Been a Rollercoaster

[Megadan]

Long story short

Ended up in an employment situation last year. Landed a job but it was a substantial pay cut. Combine that with the cost of everything in my life doubling, and well.. yeah it's been stressful.

Fast forward to today and I just landed another new job that is going to actually pay me what I should be making. Quite literally this whole job and the entire situation is nothing but perks all the way around. Day hours, smaller company, no dealing with stupid operators, no building related maintenence stuff that I hate, etc.

One of those perks is my work will now be 2.2 miles away instead of 11. This has me thinking about selling my Hawk and getting my hands on a 50cc scooter or electric bike to get to work for the good parts of the year.

Maybe a bigger scooter like a 150. I haven't decided yet, honestly. I don't need to go faster than like 35 to 40mph and there is only one hill to contend with.

I am probably going to put my Hawk up for about 1k and hopefully get a quick sale. I feel it is time to move on anyway.

[TominMO]

Awesome!

A 150cc scooter would be more versatile than a 50cc, just in terms of speed and the weight it can carry. Especially with you rockin' that whole mega thing.

[XLsior]

Good to see things taking a turn for the better Dan.

As for EVs i am not at all opposed to them but there has been a number of dwelling fires caused by failed battery tech in the small commuter segment here in Australia, with legislators moving in for the kill...

The 150cc scene should get you 100mpg and still give you the tinkering/fettling that EV's don't have....which is pro/con depending on the individual.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by TominMO

Awesome!

A 150cc scooter would be more versatile than a 50cc, just in terms of speed and the weight it can carry. Especially with you rockin' that whole mega thing.

I am a little less Mega than I used to be lol. Last weigh in I was 252lbs.

I am honestly heavily considering an ebike at this point. A bafang 52v 750w hub motor kit is about 800 bucks and I already have a good bike to put one on. They can reach over 30 without even being unlocked fully. Most of my ride to work is 35 or under on road, and I can avoid roads for a good bit of it.

Plus,.the ebike doesn't require registration, taxes, or insurance. The scooter would.

[TominMO]

Congrats on your less-mega status.

Personally I don't trust EVs. Even though range will not be an issue for you, having only a 2.2 mile commute. But you gotta charge it. This may actually be more expensive than gasoline. Just saw an article today that pointed out that this can happen. Also, you can always put gas in--even store it in a gas can in your garage. Is your area ever prone to power outages? Plus the possibility of fires, and needing to replace batteries over time eliminates any (possible) savings of electric over gas.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...-electric-car/

But if you just build an ebike for short good-weather commutes, I guess it's all good. Maybe source an extra battery so you always have one charged.

[Megadan]

I live in Nebraska. We don't have the brown out issues of SoCal. As far as cost to charge, at the current rates a typical ebike with pedal assist costs about .8 cents per mile. In comparison to my Hawk, which is about 10 times that. Range depends on the battery and a number of other factors, but a 48V 20ah battery on a 750w bike can usually achieve 40 miles of range in pure electric drive, or more. My 4.4 mile ride to work would barely tax it. Even if it was 30 miles, I could still ride to work 5 days a week on one charge if I wanted to.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by XLsior

Good to see things taking a turn for the better Dan.

As for EVs i am not at all opposed to them but there has been a number of dwelling fires caused by failed battery tech in the small commuter segment here in Australia, with legislators moving in for the kill...

The 150cc scene should get you 100mpg and still give you the tinkering/fettling that EV's don't have....which is pro/con depending on the individual.

The ebike thing is mainly just appealing for the lack of neednto register or insure. Not that either of those things are expensive for my Hawk either.

I may just keep the Hawk for now. I just need to show it some attention. The ebike battery fire thing doesn't scare me a whole lot because I understand a lot of the "why" reasons on how they happen.

The big thing for me is also just how close my work is. Even my Hawk would barely get warmed up by the time I got there. Short trips are hard on a vehicle like that.

[Megadan]

This is one of the bikes I am considering. It's a durable and very high quality unit. https://www.heybike.com/products/hey...waAgdREALw_wcB

As I said, I am undecided yet, at this point.

[Megadan]

As for scooters, I have been eyeing the vitacci spark. Mainly because of the 14 inch wheels. https://www.amazon.com/VITACCI-150cc.../dp/B09VM4BX77

I am always open to opinions and suggestions lol

[JerryHawk250]

Congrats on the new job! If you looking at scooters you might as well go all out and get the KPV. lol https://www.venommotorsportsusa.com/...d-street-legal

The Vitacci Spark looks like a good deal though. I think i would do the 150cc over the 50cc.

[TominMO]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

Congrats on the new job! If you looking at scooters you might as well go all out and get the KPV. lol https://www.venommotorsportsusa.com/...d-street-legal

The Vitacci Spark looks like a good deal though. I think i would do the 150cc over the 50cc.

(Wood sidestand support sold separately)

[david3921]

(Wood sidestand support sold separately)
It might come as part of the shipping crate.

[Magician16]

Congrats on the new job and slim down. I ride a bike almost every day, and I would go the bike route myself.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

Congrats on the new job! If you looking at scooters you might as well go all out and get the KPV. lol https://www.venommotorsportsusa.com/...d-street-legal

The Vitacci Spark looks like a good deal though. I think i would do the 150cc over the 50cc.

I am trying to keep the total cost of the bike around 1500-ish, or less. I don't mind going a bit over for the right thing if it has all the things I want, but double is a stretch lol.

I also know that I could simply keep my Hawk, make some changes to it and simply keep riding it. That hasn't escaped my thought process either.

Mainly just remove the oil cooler so it can get up to operating temp a bit quicker.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by Magician16

Congrats on the new job and slim down. I ride a bike almost every day, and I would go the bike route myself.

I heavily want the bike. Honestly, the only thing that hasn't sold me on it entirely is that after work I also go to the gym, and I will be starting up some classes here this spring, hopefully, or summer for sure, which I will likely need to go to straight after work, and time may be a limiting factor. My ride from work to the school is almost 7 miles one way, and down one of the biggest arties in the city. Unfotunately there are also not many side road options to get there without adding more distance and time to the ride as well.

Not saying it isn't doable, but much more complicated. That is why the scooter idea is so appealing.