Electric Bike "carry-behind " 2019

Yes I know an "Electric Bike " is not technically a Truck accessory,,,Except for many of us oldsters we don't like to have to break camp to go to the local store to pick up a few things and don't need or want to tow a vehicle.


Here is an alternative that is relatively affordable - "RAD Power Bikes" E-Bike" They offer a 14 day free trial and 1 year warranty. I have had mine 3 years in June 2021 over 2,450 miles with no problems.

UPDATE April 2021
In Mid 2020 RAD added the "Rad Mission"a single-speed electric, pedal assist metro bike for city riders for $1,099.


RAD makes many models between about $1,000 - $1,599 depending on the model. I chose the "RADCity Step-thru" as 99% of my riding was concrete and asphault. They make a model with 4 inch wide tires for street and offroad/sand the "RAD Rover" Tires on RAD City are 2.3 inches wide.

Few more pictures, Click on my Arvatar than "My Gallery". Scroll down to Electric Bike 2018 album.

I researched for about 6 months. Prices run $ 899 - $10,000 or more depending on what you are looking for: City cruiser or mountain. "Pedego" is the company you hear about the most. We rented from a local dealer in Carlsbad. "Pedego's" sell for about $ 3,400-$4000 through distributors. We decided on the "RAD" because it sells direct at $1,499 with a $200 discount if you buy two at the same time (which we did). Plus FREE SHIPPING......

And in our case NO sales Tax (June 2018). I subscribe to their Blog and as of April 2019 "Govmnt" has forced them to charges sales tax. Too bad .

Local service is provided by "Velofix" - a mobile bike shop that comes to your residence to set up your bike'.

You will also need to upgrade your bike rack to a platform model that supports at least 200 pounds.
We chose the Swagman Escapee $380 - $400 . E-Trailer has lower prices than the bike shops.


Another option is a small "Mini-motorcycle carrier". September 27th replaced the Swagman with a custom Single Hauler- click on "Joe Hauler" $350.00 for the E-Bike carrier. See photo. More photos on page three.


Bike with battery weighs 63 pounds. Times 2 for two bikes. Power: 750 watt motor. 48 volt battery. 5-position pedal assist. Separate Throttle. computer. 25-50 mile range . Tons of fun and one still gets exercise. Electricity "flattens" out the hills.

When you review the website. Scroll down to the "review" video for the model you are interested in.

​Unfortunately there are lots of choices to consider. We decided if we weren't able to rent it we wouldn't consider buying that one.

Research

electric bike review

electricbikeaction.com. (EBA). I picked up the print version at "Barnes and Noble"
Under the "H-Torque Publications" nameplate they offer three bicycle magazines. Including EBA, "Mountain Bike Action" and "Road Bike Action". website add .com" to review the digital version.

Electric bikes come in 2, 3, and 4 wheel versions.

I'm age 76 and have been losing stamina. The electric bike will keep me in the activity much longer.


Update 11/20
Added the Lectric Bike . New for 2020 $899 for the folding model.

I have been looking at those since Squatch 1st posted about them. I think it is a grand idea and is in my future None of us are getting any younger and I carry lotsa camera gear....

Looking forward to your opinion on yours

Hi Happy,
So far I've ridden it "RAD City Step-thru" 42 miles since the 20th. I ride the San Luis Rey river bike trail in Oceanside. Asphalt 9 miles west to Oceanside Harbor at least 100 feet away from the cars.

Then around the Marina and sometimes the Strand, our local "Boardwalk" except there is no actual bike, scooter and walkers special area. We share with the cars. Speed limit 15 miles an hour. Most of the drivers are too busy looking at the "eye-candy" to be texting while driving so its actually safe to "share" the road with them.

Congrats on the Rad Power Bike Jim. I bought one about four months ago and have over 600 miles on it already. These are a total blast to ride and I just love mine.

Mike

Wow Mike 600 miles, fantastic. Have you increased the governor top speed? I did that yesterday on mine. Max speed now 24.8 mph. (40km/h) Now I can catch and pass many though not all of the regular road bikes on flat asphault on San Luis Rey River bike trail (18 miles round trip).

Hello Jim, I just now saw your post asking about adjusting the governor. No I haven't done that yet but I plan to. I've been preoccupied with other projects so speeding up the bike is low on the list. I ride it most everyday doing all the old guy stuff that I used to drive my truck for. I'm now at 830 miles and will ride to the movie theater tomorrow. Way to much fun to zoom past non power bikes, eat my electrons loser!

