Bolt M-1 Electric Moped with pedals

These two guys are building mopeds in their garage out here in San Francisco

http://www.boltmotorbikes.com/videos/

Cooler than most ebikes even though it is one technically

Heavier duty suspension, brakes, wheels, and tires, etc compared to the average ebike

There is no shame in not pedaling it unlike a regular ebike since no one actual pedals gas mopeds

You get to ride with a full face helmet on your "ebike" without getting funny looks

It has an "off-road" sport mode :wink:

For some reason no one steal mopeds (they feel sorry for the guy )
while ebikes are gone in 60 seconds in many urban areas

No license or registration required

Girls will think you are cute riding one. Girls think the bikes are cute and want one for themselves.

[youtube]M-WVJ4IN5fQ[/youtube]

Looks pretty cool, unique design and they have managed to retain the best elements of bicycles, light weight! 140lb is not terrible considering use of moped style parts rather than high end bicycle bits. Directly comparable to 49cc powered motoped in mass even with decent peak power and reasonable battery range.

Will be interesting to test the legality of having the legal mode and 'sport mode'. Curious as to some additional detail on battery composition, motor type etc. Looks like Kelly controller? Interesting they went with with such a low voltage battery.

Price is a bit of a stumbling point - not sure how big the target market is at $5k.

Why not?

All you have to do is quit thinking in bicycle weight weenie terms, and good equipment becomes affordable. Pedal if you want to, but quit pretending you're pedal-only.

You can tell by the size of that middie it is capable of much more power, but one would need to modify either the battery/controller or (hopefully) just the gearing. Website doesn't go into a lot of detail in the specs.

http://www.boltmotorbikes.com/

Interesting, ...but a little "form over function". Happening there ...
I get the retro racer thing, but you are not going to fool anyone that is not an Ebike !
Why the battery pack is mounted so high,..plenty of room lower in the frame to make handling balance better.
1000+ watts ? Where is that legal for public use ?
Size ?.. Those are 17" rims . Possibly based on a converted pit bike ?
Seat ?.. Again, I suspect it looks better than it feels.
Price ?

With DOT approved wheels, tires, brakes, lighting, in Virginia it would be a moped, legal to ride anywhere but interstates at 35 mph.

I agree on battery placement issue. It could be mounted lower, plenty of space there.

Hillhater said:

1000+ watts ? Where is that legal for public use ?

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I couldn't speak to any other aspect, but here in AZ as long as you keep it under 20MPH it doesn't matter how much power you have available.

Keeping meaning it could do 60 (say off road) but you have a switch which limits you on road to 20mph and that is fine?

Another toy for the people in warm climates to play with. Ride on sunny days only. And bring some money, like $5000 to buy one.

mistercrash said:

Another toy for the people in warm climates to play with. Ride on sunny days only. And bring some money, like $5000 to buy one.

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well... yeah.
Then again, in the warm climate you can also ride on rainy days, drizzly days... etc. If you have good wet weather gear, you can even stand in the parking lot and try to stop people to talk as they run from their cars into the building.
I daily drove motorcycles for years... I dont see how this is any different.

If you're complaining because its snowy where you are... well, you're the one choosing to live there. :lol:

agniusm said:

Keeping meaning it could do 60 (say off road) but you have a switch which limits you on road to 20mph and that is fine?

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No switch is needed, just keep an eye on the speedo and control your throttle hand.

AZ does not require a limiter, it simply must be "operated at less than 20MPH" to be within the definition of a bicycle. Now, if you had an ICE it'd have to be smaller than a certain cc (48 or 49 I think?) but electric doesn't have a limit listed in the definition. Other than that, it just has to meet the rest of the AZ bicycle definition same as any unassisted one.

fugly ..seriously they could put some effort in looks :|

This is the most substantial vehicle that is acceptable in the formal and informal bike paths here, which is very helpful when the traffic gets heavy. My Honda scooter conversion is a better vehicle, but doesn't grant me that access.

MrDude_1 said:

mistercrash said:

Another toy for the people in warm climates to play with. Ride on sunny days only. And bring some money, like $5000 to buy one.

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well... yeah.
Then again, in the warm climate you can also ride on rainy days, drizzly days... etc. If you have good wet weather gear, you can even stand in the parking lot and try to stop people to talk as they run from their cars into the building.
I daily drove motorcycles for years... I dont see how this is any different.

If you're complaining because its snowy where you are... well, you're the one choosing to live there. :lol:

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I know all about daily riding in any kind of weather, I'm not complaining about the weather at all. Not complaining about anything really, just stating what's obvious to me about a bad design sold for the highest price. For one thing, that front wheel is going to spew water mud and crud directly on the controller and motor constantly.

These guys are in SF, it looks that way because they are just iterating on the current moped trend out there.
The bike is the same as this:
http://www.mopedarmy.com/branches/cotl/davidl2/


Basically, they made an electric moped out of an ICE one.
Cops in SF variably ticket/impound/ignore mopeds when they see them. With the pedals, they are technically legal as mopeds, but people push the envelope on that. They upgrade the power to motorcycle territory (above 30mph), and then get the bike impounded because the machine is illegal, and they don't have an M1 license. Mostly you are lucky if the cop let's you off with a ticket or warning. There are so many, now they just assume you're riding it illegally.

