I figured the hub motors were best with the lithium battery packs and for those I should charge the most. Preferably something ridiculous.. I also figured that I would look for a less expensive ebike as well. That was the problem. There just were no really inexpensive kits readily available.

The chain driven kits were almost as expensive as the hub motors. There were also other problems with the chain drive. They were noisy and less efficient energy wise. Their advantages were wasted on the flat geography of the area.

I almost gave up until I ran across a comment on one of the forums. The comment was made by a bike builder. He was wondering about the advantages of a push trailer. Since it would be possible to build one that was completely self contained, he wondered it if wouldn't be possible to rig it so that one could remove it completely for storage.

I spent two weeks of my life working on a design to build a trailer that could be easily attached and removed from a common bike. A local welder agreed to build the first trailer and to attach the hitches to the bikes for me. Since he was retired from a local boat building company his price was very fair,.but I wanted to do it myself. I knew that I would need to enroll in the local community college or hang around his shop. I chose hang around his shop.

I wasn't surprised that the prototype trailer cost me as much as a kit built bike would have. I knew that I could get the cost down, if I bought the parts whenever and wherever I saw them laying about. Not to mention I could save the labor by doing it myself.

It took my welder only three days to build and install the first trailer. The hitch had to be welded to the bike, but after that it was a simple one bolt to attach the trailer. All the electronics went onto the trailer with only a wireless remote throttle attached to the bike. That device was from a RC race car.

The whole trailer platform was easy to attach to the bike. The true beauty of it was in the power supply. Since the trailer was self contained the power supply could be the heavier and less expensive lead batteries. The size and weight were less an issue on the trailer.

I picked a heavy framed mountain bike on which to build my first bikes, but by the time I got to the trailer build, my first order of bikes was gone. To test my any bike will do, and since it would be easy to move the trailer to a different bike, I bought a used 12 speed bike from the flea market on the side of the road. I went through and repaired and greased every part of it before I sent it to the welder for a hitch. When the used bike came back, I loaded the trailer into the trunk of my car, put the bike in the carrier on back, then drove to the beach.

The push trailer was an instant hit. I had my cell phone ringing after just a few blocks. I had people wave me down to discuss it. I made appointments back at the shop for people to come ride the bike.