New Project: BikeE E2 Dual 20 Tandem Recumbent

Greetings!
A new year, a new recumbent project! One of my dreams has been to own a tandem Recumbent, to ride together with my sons or wife. My wife and I actually tried a tandem recumbent at Gardner Martin's Easy Racer facility in Freedom CA, where Gardner personally helped us ride their offering (yes, it was that long ago)! I was hooked, but circumstances (read: money) dictated that it wasn't going to happen any time soon...

Until last month! I picked up this beauty in Northern California - a BikeE E2 Tandem Recumbent, in very good shape, with many unusual upgrades:

- This E2 has been converted to a 20/20 configuration - clearly the way it should have come out of the factory. The 16 never had a good history on this bike as a heavily loaded tandem. Not only is the front wheel a 20 inch, but it also includes a front suspension, which turns the bike into a fully suspended configuration.
It looks a lot like a Barcroft Columbia except cooler. Higher captain step over, but totally worth it.

- The rear wheel has been replaced with a NuVinci Enviolo 360 CVT hub. This thing is an incredible breakthrough in shifting for bicycles, and I can't say enough good things about it. CVT stands for "Continuously Variable Transmission" - through a combination of large bearings and belts, it essentially offers unlimited gear ratios (it's a similar design to that offered on today's Hybrid cars). Super cool, tech geek stuff - and it really works.

- The frame is a massive monocoque aluminum girder, strong and cool looking. While you can see from the picture that this bike is long, I believe it is actually the shortest tandem recumbent ever offered. When riding it single, it doesn't feel that ponderous - but it is heavy. I would guess it's over 50lbs, and probably closer to 60. As the "Worlds Longest short wheelbase", it actually feels rather agile.

- This bike came with tire DOGS, the Maxxis Hookworms. I replaced them with a terrific tire set of a racing Tioga Power Block 20x1.95 in front, and a Tioga Street Block 20x2.15 100psi in the rear. Transforms the bike to make it MUCH faster with significantly better rolling resistance and ride. Before the swap, it felt like the bike had been dipped in molasses. These tires are seriously fast, and I must shout out the Street Block - it looks like the Power Block, but has been significantly strengthened (100psi), and is fast, good looking and bomb proof. Same tread pattern, much tougher.

- The BikeE seats are notoriously comfortable.

Still working on more, effective upgrades, but today was Show Day - I featured this bike in my engineering lesson at school, it was a total recumbent geek fest...

Its nickname is "Godzilla", as it is truly King of the Monsters!

 

Question: what tires did you use on the Screamer? I find this tandem to be extremely sensitive to the quality of tire - the wrong tire and it's a sluggish nightmare...

 

I tried the Bike-E E2 at a bike show shortly after it was introduced. I managed to ride it with some difficulty, but my buddy couldn't do it except solo. The steering geometry was just too weird. At the time I dubbed it the worst-handling recumbent ever marketed and predicted that lawsuits over it would decimate the company. You 20" conversion looks like it results in a 0-raked fork, which may actually make it rideable; but it looks like it's retained the 16" fork legs?

 

Yup, I received it with a rather hokey front solution. The previous owner reversed the 16" forks, and inserted INSIDE of it a 20 inch suspension fork. He then drilled a bolt hole through the bottom of the fork and head, and screwed them together. They fit tightly, with no wiggle, but "no warranty." The E2 head is a nonstandard, LARGE size, (1) I can't find a suspension, or any, fork that will fit, and (2) the current suspension fork slide perfectly inside without wiggle or slop. This bike should have been a 20 inch from the get go, I don't understand why they went with the 16. Still, this is a hokey solution, and I'm working on a better solution. Still, it works at the moment.

 

The original fork WAS 'backwards' to supply some trail, due to the 0 degree steerer tube. Going to a 20" front wheel would result in a change in the steerer angle and some small amount of trail using a zero-offset fork.

 

Ah, the legendary Tioga Comp Pool, perhaps the best 20 inch slick ever made! You can't get your hands on those any more, too bad...

 

Update: First, I have finally found online instructions to convert a BikeE 1 1/4" headset (huge!) to a standard (1 1/8") front suspension fork! I'll be implementing it this week - FYI here is the link:
https://www.plunk.org/eben/Albums/BikeE/

Second: I have embarked on the bike transformation of a lifetime - converting Godzilla to an electric bike! The end goal will be a recumbent Truck EV, but we are almost done with the EV conversion part... check out the cool picture (p.s. the CVT is on the left):

 

Another exciting update for Godzilla! I was able to follow online instructions I found to rebuild the front wheel assembly for a clean 20 inch/ 406mm full suspension! All the hokey bits have been removed; I purchased a set of 1 1/4 to 1 1/8th shims from AliExpress to allow Godzilla to accept an RST/Capa 1 1/8th full front suspension unit. Check out the pictures - it's professionally installed by Walt's Cycle in Sunnyvale and I rode it home this afternoon... almost there!


p.s. here's the link to the instructions and parts list on the 20 inch front suspension conversion:
https://www.plunk.org/eben/Albums/BikeE/