---
title: "The MOTOPED Survival Bike Could Be The Wheels Special Operations Forces Need"
date: "2016-12-13"
modified: "2016-12-13"
authors:
  - name: "Steve Huff"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/steve-huff.md"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/tech-tactics/motoped-survival-bike-wheels-special-operations-forces-need/"
categories:
  - "Tech & Tactics"
  - "Vehicles"
tags:
  - "special operations command"
---

# The MOTOPED Survival Bike Could Be The Wheels Special Operations Forces Need

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/04/19038147-1.jpg>)

At first glance, the MOTOPED Survival Bike might seem better suited for a Chinese take-out delivery man than a special ops team — more General Tso’s than Gen. “Tony” Thomas. But this is not your typical moped.

The company’s [website](<https://motoped.com/survival/>) touts the Survival Bike for civilian use, but at the 2016 Special Operations Forces Industry Conference in Tampa, retired Army Infantry Lt. Col. Jeff Givens made it perfectly clear in a videotaped interview with [Defense Review](<https://www.defensereview.com/motoped-survivor-bike-all-terrain-motorized-military-mountain-bike-for-military-special-operations-forces-sof-missions-video/>) that this sturdy mountain bike–motorcycle crossover is a dream for anyone who needs to maneuver across tough terrain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXyHeoGdJYk

Last year, National Defense Magazinereported that the Survival Bike had been [given to special operators](<https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=1933>) for testing. Givens also detailed some of the bike’s advantages, noting that on a MOTOPED, a “soldier is going 20 miles an hour … instead of 2 miles an hour with 80 pounds of gear.”

Givens emphasized the bike’s relatively low price tag (at just $3,500–$4,000 price tag, it might even be underpriced, given the Pentagon’s [tendency to splurge](<https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/pentagon-buries-evidence-of-125-billion-in-bureaucratic-waste/2016/12/05/e0668c76-9af6-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html?utm_term=.bc3fb2fc2500>)), and the fact it would be easily transportable via helicopter. The bike hasn’t been outfitted with gun mounts yet, [but we can dream](<https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=1933>).

https://www.instagram.com/p/BB-M2K1tY4O

And that sticker price buys you some impressive standard features, including a jackshaft pedal drive system, Hayes nine-inch hydraulic front and rear disc brakes, and a pair of Rotopax one-gallon storage tanks.

Related: New Spec Ops Dirt Bikes Combine Stealth And Speed »

While the bike has yet to be tested in battle, it is available a casual back-country trip or the zombie apocalypse — whichever comes first.