Full-timing bike+trailer

[rheapup]

Hey guys, what are your thoughts on full-timing in a trailer towed by a bike? I read up on some articles saying towing about 1,000lbs on a bike slows you down to about 5mph, so I was thinking, what about an E-bike with pedal assistance? I know a lot of those little guy trailers. weight 500-1,000 depending on the type. So what do you guys think about full-timing in those conditions? Maybe get a solar to power the trailer and recharge the ebike too.

 

[dhawktx]

When I was researching e-bikes I noted that most of the batteries require a good 4 to 8 hours charging time on house current. Not sure what that translates to in solar. Most current systems can give you about a 20 mile trip unburdened, so if you're hauling extra weight you should count on it only as assistance on hills.

 

[Patrick46]

GSFish....I believe he's talking about a MOTORCYCLE (an electric one.)

 

[wagoneer]

I should hope so, 1000 pounds is a lot even in my E350 I have below 500 pounds of gross weight, pots pand stoves and clothes

 

[Queen]

He indicated being slowed to 5mph so sounds like he's referencing a pedal bike.

OP - maybe a tiny pop up instead? http://www.amazon.com/Kamp-Rite-Bushtrekka-Bicycle-Trailer-Oversize/dp/B002KKBT9Y?tag=hicons-20

 

[IGBT]

I have a homebuilt e-bike with a 750 watt hub motor on the rear tire.   If I don't pedal at all and keep my speed around 15mph, I use about 25-30 watt-hr per mile on level terrain. 

So figure a 15 mile trip done in an hour will use around 450 watt-hr max if you don't pedal and have little or no hills.

If I added a very light trailer with a 300 watt solar panel on the roof (open circuit output of about 37 volts which would match up nicely to the 36 volt hub motor), I could probably ride 60 to 80 miles per day with little or no pedaling, recharging a small battery during lunch and rest stops and having the battery assist the solar while riding.

A 300 watt panel is about $200 and is around 5 feet long and 3 feet wide, so the trailer would not need to be much wider than 3 feet.

It would be a neat setup.

 

[TMG51]

I found the guys to ask about it:





....it looks like people have built stuff like this though:

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Like gsfish, I have some bicycle experience...about 1 1/2 years which included some time in Mexico and up into Utah.
For a short time I had a single wheel trailer, but quickly got shed of that sucker and went to traveling very light. Even got rid of my tent and just kept the fly which I called my turtle, as that's what it looked like when set up to sleep under. I carried an MSR stove and 1 small pan.
Why no trailer? Take for example Az 89A from Sedona to Flagstaff...no shoulder and lots of blind curves. Too many roads I traveled were like that.

An E-bike sounds cool, but too heavy and too much peddle resistance for the long haul. I would trade that weight for a couple water bladders any day.

Just my thoughts... YMMV

 

[rheapup]

Yeah, just a crazy idea, Would probably need to be an olympian bicyclist to pull off even a semi-acceptable speed if anything at all haha. Just trying to think of ways to shed any extra bills that'd weight me down every month. Thanks for the replies guys, very insightful!

 

[Spirituallifetime]

I think most bicyclists are stealth camping with a tarp or bivy sack. Personally I think the best setup would be a folding bicycle with a backpack, hang the backpack on the handlebars. This setup would be easy to get on a bus or train for long distance travel. This has been done by a few world travelers.