Not an owner yet, holding out for a Hunter Cub...

[eternus]

Hey, I'm Jody from Colorado.

I had an old bike similar to a CT90 back in high school (it was yellow and likely not a Honda, but I can't remember any details.) I have seen many Ruckus around town and had thought that was the little trail exploring, put around town, errand do-er bike I wanted. I wasn't really familiar with the CT90 but after the recent Revzilla trip across Alaska realized this was actually more what I wanted for hauling my 200lb self around. The more I research the CT 90/125 the more I love them. While I would love to get an old 90 and rebuild it, they're as hard to come by as the 125 and people are proud of them, so I'm looking more at the 125 so I can just hop on it and go.

While I am hoping they'll bring the Hunter Cub CT125 to the states, I realize it's possible that won't happen. I am watching the community not to see ideas about how easily you could take a CT 125 and mod the tires/suspension/armor to make it a bit more capable offroad while keeping the city manners. Hopefully I'll learn a bunch on this forum.

Edit: Stopped calling it a CT 80 and corrected to CT90.

 

[AZ7000']

My understanding is the ct-125 is the Hunter cub, hence the bear claw sticker on the side. It is in the states, I rode mine to work alternating w the 90.
For clarity the original was a ct-90, not 80…

90’s are around but mine is finally dialed perfect after more then a few years of ownership. Like one kick at 20F kind of dialed in…

 

[eternus]

My understanding is the ct-125 is the Hunter cub, hence the bear claw sticker on the side. It is in the states, I rode mine to work alternating w the 90.
For clarity the original was a ct-90, not 80…

90’s are around but mine is finally dialed perfect after more then a few years of ownership. Like one kick at 20F kind of dialed in…

Odd, I don't know why I put 80... but once I typed it, I remained committed. smh

Thanks for the heads up on the CT125 being a Hunter Cub... I guess I was expecting it to get a different color if it was a Hunter Cub instead of a base CT125. I'll continue to dig.

 

[m in sc]

it is indeed a hunter cub, especially since its based on the super cub.

 

[eternus]

it is indeed a hunter cub, especially since its based on the super cub.

Yah, after hearing that I went looking to try to understand my own confusion. It didn't help that sometimes I'd see C90 and think it was synonymous with CT90, then that Super Cub was a CT90. I just had too many names to process. So, I get it now:

CT 90 (also CT50, CT70 & CT110) were the ancestors to the Trail 125.
CT 125 is what it's called in the rest of the world, branded Trail 125 in the US.
C90 (also C50, C70, & C100) were also called the Super Cub.
Hunter Cub = "rugged Super Cub" with changed gearing, armor and suspension, but only called a Hunter Cub in the CT125 markets, irrelevant to US.

Hunter Cub is the most ambiguous of all the names, but at least now I have an idea of what to call the thing or can translate what it means when others say it.

My other dilemma now is figuring out what to try to hunt down. I want to use it as an efficient & fun way to run errands around town. I had thought I wanted the Ruckus and still keep thinking I like it, but feel like long term I'd appreciate the Trail 125 more, especially for my weight. I also like the idea of hauling it via trailer hitch mount on my truck for getting around when I get somewhere to camp.

I would LOVE to find a Trail 125 style frame/bike that is dual hub electric with a decent top speed and range. The UBCO 2x2 is very interesting to me, if I can figure out how to get more range or easy charging in the field. (That price though, is a non-starter.)

 

[SneakyDingo]

My other dilemma now is figuring out what to try to hunt down. I want to use it as an efficient & fun way to run errands around town. I had thought I wanted the Ruckus and still keep thinking I like it, but feel like long term I'd appreciate the Trail 125 more, especially for my weight. I also like the idea of hauling it via trailer hitch mount on my truck for getting around when I get somewhere to camp.

I would LOVE to find a Trail 125 style frame/bike that is dual hub electric with a decent top speed and range. The UBCO 2x2 is very interesting to me, if I can figure out how to get more range or easy charging in the field. (That price though, is a non-starter.)

