Fossil Free Friday: When mini isn't mini - the Super 73

For me, minibikes (and go-carts) have always been the one that got away. When I was a kid, my grandparents always had a subscription to Popular Mechanics. Every time I opened one I went straight to the back looking for ads like these:

 

Whenever the new Sears or Montgomery Wards catalogs arrived, I'd go straight to the minibikes. Oh, how I dreamed. 

 

The stuff dreams were made of.

 

In a junior high science class, I finally figured out why I had never owned a minibike. It was Newton's Third Law - For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. As desperately as I wanted a minibike, my parents desperately wanted me not to crack my skull open.

 

I was 30 years old when I finally brought a minibike home. I fully restored it, rode it up and down my street (illegally) a few times, and sold it a week later. I had outgrown the whole minibike thing.

 

Or so I thought.

This week I became aware of the Super 73. I have not outgrown the whole minibike thing, I just needed a bigger one with an electric motor, pedals, and cup holder. Yep, definitely wanting a (not-so) minibike. Maybe I want a maxibike (but that just sounds wrong).

 

Really, the Super 73 is more of an electric bicycle in really big minibike clothing. It even uses the same type of mid-drive electric motor I have been wanting for my next electric build. And it has 20" fat tires for a smooth ride - unlike the tiny squirrely tires on an old minibike.

What do you think? Would I look this hipster cool on a Super 73?

 

 

Honey, I'm quitting my diet - this thing'll haul 300 pounds!

Woohoo - disc brakes, a cupholder, and 30 miles per hour - sign me up!

 

As you probably already guessed, the Super 73 is currently running a Kickstarter campaign. To order yours, plan on spending somewhere around $2000 before shipping. Not bad money for a 48 volt/1000 watt electric bike with quality components. Lithium Cycles, the parent company, hopes to start shipping in November, so you may be cruising yours around the holidays, but the campaign has been wildly successful ($272,000 with 10 days to go) so don't be surprised if it takes them a little while to get them knocked out.

 

So, how about you? Have you outgrown minibikes, or did this post re-ignite an old spark?

 

May your green fun transportation be this quirky fun!