Archerichards
Lil-Rokslider
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2019
- Messages
- 135
I bought a Super 73 e-bike for deer hunting this year. I use it on a rural property with lots of dirt roads and fairly dry trails. My usual ride has been a Kawasaki Mule ATV, maybe ten or twelve years old and beginning to fail.
I have now put maybe 75 miles of backwoods riding on my Super 73. Some takeaways:
PROS:
I have now put maybe 75 miles of backwoods riding on my Super 73. Some takeaways:
PROS:
- The big takeaway is that the bike is tons of fun to travel the woods on. It is completely silent, so it feels like flying like a bird through the forest. The trip to the stand becomes a positive part of the hunt, rather than something to endure between here and there.
- …and you dont get to/near your stand with your ears ringing and smelling like gasoline exhaust. It was raining when I hunted this morning, so I took the Mule, and was reminded just how loud and noisy, and how noxious it smells. Might as well have driven a tractor.
- I have seen noticibly more deer this year than in prior years. Not sure if it is the bike or not, but it makes me appreciate that if you're hunting stealthy critters, it helps to be stealthy too.
- The Super 73 costs about $3600 new, so, not cheap. A new gas-powered ATV to replace the Mule will be $12 to $15,000. There are a very few electric ATVs out there, but they are quite high too. The Super 73 is probably not the best choice for off road and hunting, but it is 1/2 to 1/4 the cost of a purpose-built off-road e-bike.
- The Super 73 is an urban street bike, but they sell one model with off-road tires. Though mine has given perfect performance, it is not as ruggedly designed as it may need to be for un-pampered use. Not sure it will give ten years of this kind of use.
- You’ll never be able to throw a deer in the back of an e-bike and return to the barn. Neither will you be able to wait out a thunderstorm or bounce and grind your way through a mud hole, as you can with an ATV.
- The bike is fun, yes, but driving requires your full attention. Four wheels will always be more stable than two, so you'll never drink coffee while driving to the stand.
