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  1. Zoot Katz

    R.I.P. le Béte

    Resting in pieces. Resulting in puzzlement. Ruminating imminent purchase. My all-time favourite whip cracked. It's bye-bye le Béte. Routines change when your Xtracycle busts. This dumpster based, sweet riding cargo longtail limo has carried me 21,377 km since being electrified mid Sept.2008...
  2. Zoot Katz

    Spotted on Main St.

    I saw a new longtail on Main St. Justin was riding by but stopped briefly to chat and show me his new bike. It's TIG Cro-Mo frame branded Xtracycle. I'm not clear on whether this is a finished product ready for production or still developing. It has a 20" rear E-Zee wheel that lowers the deck...
  3. Zoot Katz

    Bicycles beat Jet Blue!

    Burbank to Long Beach is a twenty minute flight and about ninety minutes to pedal. The bicycles beat the plane anyway. http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/07/16/cyclists-in-burbank-beat-jetblue-to-long-beach/ BIKES RULE!
  4. Zoot Katz

    Fat Luck

    le Béte rolls 2.35" Big Apples and I love 'em. Fender clearance is tight but the ride is sweet. The cushion and Kevlar layers are nice too. Riding today I noticed a funny noise coming from the rear wheel so stopped to investigate. Something was hitting the fender somewhere. There was a nail...
  5. Zoot Katz

    Smarter than a Smart Car

    This month I've been involved with moving house. It's only six blocks but after 12.5 yrs in that place I left my job which included a rent reduced apartment in the building I managed. Paying the month's rent on two places allowed a fairly casual move with lots of trips on a loaded Xtracycle.
  6. Zoot Katz

    LiPo Fire

    Not exactly a real fire but all this talk of LiPo is frying my brain and inflaming my curiosity. Then to make things worse, today my income tax refund arrived. Now I've got $1225.00 burning a hole in my pocket! Thinking HK Turnigy and reading and rereading lots of threads. mumble . . .mumble. ...
  7. Zoot Katz

    Naked Bike Lust

    Just a little something for longtail lovers by Sam Whittingham. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=209008&id=369553210165
  8. Zoot Katz

    Nice Neighbourhood, ES

    Today on the way to get some ring terminals I rode by my LBS. It looked crowded inside. I noticed a tall blond person in a red sweater. Upon leaving the electronics shop I noticed the same person bundling children into the back seat of a Washington registered smallish Ford whatsit. As I was...
  9. Zoot Katz

    Riding in the Flock

    As you may have heard me mention before, there are crows that accompany me on the bicycle. They're my airborne traffic calming posse and they work for peanuts. They don't follow other cyclists up or down the popular bicycle route that goes by my door. I made some cheesy videos with my still...
  10. Zoot Katz

    Two Legged Kickstand.

    Today, on the road, I noticed one of these: It's a two legged center stand that kicks up and folds along the left chainstay just like a regular single leg sidestand. http://www.phred.org/~josh/bike/esge2leg.html...
  11. Zoot Katz

    happy birthday battery

    It's been a year today that le Béte got buzzed! It was 13, Sept. '08 that I picked up the batteries I'd bought May 30th. Beijing Olympics had shut down industry and shipping for the summer. 905 amp hours. 63 charge cycles. 4647 kilometers. (including the 54 Ah and three charge cycles on...
  12. Zoot Katz

    One Cat Just Leads to Another.

