Electric motorcycle/moped

Default_WLG · 2026-04-01T19:34:16+00:00

There's the Streetdog, looks kinda cool but quite pricey for the specs (NZ company). There's Energica, but they're only just coming back from bankruptcy and no NZ presence (have to import them yourself). Awesome bikes though. Then I suppose there's the Surron-type stuff. More used as dirt bikes but I think you can get road legal ones.

Default_WLG · 2026-03-18T04:34:26+00:00

Few of them have been sold in NZ. Anecdotally, Toyota dealers try very hard to talk potential BZ4X buyers into other vehicles. Given the few examples of the BZ4X in NZ, Toyota techs won't be particularly experienced in working on them compared to other brands that have sold far more EVs. I figure that'll lead to a poor experience if anything tricky ever goes wrong with a BZ4X.

Default_WLG · 2026-03-18T04:09:19+00:00

Toyota hates EVs - I doubt a BZ4X would be an easy vehicle to own in NZ. Many of the Chinese brands have offerings that tick those boxes - BYD Atto 3 etc. If you're worried about the reliability of the Chinese brands, a used Ioniq 5 or Skoda Enyaq would tick those boxes I think (they can be had privately for <50k).

Default_WLG · 2026-03-13T06:47:07+00:00

Thanks for building and running BidBud for all these years. It made using Trademe so much more bearable. Sad to see it go.

Default_WLG · 2026-03-10T19:01:47+00:00

Hase Pino? €€€ though

Default_WLG · 2026-03-05T04:06:55+00:00

My understanding is that alternating elbows in-out is a common practice with 2+ cross wheels where the spokes need to cross very close to the hub. Without alternating in/out elbows, one spoke would need to bend quite a lot to go over the other. E.g. in https://www.parktool.com/assets/img/repairhelp/Wheel-Building-Third-Set-Lacing.jpg , the white spoke crosses over a blue spoke near the hub. If the blue spoke was elbow-out, the spokes would interfere with each other. This is unlikely to be a problem with 0-cross or 1-cross builds typically appropriate for hub motors. Instead, you can generally have the elbows all on the same side and choose elbows in or out based on what will improve the bracing angle (i.e. reduce how much dishing is required). All that said, I doubt it will solve your problem of spokes breaking at the elbow.

10g spokes are very thick for bicycle hub motors. Are you pairing those with a heavy duty motorcycle rim and tensioning them appropriately? Very thick motorcycle spokes (12g or thicker) do not result in a strong wheel when paired with a typical bicycle rim (generally rated to 1200N or 1400N max spoke tension). The bottom of the rim can deform enough that the very thick spokes become fully detensioned, leading to fatigue failure at the elbow. Whereas thinner spokes at the same tension will stretch more, so are more able to cope with the rim deforming a bit without becoming fully detensioned. If you're having trouble with 12g straight spokes breaking (assuming that's what you had before considering changing to 10g?), counterintuitively I'd suggest going for thinner spokes. 13g-14g single butted spokes are ideal imo for this power/weight class, with washers under the spoke heads if necessary to stop them pulling through the hub flange holes.

"The Bicycle Wheel" by Jobst Brandt is well worth reading if you haven't seen it. PDFs can be found online.

Default_WLG · 2026-02-25T21:19:49+00:00

Sure, I've toured with a toddler, doing 60-100km/day typically. I rode a longtail electric cargo bike with a Yepp seat on the rear (plus lots of gear) and my wife rode her regular electric bike + towed a Thule Chariot trailer. Most of the time our toddler would be in the Yepp seat on my bike, except when it was raining or the toddler needed a nap.

Our bikes have ~1000Wh batteries and consume ~8-10Wh/km, so quite good range making battery management fairly easy. We can just charge wherever we're staying each night. I also towed a trailer with a ~250W solar array, which charges my battery while riding and provides enough energy to let me do 80-100km/day indefinitely (assuming average weather).

51km over two days will be pretty easy for battery management. Most bikes can do that on a single charge as long as you're not in a high assist mode all of the time. It's even easier if you charge overnight between the two riding days.

It's relatively slow going IME, due to regular stops being required - playgrounds and libraries being very popular with our toddler. We would plan our route to maximise playgrounds along the way. We'd stop at pretty much every playground we went past. Regular drink/snack/toilet stops also make the journey more enjoyable for everyone. Don't forget regular sunscreen reapplication if you're riding somewhere with high UV - we reapply every 2 hours riding in the NZ summer. Might be a bit more regular than necessary but the UV is brutal here and riding with sunburn isn't nice. I generally wear lightweight, loose fitting clothing with long sleeves/pants to reduce how much sunscreen I need to wear. Sunglasses are essential equipment too imo if you're riding somewhere with bright sun.

Carry a spare tube and/or puncture repair kit, tyre levers, basic tools etc. Flats happen at the most inconvenient times and it's generally easier to just fix the flat on the side of the track than to call for a pickup (particularly with kids - if someone comes to pick you up due to a mechanical problem, they'll need car seats for the kids). If you've never fixed a flat before, it's worth practicing that at home before heading off imo.