I've been fighting the E-bikes, but need to give up in a few years. 5,000 miles so far this year but I'm sure my bike riding days are slowly reducing...

Jim,
I was at Bonneville last weekend for the World of Speed and found some competition for your bike. This bike is part of the George A Wyman Memorial Project. It is pedal powered with electric assist and a chain saw engine that starts a couple hundred feet down the track. It set a blistering pace of 42 mph in the 130 mph short course bracket.

The George A Wyman Memorial Project celebrates the first man to cross the country in a motorized vehicle. In 1903 he went from San Francisco to New York in 50 days on a bicycle equipped with a 200 cc engine. The George A. Wyman Memorial Project: The Project

Hi Dick,

Thanks for sharing the pictures and the link.

42 mph is still faster than I want to be going if I fell off of it...which I have already done on mine.. Luckily at the time I was going 0 mph. How did I do that? I was on a slope on uneven ground and the motor didn't have enough torque to haul our combined weight - 308 pounds, up the grade. I put my left foot down to balance and the ground was about 6 inches below level. Inertia gets one every time. No damage as my fall was in slow motion and I had my bike helmet on.

I just turned 300 miles. Still transporting it to the Marina and riding it in the safe areas. Though now I have ventured out onto the roadway after finding a 25 mph 2 lane road that parallels the beach - Pacific Street. It eventually merges with the coast highway which I can take south all the way into Encinitas...Then the traffic gets heavy and I turn around and go back, so far averaging 25 miles per trip.

Simi Mike,
Procedure to change the governor speed
The vague steps to change the govenor speed are in the "King-Meter" User guide, page 35. My issue was the procedure is unclear on the steps to get into the the "speed limit" area. Answer. 1). Turn the bike display on. 2) press the "up" and "down" arrows down at the same time. This takes you to the "wheel size setting" which on my model reads "26" (default tire size). 3) Press "mode" button once - which takes you to the "speed limit " display. The number "32" km/h (the default) displays on the model "City Step-thru". 32 is 20.8 mph. 4) press the up arrow till it says 40 km/h (24.8 mph). The fastest you can go without hacking into the program.5) Hold "mode" button down for 10 seconds to save the data and exit.

Maximum speed
I can't get the bike over 23 mph. Top speed is affected by wind resistance, tire preasure (mines 60psi) and rider weight. If I could lose 35 pounds (ha,ha) and put on a fairing I might get up to 24.8. Though I can tell you 23 mph wearing bike shorts and a short sleeve shirt is pleanty fast if I ever fall off it. At my age I suppose I would break bones.

One last thing. If you have the RAD model "Rover" change the wheel size to 28" as the speedometer is off 2 mph. That info came from a RAD owner that has a "Rover" and "Step-thru" his wife rides (bike fits riders 4'-8" to 6'-3" height). He checked the speed against the portable "Garmin" GPS.

Lastly if you attend the SoCal rally in "Ocotillo Wells" later this month I will have it out there to see and ride ..."if you promise not to fall off it"

Interesting topic.
I have a couple of questions if you don't mind...

How far can you go on a single charge?

How long does it take to recharge the battery and can you do it with your truck or camper or do you have to plug into 110V?

Thanks.

Hi Eddie,

The "RADPower Bike" will go 50 miles in "pedal Assist" mode and 25 miles "throttle" only per charge. ..probably for a rider around 190 pounds. There is a "Table" on page 19 of the owners manual that you can download from their website - www.radpowerbikes.com
to review.

Expected range at my weight 230 pounds 20 miles "throttle" only to 40 miles pedal assist.

The battery capacity Display is a rectangular box with "F" at left end and "E" at the right. Inside the box are 5 squares. So far after 440 miles on flat ground with a 8-10 mph headwind I'm averaging 16 miles per square. Most used so far are a "square and one quarter". Time to recharge about 45 minutes. Battery is charged after every use.

Ocotillo Wells Report

Once I lowed the air preasure down to 30 pounds I had no problem negotiating in the sand. This is not an Offroad bike though as the tires are too narrow - 2.3 inches. The RAD "Rover" has much wider tires and a 3 speed motor . The Rover is much better suited to offroad riding.

