Tell us about your handles and avatars and why you chose them

[E-Wheels]

I have lived in the Scranton area for five years. The first year the spring riding season weather was sunny so much, not so much the last few. With my new e kit, I am now able to ride the hills here, that I would have to otherwise walk.

My handle is my bike brand and model....Lightning P 38. I have the full fairing also, and that model is called the F 40. But the bike is the same P 38 model under the fairing, except for the the little peg on the front of the bottom bracket, that accepts the front fairing mount that is clamped to the bottom bracket using two hose clamps. I rode it a lot for the 10 years in my pre heart attack time. Not so much the post ten years.

You can run the bike with just the front fairing, which I have done. Most of the 17,600 miles I have on the bike are with the full fairing , when I lived in NE Iowa. Lots of smooth paved roads in the farm country, where you could ride with very little car traffic. The full fairing adds a lot of speed. Any wind adds to the bike speed as the fairing acts like a sail a quarter tail wind, or even a side wind, as the tail piece has a 12 degree angle. In a 20 mph head wind, I could ride 6 - 7 mph faster than my riding partners. A straight tail wind had very little affect on my speed, but how often do you get a straight tailwind?

With the e assist I no longer use the fairing, as who wants to go faster over pothole patches! But when I do find a smooth road or trail, the e assist does get me up to the 25 mph speed limit, or a bit more. There are not a lot of electric P38s out there, heck there are not a lot of P38s out there at all!

Would love to see some photos of your ebike

 

[Lightning P38]

I wouldn't expect many would guess my handle's meaning. I'm 74 and have always had a gift for fixing stuff. I call it a gift because I've being fixing things since as far back as I can remember, but had no formal training. My step Father's hobby was fixing cars and he encouraged me and allowed me to use his tools. CQI (cqi) stands for continuous quality improvement, which was a work ethic taught to me in my career as a power house operator for Ontario Hydro. It fit right in with my ethics as I can't just leave something that dosn't quit seem to do the job it's supposed to do, I have to "fixer"...

Would love to see some photos of your ebike

Why I just happen to have a few! They aren’t the best, but will do for now.
I added a dashboard tube to mount the pas control, display and throttle, so I still had room on the handlebar for the air horn and a bell, and my existing bike computer. I like to tinker with the dashboard a bit.

The air horn is too loud up close to people.

 

[E-Wheels]

Why I just happen to have a few! They aren’t the best, but will do for now.
I added a dashboard tube to mount the pas control, display and throttle, so I still had room on the handlebar for the air horn and a bell, and my existing bike computer. I like to tinker with the dashboard a bit.
View attachment 51176View attachment 51177The air horn is too loud up close to people.

Thanks for posting the photos
Do you have any showing the fairing

 

[Lightning P38]

Thanks for posting the photos
Do you have any showing the fairing

I do have one good pic of that. Maybe two.

 

[E-Wheels]

I do have one good pic of that. Maybe two.View attachment 51182

That is really cool. Thanks for sharing

 

[Lightning P38]

I do have one good pic of that. Maybe two.View attachment 51182

There was a club ride with all upright riders, plus me, we would do in Waterloo, Ia. It was a 20 mile loop, we would do in one hour, at 5:30 a.m. in the summer. There was only one rider that would try to draft me. His handlebar would almost rub my shoulder. Everyone else claimed there was no draft. But the doctor, a surgeon, could ride next my shoulder and get some draft. It was a hard ride, and I only did it a few times. There were a couple hills that slowed me down, but I would go aneorobic and I could push one leg with my arm for a bit more muscle assist.

 

[Lightning P38]

That is really cool. Thanks for sharing

The bike and fairing are made in Lompoc, California, by Lightning Cycle Dynamics. Check out their website. The prices have gone up in 20 years. But, the disk brakes would be nice to have to slow this thing down, when needed.