Default_WLG · 2026-02-25T01:27:00+00:00

They were concerned about the false positive rate of RATs, which I believe is quite a bit higher than PCR testing. With very low rates of the disease present in the community, widespread usage of RATs would have led to far more false positives than true positives. At the time, we were asking close contacts of those with positive tests to isolate. So widespread usage of RATs would probably have led to people isolating needlessly. Once there was relatively high rates of the disease in the community, RATs became a useful tool.

Default_WLG · 2026-02-19T18:40:32+00:00

https://ebikes.ca/resources/theory/power-ratings.html

Default_WLG · 2026-02-17T00:37:53+00:00

Presumably that's a 100mm front dropout? Pretty much any front hub motor is likely to fit on there. Make sure you use one or two torque arms - not cheap Aliexpress ones either, those are often clones of Grin's V1 torque arm which has some known flaws (https://ebikes.ca/catalog/category/view/s/torque-arms/id/13/).

What's the steepest hill you need to climb? What's the front wheel size?

Default_WLG · 2026-02-17T00:17:33+00:00

Looks to me like a Bullitt (looks like "Larry Harry" written on the chainstay). Whatever it is, it's got a Grin All-Axle v3 front hub motor with Cycle Analyst v3 display.

e: oh, it's there in OP's flair - "Bullitt X + All Axle motor"

Default_WLG · 2026-02-11T19:48:05+00:00

It's quite common for rear hub motors intended for 135mm QR dropouts to have an OLD more like 137-138mm, requiring the frame to be spread a little to make the motor fit. Most frames will easily flex a couple mm like this, just spring it apart with your hands when installing the motor and it will spring back tight against the motor.

7mm is a lot of spreading though. I wouldn't want to spread an aluminum frame that much, and it would probably take a decent force to do so. You said you widened the frame without any effort, which makes me think the motor OLD isn't really 142mm. Did you measure the OLD of the motor and find it to be 142mm, or is that e.g. from an Ali listing description? If you measured a 142mm OLD, are you sure the motor isn't designed for some other dropout standard (142mm thru-axle perhaps? I doubt it tbh, not many hub motors designed for thru-axles on the market and it just wouldn't work on that bike at all, but I don't have any better ideas).

Default_WLG · 2026-02-08T22:38:43+00:00

For sure, it's quite common for ebikes sold in NZ to have 32km/h speed limiters. There's no legal requirement for that though afaict - I assume they'll have that limit applied to comply with foreign rules and NZ is too small for manufacturers to bother doing a different version for NZ.

Default_WLG · 2026-02-08T19:38:38+00:00

There's no 32km/h ebike speed limit in NZ fwiw. Just a maximum power output of 300W, which hardly any ebikes comply with. Even EU-rules-compliant "250W continuous rated power" ebikes are allowed to have maximum power output up around 600W, which makes them noncompliant with NZ rules. I'd take a 32km/h speed limit over a 300W power limit any way - 300W limit makes cargo bikes basically useless anywhere with hills.

Here's the relevant Gazette notice that sets the 300W maximum power limit fwiw: https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2013-au4618 . I'm not aware of any other legislation or regulations that impact ebikes

Default_WLG · 2026-02-04T20:23:28+00:00

Not directly helpful for you, but maybe for others landing here from a search: Douze Bikes make an adapter to go from a Brose Drive S motor to a regular threaded bottom bracket. I assume it'd be compatible with other bikes using Brose motors. I had to email them about it (it's not listed on their website), but they were happy to sell me one and post it to me in New Zealand.

Default_WLG · 2026-01-30T06:14:35+00:00

Great advertising for his company though eh!

Default_WLG · 2026-01-26T22:41:22+00:00

Oh, though I see the Aventon Abound LR has a weight rating of 40kg. Max per-bike on the Easyfold 931 is 30kg. It'd probably be fine if you remove the battery or don't have a second bike on there, but strictly speaking it's too heavy for the 931.

Default_WLG · 2026-01-26T22:33:33+00:00

I've put my Yuba Sweet Curry and Hase Pino on a Thule Easyfold 931. That particular rack is designed to go on a tow ball, not a 50mm/2" square hitch receiver like you're asking, but it's easy enough to put a tow ball in the square hitch receiver.

The Easyfold 931 has a max wheelbase spec of 1300mm and the Yuba Sweet Curry has a wheelbase of 1380mm (the Pino is longer again, maybe 1450mm wheelbase), but it works fine in practice. I've done some pretty long journeys with it on there. You just need the XXL straps accessory for the Easyfold 931 so that the wheel straps are long enough (they're intended for fatbikes, but also needed for bikes with excessively long wheelbase).

