Warren builds a chopper

[RallySTX]

That box is too cool, I like the switch on top, I hope it's stout enough for the pack. Glad the first ride impression is a positive one. Yeah the turning radious will be large, as the wheelbase is long, but that's a small price for a custom bike likethet. NICE WORK.
Brian L.

[veloman]

Lexan eh..... I may have to give that a try one of these days. Battery enclosures are a big project for me.

[www.recumbents.com]

Parallel Evolution



http://www.flickr.com/photos/kiteanderl ... otostream/

[RallySTX]

Beautiful shot Warren. Thank you for sharing that. I copied it to PB and downsized it to 640/480 so the whole thing shows up. If you object, I will remove it.



Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

I finished making the battery box clamps. The battery box is held on by tube clamps in the front and back, and is stabilized by a bolt on the back side of the box that slides into the frame. It's very solid.
I moved the controller out of the battery box and cut a couple inches out of the height of the box. The controller is now mounted to the bottom of the box to fill in some of the space provided by the curvy frame.



This shot shows the mounting brackets.



I still have a lot of work to do to lengthen/shorten the wires, and route them in the frame, but I was able to put it together enough to take it for it's maiden e-powered voyage around the block. It was marvelous. The the bike feels great at speed and temps were amazing for February. I think we sent all the cold and snow to Europe.

I'm starting to think about color. Probably black.

-Warren.

[RallySTX]

Outstanding work, two bikes, from the ground up, in roughly six months! Anybody would be proud to own either one. Glad to hear that you got it out, and that it works well. I would rather have the snow here though. Gonna be a dry summer coming up without it there in the spring. I just hope that dark battery box don't cause your cells to get warm in the summer sun. That's why I would also chrome the frame, versus dark color, but having said that, I'm partial to black, dark blue, or dark green myself. You could always add a couple PC case fans, if cooling became an issue. Keep rollin!
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

The bike in the "Parallel Evolution" picture is not mine, it just looks like it could be. I spent an entire day out in the garage making the brackets for the battery box. One new bike in 6 months is about all my wife can put up with.

In the early 1980s my "project" was my 1970 Camaro hotrod, which was flat black and had "EXPERIMENTAL UNIT" in red block letters on the rear spoiler. Painting this the same way seems right.

-Warren.

[www.recumbents.com]

Received the following email from Choppers US. I bought my fenders from them.

Choppers US big sale - 30% off most items.

Please be advised that some Cycles U.S. and Choppers U.S. branded items including our super fat rims, custom super fat wheels, hubs and super fat frames are NOT included in the sale.

The sale will run until our current supply of those inventory items are gone, but with a 30% discount, we assume it might only last a few days. So act now before it's too late.

To get the 30% off sale prices on the select items you will need to enter the phrase 30percent (no spaces) in the box labeled "Webstore Coupon/Code" when checking out. The website has been programmed to only allow discounts on the select items as described above. Thank you!

www.cyclesus.com

[www.recumbents.com]

Next step is to run the wires and cables though the frame. I think I am done brazing on the sections that the wires will run though. I will drill holes, heat up the area around the hole, and then use a steel rod inserted in the hole to deform the opening to allow the wires to easily exit the holes parallel to the frame. Also I located a long 12 strand cable to allow me to extend the throttle, CA and headlight wires through the frame from the handlebars to the battery. Should be very clean.

-Warren.

[www.recumbents.com]

After spacing out the main idler a bit, the chain no longer rubs on the battery box. This is a good thing. I decided to remove the lower idler and just put on a chain tube. Also that idler bolt is a bit beefy for holding on a chain tube, so I'll remove it and attach the chain tube to the chain stay.
That's the throttle cable hanging there...



Most of my spare time this weekend was spent drilling holes in the frame and plumbing the wiring, brake, and derailleur cable through the top tube. It looks clean. I found a nice monitor extension cable with 12 conductors to get the throttle, Cycle Analyst, and headlight power wiring back to the battery box.

In this picture you can see the wires going into the frame by the headset, some out of focus wires, and that black box up on top of the handlebars is the Cycle Analyst.



The throttle is wired up and tested, but it's COLD in the garage and my fingers get numb doing the wire splicing. This week I'll finish up the CA wiring and get the connections all cleaned up.

-Warren.

[www.recumbents.com]

The bike is now all wired up, and everything is working. Hopefully the weather will cooperate this weekend and I will be able to go for an extended test ride and to take pictures.

