EBike Trailer Tour

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flaggit

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Currently heading up the Oregon Coast to get to the Portland Blues Festival. I parked the rig and packed the Ebike and trailer. I figure between pedaling and using a little juice up the hills, I will save a ton on fuel! I am recharging my battery wherever I can but will go to solar shortly if I survive this first experiment. If I get tired, endangered or otherwise incapacitated, I will hop on a bus, train or hitched ride. So far, it has been a blast.
 

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Looks like you have all the good stuff...Gazelle e-bike, Burkey trailer, MSR tent, pink pool noodle...

Wait...what? Pink pool noodle? :unsure:

Ok.

But...that saddle. Ouch.

Just sayin.
 
Check out “22 states in 22 days” with Carlin doing the solar bike as cheaply as possible on YouTube. It is a hoot! So how far a day are you traveling? Pink pool noodle is so he can sit down after a full day in the saddle I bet! Lol!!!
 
Looks like you have all the good stuff...Gazelle e-bike, Burkey trailer, MSR tent, pink pool noodle...

Wait...what? Pink pool noodle? :unsure:

Ok.

But...that saddle. Ouch.

Just sayin.
Pink pool noodle sticks out about 18 inches from side of trailer to keep cars away from me.
Saddle is British leather Brooks B29 saddle which is a favorite among long haul bike tourists, very comfortable once broken in, about 100 hours or so!
 
Check out “22 states in 22 days” with Carlin doing the solar bike as cheaply as possible on YouTube. It is a hoot! So how far a day are you traveling? Pink pool noodle is so he can sit down after a full day in the saddle I bet! Lol!!!
20-30 miles a day. Usually less than three hours saddle time. Gotta play tourist as well!
 
That's a cool plan and setup. How is your trip coming along?
 
I stopped for a few days for the Portland Waterfront Blues Festival. Getting ready now to leave tomorrow for the coast. So far, everything is working well. Been riding 20-30 miles a day up the coast and into the wind. Finding electricity to recharge batteries has not been an issue. I am only using electricity to go up hills so I rarely use more than a third of my battery capacity. My current thinking (ha ha) is possibly getting a lithium battery, inverter and plug in charger which would allow me to go 3-4 days without plugging in to the grid, but as I gain experience, I will know more.Also, most campgrounds have hiker biker sites so no reservation is needed!
 

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Mind sharing how you are finding grid power. It takes 3 or 4 hours to fully charge my bike batteries from a low state of charge. I can’t see me sitting in a library or outside a store but could see using a plug in in a campground restroom, a fish cleaning station or even a parking lot with plugins for diesel block heaters but finding those every 40 miles seems not likely. Am I wrong? I thought about using a solar charger on a spare battery so it could charge all day every other day as well.
 
Pink pool noodle sticks out about 18 inches from side of trailer to keep cars away from me.
Saddle is British leather Brooks B29 saddle which is a favorite among long haul bike tourists, very comfortable once broken in, about 100 hours or so!
Generally, referred to in modern times as an ass hatchet. Most riders that still, or did, use them generally don't ride with them level.....the nose is elevated. Check pics on Crazy Guy On A Bike for reference.
 
Generally, referred to in modern times as an ass hatchet. Most riders that still, or did, use them generally don't ride with them level.....the nose is elevated. Check pics on Crazy Guy On A Bike for reference.
That sounds great! I order an ebike that I should get it in a week or so, and thinking of taking a trip to the Northwest of the country when I get the necessaries tools, a little cargo trailer, and camping gear.
Good luck on the road!
 
I stopped for a few days for the Portland Waterfront Blues Festival. Getting ready now to leave tomorrow for the coast. So far, everything is working well. Been riding 20-30 miles a day up the coast and into the wind. Finding electricity to recharge batteries has not been an issue. I am only using electricity to go up hills so I rarely use more than a third of my battery capacity. My current thinking (ha ha) is possibly getting a lithium battery, inverter and plug in charger which would allow me to go 3-4 days without plugging in to the grid, but as I gain experience, I will know more.Also, most campgrounds have hiker biker sites so no reservation is ne
Good luck on your journey, I am thinking on doing that myself as soon as I get my ebyke.
 
Mind sharing how you are finding grid power. It takes 3 or 4 hours to fully charge my bike batteries from a low state of charge. I can’t see me sitting in a library or outside a store but could see using a plug in in a campground restroom, a fish cleaning station or even a parking lot with plugins for diesel block heaters but finding those every 40 miles seems not likely. Am I wrong? I thought about using a solar charger on a spare battery so it could charge all day every other day as well.
I have used the electric outlets in campgrounds, bathrooms, coffee shops, restaurants, hardware stores , wherever there is a plug. I find I only use about a fourth to a third of my battery a day. My plan is to ride 2-3 days and take a rest day. I am Considering buying a lithium battery, an inverter, and a plug-in charger so that I can recharge during my 2 to 3 riding days off the battery and then charge everything back up on my rest day.
 
Why bother with the extra weight of a charger and inverter when you could probably get by with just a second bike battery? The ideal situation would be finding a solar panel you could mount on the trailer with a controller that could charge your battery directly so there wouldn’t be any inverter losses. Then you could charge the battery not in use over the days you used the other battery and recharge both when grid power is available. There are some 20Amp Hour batteries out there for most electric bikes.
 
Why bother with the extra weight of a charger and inverter when you could probably get by with just a second bike battery? The ideal situation would be finding a solar panel you could mount on the trailer with a controller that could charge your battery directly so there wouldn’t be any inverter losses. Then you could charge the battery not in use over the days you used the other battery and recharge both when grid power is available. There are some 20Amp Hour batteries out there for most electric bikes.
Unfortunately I have a Bosch mid drive and the replacement battery is $850. And Bosch makes it impossible to charge the battery directly. The Bosch solution is get an inverter and a 12 volt battery. Hence my answer.
 
Sorry to hear that. Really shines a light on companies that care more about making money than improving the lives of the people they sell their products to. Getting rid of competition with proprietary products should be considered a monopoly in my opinion and prosecutors should put them out of business. Hope someone gets rich with a work around.
 
Best bet is to haul a bike trailer that has is covered in thin, flexible solar panels which can unfold into a large array when you are stationary
 
..... The ideal situation would be finding a solar panel you could mount on the trailer with a controller that could charge your battery directly so there wouldn’t be any inverter losses .....
Aren't Bosche e-bike batteries 36V?
..... Really shines a light on companies that care more about making money than improving the lives of the people they sell their products to.....
I doubt charging-in-use concept enters the product development thinking. Most sales go to recreational and commuting bikers who can charge while stationary.
 
Charging while in use would be nice but that isn’t even the problem. The problem is the manufacturer has a charger and battery that communicate and prevent use of any charger/battery that isn’t the one they sold you. Even like voltage chargers won’t connect unless they have the manufacturer’s chip identification I believe and will damage the system if attempted. At least that is what many owners manuals state. Pretty sad state of affairs, Tesla cars and now bicycles!
 
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