Lets debate the Happy Time motor here
My interest in motored bikes started when my long commute by car became expensive. I am a cyclist but felt that my 67 mile round trip was just a little to long to pedal so I became interested in power assisting the traditional bicycle.
I looked into this for a long time and happened on some of the online motored bike forums that I read a lot of stuff on. A man on one of the forums who rides his bike like crazy had a lot of posts on this site. He rides a cool custom framed steel bike with a GEBE motor kit on it. I looked at all of the kits out there and came to the conclusion that GEBE was the best on the market. I also came to the conclusion that marketers of the Happy Time motors, and BTW that phrase was coined by Augi, were a bit unethical. It seemed to me that this sites purpose was to sell happy time motors and kits. Then Augi got banned and I am like what is going on here?
Then I got banned for posting a link to Augi's blog?
The table is open for debate. Show me that I am wrong that GEBE is not the best system out there to motorize a bike and that HT engine kits are reliable for hard core commuters like me.
I am all ears and will let all posts stay up unlike some venues with the exception of huge flames or profanity and remember the delete button that some forum moderators love is just a push away....
Kevin
I looked into this for a long time and happened on some of the online motored bike forums that I read a lot of stuff on. A man on one of the forums who rides his bike like crazy had a lot of posts on this site. He rides a cool custom framed steel bike with a GEBE motor kit on it. I looked at all of the kits out there and came to the conclusion that GEBE was the best on the market. I also came to the conclusion that marketers of the Happy Time motors, and BTW that phrase was coined by Augi, were a bit unethical. It seemed to me that this sites purpose was to sell happy time motors and kits. Then Augi got banned and I am like what is going on here?
Then I got banned for posting a link to Augi's blog?
The table is open for debate. Show me that I am wrong that GEBE is not the best system out there to motorize a bike and that HT engine kits are reliable for hard core commuters like me.
I am all ears and will let all posts stay up unlike some venues with the exception of huge flames or profanity and remember the delete button that some forum moderators love is just a push away....
Kevin
posted by KMB at
12:25 AM
16 Comments:
1900 miles and counting on my GEBE/Gary Fisher bike and with few problems.
Average speed of almost 26 mph with over 200 mpg for fuel economy.
I pedal assist a lot yet this system is most impressive! I plan on a whole lot more miles in the coming months.
I am looking at 10000 miles per year on a motored bike to get back and forth from work. Show me with some facts a better system.
Kevin
This comment has been removed by the author.
GEBE kits as well as Staton, and EZM are all quality systems. There are others too. Much of the Grubee stuff is marginal at best. There is some true junk too. It is a perfect example of "you get what you pay for". The better kits cost more and have better guarantees. The popularity of the happy time kits comes almost solely for the fact that they are the most affordable to buy. Unfortunately the costs don't stop there. Many of the components contained in the kits are just plain junk causing the owner to buy aftermarket components to make them work. Although the have a unique and desirable look to them, the quality of the motors vary greatly even within the same brand. It is unfortunate but it is what it is...
lets hunt down and kill all who manufacture the chinese 2 stroke kits.....and the idiot that named them "happy times"
Anonymous Anonymous said...
lets hunt down and kill all who manufacture the chinese 2 stroke kits.....and the idiot that named them "happy times"
Why would you post something like this? That is the problem with the internet sometimes. I will not delete it. It's just another example that I am right for posting about this issue.
I think that it's sarcasm but who knows with how you feel about Augi.
As an outsider looking in on this stuff I am not impressed with MBC that's for sure!
I really hope more folks will join Augi's web ring and we can simply wright and respond to some of these issues in a positive way...
Kevin
so now motorized-bicycling has its own form of terrorism? death threats? what a sick anonymous puppy you are. maybe it was falling off all those bikes that did it ;)
btw-i'm proud i named it the "chinese super bicycle happy time" and i'm glad it stuck...because the makers and sellers hate it.
Anon,
But the best is still GEBE hands down. That is an engineering fact! It is the best....
Prove me wrong with some action.
1900 miles for me in some pretty tough conditions. My return home from work is at night. I need dependability. Plus if I have to the bike is still a bike and I can pedal it 30 plus miles if I have to since that kit only weighs 13 lbs.
