Heavy Duty eTrike

This is my first ever eBike or eTrike project and I just love the outcome. I can use this trike to carry me, another adult and a kid or sometimes I use it to run errands or to carry heavy toolboxes, full gas cans etc around my warehouse. I get 20 miles on one charge and Ive had it up to 30mph on a flat road.

I bought this trike from a guy nearby who builds gas powered bicycles. He was in the middle of a build and wsa setting it up for a gas motor, It was missing pedals and a front wheel. When I picked it up I used an old mt bike wheel for the front. I originally built to to use at Burningman and for those who dont know what Burningman is checkout the site http://www.Burningman.com where only electric and human powered vehicles are allowed.

I cut to shape some 3/4" plywood and wrapped it with diamond plate for the platform and bolted it to the frame. With such big handlebars, I'm 6'2" I can stand on the platform and steer no problem

The paint job was OK with a few blemishes. It was a metallic grey, I lightly sanded the whole frame and used a paintbrush to apply some matte black Rustoleum paint. It came out quite smooth with very few brush strokes and if I ever scratch or damage the paint job I could just touch it up.

I installed rear tail lights from Harbor Freight and used a 48V to 12V converter to run it of my big battery

I installed a 1000W front hub motor along with a 48V 20Ah LifePO battery

Awesome setup. Its very heavy, I'm guessing around 150 pounds. Ive had it up to 30mph on a flat road using a gps.

The hub motor came with a 28" front wheel but its super skinny. Im going to have a 3" tire similar to the rear tires installed. To do this I have to buy a new rim and have the hub motor relaced.

Pretty interesting build. It's good to see successful more utilitarian builds - sometimes the forum seems to only get posts from the WooHoo! bikes. This one seems particularly nifty because of the Lazarus Factor - a project raised from the dead and re-purposed into a success.

Looks like you might benefit from some kind of large nutserts or other quick fasteners on the rear deck so you could quickly mount up a central banana-style seat for passengers when the plan is friendly day-tripping instead of cargo. The exposed deck projecting on either side would be giant passenger footrests. Maybe a kind of boxy console-like storage area underneath for loose goodies for the trip...

Nice build!! Another SD Ebike...I'll look for you on the boardwalk.

Z.

teklektik - All great ideas but I don't want to limit myself to one kind of cargo carrier so with the flatbed I can do a few things. When I went to Burningman in August I took a smaller Torker trike with a similar platform. When we went out on our daily excursions I put a folding beach chair, a cooler to keep our jackets, food and snacks and on top of the cooler I put a very cute girl :lol: She can sit on the cooler or stand with her legs on either side of it like you suggested. I’ve also taken my daughter on the back when I strapped down a regular chair. Heck I could even strap down a small recliner if I wanted to ha ha.



Today I drilled through the diamond plate and ply wood and installed some anchor hooks from Harbor Freight for a bungee cord or tie down. I HATE any kind of rattling sounds so I wrapped the ring with electrical tape.
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So this is my very first build and a few weeks ago I did a MAJOR rookie mistake. While trying to lengthen my power cords coming out of the battery I used wire cutters and cut them both at the same time, there was a huge spark / flash and part of my wire cutters melted. I fried the BMS. Once I got a new one in the mail I opened the battery box and installed the new BMS which was probably a good thing because I got to look inside the metal battery box and get educated about what goes where.

To avoid me shorting out my very expensive power system again I wired in a power switch onto the battery box which is basically a main power on / off switch.

I split the 48V power lines and ran an extra set to a 48V to 12V golf cart convertor to run the tail lights and in the future, any additional 12V accessories I choose. I also installed a switch for the tail lights to go on and off when needed.