40 mph club

[geetarboy]

I joined "the club" this morning 40.9 MPH on the flats no wind - except for the wind i was creating. Same motor & controller as Wasp. My CA was showing about 2400 watts. "LIPO RULES" - Mark

[wasp]

I joined "the club" this morning 40.9 MPH on the flats no wind - except for the wind i was creating. Same motor & controller as Wasp. My CA was showing about 2400 watts. "LIPO RULES" - Mark

good job ... pretty scary at 40 on a bike eh

[Kingfish]

I first noticed that I was doing over 40 mph on July 2nd heading downhill on California Hwy 89 between Canyon Dam and Greenville; I had a logging truck on my tail so I hit WOT with my touring setup 15S12P LiPo on a FWD 9C 2806 modified Infineon 6FET (my P0 ebike). Later, when I reached my destination, I checked the CA and it told me that my MaxS was 45 mph. Sorry – no video; kinda hard to film with a logging truck on yer tail. But I was able to repeat the 40 mph mark several times after that without issue. I decided to leave the 15S configuration; it is such a treat over 10S.

Pic of my touring setup over the 4th of July:

Harley Davidson Toolbag in the front, custom faring made from HDPE from Tap Plastics ($7.00), 54-tooth chainring peaking through, my Ortlieb Classic Rollers loaded with 36 lil' lipos, 40 lb backpack in the foreground. Loaded, bike and I together weighed about 300 lbs. On the road in question, the elevation drops 1000 feet in about 7 miles.

~KF

[wasp]

nice ride fish...it looks waterproof?
if you are enjoying 15s and ow my god 12p i'm drooling
you should check out 20s...on my 2807 with lyen 18fet
it just hauls ass at 75amps

[mwkeefer]

Nice ride King!

-Mike

[dogman]

I'm finally in. Starting to think I'd never make it. 9c 2807, Lyens 12 fet controller, sensored. 20s 30c turnigy lipo, 5 ah. Just made 40 mph on flat road with no wind before I ran out of road. Another run a few minuites later on a longer run hit 43.5 , but by then there was a lot of tailwind and some downhill.

Kinda crazy out on the street with this no suspension bike! Potholes are pretty gnarly, or manhole covers, whatever. Time to take it to the racing practice parking lot. Way too sketch out in the world. Batteries got toasty in about 4 miles of riding, gotta get more lipo.

Video of the 43mph run coming, soon as it squirts into youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56X6NU4Zv5Q

[Hyena]

I always thought the GM1000w motors were pretty comparable to the 2807s but they must be a faster wind, I hit 40mph easily on 18S lipo so that's 8v or so less. It could be the advanced 120% timing though too...

[dogman]

The controller is stock at this point. Others seem to be having about the same result. 40 mph, but not much more.

[John in CR]

Yeah Dogman, hardtails aren't fun over 30mph on a bumpy road. I've got one section in play on almost every ride that has several manhole covers, assorted bumps, and several small asphalt repairs, all in a 100m stretch. Plus overhanging branches make the bumps impossible to see due to broken light on the road all times of day in that lane. Thank goodness for sparse traffic over 50% of the time, so I can take the left lane for that section, which is quite smooth. Otherwise it's below 30mph and focus on increased weight on the partially feet forward pedals.

On smooth road 40 is great with a long wheelbase, suspension or not.

[AussieJester]

Yeah Dogman, hardtails aren't fun over 30mph on a bumpy road. I've got one section in play on almost every ride that has several manhole covers, assorted bumps, and several small asphalt repairs, all in a 100m stretch. Plus overhanging branches make the bumps impossible to see due to broken light on the road all times of day in that lane. Thank goodness for sparse traffic over 50% of the time, so I can take the left lane for that section, which is quite smooth. Otherwise it's below 30mph and focus on increased weight on the partially feet forward pedals.

On smooth road 40 is great with a long wheelbase, suspension or not.

