designersdomain   eCruiser   eCruiserblog   eCruiser photos   eCruiser archive

eCruiserblog

It's been sixty days since I began riding the eCruiser. The computer has logged 576 miles. My local gas price is $2.61/gal. At 22 mpg, I've not spend $68.33 at the fuel station the past eight weeks, or about $34/mo. For perspective, my ride to work one-way is 3.5 miles, about 20 minutes.

Yesterday, stopped at Dale's shop for a light tune-up. The bike has been running well the past two weeks. Early into July, the second month, the rear tire suffered a blow out. The puncture occured on the inside of the inner tube. This had also happened on a bike I rode in 2004.

Dale explained that wheels (the rim and spokes) are assembled by robots. The nipples of the spokes inside the rim often need to be deburred before assembling and inflating the tire. I can confirm the sharps are real, one had bit me when we were installing the tire of the wheel that came with the motor kit.

The bike had to be walked quite a distance without air in the rear tire. The weight of the battery pack damaged the tire bead, so a new tire was chosen, the spoke nipples were inspected and filed for burrs, and an extra rim strap added inside the rim. A thornproof tube, and a puncture resistant liner inside the tire, were used to make the wheel as puncture-proof as possible. We also added SLIME inside the inner tube. The front wheel is next. :)

The Sonoma's manual printed a suggested maintenance schedule. The light tune-up included their checklist:

-lubricate shift levers
-brake & cable adjustment
-tire wear & pressure
-true wheels and tighten spokes
-hub, head & crank bearings
-secure pedals
-tight handlebars
-seat & post are tight
-frame and fork are true
-all nuts and bolts are tight