Oi, the cat ladies! I don’t have a problem with cats themselves, but there’s something about them that attracts a particular type, for sure. Years ago, my sister had a friend who wanted me to help her move something and, since she was cute and funny, it was an easy yes. Go there to find out she has about 5 cats, each…

Having been to states with no inspection, I’ll take the inconvenience of MA even when it’s cost me financially to help people who otherwise couldn’t afford the necessary repairs to pass. It used to be corrupt in that I could pay a guy $50 (instead of the $15 or whatever it was at the time), he’d leave with my car and…

As far as I know unless someone really prefers the the green letters over red.

I think it was morbid curiosity as she was so bizarre (I love to have stories of weird people to tell . . . probably because it makes me seem less weird by contrast) and maybe some wanting to be polite as I’ve never been that desperate (not because I’m swimmin’ in women, but because I have never been the kind of…

The green letter plates were single plates. When they went to red, you were required to have the front plate, also.

Yeah, it sounded legit enough as it really didn’t serve him any benefit. I don’t think it was much less reflective than the year before, but maybe the last guy just didn’t care.

My first plate was the last of the green-letters. Wish I could have kept it so as to not need a front plate, though they might make people replace them now when they look like that one. I just got my car inspected and the guy told me I needed a new front plate to pass because the reflective white was worn from >500k…

In MA, no obvious rust, but UV interior damage . . . shit, I was going to make a comment about poor quality, but realized that it really only reflects its advanced age. Just the same, these cars were rolling suck from day one and personally remind me of the worst date I was ever on as she drove one of these—layers of…

Bike lanes lead to more riders. For a fixed rate of collisions per miles ridden, there would be more collisions, but this would also mean there were more inexperienced riders, which would also lead to more collisions. As far as emulating the Netherlands, I would love to see it, but the culture in the US is vastly…

I think cargo and delivery are the best applications here. Don’t see where reverse would be of much use on anything but a heavy cargo bike in tight maneuvering. That application is also where the appeal of the automatic comes in.

Some mid drives will do this. The popular Bafang BBSHD and BBS02 replace the crank. There are probably some others

That’s what I’m doing now. I have an old Giant I use as a general beater that I love the ride and versatility of, so I bought a second used one for $80 to convert to electric.

A lot of them can’t handle the torque of the more powerful motors. Of course, a lot of people lack mechanical sympathy and common sense, so it’s possible what I’ve read is largely down to people slamming them with power, especially from a start.

Most ebikes are pedal assist by regulation (or lack of power)—they still require exercise. The kind of ebike that would allow travel of any real distance in any place with hills without pedaling would be expensive. Most of those are built for the fun of it and it’s not the same experience as a motorcycle. Obviously,…

It is true that there are great everyday bikes in the $450-600 range, but $1000 isn’t high end, either. That’s almost like calling a $45k car high end. Yeah, it’s (probably) pretty nice, but nowhere near the high end of the market. Value for dollar diminishes the further you go up, but that’s not much different than…

These aren’t trying to appeal to bottom feeders who don’t understand the actual cost of quality. I don’t think they’d even want that market (I wouldn’t). The high volume market is best left to near slave labor countries to turn out junk to people who will use it twice and throw it away.

Quality lasts. Pay once, cry…

Bafang BBSHD is 118 lbs./ft. and 1440W @ 48V (which is a nominal rating for a 13S battery, but it can also be run on a 14S battery for more power and this is all assuming maxing out the stock 30A controller) and it’s a mid-drive that will fit probably any bike. This is a cool kit, but I see this as in kind of an odd…

Or it will have major thermal issues because they’ll design it with complete disregard for proper heat dissipation because fans are noisy and take up an insignificant amount of space, then all the cultists will blame the end user because they were actually using it and everyone knows usage begets failure. And an…

Cool, so when this battery fails and they reluctantly issue a recall, will they deny the vehicle falls under the recall in spite of having the issues that match the recall and being produced within the timeframe of the recalled vehicles? Will I find it difficult to find anyone to repair it besides some OEM…

I was wondering, too. I’m thinking torsion beam with inboard shocks or maybe some kind of rotary friction dampers (an updated design, I would hope).