Using a bike without the battery

[Luto]

Hi Court,

I have an e-bike (moustache Dimanche 29.5) and I have two question about the motors:

1) Can one use the bike, say on a trainer and turn off the assist and not damage anything?
2) The Bosche motor has some resistance when assist is off. Are there any mid-drive bikes that have none, zero, nada, resistance when off? It seems like a clutch mechanism would be doable engineering wise, and thereby allow the bike to be used well when the batter goes 100% dead.

Thanks in advance!

 

[ronr]

I’m not Court but there’s likely a setting where you can shut off the battery assist.