I bought it in 1999, and it is still my number 1 bike. I have done a number of centuries on it. My record distance in one day is 150 miles. Top gear runs out at 45 mph. I have coasted down hill at 53 mph, and it is steady as a rock. I have thought about putting the fairing on with the e assist, but just for a photo op....but there is a ten mole loop I could here, half on Main St., and half on a trail???

I have bought a like new, 1999 Vision full suspension short wheel base bent, to move the e assist over to. I have told my wife I will sell the p38 once that is done later this summer, or winter. The extra weight of the motor and battery on the rear of the P38 has increased the harshness of the ride, so I want to try a fully suspended bent. I never thought the ride was harsh until I added all of the weight of the e assist to the back of the bike. The fairing weight is half the weight of the e assist, and its weight is spread out front and back.

The suspension Vision is known for soaking up the bumps, which is what I need now.

The P38 may have to go to some lucky new owner next year.

 

[christob]

My handle; a shortening of first name Christopher plus last-name initial B.
Avatar; detail shot from the cast-aluminum battery housing (shown below) of my Cafe ebike by Vintage Electric Bikes, showing just the bas-relief company logo. ("V" with a lightning bolt through it.) I chose it because the logo is circular, which fits with the avatar layout nicely.
(Though - does memory serve, that a few years back, EBR Forum avatar was square? Or perhaps I'm thinking of a local bike forum...)

 

[Urbanmtndew1]

for me i was making a gamer tag for the xbox and was trying to do something with mountain dew and the auto suggestion was urbanmtndew and i have both that and urbanmtndew1 lol. and my avatar is the electric bike i recently purchased it is my first

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I've just realised that many Forum handles are created from names of e-bikes owned. How unwise is that! When I began my Forum adventure, I might take the handle of:
StefanLovelec

If changing Forum handles were possible, soon I would have become StefanLovelecVado. Afterwards that would be: StefanLovelecVadoTrance Yet you cannot change the Forum handle. What happens when you change your ebike or add another one to your stable? It might happen sooner than you believe.

Think!

 

[Mike_V]

Hi,
My Avatar: Fishing season "Trout Mask Replica"
( & OUR Captain Beefhart )

 

[Dallant]

My avatar is a photo I took of a garage door in Ireland that advertises my favorite beer. It was a great trip and I wanted to bike there but the roads were way too narrow and we had way too many places we wanted to see. Maybe next time!

 

[Lightning P38]

That is really cool. Thanks for sharing

I had this custom printing done on the lycra where it fits over the tailpiece. The lycra covers the tail piece, which is made from small aluminum tubing...it is a very clever design.

 

[Katysax]

Many years ago I had a dog named Katydid and I played the saxophone. Started combining Katy and sax when I needed a user name. The dog I have now is Star and because of health issues I started playing bass instead of sax. I guess if I were to make a name up today it would be Starbass.

 

[corn18]

My callsign was Corn and I flew F/A-18's in the Navy for 20 years. Avatar is my buddy landing on the USS Reagan CVN-76.

 

[BrianK]

My handle is boring, directly based on my name, and I use it on a number of forums now. At least it’s easy to remember for a 54y/o who has had 5 strokes.

 

[FlatSix911]

My callsign was Corn and I flew F/A-18's in the Navy for 20 years. Avatar is my buddy landing on the USS Reagan CVN-76.

Welcome to EBR and thank you for your service.

 

[FlatSix911]

My handle is boring, directly based on my name, and I use it on a number of forums now. At least it’s easy to remember for a 54y/o who has had 5 strokes.

Glad to hear you are still riding... it will keep you young and healthy for years to come.

 

[john peck]

Found a picture that looks like me 35 years ago, you´d be put off to see me now.

 

[Mulezen]

My handle...Mulezen is the title of my poem that appeared in the Charlottsville publication ‘City Lights’ years ago. It’s also the farm’s name that appears on stockyard tickets. The donkey model is still ‘a kickin and a grinning’ at 25.