The pain of the Tokyo Motorshow where in 2015 they revealed an EV Cub concept with hot swappable batteries. Not much range, about half of the CT125's, but they could be hot swapped out, or carried in from outdoors and charged in an apartment - the batteries were under the seat IIRC, right where you fill up the petrol. Such a cool idea that never came to fruition. There was a company that will electrify your older Supercub and probably a Trail as well, but for various reasons I don't think they're working with American customers.

 

[dmonkey]

The EV Cub concept looked awesome, but actually producing it likely wouldn't have gone over well in 2015, and still not yet in 2022. Low range, low speed, slow charge, and high cost are big barriers. I rode a Vespa Elettrica around Chicago and it was a blast for low speed city riding, absolutely in its natural habitat there, but hard to justify it financially when you can get a 50cc Vespa Sprint for about half the cost while getting better range and top speed. Zero have the swappable battery modules on some models (CAKE have it on all their older models, not totally familiar with their newest ones), but it doesn't seem very popular and it costs a lot to buy a spare since they're obviously one of the most expensive components of the bike. Here's hoping the boom of EV fleet vehicles, cars, vans, and trucks (and their corresponding infrastructure) pave the way for electric motorbikes. As an optimistic outlook, just imagine if you had an electric motorcycle and the infrastructure to DC quick charge it at a speed relative to the size and speed of the batteries in newer 4-wheeled EVs, could be recharging to 80% in under 5 minutes, or less time than it takes your riding buddy to fill up their tank, use the gas station washroom, and buy a snack. For now electric bicycles and maybe the Sur Ron seem like they're on the more practical end of the spectrum. If you're into electric motorcycles and haven't seen "Long Way Up," I'd recommend it, interesting to see what an electric motorcycle adventure can look like as an exception with a lot of money and resources to enable the trip. @eternus , might be worth looking up Moped Army to find if there's a moped club local to you, there are quite a few people in that scene who do electric conversions on mopeds, or buy an ONYX and deal with the love hate relationship that goes with those bikes.

I bought the CT125 to hold me over until EV bikes are out of their infancy. However long that takes... it's a safe bet that the CT125 will still be a fun, reliable, and economical ride until then.

 

[m in sc]

zero has been around a while, i know a few people with them, they are reliable.

 

[dmonkey]

Yep, if I had to buy one, street legal and highway speed capable, would pick the Zero DSR. I've made a hobby of demoing, borrowing, and renting all the electric motorbikes I can. Rode the Zero DS, DSR, and the SR/F and all were impressive but don't have me sold just yet since it would be possible, but a logistical pain, to do a full day's worth of riding on them compared to an internal combustion engine bike. In Long Way Up their solution with the LiveWires was to have Rivian electric trucks support them and recharge their bikes for the trip... that's a lot of support! The Zeros are way more capable than a Sur Ron (and street legal, while the Sur Ron is in a gray area depending on where you live), but with the price tag to match. Have heard plenty of good things about Zero's reliability (other than throwing drive belts on the models that use those), good support, and a community of modders looking to optimize everything about the bikes and add aftermarket chargers to them. I think for full size, street legal, and highly capable electric motorcycles they're the best value, then Energica which dominate street and track performance but for me the Ego was terrifyingly heavy and physically exhausting to put just under 100 miles on, and then the Harley-Davidson LiveWire... which is very capable but comes with a Harley price tag and everything about it felt awkward in some way, similar to CAKE's Kalk models where I'm convinced whoever came up with the ergonomics and programmed the drive-by-wire controls didn't test ride them through a battery cycle or two before calling it done.

 

[SneakyDingo]

The biggest obstacle with the Zero model I remember that had a removable battery as a feature was just carrying the damn thing. It was HEAVY. In some ways it was more practical to use the freight elevator of the building to just put the whole bike in the elevator, move it up to the charging floor, and charge it that way (and this actually happened in downtown Seattle for one for one of the Zero owners that worked in... I want to say Columbia Tower). I saw a really sweet e-scooter setup that had a battery with a pop out kickstand and rollerblade wheels as you ejected it from the holder. Like that's an actually practical solution - well, practical if you don't have to use stairs, but way more than expecting someone to lift 40-50 lbs and carry it.

