e-bikes

[Smiley]

In my province it is now legal to ride e-bikes on the road with no license or insurance.
An e-bike is an electric moped,a lot like a little motorcycle. Are they popular in other areas too?
I was thinking that to have one in the Philippines with a small solar panel to recharge the batteries could be a cool and cheap way to get around.

[Edwin]

I have never heard of an e-bike! This is very interesting! When I was in my early 20s I had an Italian Vespa 90 motor scooter. I had to mix oil and gasoline for the engine, just like you do for chainsaws! I also had a Honda CX Deluxe 500, and still have it, although it needs a lot of work on it to make it useable. I've had it under cover most of the time, so it is still protected from the weather. I road my nephew's Harley Davidson Sportster for about 5 or 6 blocks where he lived, and it was fun, but not much different than riding my Honda! A guy I know made a road bicycle trip to California from Washington, and he used a solor panel to keep his computer powered up!

[Smiley]

I don`t like how they are being ridden around here but they are actually pretty cool as a low-cost form of transport
Just do a search for e bikes and you will get pics and ideas. I think they could be great for the Philippines as a simple solar panel could cut fuel cost to zero. , , , , my favorite price

[Edwin]

Yes, that is a great price! zero! All you would have would be the initial layout of the money when you purchased the bike in the first place. A little solar panel should be pretty easy to keep it charged up. The pollution factor would be zero also as no exhaust would be going into the air! As long as you have enough sun shine it would keep working!

[Smiley]

Has anybody in the Philippines had any experience with these? I think that they could be the perfect personal transportation solution for a place where fuel costs are high. In the city I live in there are hundreds of them on the road and more being sold every day.I never see any used ones for sale which tells me the people that own one tend to be satisfied enough to keep it. the addition of a solar panel would bring your fuel cost to zero and the panel could even be used to charge other things as well, cell phone,power tools,radio,laptop,what have you.
I recently installed a solar panel on the roof of a friends garage. He uses it to charge 2 e-bikes and batteries for a wide range of power tools including his lawn mower and hedge trimmers. When I install a truck battery for storage he will be able to run his garage lighting and a couple bug zappers as well! Solar power is really cool if you stop to think about it

[Edwin]

My brother-in-law before he died went to solor power in the Philippines. I can't remember whether he installed a wind generator, also. He got all of his supplies for intalling it in China, and he was having a lot of trouble getting the batteries to hold the charge that was necessary to make his electric system work. I think he was doing better with it before he died. It was in 2010 that he installed it, and I think it was better before he died, but he was still, I think, trying to work the bugs out. They liked being independent with their electricity, and then they were happy not to suffer from the power outages that were happening so often about that time in the Philippines.

[red]

My first time to hear e bikes. But yes that can be allowed here in Phils. you know almost anything is allowed here. But i am not sure if they are allowed to run around highways better ask local govt. but LTO is only in malaybalay valencia areas they seldom go south highways. So i guess its ok without license.
Im scared to ride bikes esp on highways. My husband loves bikes. He said he wanted to own harley davis before. He was once a bouncer. So everytime he says about harley i said dont even think about it. I be happy riding a horse than bike. We used to have bike for easy transpo here but im scared due to accidents i see on highways.

[Smiley]

I prefer my Harley but I don`t see the same advantages to owning one in the Phils as here.I have a couple motorcycles but do not plan to take either with me as the import costs and restrictions are unreasonable.Much better to just find something there.
I worked a second job as a bouncer for a lot of years,usually had the Harley near the door where I could keep an eye on it.Just the fact that most people knew me as a club member kept things pretty peaceful.
Right now I ride an old shovelhead (he would know what that is),still plan on a decent sized bike for over there,just wondering out loud sort of if anyone there was using the ebikes.Could be a great business op if someone had the capital to get it going.

[Edwin]

My Dad owned 2 Harley Davidson motorcycles when he was a young guy. I don't think they had been out long when he owned them. I rode a Harely Sportster for just 5 or 6 blocks around town that belonged to my nephew. I dreamed of owning one of them for a few years, but I don't think I will in the near future anyway.

My Dad rode one of his Harleys into a chuck hole in the road, lost control at a slow speed, broke his foot, rode to the doctor, sold his Harleys and never rode again. He did break wild horses which was far more dangerous, but he didn't mind that, but he was not going to get on a motorcycle again!