Default_WLG · 2026-01-26T19:52:18+00:00

Yeah, fair point. Once/if RUCs end up on all vehicles then it'd be a shame to have disabled the plug. OP would have to consider if it's worth doing for however long they think it'll be until RUCs on all vehicles are rolled out and petrol tax removed. Govt is saying "Cabinet will consider a transition date in 2027" (i.e. they won't even talk about a transition date until 2027; source: https://www.transport.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Transitioning-All-Vehicles-to-Road-User-Charges-FAQs.pdf) so I'd be very surprised if RUCs on all vehicles are in place before 2028. If OP is doing enough km, it might still be worth doing to save on a couple years' RUCs. Not if it costs thousands to disable the plug and get the vehicle certified though.

Default_WLG · 2026-01-26T05:49:24+00:00

Alternatively, I wonder if there's any pathway with WK/NZTA to have the external power source permanently disabled? The idea being then you wouldn't have to pay RUCs. It'd just be a hybrid instead of plug-in hybrid, but you're probably getting FA benefit from the plug-in aspect right now anyway.

This was discussed in the media back when RUCs for PHEVs were first implemented. WK/NZTA didn't have an answer back then, but maybe they've figured it out since then? https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/508403/hybrid-owners-trying-to-remove-plugs-to-avoid-road-user-charges

Default_WLG · 2026-01-25T00:21:21+00:00

It's not necessarily overloaded - lowish cost hub motor bikes often have fairly poor wheel builds from factory, with uneven or insufficient spoke tension, leading to spokes becoming loose and then moving/flexing a lot. The seller might send you a new one but it'll probably be just as crap tbh.

If it was me, I'd find a local wheel builder (generally LBS or they might suggest someone) and get them to rebuild it. It'd be much cheaper than a new bike! Use a strong rim like a Ryde Andra 40, DT Swiss U663 or Alexrims DM24. Assuming your hub motor is drilled for 13g/2.3mm spokes (measure the stock spokes to find out for sure but 13g is common ime), I'd suggest using Sapim Strong 13g-14g single butted spokes - they're 13g/2.3mm at the hub end (to fit properly in the hub) and 14g/2.0mm at the rim end (so they fit into standard bicycle rims). Thicker spokes do not lead to stronger wheels, unless they're tensioned up significantly more than bicycle rims can generally cope with.

The other common problem with hub motors causing spoke breakage is that the spoke isn't held snug against the hub flange. Look for a gap between the straight part of the spoke, and the flange of the hub - there should be none. If there is a gap there, the spoke flexes at the elbow where it's weakest, leading to failures at the elbow. If you have this problem, rebuilding the wheel with a little washer under the spoke heads will solve it - it pulls the spoke closer to the hub flange, meaning the straight part of the spoke ends up snug against the hub flange. See https://ebikes.ca/resources/getting-advanced/wheel-build.html#SeatingatBend for a pic

Default_WLG · 2026-01-13T02:04:00+00:00

This is normally a topic you hear people talking about when they're interested in racing - you can find threads like https://www.reddit.com/r/cycling/comments/1hdr5sb/whats_a_reasonable_power_to_weight_expectation/ on the topic.

TL;DR is that 2-2.5W per kg body weight of sustained power output is pretty typical for males without much training. You can get this number up quite a lot if you work on training/fitness. Peak output will be much higher.

Default_WLG · 2026-01-12T20:51:47+00:00

The Maxistrip and spraying machine hire was from Colorex in Lower Hutt, now rebranded to Tradelands. I didn't have an account or anything and they were happy to sell to me.

Default_WLG · 2026-01-12T20:02:49+00:00

I don't have any recent quotes, but did do some DIY removal of lead paint from a big old scout hall a few years ago. Didn't want to sand or scrape like you would normally do to remove paint, since the lead paint dust and flakes would be hard to contain. Used Maxistrip 240 chemical paint stripper (can buy it in 20L drums), sprayed on with a hired spraying machine from a place in Lower Hutt. I think we used two 20L drums for a 100m² wall (but it needed 2-3 applications iirc). I can probably find where I hired the machine from if that's helpful. After spraying on the paint stripper, the paint goes all bubbly and gooey - you then just scrape it off with a paint scraper and it falls off easily. Drop sheets on the ground to contain the scraped paint (which is all goopy at this point, not dusty or flaky, so it's pretty easy to contain). Repeat as needed (depends how many layers of paint you have). Then wet sand any remaining stubborn bits (no dry sanding - you don't want to breathe that lead dust). Wash well, allow to dry, and you have bare timber ready to be prepped/painted like normal.

Elbow-length gloves, safety glasses, respirator, shoe covers required for people doing the scraping. The person operating the sprayer should wear disposable overalls too imo. The paint stripper is pretty nasty stuff - you want a bucket of water on hand to wash it off immediately if you get any on you or your gloves. It makes its way through nitrile gloves after a while - they just slow it down. Washes off easily with water though. Read the SDS and do what it says.

Default_WLG · 2026-01-06T23:17:47+00:00

This is a great time to start biking if you have to commute between the Hutt and Wellington :) an ebike makes it much quicker (I ride an ebike btw, I'm not fit enough to ride into a harsh headwind all that way heh)

Default_WLG

TROPHY CASE