Anyone have a hunting E bike?

[DoggyDaddy]

I saw one of these in Ace Hardware yesterday. Pretty neat looking little bike.

 

[bwframe]

I spoke with the local CO (checking for my fishing license) about e-biking to hunt the public ground across from my property.

He said as long as the e-bike had pedals, it's good to go. A bicycle has pedals, an electric motorcycle has pegs and not allowed.



Hopefully needless to say here, but it's likely only a matter of time and dumb Bubbas before this cool e-bike loophole gets addressed by the overlords?

Don't know about Indiana, but some states regulate e-bike's speeds along with a lot of restrictions on where they can be riden.

We should probably not advertise to just everyone that Indiana is not yet restricting e-bikes?

 

[phylodog]

I spoke with the local CO (checking for my fishing license) about e-biking to hunt the public ground across from my property.

He said as long as the e-bike had pedals, it's good to go. A bicycle has pedals, an electric motorcycle has pegs and not allowed.



Hopefully needless to say here, but it's likely only a matter of time and dumb Bubbas before this cool e-bike loophole gets addressed by the overlords?

Don't know about Indiana, but some states regulate e-bike's speeds along with a lot of restrictions on where they can be riden.

We should probably not advertise to just everyone that Indiana is not yet restricting e-bikes?

Indiana does restrict E bikes. I was just looking it up last night and it appears Indiana places the cut off for an e bike at anything under 750 watts.

That said, Indiana doesn't have near the available public land or the established biking trails like they have out west. In those states they do enforce the rules pretty consistently. A lot of the hunting directed E bikes have an option in settings to limit their output to 750 watts to be compliant with the rules. Unless idiots on E bikes start tearing up the few established mountain bike trails in Indiana I doubt we'll see much enforcement or concern about the power rating.

 

[phylodog]

I saw one of these in Ace Hardware yesterday. Pretty neat looking little bike.

View attachment 363850

I was very seriously considering one of these as an alternative to an E bike for hunting but ultimately decided against it.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I was very seriously considering one of these as an alternative to an E bike for hunting but ultimately decided against it.

When I saw it, I confess that it triggered my inner 13 year old. Just looked like it would be a fun little bike.

 

[phylodog]

After significant research I decided to go with the Himiway D7 Pro. Very similar specs to the hunting bike brands at about $2000 less. Samsung battery, Bafang mid drive, full suspension and Shimano Cues components made for a very attractive package. It should be delivered some time this week, looking forward to getting some seat time on it.

 

[phylodog]

I was fortunately the recipient of what appears to be pretty common "customer service" from this Chinese company but the bike did finally arrive and holy mama is this thing a beast. I think my last motorcycle was less intimidating than this thing. That said it has power galore and once I get used to it I think it's going to be a significant improvement to our hunting tactics this season.

I only have two complaints, one legitimate and that is the noise of the motor. It's not excessive but it definitely has a hum that the deer may be able to associate pretty quickly. My plan, though I've yet to convince my hunting partner, is to build the trails we need to build and ride them as frequently as we can when we're out there between now and season. We've driven the Polaris Ranger EV within 10 yards of bedded mature bucks and had them just sit there and watch us roll by. Most farmers can tell you that the deer largely ignore moving farm equipment so I'm hoping we can maybe get them used to the bikes enough to tolerate them so long as we're in motion. Who knows, it's a theory anyway.

My only other issue was with how vibrant this thing was. The camo looks good and will most likely subdue a bit with some dust on it but it just looked like it would still stand out laying in the woods. I was planning to just paint the whole bike but found several leftover cans of tan Plasti Dip from when I used a bunch on my BMW motorcycle so I decided to use that to tone down the big stuff. I'll probably go back and do the center suspension pivot arm but that's going to take a bit more time in masking.

Before and after of how it sits now. I have a 12.5"x 19.5" rear basket coming and am considering trying to find a good front rack as well. I ordered some stencils similar to the camo on the frame and I may use those with some Krylon camo paint to break up the big tan areas.

 

[2in1evtime]

not afraid that battery wont flame up between your legs when riding, have seen some videos in the past showing them catching on fire while being ridden?

 

[phylodog]

not afraid that battery wont flame up between your legs when riding, have seen some videos in the past showing them catching on fire while being ridden?

Probably wouldn't have spent near $4k on it if I were. Anything with lithium batteries can melt down including cell phones. Bikes are easy to crash and cracking these batteries is a recipe for a bad day. I don't find the risk unreasonable.

 

[KJQ6945]

I was fortunately the recipient of what appears to be pretty common "customer service" from this Chinese company but the bike did finally arrive and holy mama is this thing a beast. I think my last motorcycle was less intimidating than this thing. That said it has power galore and once I get used to it I think it's going to be a significant improvement to our hunting tactics this season.

I only have two complaints, one legitimate and that is the noise of the motor. It's not excessive but it definitely has a hum that the deer may be able to associate pretty quickly. My plan, though I've yet to convince my hunting partner, is to build the trails we need to build and ride them as frequently as we can when we're out there between now and season. We've driven the Polaris Ranger EV within 10 yards of bedded mature bucks and had them just sit there and watch us roll by. Most farmers can tell you that the deer largely ignore moving farm equipment so I'm hoping we can maybe get them used to the bikes enough to tolerate them so long as we're in motion. Who knows, it's a theory anyway.

My only other issue was with how vibrant this thing was. The camo looks good and will most likely subdue a bit with some dust on it but it just looked like it would still stand out laying in the woods. I was planning to just paint the whole bike but found several leftover cans of tan Plasti Dip from when I used a bunch on my BMW motorcycle so I decided to use that to tone down the big stuff. I'll probably go back and do the center suspension pivot arm but that's going to take a bit more time in masking.

Before and after of how it sits now. I have a 12.5"x 19.5" rear basket coming and am considering trying to find a good front rack as well. I ordered some stencils similar to the camo on the frame and I may use those with some Krylon camo paint to break up the big tan areas.

I like your plan of familiarizing the deer to the sound. I can drive the Kubota or the Can Am right past them at the feeder, and they don’t care unless I stop.
When I go up there to put corn in the feeder, the cameras tell me they are watching. They’ll be there within 10 minutes. The sound of a the diesel is the dinner bell.

 

[phylodog]

I like your plan of familiarizing the deer to the sound. I can drive the Kubota or the Can Am right past them at the feeder, and they don’t care unless I stop.
When I go up there to put corn in the feeder, the cameras tell me they are watching. They’ll be there within 10 minutes. The sound of a the diesel is the dinner bell.

The first deer I ever killed was a doe over a feeder in west central Texas. I sat in that elevated box blind for two hours staring at a hillside with nothing but dirt, rocks and cedar bushes on it wondering if someone was playing a joke on me. I didn't think there was any way on earth there were whitetail deer out in that scrub but as soon as that feeder went off it was like they came crawling out of holes in the ground. There were 10 deer and a handful of wild goats on that feeder within 90 seconds. They can very much be creatures of habit if they're not feeling threatened.