Electro trike

Joined
Jul 26, 2009
Messages
82
Location
Aloha Oregon USA
I've been working on this one for a while, my daughter and I are currently working on distance testing, The bike is a Worksman Adaptable trike with a Ebikekit front hub motor. The fork was replaced with a Mountain bike fork with linear brake mounts. I fabricated a steel framed wooden platform for cargo. The trike is powered by 3, 12volt 18 Ah SLA batteries. Instrumentation includes a Trek Computer and a Wattsup meter. I made a trailer hitch for future use. One of the nicest features of this bike is both wheels are driven through a differential.
I've gotten this bike to 25mph and its fine going straight but turns are definitely squirrely. The Ebikekit controller has a current limiter feature which is a really good idea on this vehicle. Range should be about 17 to 20 miles.View attachment 4back.jpgbars.jpgcopilot.jpg
 
You can improve the turns a bit by building a tray for the SLA that runs parallel to the rear axle line, just in front of it, so that the batteries are the lowest thing on the bike frame and as close to the outside as possible (for two of them, with the third centered, preferably leaving room for a fourth if you later decide to add one more for extra Wh).

It will help hold the wheels down as you turn, so turning just a bit faster while still being stable should be possible.

As an aside, you may find it a lot more comfortable to change that twist throttle to a thumb or lever style, because of the angle of the bars to your wrist, if you have to hold the throttle for any longer trips. This is one reason I don't use a twist throttle on CrazyBike2.


Also, if you can change to a lower seated position, it may also help the turning issues. May not work due to where the pedals are located.
 
You have the makeings to build something like this. The lower center of gravity makes this one handle like a sports car.
 
greenerwheels said:
I've been working on this one for a while, my daughter and I are currently working on distance testing, The bike is a Worksman Adaptable trike with a Ebikekit front hub motor. The fork was replaced with a Mountain bike fork with linear brake mounts. I fabricated a steel framed wooden platform for cargo. The trike is powered by 3, 12volt 18 Ah SLA batteries. Instrumentation includes a Trek Computer and a Wattsup meter. I made a trailer hitch for future use. One of the nicest features of this bike is both wheels are driven through a differential.
I've gotten this bike to 25mph and its fine going straight but turns are definitely squirrely. The Ebikekit controller has a current limiter feature which is a really good idea on this vehicle. Range should be about 17 to 20 miles.

Very nice build greenerwheels, I really like the cargo design. It's a really clean setup and looks good. A trike of that geometry might not respond well to high speeds. You might just want to make it slow and powerful... and current limiting will help with that.

Also I love your Avatar, the powerful. And I quote "Oh, and one more thing: I'm glad you changed your last name you son-of-a-^%$#! *BANG*" :lol:

Ralph Bakshi is a genius!
 
When I had a schwinn merida trike motorized I found about 15 mph was the top speed you could still dodge a pothole at. Above that, it reacted too slow and you tended to hit anything in your path. With the current limiter, it would be safe for kids I think. 15 mph is pretty fast for a big tall trike.
 
My daughter and I rode our Electro-trike in the Annual Cedar Hills 4th of July Parade yesterday, we won a 1st prize ribbon. Thanks to Jason at Ebikekit.com the trike is powered by one of Jasons smokin deals I purchase a few months ago. I was surprised by the number of people smiling and asking questions along the way. The bike has been my battery testing mule since its been road worthy. Althought its not as fun as my KMX it does turn heads and carry a pretty significant load. Now its time to disassemble it and finish painting and put it up for sale, still another few months away. This has been one bike that never seems finished, I think every bike I've built never seems finished. I'll post additional pictures this week

Greenerwheels

Thanks again Jason for the deals you've provided for endless sphere, if you've got a sticker or a flag, I'd gladly put it on the bike to advertise for you, it seems only fair.
 

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Hey Bandit53! That is a very clever build! Do you have more details on how you did it?
otherDoc
 
Time to update the ride, I promised my daughter I'd start taking her to school on our trike, well nice weather and the end of the school year is approaching so I have little time to waste. Only problem my daughters school sits on Cooper mountain and although its called a mountain, its not all that mountainish, unless you have a single speed sled of lead. So I'm updating the batteries to Bosch fat packs and will probably make this the last battery multitasking project. Truth be told, unless you do dry wall, you don't need 10 fat packs. When I have some money, I'll be looking to purchase some of DoctorBass' Makita packs, but for the moment here's what I got.
The battery box will slide under the reworked rear seat. I'm toying with putting the controller in the battery box and running a fan across it. I have lots of space and should be able to fit 10 fatpacks or 8 fatpacks and the controller back there.
battery box.jpg
The box is plexiglass with 80/20 extruded aluminum corner reinforcements, for a really strong box, I could have framed the entire box with 80/20 and made the bottom from Aluminum. Top cover is accessible via 4 thumbscrews

Anyway once this is done its back to the Cobra

Greenerwheels
 
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