Riding the Beast to Work:
I have been riding the Beast to commute to work every day. After reaching the 200 mile milestone, I decided to share my experiences. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
I've driven the Beast back and forth to work over the last 5 weeks. I just hit the 200 mile mark and have learned a few things about the ebike commuting experience of riding this e-bike.
The Beast is Unique
I love riding bicycles and motorcycles and I've descovered that this electric bike isn't like either one. It is in a class all by itself. For instance, when I ride a bicycle on the side of the road, I have to be careful about road conditions. Potholes, cracks, sewer grates, uneven ashphault repairs, rocks and debris are just a few items I have to avoid when riding my bicycle. If I don't, any of these items might jerk my front wheel and I'll take a tumble. Likewise, when I am riding a motorcycle on the street I have to watch for potholes, sand, rocks, water, or anything else which will make my tires leave the road.
When I first started riding the Beast, I tried avoiding as many obsticales as possible, but then I decided to push it so I could talk to customers about it. The Beast's all-terrain engineering means it cruises right over potholes, cracks, and uneven ashpault patches. It's 7 1/2 inch wide tires tackle the worst road surfaces ever. It travels through sand, rocks, and water without incident.
Faster than a Car...Sometimes
The Beast is a power-assisted, all-terrain, street-legal bicycle, but it is a bicycle. Therefore, the Beast operator has to follow Idaho's bicycle laws which are less-restrictive than a motor vehicle. For instance, the Beast has to travel on the edge of traffic, not in the traffic. So when cars are stacked 10 deep at stoplights, the Beast rider can just keep riding to the front of the queue. Also, in Idaho, bicycles only have to yield for stop signs and may stop, check, and continue at stop lights. So while cars are waiting endlessly for a light to turn green when there is no cross traffic, the Beast can continue moving forward.
My wife and I have left places at the same time to see who gets home first. We found that by combining the Beast's ability to travel consistantly at 20mph and follow the bicycle laws, the person riding the Beast can usually get home faster than the car which travels at a faster speed. My wife sums it up the best, "after a stop light, you have to wait for the cars in front of you to start moving, then when everyone finally gets up to speed, everyone starts to slow down again for the next stoplight or busy turn intersection." We find that the car can win "the race" if the driver doesn't encounter any traffic or is lucky enough to get a green light at all intersections.
Weather does not Matter
As the wether turned colder, I found my ears and eyeballs freezing. So I went to the pawn shop and purchased a $20 full face motorcycle helmet and now everything stays toasty warm. Using the Beast for commuting is not very cold. I wear my same jacket and gloves I would normally wear this time of year. It hit 0° F the other day and all I did was put on a long-sleeve shirt rather than my normal polo. Rain happens so infrequently, that I usually wait it out for the 20 minutes or so, or if I am in a hurry, I just ride through the rain and hang my jacket up to dry when I get to my destination. The snow doesn't seem to affect the performace of the Beast either. I took it over some pretty slick roads that I would have a hard time walking on, and the Beast did very well. Even the big chunks of ice from snow plows were not an obstical for the Beast. It eather crushed them or just pushed them aside. However, ice is still ice, so watch out for long slick surfaces.
CONCLUSION:
We alsways knew the Beast was quite a ride, but after riding it around on a daily basis through all weather types, we can truley say that it works really well. We have now rode the Beast on the street, on the motocross track, rain, snow and even jumped it! Where would like us to try the Beast next?