Mongoose Dirt Bike

I currently ride a kid's e-bike.

THE REASON: Like many folks pi$$ed about the price of gasoline, I looked into other transportation options. E-bikes seem a great choice for bike-friendly communities: non-polluting motorized transport... on bikeways.

I didn't want to spend a half-grand on an e-bike before exploring what the experience of e-biking is like. So, for fifty bucks (ebay), I got two bikes in pieces and put a single bike together and good spare parts.

THE RESULT: Fun. Yes, a funny looking guy on a funny looking bike. BUT: it's just plain fun to zip past cars that are waiting at a red-light (the same cars that passed me on the road a moment ago). It's just plain fun to see the expressions on peoples faces when I buzz through the gas-station, while they pour a hundred bucks into their SUVs. It's just plain fun to glide through the traffic clogging the parking-lot at Whole Foods and getting one of the best parking spaces: at the bike-rack. (I actually heard a kid shout: "Wow... Mom... a BIKE!). Moreover, it's fun to cruise through the parks and neighboorhoods instead of watching the back-bumper of somebody else's car.

THE REALITY: I still use my car for distances, travelling with my tools & passengers and items too big for the bike. I also have a conventional bike that I could be riding, but I'm not because of laziness and time constraints. But with the rack and baskets, I use the e-bike for the trips around town where a car is just plain wasteful.

THE FUTURE: I "tinker"... So with the education I'm getting from this EV community, I'm looking forward to moving the powertrain from the kid-bike to my conventional bike and bumping the voltage up to 36V. (Using cooling methods)

THE BOTTOM LINE: E-bikes are smart, affordable and fun. You don't need to be technically adept to really enjoy helping the planet... you can get a bike, use it and plug it in when you're done. If you like to tinker... you'll have a blast.

Enough blather... notes follow the pix.




Edit: removed landmine. ES remains independent!

I regularly put the bike on my car's bikerack and use the bike while out-of-town. Having the battery easily removable saves my back when loading, and it's good for swapping with the spare pack.

Winter has been mild in Michigan... so I ride in the cold, but not in the pouring rain (yet).

The velcro strap was from a weightlifting belt, found in a thrift-store. "Wald" rack and baskets were thrift-store also.

The whole setup is like a cross between an electrified mountain-bike and a pocket-bike... looks a little goofy for an adult and not too easy to pedal, but makes a good proof-of-concept for further e-bike adventures.

Neat. Got any pics of your starting parts and the assembly?

Looks a bit too much like an offroad dirt bike. Do you find you get stopped by cops alot?

The bike is a mostly stock currie moto-x, with a lot of the plastic trim removed.

briefly:

24V chain-drive
20" wheels
2-12v SLAs in the batt-pack

http://www.bernsonev.com/mongoose-electric-motocross-bike-currie-p-361.html (Currie Specs)


Currie claims 450w motor, but Reid Welch has proved otherwise in his extensive testing:
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/bikes-and-pedelecs/browse_thread/thread/b9dc804578927fdf?hl=en


I haven't been hassled at all by anybody, rather, any attention has been very positive... especially at the car-parts store.

The Unite motors tend to be interchangeable in that (except for the one I bought that had that weird "geardown" on it) you could easily swap in a 750 Watt motor in place of a 450 Watt. Have you thought of doing that? Bigger motors are more efficient pretty much in all cases. (except when you are trying to run below about 500 Watts)

If you could put in place a 750 Watt motor and have it run at 48 Volts and THEN cool it with force feeding then you have yourself a monster. Combine that with either a "Current Based Throttle" or "Boost Control" circuit and you could get power or range at your discretion.

What is the exact Unite motor? If you know that you can do a lookup and see if you could swap.

If it's a Currie Motor you could get this 600 Watt replacement and it looks like it might just bolt right into place ($70):



http://www.electricrider.com/parts/motors.htm

The MY1018 from TNC scooters is a drop-in replacement, gearing and all, but that 750W rig from your other post would be a very interesting upgrade.



I think this little bike has reached its useful limit, proving to me that I will use an e-bike; even with this one's shortcomings.

I may up the voltage to 36v whilst fabricating a mount for a full-size bike.

For the bigger bike, I will try to configure an "ahead of the bottom-bracket" style setup, driving the smallest ring of the chainwheel; similar to what Sturdly is building over at visforvoltage.net.

The bigger motor would require some additional space, of course.

TylerDurden said:

The bigger motor would require some additional space, of course.

Click to expand...

If you have to pedal it might be a real problem. These motors are 7" wide and depending on where your chain lines up it's "off center" enough that it will MOSTLY stick out on one side more than the other. On my bike I have a "trans-axle" that repositions the motor so that it's closer to the center, but from the looks of it your setup would be heavily skewed to one side. (and mine doesn't pedal anyway)

If it's a Currie motor I would recommend simply getting the 600 Watt (because it would drop right in) or I think there is a "Great White" 800 Watt out there too. Then "trick" it out with overvoltage and air cooling. That's going to be plenty... you don't need to pull "wheelies"...

2) 12V 12AH SLAs and controller are housed in the package, along with a fuse, rocker switch and 3-pin xlr connector for charging.

Looks like a perfect place for some a123 cells

What is the clearance length from the motor bolt on bracket to the opposite pedal on these things? But it looks like the chain from the pedal side gets in the way, so how deep is it from the chain to the motor mount?

Wondering what might fit here, like maybe this. :
http://www.unitedhobbies.com/UNITEDHOBBIES/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=5142

Hmmm, yummm, power, hehe.

Kyle

tropmonky said:

so how deep is it from the chain to the motor mount?

Click to expand...

70mm

Tyler what the fu*k is with your avatar?!!!!That keeps scaring the shit out of me!!!!!!!!! :lol: