Leveling Up My Ride: Making the Switch to a Moped-Style E-Bike

By: Scott Kramer, Juiced Bike rider and blog contributor

For three years, I’ve been riding a Juiced CrossCurrent X e-bike. To the tune of 2,200 miles and counting. At the very least, the experience has been utterly liberating. I can get places quickly with or without exercise – setting the pedal assist from full-power race mode down to completely off, and get as little or much of a workout as I want. Trust me, I often power down the pedal assist on flat stretches to get my heart rate up. But I also find myself sometimes just using the thumb throttle, in which case I never need to even pedal. The experience has been so satisfying that I sold my car nearly two years ago, just to ride the bike full-time! 

The Differences

But things are changing. Nope, I still don’t need a car. And I continue riding the CrossCurrent X on a near-daily basis. But I’ve upped the luxury aspect of e-biking by adding a Juiced HyperScorpion e-bike to my repertoire. It looks much more like a moped than a traditional electric bike. The huge padded seat is incredibly comfortable to straddle and sit on. And it’s loaded with technology – such as a powerful 1,000W RetroBlade motor that lets me easily, smoothly and quickly get up to 30 miles per hour even up hills. The dual-suspension, shock-absorbing mechanism is crazy good – smoothing out any kind of gravel or road bumps. Larger street tires also help the cause. There are tall side view mirrors emerging from the handlebars, allowing me to see both sides behind me before changing lanes. Speaking of, there’s also a turn signal button – something I’ve wanted big-time on my CrossCurrent X since taking ownership. It’s also loaded with other premium safety features, including an integrated brake light, turn signals, hydraulic disc brakes, bright halo headlight, cruise control, and even an upgraded electronic horn. And it includes a built-in alarm. It's a heavy, substantial bike that like a car, lets you engage the alarm with a button on the remote. If anyone tries moving the bike, they will be deterred by a quick and loud chirp. If they try moving it again or picking it up, the alarm will sound until I turn it off with the remote. And with its large 52V/19.2Ah battery, the bike gets up to 70 miles of range per charge.

Reasons To Get It

I wanted to get the HyperScorpion for several reasons. First, I think it looks awesome – I got it in all black. Second, it’s SO comfortable to ride. In my area of Southern California, I often see people riding this style of bike. But seriously, once I sat on this model, there was no turning back – it’s almost like kicking back on a comfy couch. My third reason was I sometimes want to be lazy. That is, I know up front that I will mostly ride this by solely using the throttle and even putting it in cruise control to go run errands. In the first month, that’s how I catch myself using it most often. It operates exactly like the CrossCurrent X from a pedal-assist standpoint, but I honestly feel like I shouldn’t even bother pedaling – that’s what my other bike is for. This is more of a Cadillac experience in which the bike does all of the work for me.

But the most important reason I really wanted the HyperScorpion was to be able to ride together with my wife. She owns an e-bike, too. And we ride together a lot. But we often get separated on the road – she’s more cautious than I am. So I might catch myself way ahead of her, and then have to wait up. And we also find ourselves yelling to each other, riding single-file in bike lanes. But if it’s windy or there’s traffic – we live in a busy town – it’s hard to hear what she’s saying. With the HyperScorpion, we can ride physically together. Granted, it will be much better when the passenger kit arrives and gets installed. But for now, we share the bench seat. It’s great having her arms around me as we scoot around town. The HyperScorpion is super easy to control, we don’t have to worry about separating or keeping pace, and we still get all of the conveniences of e-biking places instead of taking a car – fresh air, no parking worries, no gas usage, etc. It really transforms the entire experience to another level. And at least in our area, the HyperScorpion is classified as any other standard e-bike, so we just obey those bike laws and don't need to register it for a license plate.

Making The Jump

The transition from the “regular” e-bike has been welcomingly smooth. My natural tendency remains to pedal when I’m riding alone, but I’m getting more used to the HyperScorpion’s throttle. And the acceleration is so seamless that it’s easy to hit the maximum speed. So I’ve found myself tempering that a few times – in our area, I feel safer going more slowly. And the one other nice surprise with the HyperScorpion is just how quiet it is.

I’ve invited several buddies to try riding it, and everyone has gushed over the experience. As I tell them: Once you hop on and take it for a spin, you start thinking about the next place you want to take it.