Ok, I have an update in alternative transportation.
I was really fooling myself and possibly taking the chance of hurting myself to think I was going to be able to ride over 100 miles per week and work between each ride. Not to mention it was a real time eater. I am still riding, I haven't given up on it, I just don't want to kill myself.
So I needed another solution. That solution was an electric bicycle. So I started looking. I found a 2008 ezip trailz (currietech's walmart offering) that was so new it still had the bub tag in the front wheel. This guy bought it or received it as a gift and probably never rode it. I was really worried that after 5 years, the battery was shot. Well the guy wanted $300 obo, and I got him down to $200. The bike ran fine and was in great condition.
So here's the review. It's not a corvette, but its good for short trips or long trips when you will pedal a lot and use the motor for leveling hills and keeping a consistent pace. Its not even as fast as me pedalling on my mountain bike on a flat or down a hill. If I pedal to a certain ammount faster than the motor, the motor actually slows me down, but over all, its faster since it let's me take hills faster and gives me a more consistent pace. However, its all steel and a heavy son of a gun, so if you are going to be going a long distance, keep thay in mind, its HEAVY to go up a hill on a dead battery. It comes with one battery, but it is designed to accept a second battery to extend your range. It won't quite double it because it only draws from one battery at a time, you have to switch between them. So that means that each battery is carrying the effective dead weight of the other battery, at almost 30 lbs, that's a significant load on a 450 watt engine. Especially considering that the battery is a 24v 10 amp hour battery for. 240 watt output. My range varies but averages between 4 and 10 miles depending on terrain, my effort, pace, and additional load. Store the batteries at room temp, cold or hot extremes will shorten its capacity on a given charge and load and can damage the battery's over all life span. You can charge on the bike or remove the battery, and charge inside or take the battery with you for security. The battery has a corss bolt retention system that is operated by a keyed lock. Don't rely on it to keep somone from stealing your battery, but it does keep the battery from popping out of its slot. Using the rack for cargo is doable but problematic with the battey on, but the company (currietecnologies.com) sells cargo bags and panniers for the rack. They are also sold on amazon. Not a bad idea if you ride a lot and carry a lot of stuff to and fro. Otherwise a backpack is a good idea.
The battery is a SLA, so it needs to be charged after each use even if it is a small use. There are LiFePo batteries available, but they are more than the new bike and two SLA batteries combined. So for now, the lithium batteries are deffinitely not worth it from an economic perspective. It seems from my use that the battery will go further if you take a short 5 or 10 minute break once or twice during longer trips. That's not psychological, I've actually logged the miles when I have been riding hard as opposed to when I have been taking it easy along the same route. This may change since the company says there's a break in period for the battery, and it says the performance improves after the break in. The bike looked so unused, I'm sure that the previous owner didn't put it through its paces.
So, if you are looking for a cheap (I got mine for $200 from craigslist, they usually cost between $400 or $500 new, which I would say isn't worth it) mode of transportation that isn't really fast or really slow, and isn't a road trip bike, this may work pretty well. One warning, if you are a heavier person, you should plan on a fair bit of pedaling, the battery doesn't really do the motor justice, so its not the work horse it could be. The motor easily does 15 mph on a level surface with my 300+ lbs on it and 12 or 13 up even moderate hills with no pedaling. So it could be more powerful with a new wiring job, a new controller, and higher voltage batteries, without changing the motor or transmission. (Chain drive)
Also, if you are going to be riding this as a primary mode of transportation, you will really want to invest in a folding portable bicycle work stand. These can be expinsive, and aren't really hard to make, so either way, you will need one and a set of wrenches and other tools for changing a tube. It would be possible to convert the tires to a tubless configureation (look that up, I'm not going into it, but bikes can use pneumatic tubless tires), but I wouldn't recommend it unless you were planning on using it off road. (Don't do that, the battery will die in like 20 minutes)
This thing is built for durability and safety and avoiding liability suits, so this has no quick releases on the hubs, so you need wrenches. I would reccommend sliming or using another sealant and a tire liner to avoid flats. And just like a car, proper pressure gets your better milage, and in this case, speed. I don't think you will be able to flip it upside down and change the rear tire very easily. You probably could with the front, but the rear is a different critter because of the motor.
It might be possible to but a double leg center mount lift kick stand, but you might have to do some mods because the bike has a pretty sturdy integral kick stand. Deffinitely have a set of tools, this is a truck of a bike and won't take well to someone winging it with a letherman. Get real tools, not the compact bicycle multi tools, this thing is overbuilt and you need something that will give you leverage. Its worth the wieght.
All in all, a good product, you just have to understands its abilities and not expect things it can't do.
I would post a pic, but I don't know how, but I get lots of comments about what a nice looking bike it is and people aske me about the motor system all the time. I'm not really pleased with the aesthetics, but its not horrible.
This will allow me to save enough money to purchase the gas engine kit to attach to another bike. I have three bikes now, but I'm not sure I want to put the gas motor on any of them, I may use a cruiser style or even a chopper style bicycle to put the gas motor on. They both look better with a gas motor than a mountain bike. I will post about that when I get that done.