At long last....
After work today I drove to the UPS Freight depot and picked up my disassembled e-bike. The guy there helped me get it out of the crate it, but didn't really do much else making me carry it down the loading ramp to get it into my car myself.
Once I got it home I started to assemble it using the instructions.
It went pretty well and took a total of about 45 minutes to get it together. Getting the mirrors on right took 2 tries. The instructions didn't make clear that I needed to remove the left side nut, washer and retainer on the front wheel axle before putting the brake on, and there were a couple things missing...screws for the chain guards and the rubber anti-vibration pads for the tool box on the back.
The battery was basically fully charged..I stuck it on the charger right away before starting assembly. On the Kill-a-Watt meter it showed it drawing about 100W while charging...same as a standard light bulb. It may draw a bit more when fully discharged...I'll keep an eye on it. Once it got to 'micro-charge' mode or whatever it's called it was only drawing about 8W.
Anyway, I took her for a spin right away (sans the chain guards) and she worked like a dream! The red color looks great. We ordered a front basket ($10) and it came as well..has a snap close lid so stuff doesn't bounce out and is black (as opposed to the ugly white floor model). There should be plenty of room for a couple bags of groceries. There's even a little hook below the steering column that one could hang one of those plastic grocery bags on if you need to in a pinch.
There's a small storage area under the seat and another lockable small storage below the steering wheel and hook. (I'll take pics soon and post them)
It doesn't handle quite like a regular bicycle and I admit to a bit of over-caution with turns and such right now. I expect I'll get a better feel for the limits in short order, but right now I'm not sure how it'll handle gravel/chat and other rough spots.
And here's a slick little tidbit...
I was stupid and dropped both sets of keys (they were all still connected to each other) into the little storage area under the seat while I was charging the battery after our test rides. I got home tonight, after dark, and decided to take the bike off the charger.
Forgetting I'd put the keys in there and way too dark to see the dark keys in the black hole of the storage area I slammed the seat shut!!
Yup, the keys were locked inside and you have to have a key to open the seat.
I grabbed a bunch of random small keys hoping one would work to unlock it....no luck. Then I thought I'd see if I could reach up there from below....couldn't get into the storage area, but I could feel the latch inside the seat...and there was a little bump...turns out it's a release button!! One press of the button, the latch releases and I can open the seat and retrieve the keys!! No harm, no foul, and I know how to fix it if I do it again (highly probable!) Ok, enough for now. I should have pics to post by Wed. afternoon.