    . . . kinda like ebikes. Build two has commenced. It was determined before hand that the next ebike would fit on a bus rack, run moustache bars with bar-end shifters and rival le Béte's performance. I don't want a whimpy ebike. The motor kit was purchased today at my LBS (ebikes.ca) It's a...
  13. Zoot Katz

    Too Cool Art Bikes

    Too bad they're running stinky two-smokers. Josh Hadar Metal Designs (They look like a bitch to ride too.)
  14. Zoot Katz

    That Sucking Sound

    That sucking sound, figuratively speaking, is coming from my batteries. (Nexcell 18 Ah 24V NiMH packs.) I noticed it after ~45 cycles when I wasn't getting the range before hitting the LVC that I'd had at ~40 cycles. Watt hours per kilometer remained roughly the same; 8.84 for the first 45...
  15. Zoot Katz

    Totally Average

    Something prompted me to at last enter my memo pad battery log into a spreadsheet. It generated some numbers that might be informative. System: X5304 R, 72V 48A Xlyte SI digital controller, 2 X 24V, 18Ah, Nexcell NiMH in series. Bike: Mixte MTB with Xtracycle. Rider: 150 lbs. HIlly terrain...
  16. Zoot Katz

    Dusty Bikes

    I've grown fat and lazy since getting batteries. My average weight has stayed the same. I'm just carrying less muscle. My aerobic capacity has also seemed to have diminished. Tuesday I went home with granny and a bit of grunting. The two 24V, 18Ah, NIMH Nexcell packs were approaching 50 cycles...
  17. Zoot Katz

    A Year on the Sphere

    . . . and still very much a noob. The electronic stuff will likely remain way beyond me. I mean, I could build a kit but not figure out why it doesn't work without guidance. I've tried to contribute to the discussions by volunteering my meagre knowlege of bicycles. Reading posts in the various...
  18. Zoot Katz

    2000 Miles Today

    It started last Sept.13th with the timely arrival of my batteries. There were about six weeks this winter when le Béte stayed inside while the other bikes got to go play in the snow, ice and salted slush. The first 1000 miles (1606 km) happened Feb 01, 2009...
  19. Zoot Katz

    Auto Club Bike Assist?

    The large print giveth and the small print taketh away. http://www.bcaa.com/wps/portal/membership/benefits?rdePathInfo=xchg/bcaa-com/hs.xsl/8309.htm * Only manual (non-motorized) bicycles will be serviced on a Bike Assist call.
  20. Zoot Katz

    Resistance Soldering Battery Tabs?

    Do Resistance Soldering methods work for connecting battery tabs? They're less expensive to buy or construct than a Capacitive Discharge welder and would seem to eliminate the heat transfer problem with regular soldering. Are they effective? What sort of power would be needed?
  21. Zoot Katz

    le Béte Meets its Match

    Batteries read 55.5V when I left home*. IOW, a recently charged 48V NiMH 18Ah pack in a X5304 rear hub on a 60# Xtracycle. Cruising home, via the quiet route, I stopped for two pedestrians who happened to be Allison and Justin @ebikes.ca. "I hope you kids aren't going to work on this fine...
  22. Zoot Katz

    Connectors and Crimpers Question

    Just as I was finishing the last solder joint it dawned on me that I'd not be able to remove the controller or VeeRack on my Xtracycle unless I cut or de soldered the wires powering my lights. . . the ones I'd just installed! No problem, I'll buy some connectors and pop those on in an hour or...
  23. Zoot Katz

    Buzzing for a Month!

    It was a month ago today I picked up my batteries from The Renaissance Bicycle Company. The X5304R, 72V 35A Crystalyte Controller, CA, half-twist throttle, charger and batteries were purchased in May from ebikes.ca knowing that the 18Ah NiMH batteries wouldn't be delivered until after August...
  24. Zoot Katz

    Bike Lust

    Just saw this pic of a longtail from the Interbike show. It appears the rear wheel is smaller to keep the load lower. The bikes hauled their own display booth to the show. No lack of room for batteries.
  25. Zoot Katz

    When is it time recharge NiMH?

    Two new 24V 18Ah Nexcell NiMH packs from ebikes.ca. Cycle Analyst sez I've drawn 9.06Ah from the packs connected in series. I've not yet asked for the test report for the two packs I bought so they could be closer to 20Ah than 18Ah but I'm confident they're not less than 18Ah. I'm 59 km...
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