John I should know this my apologies, but are you using the heavy duty rims on both your rides?
with the recent gearing changes on my cruiser resulting in higher top end speeds i'm getting more
concerned about rim/tires, mainly the front one, I'm questioning the use of bicycle rims
and tires for sustained use at these speeds... any suggestions anyone
to sourcing good quality moped rims?

KiM

[Hyena]

I was looking at the 24" rims zero motorcycles use on their bike but shipping here was a fortune. For those stateside the rims are $180 each.

I just bought a sun double track welded rim for my motor wheel. It looks about as tough as you'll get in for a bicycle wheel, and when they're designed to take a pounding in downhill racing over rough terrain at high-ish speeds I'm guessing they'd be pretty good on the relatively smooth road at fairly high speeds. I'd be more worried about a blow out or some other sort of tyre failure at high speed than a rim suddenly falling in half (mind you hit a pot hole at 80ks and you'll know about it). The thickest tubes and fattest tyres you can buy should be what you're fitting to high speed ebikes. Forget all this ultra light, super thin nancy weight saving crap.

[Tiberius]

The thickest tubes and fattest tyres you can buy should be what you're fitting to high speed ebikes. Forget all this ultra light, super thin nancy weight saving crap.

Hyena, I read that and then got a shock to see you were in Aus, not the USA.

Anyway, what's all the fuss about? My non suspension e-bike goes over 40 mph no problem. Heck, there's a hill outside my house where my road bike does 35 on its own, and 40 if I pedal. It weighs about the same as a pair of shoes and has tyres thin enough to shave with.

CA40_810_2.JPG (7.12 KiB) Viewed 351 times

Nick

PS. I do actually agree with you. Once you have the extra unsprung weight of the motor and electrics, you do want bigger rims and tyres than a pure road bike. I just don't think you need to go overboard and reinvent the motorcycle. You don't need suspension until you get to bad road surfaces.

[dogman]

Half my problem is I am very used to riding this, with 4-5 inches of suspension travel if I need it. I barely notice a manhole cover at 30 mph.

Dogmans commuter V2.0.jpg (102.03 KiB) Viewed 343 times

So suddenly going 40 mph on this is quite different. The track is pretty smooth, but not perfect, The parking lot where I'll do practice runs is very nice. This bike will not be riding on the street except the occasional test ride to avoid a 20 mile trip to the practice parking lot.

Race practice bike..jpg (72.51 KiB) Viewed 343 times

[Hyena]

there's a hill outside my house where my road bike does 35 on its own, and 40 if I pedal. It weighs about the same as a pair of shoes and has tyres thin enough to shave with

Yeah there's a funny mentality surrounding road bikes. Like you said, going down a hill or powered by someone fit and healthy a road bike can really move, and go faster than many ebikes. People dont seem to worry about approaching the speed of sound on these impossibly light bikes (I'm sure the tyres and frames are filled with helium ) yet feel unsafe doing 30mph on even a reasonably well built ebike.
40mph isn't that big a deal to me, but head towards 50 and it starts to get a bit hairy. I've never ridden a road motor bike at high speeds but I've had my dirt bike up to around 60mph on a dirt road and felt pretty unsafe, even though it's designed to do it. In my mind its not so much the type of frame you're sitting on or the tyres under it, more so that fact that you're belting along on what may as well be a magic broom stick and if you and it should happen to part ways, for what ever reason, you or who ever gets your organs is going to know all about it

I guess if you're going to go fast you have to do what you can to minimise the risk of mechanical failure and leave the rest up to chance. (change being random unfortunate circumstances, or largely idiots who are unknowingly trying to kill you! )

[dogman]

I also feel pretty ok going up to 50 mph on good smooth highway on a nice roadbike, or cornering like a madman in the rain while gravity racing at 30 mph.

But strap on all that poorly centered weight of a hub motor, batteries, set the seat way too low and mount the handlebars upside down, and now things start to feel very wierd, especially when you hit the crappy seams and manhole covers of a residential street. Due to some controller issues, I hadn't been riding this bike even at 30 mph for awhile, so when I hopped on and hit 40 last night it felt pretty puckery for sure! On a nice track, and with some practice it will be much nicer I'm sure.