Honestly, these things are so tiny. You are eye-to-eye with people in cars as you roll by. You are lucky to be seen by someone in an SUV.
Wheelbase is shorter than a bike.

I think people generally look on them as dorky/ridiculous. These moped army people sorta embrace that with their gangs like "Hardly Davidsons" and more power to them, seriously. But it's also an image thing. The moped culture is like, hispter version of Harley culture - more image and showboating than substance. This is all my opinion.

I wanted a moped for a time (and contemplated this very same kind of conversion). They're a blast, dangerous due to visibility, but a lot of fun. I just didn't want the stigma that comes with it of "f*cking hipster" and the possible legal troubles. So I got a motorcycle license and the MadAss you may have seen me post about (also dorky according to some, but I don't care about that, and again it was a blast).

Hey All.

Wheelie Nate from Bolt Motorbikes here. A quick thank you for all the kind words. I'd like to invite anyone who is in or going to be in San Francisco to stop by Bolt Labs for a demo ride.

For those who question how awesome it is to ride, I especially invite you for a demo ride.

People have been asking about the legality of the M-1. Let's just say that for the last 3000+ miles that we have been riding in our fleet, we have had no trouble with the authorities. We ride next to, in front of, and behind police; We ride next to police on horses in Golden Gate Park during music festivals, and they don't ask us if we are in Sport Mode. They say, "Wow! That thing is awesome!"

We are motorcycle riders ourselves. We have 30+ years and over 100,000 miles of riding experience and created something that WE wanted to ride and be seen riding. We also solved our own problems of getting around in a city. The performance of the M-1 completely flattens out even hilly San Francisco, and you can go places you just can't get to with most other vehicles.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions.

Cheers

Does it come with a VIN# so you can register it?

veloman said:

Does it come with a VIN# so you can register it?

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Our upcoming production run is not slated to have a VIN, as we take advantage of electric bicycle regulations.

Future runs will be outfitted with VIN for registration.

We can help shepherd you through the process. We have helped dozens of people register their bikes as well as our own. We are particularly familiar with California regulations, but we can also help in other states.

Just out of curiosity, it looks like you're using one of the smaller brushless Etek motors for this thing; those are usually good for anywhere from 10-20kW depending on the controller and battery you pair them with. If you don't mind my asking, what voltage and current are you running your system at, and what was the thinking behind the spec you all chose?

ARod1993 said:

Just out of curiosity, it looks like you're using one of the smaller brushless Etek motors for this thing; those are usually good for anywhere from 10-20kW depending on the controller and battery you pair them with. If you don't mind my asking, what voltage and current are you running your system at, and what was the thinking behind the spec you all chose?

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We have experimented with a number of motors, but have since chosen a brushless DC motor. We chose our motor with high power capability which allows us to grow and also provide the ultimate platform for EV gearheads.

Sport mode is currently pulling 5500W, and the life of the power train, is greatly enhanced with a larger operating margin. Efficiency, Availability, Cost, Supplier reliability and Aesthetic are just a few more reasons. The performance characteristics of our chosen motor also allow us to be able to avoid the awkward and oversized pulleys/sprockets often found on E-two-wheelers without the need for supplemental gear reduction.

We have been criticized for not using a hub motor, and over simplicity, but our design ethos is ride-centric. For those savvy in suspension dynamics, reducing the unsprung mass of the system (i.e. taking a 20 pound hub motor out of the rear wheel) greatly improves the ride feel. To that end, we developed our patent-pending drivetrain that allows us (the manufacturer) to adapt quickly and you (the EV gearhead) to experiment on your own (modifications, void warranty to our discression, of course).

Regarding battery specs, they are all available on our website, but to save you time, the batteries are 33V/300A.
Cheers

So it seems like you are just running a low voltage / high amp setup with a smaller gearing reduction, in part to keep the rear sprocket on the smaller side. It also would keep chain speed/noise to a minimum.

That would be good for hackers who can just up the voltage and leave the drivetrain the same.

Good to hear that it will eventually come with a VIN. That means it's the most affordable non-scooter ebike that can be registered as a moped (maybe a motorcycle? that would be a big plus). You really have no competition in that market. There's either the full fledge Zero/Brammo motorcycles at $10k+ or the "off road high power" ebike class which don't come with a VIN.
weight 140lbs
Battery capacity 1.68kwh

Bolt M-1 in news again: "Taking A Spin On Bolt, The Tesla Of Electric Motorbikes"
http://techcrunch.com/2015/07/10/ta...he-tesla-of-electric-motorbikes/#.iqabog:tZ9z

(Includes 3:50 video.)

"same type of lithium-ion batteries used in Teslas." Pack splits into two "briefcase-sized" packs.

I like it but there's nothing new here. It's just an old moped with a simple conversion. I have an old moped I want to convert but with all the Harley jerks where I live good luck riding it 2 miles without getting in a fight. I need to move! Lol

Wait... $5000?! Are you freakin' kidding me? Who wouldn't get a used Zero over that?