Go high tech.

I'd take a military folding mountain bike with tubless rideflat tires and a removable gasoline engine capable of going > 50 km/hr.

Get the bike from:
http://www.militarybikes.com/para.html

Get your engine from:
http://www.fiveflagsmotorbikes.com/BicycleEnginesGasoline.htm

Get your ride flat tires from:
http://www.airfreetires.com/Default.htm

-NIM

Now we have a powered bicycle weighing at about 1/2 the weight of a moped with greater range and power for around $2000.00 - I like it! Don't know what the foldability gets you. If you want this along with your war-wagon Jeep you can put it on the rack outside and keep the interior space for the ammo-cans of supplies (and ammo). Folding it would help you stuff it into the Jeep but why bother. You could get a simple Beach Bomber bike for less than $100 with an indestructable steel frame and save a bundle. You would lose some of the power / range because of the heaver bike but not so much as it would matter.

If I wanted a powered bicycle I would get an ATV or a touring motorcycle. The true beauty of a bicycle is that it requires no fuel other than food/water for the rider. As for range, it is all relative and per unit time. There are bike tourist who have ridden around the world several times, and hundreds ride across the country every year. With a gas powered anything you have to be able to get from one fuel supply to another on one tank, or one tank plus whatever you can carry on the vehicle. What if gas isn't available, or available within your range? Reasonable max range for a day on a touring bike is about 100-150 miles, depending on headwinds and elevation changes. The Race Across America riders ride 20 hour plus days and make it across the country in under 7 days. I suppose you are only limited by determination.

Another advantage with bikes is that you aren't stuck in traffic jams with the rest of the fleeing masses. You can happily peddle down the shoulder of the road or other places that auto traffic can't go. In many evacuation scenarios I have little doubt that I could get out of town much more easily on my bike than in my truck (of course I am in the Baltimore/Washington area, so YMMV).

Remember, a bicycle (in it's numorous forms) is the most efficient human powered method of travel. If you can expect an inexhaustable supply of affordable gasoline for any situation in which you will need transportation, then don't worry about a bicycle for a "bug-out" application. If not, then they are a very valid consideration, and can be very useful in non "bug-out" situations as well.

Heck, they are good for you and darn fun to ride too! How can you go wrong? <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Greg

All that you say is absolutely correct about the bicycle. The dual-purpose touring bike can be quite usable off-road and not too big a penalty on-road - especially in a heavily laden BOB type scenario. Also one of the aftermarket add-on gasolene engines may make the first day or so - the really important one in an evac situation - much more pleasant. For a little effort with a wrench these can be added or taken off. The cost in weight of the smallest was 14# which is considerable if you have to pedal but meaningless if it is hauling you and your BOB. If you run out of gas and can't forsee getting more, it is easy to stop for 10 min and dump the 14 #. OTOH if you have a reasonable chance of resupply then it might be worth hauling the extra 14# along as you pedal the rest of the way to the gas-station. Since you will be rested from not having to work for the first 200 miles as the gasolene engine pulled you along you may be able to pedal the extra 14# of engine up over that last hill looking for a gas station or abondoned vehicle with a gallon of gas still in the tank. These engines are claiming 80 - 100 MPG and come with 2 -2.5 gallon gas tanks. Also, when you reach your evac shelter the small gasolene work-horse can be adapted to power generators, mini-sawmills, compressors, pumps and other handy devices that you might have there that won't be getting power from the grid.

A local "scavenger" has made his own powered bike using two electric moters with little rubber rollers on the shaft that contact the tire. A garden tractor battery powers the ride. He uses the contraption to fuel his aluminum can hunts every evening and says they run him about 4 hours. The bike cost him $10 and the "engine" was $20 of used parts. Something tells me he's well equipped mentally for survival.

On the low-tech side...I rode an MS150 once with a 72 year old man. He had a single speed, balloon tire Schwinn and wore bib overalls and leather work gloves. Smile on his face the whole 150 miles. Again, well equipped to survive.

latvija