Alternative transportation

As an alternative to the automobile, anyway. Interesting we have come to consider any other means of transport as alternative and think only of the automobile as the reliable standard....rather than any other way round. I use a car less and less and a bike has become my main means of transport. Be that as it may, this is about personal transportation and it will center mainly on the two-wheeled variety.
The bicycle hardly needs any introductions in that regard, it's been around for well over a hundred years and is a durable, simple machine that works.

It is a multiplier of effort, a raiser of efficiency, a freedom enhancer.....and much fun.

I don't think the bicycle needs much help in this regard either.... but I do at times.

I love the pure, sweet functionality of a well tuned bicycle and want to impact that as minimally as possible. As I grow a older I still love the the exercise I get pedaling ......but perhaps just not all the time. With that in mind, I've been exploring some power assist options and, I must honestly admit, without assist my time spent cycling would greatly diminish.

Power assist as applied by an ICE, small, efficient internal combustion engines that are both EPA and CARB II compliant. There are some wonderful mini, industrial quality engines available today that we've sourced from Japan, made by Honda and Robin/Subaru, Mitsubishi and Tanaka.

Electric assist might be applied by high output RC electric or hub motors that have regenerative braking that can be used to trickle charge a smaller_than_usual bike battery pack to keep weight down.



Or perhaps a combination of the two, a hybrid.....ICE/Elec equipped bike that could get 300 miles to a gallon of gasoline with minimal electric outlet charging.

Perhaps more appropriately we should make that tribrid power: human/ice/electric.


There was a day when mopeds were popular, back in the 1970's with the first oil price shocks. They still are somewhat popular in some places in the world. They are fun but not too practical as bikes. They are heavy, often weighing between one and two hundred pounds and damn near impossible to pedal as a bicycle. In fact, the pedals were only used just to get them started.


What I am proposing is more appropriately called a PEDMO© rather than moped, with pedaling as the primary function and the motoring aspect an ancillary but integral, assisted part of the machine. The functionality of the bicycle remains intact and the rider simply has more options to increase range, sustained speed and load carrying capability and an aid in dealing with hills and headwinds.



Perhaps, along these line, a fully realized PEDMO© would be a tribrid in a longtail or cargo bike.


Older posts below

And please feel free to comment.

Vintage Honda MAB

Something old, something new. Post war Japan was rebuilding and Honda was getting started with alt trans, teamed up with Bridgestone bicycles. An innovative, inverted 38cc engine friction drive bicycle assist system. We knew more back then.

Under 50cc

If you're at all interested in this sort of thing, the history of small, motored personal alt trans, here is a classic bit of motored bicycling from it's Golden Age.

Mobility

There are a number of definitions to the word, some that refer to economics, physics, or sociology. As we enter an era of what I perceive will be a time of reduced economic and upward mobility, personal mobility will take on new definitions.

Bicycles are great and hard to improve upon but for an aging populace some power assist might just be the ticket. Power assisted bicycles can be cost effective, inexpensive to maintain and offer a small footprint in total efficiency. They offer the flexibility of a bicycle with the benefit of continued exercise and the ability to add distance, range and modest cargo capacity in everyday use. Reading through some of the content in this blog offers a few of those ideas and examples hopefully, and of just how that might be fit in a scheme of practical, alt trans.

Riding the Spine

Great adventure read here about some dudes who rode bikes from Alaska to Patagonia.
Riding the Spine