It was fun to ride around the camp at the rally and will definitely take it out there again.

Thanks!

Interesting Radpower gave a chart for rider weight.

If I may, I'll add from my own experience with a different model on 4" fat tires that - in addition to rider weight - the battery range is also largely dependent on the terrain and to a much lesser extent, tire rolling resistance. Liberal use of the throttle on hills will suck juice. We usually run ~8-12 psi which is great for sand and also shock absorption off pavement. Airing up a bit makes pedaling noticeably easier and faster when on pavement (our tires are max 30 psi)

Jim, 45 mins charge time sounds very workable, though I realise duration is related to amount of draw down. How are you recharging when on the road ? We've used the camper inverter for day rides but I'm not sure how we'd do repeat, long recharges for 2 batteries if we stay camped in one spot.

Recharging off-road

So far I haven't had to do that because It isn't ridden far enough to get into the 4th "square". Battery "ReGen's" (regenerates) going downhill when the brakes are applied.

I suppose if your off the grid for weeks at a time you would have to carry a generator to charge it.

Solar charging
RAD Power Bikes tech support (800)939-0310 xtension 2.
The technician says it draws 2 amps charging.through an inverter.

Recommended Inverter specs
350 watt Inverter
100-240 volts
50-60 cycles
Pure sine wave A/C

I'm not an electrical engineer so I don't know what would happen if you don't use an inverter of the recommended size.

RC Pilot Jim said:

Recharging off-road

So far I haven't had to do that because It isn't ridden far enough to get into the 4th "square". Battery "ReGen's" (regenerates) going downhill when the brakes are applied.

I suppose if your off the grid for weeks at a time you would have to carry a generator to charge it.

Solar charging
RAD Power Bikes tech support (800)939-0310 xtension 2.
The technician says it draws 2 amps charging.through an inverter.

Recommended Inverter specs
350 watt Inverter
100-240 volts
50-60 cycles
Pure sine wave A/C

I'm not an electrical engineer so I don't know what would happen if you don't use an inverter of the recommended size.

Click to expand...

That's a pretty small inverter. I have one that big in my camper for charging batteries in various things that don't have DC adapters. Bigger would be fine too. The only important bit is the "Pure Sine Wave" bit. Those cost more, and have a cleaner output than the cheaper types, for more sensitive electronics.

Thanks Vic,

I don't even know where to find one. Is that someting you would find at "camping world", Best By or Fry's electronics?
Could you suggest an inverter manufacture and model number that we could order through Amazon with a pure sine wave?

I'm not sure how big an inverter you might want Jim. If you want to plug in power tools, hair dryers, microwaves... you need more juice. If just this electric bike, then the 350W they suggested is fine.

Have a look at this review page. They link each one to Amazon
https://invertero.com/best-pure-sine-wave-inverters/

I checked your suggestiopn and came up with this one:


Samlex SSW-350-12A 350 Watts 12 Volts DC Pure Sine Wave Inverter for $97.72 tjhrough Amazon
Installing it.
I like the portable process where I plug it into a 10 amp wire or I suppose I could use 10 gauge wire and "alligator" clips directly to the truck battery with an inline fuse. Is that possible? or "crazy" .thinking?

RC Pilot Jim said:

Recharging off-road

So far I haven't had to do that because It isn't ridden far enough to get into the 4th "square". Battery "ReGen's" (regenerates) going downhill when the brakes are applied.

I suppose if your off the grid for weeks at a time you would have to carry a generator to charge it.

Click to expand...

Thx for the reply. When I asked I wasn't sure if you were doing multiple trips between charges.

We have been looking for a way to charge our two ebikes while on a 3 month trip to Baja. We looked into portable, rechargable by solar, battery power packs. One was the Humless Go Mini 64:
https://www.humless.com/product/1500-series-64-kwh/
It turned out to only be enough to charge 1 bike from dead and cost about $850. It has a capacity of 640 Watts, and will need all of that to charge a 500 watt bike battery due to lost power by using an inverter. Solar panels are extra, but at least 200 watts will be needed. Humless has a new power supply comming up that is about half the size and weight and holds 1200 watts, but costs about $1500.00.

I used our Honda 2200i generator to charge both our bikes after a 2 hour bike ride and it took just over an hour an only used a pint or so of gas. The solar would be nice, but not sure about the cost-benefit ratio. Of course, with the generator you need to carry extra gas.