For a headlight I am thinking the may be cool:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/160696986464?ss ... 4471wt_884

But I do have a couple magicshine headlights, so I should probably just buy another Lyen DC-DC converter - http://lyen.com/

-Warren.

[RallySTX]

Looks like a nice light there Warren! I might just get one of those myself. Glad you have everything hooked up and runnin man. I'm a way off that point yet, but I'm pluggin away at it.
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

Went on a nice short ride to test out the bike and take a video. Here's a short video:



-Warren.

[RallySTX]

Nice short, and the bike seems to take off well with only 48 volts. How does it ride Warren? Should float along nicely, considering the length and suspension. Have you weighed it yet? Are you grinnin yet?
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

Thanks Brian,

It rides nicely and the bike weighs about 75 lbs. Between the suspension and fat tires the ride is smooth. I still need to do a longer ride to see how it rides on bumpy roads and find the top speed, but top speed was about 30MPH with the same battery and motor on my MTB, so it should be similar.

-Warren

[AussieJester]

Great to see everything up and running Warren, the bike looks great you must be pleased as punch right now!?


KiM

[Brentis]

Love the camera on a stick shots.
Great all round video.
Bike looks like it rides real good.
Great build thread so far. Thank you.
Congrats.

Enjoy.

[www.recumbents.com]

I purchased an LED headlight from EBay. See: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=35095

It was pretty cheap ($35) but super bright and it runs on any voltage between 12 and 72V. Cool. You get what you pay for, so the included mounting brackets were pretty useless and I had to make my own. Here it is installed on the bike.

[Kirk]

Wonderful video of the bike. Reminds me of a Crank Forward or Cruzbike.

[RallySTX]

I thought about that after you showed us the link, but it's from China, and now that you mention the cheap brackets, I'll go for cyclluminators, and go from there. Nice that you got it sorted out though, it looks nice there warren.
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

Yeah, the light does work, but there were many oddities. Wires not soldered, no back cover, generic angle brackets, missing screws for brackets. If you think of it as a kit, it's fine.

Last night I added a switch for the light on the battery box, along with its associated wiring and connectors.

I need to find a nice block of time to braze on the brackets for the rear fender. The last couple weekends were taken up by recumbent bike racing in Florida, and digging / installing a sump pit in the white elephant.

-Warren.

[www.recumbents.com]

I was able to get a nice test ride in on the bobber yesterday. The new front light works great from the switch on the battery box and is definitely very bright. Comparing it to my magic shine, it is a bit brighter, but the area of light thrown is about 4 times larger. It should do a good job of lighting up the road. Top speed is right around 30MPH, which is the same as when this battery / controller / motor were on my MTB.

The bike seems to handle and corner nicely, and the full suspension does a good job of smoothing out the road. I may add a small back rest as I feel like I am sliding back on the seat. This is probably due to the extremely crank forward riding position.

I got some cool brushed aluminum halogen ceiling lights from work that the electrician was discarding. The are very aero shaped. I ordered 1.5 watt red LED car tail lights (ebay from china...) which should fit into them so I can use them as tail lights. More on that when the lights arrive.

-Warren.

[RallySTX]

Way to go Warren, a complete ground up build, that handles and goes fast enough to get you into trouble! Your desire for a backrest is no surprise, and made me smile. The bike is comfortable enough to consider adding to it, nice touch. Can't wait to see the new tail lights.
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

I rode this bike for the first time to work and back. It's very smooth and comfortable, and the hub motor is pretty quiet. Its fun to ride and gives me the EV grin. A lot of people gave me the high sign, and my boss even liked it. Everything worked fine except one of the screws fell out of the CA mount. I was happy that the 3 year old Ping battery still had enough poop to do the 15 mile round trip to work and back. Hopefully it will make it through the year.

I'm a recumbent guy so I'm not too hip on the riding position, crouched over with my arms stretched out, but for 20 minutes at a shot, it's fine. My wife says I look funny on it.

I need to add a couple more brackets then take it apart for P A I N T.

-Warren.

[RallySTX]

Sounds like a succesfull shakedown cruise to me, ATTABOY! Rainy this morning huh, couple Tstorm warnings here. Strap on some leather chaps, a nice pair of boots, and a Harley jacket, and see what she thinks then. If that don't work, either buy a hog, or seek a second opinion. NICE WORK WARREN!
Brian L.