Kevin
Augi,
I hope some of your folks are watching this stuff!
I would just blow it off as the rantings of an idiot.
Your concerns about this sport are valid and hopefully some sanity will return to MBC. If not lets hope more folks will write on independent blogs like mine to simply and calmly discuss some of these issues.
Kevin
to respond to the civil "anonymous" about your view of the quality of the kits available...
there is far-more to this than just quality-of-kit...there is also quality-of-character, and i take umbrage at GEBE and EZM being compared as equals. having once been on a friendly first-name basis with EZM, and having assessed a kit AND the company, and rejected an offer to be a dealer, i speak from experience and not just emotion.
GEBE has always paid to support the motorsport thru finances AND action, EZM on the other hand simply wants the motorsport to support them, and doesn't expect it should have to kick in unless shamed or forced into it.
capitalism itself doesn't harm people, it's capitalists with poor ethics that cause harm. of course, it doesn't help one bit when the consumer accepts and rewards such behavior.
Augi,
Let me tell ya something here. I mounted a 15 plus year old pair of IRC studded tires on to my fisher/gebe bike and I was expecting a huge loss in speed with these super heavy tires. To my pleasant suprise my speed only dropped about 1 mile per hour! I was flying down icy rural roads pedaling like crazy at near 30 miles per hour!
GEBE rocks as far as I am concerned and I think that they deserve much much more credit than they get over on MBC!
Augi, GEBE systems at least at this time have no equals nor superiors.
Kevin
Augi,
Who are these folks? EZM. Explain it to me. I am ignorant. MBC to me was just a huge maze and haze to get through to the truth of what would help me to meet my transportation goals.
Augi, your posts about your adventures just proved to yours truly that GEBE was the way to go at least for me.
Kevin
kevin...at one time i had a relationship with all the players. it wasn't really about me but about the forums huge success and potential for exposure. when it became "about me" to me was when one after another the sellers began to show their true colors ie "profit first"...hardly anyone it seemed really cared about the motorsport itself. grube was trying to push me around, sending me diagrams of competitors' products which i doubted i should legaly possess much less publish. spooky once asked me help him find engines during a short-term ban, of course i played dumb and said no. dax told me i "should be grateful for the thousands of dollars in stuff he gave me" despite my having helped him develop the first titan on my own sabrina2 right there on the forums. meantime, everyone was selling "80cc" engines, not the "66cc/80" with a disclaimer as they do today. that changed because i refused to shut up about there being "no such thing as an 80cc"...
now, EZM is pretty new on the scene but is a couple of former whizzer guys. at one time, we had been think-tanking (in a private area of the forum) on how to convince whizzer to build a modern 48cc "whizzer II"...they didn't bite, so we began to research and develop a configuration that could compete with the chinese 4-stroke. EZM was born. right there on the public forums. but then, well shoot, they began to behave in an agressive manner, refusing to pay for ads while others do, badmouthing anyone who spoke out against their behaviors...in other words, i personally felt like EZM had become an american grube. when i saw the prototype they sent me and expected me to pay for, intended for use on sabrina2, i simply declared there was no way i put this on my bike for pay or free and rejected the offer. they haven't really liked me since, go figure, eh?
the HT isn't much better than it ever was, but the kits today are cleaner and more fairly priced because of some strong consumer advocacy on my part, despite everyone charging that i would destroy the industry. try to understand how difficult it was to change an industry that had grown used to having its way with the uninformed consumer. i took a lot of hits, and hung in there anyways...i am glad i did too, because look at the all the nifty adventures i am having now...and here is why...
before the forums had opened up to sponsorships, golden eagle approached us (the forums) and complimented us on our support of the motorsport and expressed a desire to support our efforts. yes, they wanted to advertise, tho they didn't just shove their way in but instead offered up-front to pay for such a great support-resource for its customers. they too sent me a sample, but it was as they said "so i could see first hand who i was dealing with, then decide if we wanted to take on advertisers." they never asked me for one thing in return beyond a fair business arrangement. but dang, they were respectful to me, reserved in their self-promotion, and very very confident their history & product would speak for themselves, which they both did and still do. what a breath of fresh air.
you pretty much know the rest. GEBE is my choice, now and forever more. btw-i do not have any financial stake, i just love supporting good people who deserve it.
some of the responses you've been getting here prove to me over and over that leaving the forums for good recently was a wise choice for my personal comfort. from now on, any adventures i publish will be on my independant site. show up or don't...my friends know where to find me, the rest can pound sand.
