Recent content by Biplaneguy

Rode up the old camp road to the lake up the valley from our cabin, upstate NY. Not far, only a couple miles each way.

The rack we have now is made as a motorcycle rack, and as you can see from the picture, is a good bit larger than it needs to be. Also because motorcycles are larger, the dual bikes space them farther apart, increasing the load (or rather leverage) on the vehicle's trailer hitch, which in our...

That dates back to the 1980s at least, and it didn't originate with Jeep marketers; they just capitalized what Jeep drivers (real Jeeps; not Jeep SUVs) were already doing. Motorcycles, too. Don't even get me started on Jeeps and ducks... The only synthetic clothing I own or am likely to own...

This is her Zugo on the camper: But now that I have the Radster we need a two bike rack, so I've been looking at these two: Young Electric: https://www.amazon.com/Young-Electric-Capacity-Trailers-Receiver/dp/B0D13H18W7 CyberRack...

I wish I could say I'm surprised, but NY has been consistently been ranked as the "least free state" in the US. For me it's the 30 mph road speed restriction that's the most onerous. Meanwhile, where I sit in Harriman State Park (southern upstate), every nice day we're overrun with idiots on...

Soldering makes the best electrical connection, but it also stiffens the wire adjacent to the joint so it can break from fatigue in a vibration environment. For this reason, soldered connections aren't often used in aircraft unless the wire can be anchored close to the connection so there's no...

Welcome! To me anything north of NYC and LI is "upstate"... but I grew up and still spend a lot of time in the Hudson valley mountains so so I guess I want to emphasize my distance from the city. NY has some weird ebike laws... class 3 is 25 mph, not 28, and only legal in NYC. Elsewhere in...

The confusing patchwork of laws here in the US doesn't help, either. Some states allow class 1, some 2 or 3. What's legal in one state may not be legal just across the border... or may or may not be legal depending on what menu settings you choose. Then individual towns have their own...

UL certification was a factor in choosing my new Radster Trail, but not the only factor, and lack of said certification wouldn't have been a deal breaker. But choosing to get their bikes certified is indicative of the overall level of care that a reputable manufacturer puts into the design and...

Lots of kids around here on gas powered dirtbikes, too... the difference is that everybody knows they're not street legal. You see them on the roads occasionally, but mainly just quickly zipping between their house and the start of an old woods road.

The best bike for my wife was the one she researched and chose (in her case a Zugo, one of the few bikes suitable for someone of her short stature).

It is... but if we had 8 instead of 10 fingers then the metric system would have been base 8 instead of base 10. Math is easier in base 8 where everything is powers of 2, that's why computers use it.

A 16oz wide mouth Nalgene fits perfectly in the cage on my bike. Beer is for after the ride.

Mainly riding around. Not commuting; I retired last week. My wife got a Zugo last year mainly to take on the camper. It's too small for me but it was fun to ride so I wanted a bike for myself. I've been enjoying riding the Radster around, about half on pavement and half on gravel forest roads

I really like the Radster's torque sensor. I'm in a rural area, so my main goal is to prevent opportunistic thieves. Not enough bikes around that I think thieves are prowling around with angle grinders or bolt cutters.