Ebike "The Resurrection"

[doc007]

Just rode the bike for the 1st few times over the past week. All I can say is wow! The ride is amazing! It's so great being able to accelerate faster than cars and keep up with them to a certain extent. The best part is when they keep looking at you through their rear view mirror and you see them trying to figure out what the hell is going on. :lol:

I can't believe my ride has gone from this:

To this:

I'm so glad I got it to run the first time I hit the switch. All systems go! I checked all the wiring for any noise vibrations and loose connectors. Ran it on some uphills to see how many watts I was pulling (about 3500W). Last week the motor got warm but I was able to keep my hand on the motor. The controller was a little warmer than ambient temp. However, when I rode it the other day the motor was too hot to touch. This is most likely due to the fact that I've been running it much harder than before now that I'm getting used the torque. I also ended up getting a pinch flat today while jumping a curb. Also lost some bolts on my rear disc brake. Going to have to get replacements and add some loctite.

For now, I will have to see why I got the pinch flat. I think it might have to do with the large width of the tire on the thinner rim. I'm running a 2.5 inch DH tire on a 1 inch rim. Too bad the rim isn't wider. The next option is to drop down on the tire width but it looks funny when I'm running a fatter tire up front. The other option, I guess, is to build the hub onto a wider rim which is going to be a pain in the butt. Any other options/ advice here?

While I have the wheel off the bike I think I would like to add some connectors to the hall wires for quick disconnect (I already have the phases done with 4mm bullets). I wanted to know what connectors I can use here? I'm looking for something small and reliable for the halls. I think using 4mm bullets would be too big and bulky.

After that its off to building a nice battery bag to keep all the wiring safe and snug. Right now, I'm just using a gray shopping bag and bungee cord wrapped around the batteries and the wiring up front near the controller.



Ride stats:
In general I've been running the bike at 20s using five 4s packs. I'm starting the ride at 83v and ending it around 72-73V. I can hit 30mph fairly easily on a short stretch. Still need to do a full test on longer road where I can max out. It's kind of sketchy though, to look down at the CA when going fast.

Performance:
-The bike pulls very well on the 100% throttle setting. I can get the front wheel up if I crank on it. Hitting about 3500W on uphills and max acceleration.
-I'll have to check the brakes. I think new brake pads are in order. Then change out oil.
-I'll also have to take apart the front shock too. The seals are fine, but I want to check the spring and the oil out. Right now the front susp. is nice and soft but I want to see if I can tweak it so it will perform well on speed bumps at around 20mph. Right now at speed I can easily launch the bike off of speed bumps if I preload the shock a little and pull up. I think I would like to adjust it to the point where the shock will just soak up the bump. Not sure which will be more fun though.

In the future, I think it would be nice to see the actual temp data. I'll will have to check the resistance across the mysterious white wire to see if it correlates with the winding temp. I'm not planning on doing this anytime soon. Most likely,this will probably get done when something bad happens and requires me dissect the wiring near the hub. Right now I'm just having too much fun on this bike to worry about it. :wink:

Overall, very happy with everything!

 

[ken1645]

Ride stats:
In general I've been running the bike at 20s using five 4s packs. I'm starting the ride at 83v and ending it around 72-73V. I can hit 30mph fairly easily on a short stretch. Still need to do a full test on longer road where I can max out. It's kind of sketchy though, to look down at the CA when going fast.

I'd recommend not going below 73V on your discharges.. it will keep your batteries in better shape to improve the amount of cycles you'll get out of the cells. I run 20s as well and don't go below 74V to be safe (3.7V per cell).

Refer to dogman's signature here:
"THE LIPO RULES. NEVER ABOVE 4.3V NEVER BELOW 2.7V DON'T PUNCTURE

Ideal charging /discharging range for Lipo, 3.65v minimum 4.1v maximum

See battery technology section, FAQ thread at the top of the page for lipo noob info."

Sweet ride. Looks awesome!

While I have the wheel off the bike I think I would like to add some connectors to the hall wires for quick disconnect (I already have the phases done with 4mm bullets). I wanted to know what connectors I can use here? I'm looking for something small and reliable for the halls. I think using 4mm bullets would be too big and bulky.

edit: The standard way to connect the hall wires is with this quick disconnect. It works great, a small tab that locks the connectors together.

Here's a link. I think they're called ESC 6 pin connectors. You only use 5 of the pins.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-pairs-6-Pin-Tamiya-Kyosho-Molex-Plugs-ESC-Battery-Connectors-/281053872554?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41701dc1aa

 

[doc007]

Sweet ride. Looks awesome!

Thanks Ken! Sorry for the delay.

Update:

I ran into a little snag.

Until recently, I've been running the bike chainless. It was fun riding without a chain but the idea of not being able to pedal the bike out of trouble in case something failed didn't sit well with me. So recently, I installed a rear gear derailleur, a chain, and a chain guide (no gear shifter). The problem I ran into was that the freewheel wouldn't spin properly, it wasn't freewheeling like it should. For example, if I back pedaled the chain would just scrunch up. I was able to fix the issue by using a 1.5mm spacer ring that I was able to buy from my local bike shop. Worked like a charm! This is what the piece looked like:

The spacer kept the freewheel just far enough away from the hub to keep it from rubbing.

Started doing a little night riding. It's not that bad with the street lights but a stronger light would definitely help when going faster. I'm thinking of using a magicshine led light (MJ-808?). I think these were the best lights in 2012. I think they gave the best lumen to price ratio. The total lumens it put out were also not bad.

Just checked the magicshine website actually. I'm surprised how the company has matured over time. I remember when their major product was the MJ-808. I'm hoping that the increase in product selection also means an increase in Q and A. I remember when there was a significant problem with their chargers a while ago. Seems like they have overcome that issue fairly well. I'm not dead set on getting the magic shine until I do some research though. If anyone anyone else has any ideas on what light to look into, feel free to let me know.

Here are some recent shots from my goPro and phone (a stronger light would also help in this area):