Augi, These are strait up folks over at GEBE.
Thanks for the window into this shadowy world Augi.
I am always for peace and folks getting along. And I think that MBC is much to their loss losing you as a poster and friend. But politics aside my personal interest is getting to work and back 60 plus miles. GEBE and Surly will do me fine in 2011 Augi.
Me thinks that your blog site will get a lot of interest. Just ride your bike and post your feelings about what you have experienced that is what is special about your site.
Some of the ugliness that has been posted on my blog site is already forgotten and deemed irrelevant by me personally!
In a political world these MBC folks are simply idiots for letting a writer such as your self to go else ware and to make you pissed at them is even stupider. I am no message board guru but these folks appear to be as dumb as a box of rocks...
Kevin
Kevin, I have to put Staton at equal quality as Gebe. Dave Staton is a stand-up guy who has been building his systems in Oklahoma for many years, only uses quality engines (both 4 stroke, and 2-stroke) and components. He guarantees his gearboxes for life.
TO say that GEBE is 'hands down the best' is really a 'ford-versus-chevy' sort of argument.
kevin...as far as the internet is concerned, an individual being ticked-off at a forum is of little consequence. maybe some of the original crew may feel the sting, but keep in mind that so do i. truth be told, i'm aware the old days are gone and am trying to move on...but doggone it so long as other people are being "punished" because of the rift between myself and the forum, this isn't over. i may not have enjoyed being responsible for sending new folks there, only to have them get a wrong view of the motorsport, but i TRULY enjoyed sharing my experiences with the small faction that seemed to appreciate my contributions. many were quite personally involved, it was touching. there are moderators there now who seem to take pleasure in trying to discredit me, deleting threads that actually belong to its members and not me. this practice is a blight on the once-good-name the place had, imo.
anyways, anyone truly interested in the history only need dig up the old stuff...see people change "sides" back and forth, back and forth, all based on the "popular" view of the moment...watch folks say one thing this time, another thing the next...they criticize folks for an action and then do the same thing themselves. to say the least, it was like some strange comedic farce.
if i had it to do all over again, i would not accept ANY advertisers, or allow ANY commercial linking at all...anticipating the problems didn't help at all in the long run.
hi lou. i believe the GEBE setup to be the least invasive that provides the most performance under the most conditions. the only difference i see between GEBE and staton may seem small, but to those in the know the difference is glaring. your post is the perfect example: it's not what you said (in support of staton) but what you didn't say (in support of GEBE)...you didn't address character. far as i know, there still isn't one instance where staton has acknowledged the enormous exposure the forums has afforded him. dave has a good business rep, but to me he has no MB personality to speak of...GEBE has always enthusiastically supported the motorsport, both as riders and sponsors of riders, their customers become friends...so if one takes EVERY aspect into account, Golden Eagle is cleary "hands down the best."
Lou,
Since this blog site is my own personal opinion I must totally disagree with you on this point.
I really welcome your response to this blog by the way. But, GEBE's system is superior to any kind of drive wheel that attaches to the bicycle tire. It is my opinion that it will cause tire failure and slip in wet conditions something that the GEBE system has solved for motored bike riders. One thing I will say about Staton is that it seems to be a stand up company and uses high quality engines with their kits. I have no problem whatsoever with this company but to put them in an apples to apples comparison with GEBE is just not going to happen in my humble opinion. Friction drives are great but that belt and drive ring of GEBE is the best system on the market.
Your post is valued and it will stay up.
If you are happy with this system for your needs I would simply stay with them! If they are a stand up company I will support them to!
But it is my humble opinion that GEBE has the best drive train in motored biking. I just think that this is the way things stand.
Kevin
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home