[itchynackers]

Finally was able to wire up the lipo pack for 74V nominal. Took a quick ride. Hit 40.9mph, woot! I'm in the club! Not sure of the peak watts since I had to bypass my Turnigy watt meter. I need to find a cheap CA, and more battery capacity. I passed a motorcycle Wednesday. They followed me into Taco Bell to find out what the heck I was riding. (All this in Mexico of course)

Adam

[TMaster]

Nice, getting past the 40mph is wicked fun

My 22S setup was 72.6V nominal A123's, and on the strait I was able to hit 41mph, and under tail wind conditions I have got up to 45mph so far. I just recently went to 23S, which is 75.9V nominal, Im expecting to hit 43mph on the strait.

I've very comfortable riding 30mph all the time. When I get to 40mph its sketchy, I have to be on the ball and alert as can be!

[GTR2EBIKE]

I just realized i've never posted in this thread 1350 watts, on flat, in a tuck 41.7mph is my best. (check out the average speed on that ride 30.9 over 7 miles not to bad, I think my best is 31.7)
Downhill 1350 watts my best is 48.7mph, I plan to hit 50 mph on the next dry sunday morning I am up early
I wish I had a bike that could cruise at 50 mph, i'd be the happiest man alive.

[jmygann]

is this the KHS XC-204 BMC 1000w 50V15ah Lifepo4 ??

[veloman]

there's a hill outside my house where my road bike does 35 on its own, and 40 if I pedal. It weighs about the same as a pair of shoes and has tyres thin enough to shave with

Yeah there's a funny mentality surrounding road bikes. Like you said, going down a hill or powered by someone fit and healthy a road bike can really move, and go faster than many ebikes. People dont seem to worry about approaching the speed of sound on these impossibly light bikes (I'm sure the tyres and frames are filled with helium ) yet feel unsafe doing 30mph on even a reasonably well built ebike.
40mph isn't that big a deal to me, but head towards 50 and it starts to get a bit hairy. I've never ridden a road motor bike at high speeds but I've had my dirt bike up to around 60mph on a dirt road and felt pretty unsafe, even though it's designed to do it. In my mind its not so much the type of frame you're sitting on or the tyres under it, more so that fact that you're belting along on what may as well be a magic broom stick and if you and it should happen to part ways, for what ever reason, you or who ever gets your organs is going to know all about it

I guess if you're going to go fast you have to do what you can to minimise the risk of mechanical failure and leave the rest up to chance. (change being random unfortunate circumstances, or largely idiots who are unknowingly trying to kill you! )

A road bike is better at high speed because it is so light. When you a hit a bump, the whole bike easily moves with it. On a heavy ebike, you have all that weight crashing into bumps.

When I strapped my 15lb battery to the top tube of my road bike, I was afraid to go above 20mph on it. Absolutely horrendous handling, I couldn't believe the difference.

As far as I'm concerned, ebikes need full suspension and tires at least 1.8" wide. Weight needs to within the frame area and low as possible.

Oh, and I'm always faster downhill on my road bike than my ebike. Aerodynamics are king. Nothing beats a road racer setup when the road tilts down, when it comes to bikes.

[GTR2EBIKE]

is this the KHS XC-204 BMC 1000w 50V15ah Lifepo4 ??

Yes

[The Mighty Volt]

Can I expect to hit 45 on 20Ah of A123 using the Lyen 18Fet 65Amp controller with a 5304, or will I just have a tonne of torque instead?

[icecube57]

You didnt say at what voltage you would have 20AH. Capcity in most cases lots of AH means you will have very stiff voltage. So you will be able to sustain high speeds longer.

[The Mighty Volt]

You didnt say at what voltage you would have 20AH. Capcity in most cases lots of AH means you will have very stiff voltage. So you will be able to sustain high speeds longer.

Shoot. It's 72v nominal. 86v off the charger. 24s 10p A123. With the Lyen Overclocker.
Cheers!!!

[icecube57]

You should be able to be able sustain 42mph at 72v nominal. You will be around 45-46 for the first half of your ride.