Hunting & Fishing Who uses an ebike in the backcountry?

[Deleted member 137765]

While lots of public land is off limits to ebikes (something I wholeheartedly support) their application for hunting on private property is clearly advantageous. Since I spend a great deal of time (particularly during the calving season) performing ADC services on sprawling ranches, I wanted something silent to ride. I've ridden my mountain bike many times and it's ideal for running the property and quickly dispatching predators even without a caller. I see em running around in the morning and evening, brake and shoot. But at 60 I'm starting to run outta steam on the hills so I thought a little technological assistance would be a good thing. Just pulled the trigger on my first ebike after doing nearly two years of research. After looking at all the makes and models, motors, batteries and other options I got a demo model (used) Bakcou Mule Elite w/ 21ah 1000 watt battery. May get up to 60 miles outta it without any ped-assist on flat ground. Has the torque to climb anything...the manufacturer says it will climb very steep terrain...said the problem may be in getting back down. I have no firsthand experience with ebikes but did enough homework to write a thesis on em. For hunting application I think this is the apex bike on the market...superior to even QUIETKAT and RAMBO.

Anyone else using an ebike? Haul a trailer with yours? Got any tips for a noob?
This is the one I just bought.

 

[HeavyAssault]

60 miles??? Really? Damn that's nice.

 

[Deleted member 137765]

Almost done...bike I trailer are fully assembled and appears to work just fine. Have a local bike shop making some minor modifications to the bike & trailer. The plan is to add a couple more masterlinks and replace the stock bolts with quick-disconnects for the trailer's tire. My Ram is a short bed.

Regarding the PM I received, a mid drive motor certainly puts more stress on the drive train and therefore drive train components are even more important. However, having said that, there is no comparing a mid drive mountain bike to a hub drive mountain bike. When you compare the torque of a hub drive bike ranging from 40nm to 60nm as compared to 80nm up to 160nm of torque a hub drive is much more suited to be a commuter bike than one taken off road and climbing hills. In addition to that the torque sensing capabilities of the top of the line mid drive motors makes riding an ebike feel very natural and by far much more safe than a non torque sensing hub drive motor. The one wheel trailers can comfortably handle 100lbs (+ or -) but the two wheel trailers can carry double that. Balance becomes an issue with the former but they can squeeze into tighter places and some of the trails I will hit get very narrow and i don't wanna have to remove the trailer to get through. Got out for a brief ride just before sunset and am loving this bike already.

The Kuat bike rack swings all the way to the side allowing me access to open the tailgate...I like that it matches the color of my truck too. <g>

 

[Duc]

Like that swing away feature.

 

[Deleted member 137765]

Yeah, it's pretty handy.

 

[Duc]

My hub drive assisted bike has a regenerative feature when you pedal backwards, extending battery life and adding braking force as a result.
Remember that an Ebike that weighs 70+ pounds is a BITCH to pedal in any terrain with a flat battery! Sooer or later you will pay for the pleasure you had.

23lbs +-, only twelve without the rear wheel/hub!

 

[Deleted member 137765]

I had to learn how to ride a bike all over again...ebikes have a learning curve gang. The first hill I went up was a total struggle. Standing on the pedals to climb and because it was so steep my legs were quickly transformed to rubber. Augh. Guess what? There's a little thumb button ya gotta push to engage more power. Doh! After playing around with different gears and actually using the throttle, I was able to go from crawling uphill, to cruising at 9mph to ultimately 15-16mph on the steepest streets around my neighborhood.

At first I struggled with the bike but after stiffening up the front shock (to the point I could stand next to it and push it down barely an inch using all my weight) the ride became more stable. Due to the recent rains I stayed off the trails in favor of familiarizing myself with the gearing and just getting comfortable with the Mule. It had power to spare and I only used 15% of the battery all day. I rode in ECO mode on the flats and still hit 21mph without even opening it up in the highest gear. That was plenty fast for me. I left the trailer at the shop and will hook that up once the quick disconnects are installed on the one tire. In the interim I am happy to get familiar with the bike and play with the add-ons. This is one of em that just arrived.

 

[Duc]

Keep us up to date on progress and info.

 

[Deleted member 137765]

 

[Deleted member 137765]

Well the bike can do 29mph with my fatarse on it on the flat. Tried to hit 30 but no go. I can't peddle that fast. LOl.
I have rubber legs, time for some "sheltering at home." (((sigh)))

Got a Velosock cover for it to provide some protection when traveling from state to state with it on the rack and deter would-be thieves. No need to advertise what's under there. This should protect it better as I drive through & camp in places like Arizona during the monsoon season.

 

[HeavyAssault]

Talk about going all in....nice setup for sure.

 

[W54/XM-388]

After looking at all the makes and models, motors, batteries and other options I got a demo model (used) Bakcou Mule Elite w/ 21ah 1000 watt battery. May get up to 60 miles outta it without any ped-assist on flat ground. Has the torque to climb anything...the manufacturer says it will climb very steep terrain...said the problem may be in getting back down. I have no firsthand experience with ebikes but did enough homework to write a thesis on em. For hunting application I think this is the apex bike on the market.

That looks to be around a $4k bike new? Give or take an extra thousand?

 

[Deleted member 137765]

I got lucky, managed to purchase a demo model with some mileage and aesthetic imperfections on it. Saved myself $2K (which pretty much offset the costs of the rest of the stuff). I knew a demo bike had to be reliable and the Mfr gave me the same warranty and new tires. It has all the upgrades and doesn't scream FAT GUY WITH NEW BIKE. Looks like I'm a seasoned rider. LOL

 

[11bar]

M2S makes an ebike for just over a thousand I have the 750 allterrain and really like the bike it has some really nice features and a more powerful motor output than bike 3x the price I put a gunrack on the front and have a little cart I pull behind makes getting in and out quick and quiet

 

[Downtown]

This question didn't used to be so important to me, but it is now. Where are these bikes made?

 

[thejeep]

Keep your maxis tires sidewalls lubed up. Every pair I’ve had start cracking prematurely.

 

[Deleted member 137765]

Keep your maxis tires sidewalls lubed up. Every pair I’ve had start cracking prematurely.

What lube do you recommend?

 

[shoots100]

While lots of public land is off limits to ebikes (something I wholeheartedly support) their application for hunting on private property is clearly advantageous.
They passed a bill allowing the use of Ebikes on federal lands, as long as those lands allowed previous use of pedal bikes.
After spending thousands of dollars on a Ebike, I would be pissed if I couldn't use it wherever pedal bikes were allowed.
I've read the arguments against E bike use on federal lands and am reminded of the responses old time bowers had against the use of hunting with compound bows.
I'm in the process of upgrading to a folding Ebike for easier transport and concealment.
Nice job on your Bike and trailer.
SJC

 

[thejeep]

What lube do you recommend?

Not a clue. To damn lazy. Maybe I’ll try some armor all.

 

[Caterpillardoc]

Anyone know about or have experience with Rad bikes?