I got a call from a woman associated with a nonprofit dedicated to saving wild dogs in Kenya. She wanted to purchase two Big Bodas for use in tracking dogs in the field. But she insisted that the Big Bodas be motorized. I asked her why she wanted motorized bikes. She said the trackers have to cover long distances.

The conversation went like this.

I ran down the comparitive costs for motor kits and motorcycles versus bicycles. It turns out it's cheaper to just buy motorcycles in Kenya than to try to ship over motorized 'whizzer' kits and retrofit existing bikes. OK, so the cheapest motorcycle in Kenya is about 10 times more than a decent bicycle.

I asked her if she had considered the noise factor. Two-stroke engines would scare away the dogs she's trying to track, yesno? Well, she said, maye there is a way to make it quieter? Yes, use an electric motor. How much do those cost? Well, I know a really good electric assist setup that costs about $1350, but by the time you add a good quality bicycle you're looking at over $2000 for it. She said, could I add that to the Big Boda? Well, not really. The Big Boda is good, but the parts quality and overall weight on Chinese single speeds makes them unsuitable for adding a major electric job. I said, are the trackers going to hauling the dogs? She said what? I said hauling the dogs, are they going to be carrying sedated dogs? She said no. So what are they actually carrying? Oh, just their personal clothes and food and some notepads and tagging equipment.

Why don't you spend the money on hiring more Kenyans and buying them decent but affordable mountain bikes? Where do I find decent mountain bikes. Well, unfortunately there aren't too many shops selling them, but you can check the bike shop in the Sarit Center in Nairobi.