Holiday shenanigans at the Dunbars'

It should be noted that while I can be a bit of a character at times, I’ve got nothing on my brothers. So when Josh, Jimmy, and I get together it’s usually accompanied by a lot of dirty looks from Mom along with heavy sighs from significant others. So, in retrospect, I should have expected that when I decided to bring a new Super73 RSD Malibu RX e-bike home for my brothers to try, it would escalate. In this case, it quickly turned to the three of us building a bit of a “course” around my parents' residential home. Even my five-year-old nephew got in on the action.

My holiday tour kicked off at my girlfriend’s sister’s house to spend Christmas Eve with her family. I showed up with the Super73 in the back of my Tacoma and it wasn’t long before the adults were taking turns riding around the neighborhood and the nieces and nephews were lining up for rides. Having anticipated this, I came prepared with Stacyc Electric Stability Cycles for the kids..

Damned if I was going to let anyone steal the “Funcle” title from me.

It bears mentioning that I’ve showed up with motorcycles before and no one (aside from Sean, a 12-year-old nephew with a desire to ride dirt bikes) even gave the bikes a passing glance. No one inquired about riding them, and certainly no one offered up their kid for a ride around the block.

The Super73, however, isn’t a motorcycle. It is an e-bike. It isn’t threatening. It looks like a goofy bicycle with big tires and a top speed of roughly 25 mph. Kids want to go for a ride? What could go wrong?!

As it turns out, absolutely nothing. We enjoyed a fun, if not uneventful, afternoon of riding e-bikes around the neighborhood. No one got hurt, no one got yelled at, and fun was had by all.

And then we headed to see my family.

Neither of my brothers ride motorcycles. While my youngest brother, Jimmy, has ridden on the back of my Bonneville, and has gone as far as getting his motorcycle permit, it never amounted to anything past a few laps down the street on Uncle Bob’s Kawasaki Zephyr 550. Josh, on the other hand, has never had an interest in two-wheeled transportation. That is until I brought an original Super73 S-1 home a few months ago.

As I discussed during the Highside/Lowside: Live podcast, Josh took to that like a fish to water. He spent the entire afternoon riding it around my folks' place. By the time I left, he was talking about getting one to replace his car as his main form of transportation for the five-mile trip to the high school where he teaches history.

This time, I had no sooner unloaded this new Super73 RX from my truck and he was sizing it up.

“This one feels different than the other one you brought home,” he said while throwing his leg over the seat. “Is this faster?”

While the RX's motor produces more wattage, it doesn't technically equate to an increase in speed over other bikes in Super73’s lineup in its standard mode for use on the street. There is apparently a way to unlock the bike to allow for a higher top speed using the Super73 App, but with a few additional pedal inputs when heading uphill, standard mode was plenty fast enough for back yard fun. That being said, while it doesn't feel any faster than earlier models in standard mode, its chassis is noticeably more sophisticated.

With an adjustable suspension, its ride is more plush than the rigid-mounted S-1. Braking is improved with Magura components and the tires feature an aggressive tread pattern. The RSD version that I brought home also gets updated styling cues, including a longer dirt-bike inspired-seat and a battery relocated to the lower frame rail to help with weight distribution.

The end result is a bike that simply feels more sophisticated and polished. Personally, as a taller rider, I like the seat a lot better than the standard offering as it allows the rider to move around a bit and get more comfortable. And the full suspension setup is a tailbone-saver compared to the harsh ride of the S-1.

Price is updated as well, with the new RSD Malibu RX taking the top spot in Super73’s family with an MSRP of $4,650. If you’re doing the math, that’s over twice the cost of the S-1, and just $550 shy of a Kawasaki Z400. But Jimmy Dunbar is the math teacher in the family and he hadn’t shown up yet.

Per the Dunbar household tradition, after presents are opened on Christmas morning, we crack a few bottles of champagne, eat some shrimp cocktail, and enjoy the gifts Santa left for us. After an afternoon of building Legos and assembling Hess Fighter Jets, we headed outside for some fresh air.

It started innocently enough. I showed Josh how to use a small log from my parents' firewood pile as a kicker to catch some air with the Super73. That went well, and if one piece of wood was good, well, surely three was even better.

From there we started looping the track between a small grove of trees next to the neighbors' property line. It was there we found a decent-sized root that could be used as another kicker, as long as you were able to get the bike back on the ground in time to hit the brakes and avoid a large ornamental pear tree (sans partridge).

Avoiding the pear tree, the route followed the property line to the front of the house where the rider had the option of heading immediately down the steep incline of yard and into the street or, the more challenging option, making a quick left into a sort of raised flower bed that launched you into the air before landing about halfway down the same steep hill. You just had to make sure you ducked to avoid knocking your head against the tree. And from there it was right back up the driveway and around the parked cars to hit it again.

It took slightly less than 30 minutes for one of the jumps to go sideways. Josh was getting cocky and came in hot to one of the log hops. He nailed the jump but the landing was as graceful as a drunk gymnast dismounting a merry-go-round.

Potential injuries aside, we were having a good time. And then Luke, my five-year-old nephew got in on the action, pulling a STACYC out of the garage and following his uncles around the back yard.

If you remember back to a Common Tread article I wrote a few years ago, I had actually got Luke one of the smaller 12-inch STACYC e-bikes shortly after his third birthday. And while he’d gotten OK with it, he never really showed a big desire to ride it because he didn’t have anyone to ride with. That all changed with the addition of the Super73 to holiday shenanigans.

Luke wasn’t just excited to ride, but he was actually riding better. He was paying attention, watching the lines as he followed Josh and me around the little course, and even rode over a stick or two. Everything was going great until Uncle Josh encouraged him to “jump” the tree root.

Luke ended up on the ground with a STACYC cycle on top of him. This crash combined with the setting sun ended our fun for the evening.

The next morning I made my way to the communal coffee pot, which sits next to a large bay window in my parents' kitchen overlooking the back yard. Pouring my coffee, I watched Jimmy whiz by, weaving around the back yard before disappearing around the front of the house. It should be noted that Jimmy raced bicycles in college and was a natural ripper in the Backyard Grand Prix

Within the hour, everyone was back outside taking turns. This time we were joined by my nephew, Nolan, who wasn’t too far past his first birthday. I took turns giving him and Luke rides on the Super73’s large bench seat. And fun was had by all.

I’ve spent many years trying to convince my brothers to get into motorcycling so we could all go riding together. And while that has never materialized, and perhaps it never will, at least I was able to get a taste of that camaraderie with the Super73.

I’ve heard a lot of motorcyclists criticize e-bikes for being too expensive and argue that they won’t actually convert anyone into motorcyclists. And maybe that’s true. But this past Christmas break, they gave me a chance to ride “motorized” cycles with my brothers and nephews, and that was pretty darned cool.

And who knows, even if I can’t get my brothers to ride motorcycles with me, there is still hope for those nephews of mine.