A resourceful college student from Daytona Beach, Florida, might have found a solution to the ever-looming transportation crisis in modern cities after inventing an e-bike made out of wood. It’s not just any e-bike, however, as the Florida student even managed to add some flair to the wooden vehicle by making it look like a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The student has since promised to build increasingly complex vehicles, such as wooden trucks.
Reed Curry is the genius in question, and according to TikTok user William Langston, aka langstonxxx, he built his own wooden e-bike from scratch because he needed transportation to get to school. Apparently, the wooden e-bike even comes with its own safety features, such as hydraulic brakes and an ample 2000-watt motor, allowing it a speed of 35 MPH and a battery range of 40 miles.
Curry has also stated that the wooden e-bike has lasted him around a year so far already since he used cedar and oakwood from Home Depot, which, according to him, were more weather-resistant than others. The Florida student also has plans to work on a 2.0 version, which will supposedly come with a wooden stain finish or varnish to make the vehicle even more weather-resistant.
Now, William Langston has partnered up with Reed Curry to set up a fundraiser because apparently, Curry has more ambitious plans to extend his innovation to other types of vehicles, such as a wooden truck, to help him continue his projects. So far, their GoFundMe has raised $2,160 out of the $7,000 needed for Curry’s projects and a better source of transportation.
Wood You Look at That?
As they say, necessity is the mother of invention, and Reed Curry simply built his wooden e-bike because he wanted to get to his flight school more easily. Curry’s “Wooden Horse” e-bike has since gained viral popularity thanks to William Langston’s videos, and more people are starting to grow interested in his inventions, considering how they’re almost built from scratch. Curry has so far mentioned that the cost to build an improved Wooden Horse 2.0 would be around $1,200 without factoring in the labor.
And while many have found faults in using wood for motorized vehicles like e-bikes, others were amazed at how simple yet effective the construction was and how Curry was able to make it work. Curry is currently planning to add better brakes, a tougher suspension, and weather resistance, though it’s not clear how lawmakers might react to something like the Wooden Horse on Florida roads.
“This is why STEM is important,” reiterates SpaceAgeSmitty
“Instead of complaining he made a solution,” suggests Jana_You-know-Me
“The beginning of cyberpunk, no single manufacturer can compete with the freestyle and free will of the human concept,” says Savvyge
“This guy is going places, for sure,” according to ChinmayNadkarni