I may not be fast on it but in summer when I'm on the Tern GSD using it in the low assist mode, even towing around cargo I'm able to consistently get upwards of 120 mi between charges. Not gonna lie, this is basically the CT125 of the bicycle world, but in my mind this is what the competition is. You don't have to pay insurance (I didn't say it's a good idea, just that you don't have to do it), rego, that you can ride on bike trails and zip past traffic congestion, etc. which adds to the value proposition. I usually tow my dogs more than anything, that being 100 lbs of combined dogs and dog equipment on average, dog tax attached. I also do a ton of Costco runs on it easily upwards of 300 lbs. To me, that's the competition that an eMoto has to compete with - it has to be at least as good as one of these electric bicycles.

What does that say about the state of the industry when someone who already owns one of these is buying a CT125 instead of an electric moto? It's definitely not there yet. It'd be really nice to be more conflicted on such a decision, but it's not remotely close to being there yet, and frankly I'm not sure there is a ton of motivation to go down that route. EV cars? sure. eBikes? sure, partly because of the unregulated nature of the market. eMoto's? Hmmmmm......... eScooters? If they can get the price right. And yeah, it would have been pretty funny if I had an eC125 and it got LESS range than my electric bicycle, while only being slightly faster.

 

[m in sc]

Last place i lived, apartments, a zero owner (Casey) just charged his in the garage he rented. I've never heard of anyone pulling the battery out and charging it remotely. fwiw, it was an old Charlotte police bike, dual sport, he bought at auction for 2500 bucks.

 

[dmonkey]

I think a strong selling point for the modular batteries is that if you haul the bike to a track or trails you could bring a pre-charged spare to make a longer day of it. Sure would be a pain if your regular parking situation didn't have power nearby to charge it without pulling the battery. I've seen plenty of EV car owners who live in apartments get creative with running extension cords to their cars the past few years, or they just charge them at shopping centers, the stereotypical Whole Foods parking lot with Teslas, Nissan Leafs, and BMW i3's fighting over the charging spots

 

[m in sc]

just bring a high wattage diesel generator to the track. problem, solved.

 

[dmonkey]

It works for locomotives

 

[AZ7000']

Put a Honda 1000 generator on the rack like the Dakar Audi!

 

[eternus]

There is some great discussion and alternative consideration here. I'm also leaning heavily into this thing... Super73-RX if I can just figure out some good mods to improve range & comfort.

 

[dmonkey]

The RX is on my list to try. The S1 and Z1 seats weren't very comfortable for crosstown riding, especially with the lack of suspension and trying to use pedal assist for more range.

I've seen range extender batteries like this mounted on ones around my local college campus:

The Ranger - Super73 Battery Upgrade

Super73 S2, R, or RX battery upgrade. The Ranger is a Plug and Play battery solution for the Super73 S2, R, & RX. Double your battery capacity, lower your battery sag and crush your range anxiety with the ChiBatterySystems Ranger!

chibatterysystems.com

 

[eternus]

I've learned a ton about eBikes in the past week. I'm thinking, for the purpose of emulating a CT125, that I may start with a Radrunner 2 (from Rad Powered bikes) as it is the same basic geometry. I will then either upgrade to a 1000w+ motor (or motors) to get it more torque. Maybe an additional battery as well for range. It won't ever hit the 50mph that a Honda gets, but I never aspired to highway driving with this anyway. It seems pretty open to modifications so I could upgrade the power train substantially and still be under the cost of a Trail 125, and also have it at my house next week. I'm still working on the logistics, if I could turn it into a suitable eT125.

 

[Tucker]

I have an ebike as well as the Trail 125. I bought a lectricbike. $999 and it seems real solid, especially looking at those $7000 models. I put front and rear racks and have 2 extra botteries for off the grid use.