Free Smart Motorcycle The Old, The Classic, and the Desert (Click for original post) Fly Free introduced the third in their new trilogy this week. The newest is the Smart Old . (Yes, I love oxymorons!) Basically, these three are the same bike, but they are all dressed in different clothes. I'm torn -the Classic is my favorite to look at, the old would fit most of my riding, but the Desert's tall bars would make my back like it best. (And my back has a loud voice when choosing a ride.) ...

Juiced Bikes UDK 350/500 I've been a fan of the UDK for years now. When I first started checking it out, it was cutting edge and it had an incredibly long range when compared with anything else on the market. Also, it was originally offered in a non-electric version. Back then it was the only bike in the Juiced line-up. The UDK was and is a very accessible, tough, and useful cargo bike. But things have changed a lot over at Juiced, and the UDK has not kept up with the times.  The Summer 2018 Juiced offerings (Man, that's a bargain on the OceanCurrent! More on that later) The other Juiced bikes show a lot of advancement - torque sensors and pedal assist and lights and other stuff that makes an e-bike a more practical and enjoyable ride. I've watched and waited for Juiced to update the UDK. Last week, I fiinally saw the Juiced UDK I've been hoping for! (But it didn't come from Juiced!) Pure Cycles Capacita (on Indiegogo) Pure...