First Build: Kona E-Howler (pic heavy)

[eventboi]

Hey everyone,

I never thought I would be doing this, but after riding my friend's e-bike, I was hooked. So I decided to build one for myself.

Thanks to my friend John (skyungjae) and his Stink-E build page for guiding me through this build. Even though he's 2000 miles away in Socal with great places to ride, and I'm in flat flat very flat Chicago.... lol.


Here's what I started with: 2007 Kona Howler

I went with a (newer model) GNG 450w brushless mid drive motor, Isis crankset 48/44/32T, and White Industries HD freewheel. Everything fit just fine without any modifications except for the drive chain. I had to extend it by one full chain link to fit over the 48T drive wheel (I actually messed with this for quite a while to try to get the right length so the chain wouldn't pop off). Also the spacer for the tensioner wheel was too big, so I ended up using a bunch of small washers to get the right alignment.

I used 10AWG wiring throughout the entire system with Anderson powerpoles. I was thinking of getting a Cycle Analyst, but it was too pricey. I didn't need all that extra stuff so I just got a Turnigy 130a wattmeter.

For batteries, I went with a premade battery pack from BMS battery: 48v 10Ah LiFePO4. Nicely fits in my Camelbak HAWG NV.

Since John's Stinky and my Howler shared a lot of the same parts, I also had to modify my shifter and throttle. I cut the my throttle grip a little shorter than John's so it's about 1 finger width with gloves on. I also cut the Kona grip so that the length of the grip with the throttle would be equal the the original length of the full Kona grip. The Shimano shift lever had to be cut to clear the bulky throttle.

With a 3 wheel crankset (1 drive 48T, and 2 front gears 32/44T), I added a front derailleur and adjusted the limit screws so it only shifts into 2 gears instead of 3. And since this bike was only designed as a 9-speed, it didn't have an extra cable housing stop for the shifter cable. I had to jerry rig something; I used my old chain guide to clamp down the cable housing for my front derailleur. This will have to do until I get my actual cable housing stop... lol.

A little video of testing the finished product:

[youtube]r5Sn1magTQY[/youtube]


And here's the finished product:

 

[skyungjae]

Did you Armor All your tires?

 

[eventboi]

Did you Armor All your tires?

lol no... the tires were just wet from when I pressure washed the bike.

 

[Tinto]

Looks great, nice compact frame.
Do the GNG kits come with a mudguard now?

 

[deepfraught]

Nice writeup, inspiring me to just get mine running in stock form before trying to perfect it.

 

[skyungjae]

Looks great, nice compact frame.
Do the GNG kits come with a mudguard now?

Yeah, the GNG 1.1 comes with a mud guard and a sealed jackshaft. I've also noticed they've removed the belt guard which makes a lot of sense. Mine rubs from time to time.

http://webzoom.freewebs.com/gngelectric/450w-brushless-mud-guard

Edit: I forgot to mention they changed the design of the chain tensioner as well.

 

[Chalo]

Did you Armor All your tires?

lol no... the tires were just wet from when I pressure washed the bike.

That's a good way to ruin all your bearings.

 

[eventboi]

Did you Armor All your tires?

lol no... the tires were just wet from when I pressure washed the bike.

That's a good way to ruin all your bearings.

Don't worry, I only washed the frame and tires to get the mud off.

 

[eventboi]

Nice writeup, inspiring me to just get mine running in stock form before trying to perfect it.

Thanks. I'm loving the bike. But I do notice myself pedaling less and less the more I ride... lol.

 

[scorpionice]

how's your battery holding up?

 

[skyungjae]

how's your battery holding up?

Funny you should ask since this is the guy's battery that I re-did all the wiring for. I plan on trying it out next week to see how it compares to my 20Ah Li-ion battery.

I've only had a chance to test it on my Stink-E in my driveway, but we'll see how it holds up. I'll use it one of these days on my commute as well as on some of the local trails.

A few things to note is that the discharge port connector is a 3 prong monitor style cable. On his particular battery, it was rather loose, so when I rewired it, I wrapped some electrical tape around it so there would be a bit more friction holding it in. It's not as nice as the Anderson style connector on the 20Ah Li-ion from conhismotor. The charge ports are also in different areas. On the 20Ah Li-ion, it's on the opposite side of the key port on the same end of the battery. This one is on the bottom, opposite of the key and discharge port, and is covered by the swiveling handle.

I'm assuming that it'll perform better power wise since it's 16S vs 13S, but I don't know how the sag will compare when loading it up a hill. It is about half the price, but it is half the capacity and has a 2A charger instead of a 5A charger. It supposedly can hold up to 2000 charge cycles vs the 800 for the Li-ion, but it'll need to be charged up twice as much.

It's hard to argue which one is better at this point. I'll post more about the differences/pictures when I get more field time with this 10Ah LiFe battery.

 

[scorpionice]

Thanks skyungjae.

Looking forward with that. I'm looking for a plug and play battery that wont lose reliability. I'm planning build a fun offroad bike. Not necessary for commute but for trail riding.

 

[skyungjae]

Thanks skyungjae.

Looking forward with that. I'm looking for a plug and play battery that wont lose reliability. I'm planning build a fun offroad bike. Not necessary for commute but for trail riding.

What's the typical distance of your off road riding, and do you plan on pedaling at all?

BMS battery has some high discharge batteries that are set up like the 20Ah Li-ion battery I'm currently using (Anderson discharge port + charge port on the same side as the discharge port):

http://www.bmsbattery.com/48v/623-48v-15ah-lithium-ion-alloy-shell-ebike-battery-pack.html

Unfortunately, this particular battery does weigh more than the the 10Ah LiFe battery that I have access to and is the same netweight as my 20Ah Li-ion battery:

http://www.bmsbattery.com/48v/317-24v-lithium-ion-little-frog-abs-shell-ebike-battery-pack.html
http://www.conhismotor.com/ProductShow.asp?id=343

 

[scorpionice]

About 10-15 miles trail...but the more the better...I'll be pedaling as much as I can...I just want to go uphill with ease and repeat the trail downhill over and over again...
I just want to have some assistance going up and play hard going down. That's why I think your build and eventboi are a fit on my kind of ride. :lol:

 

[skyungjae]

About 10-15 miles trail...but the more the better...I'll be pedaling as much as I can...I just want to go uphill with ease and repeat the trail downhill over and over again...
I just want to have some assistance going up and play hard going down. That's why I think your build and eventboi are a fit on my kind of ride. :lol:

I'm actually still in the process of really breaking down the differences between the two battery packs. Sorry, but I just don't have the same free time as I did before.

So far, aside from the weight and size differences, the 10Ah LiFe battery is actually more spunky. I'm guessing this is due to the slightly higher voltage 16S vs 15S. It just runs out way quicker. It doesn't have the same type of endurance as the 20Ah Li-ion. That's probably a no brainer to most though. Despite difference in chemistry, being double the capacity just holds the voltage longer before it starts dropping and sagging more.

I did my Los Angeles to Fullerton Ride today using my 20Ah pack.


This ride consumed 6.272Ah. I was doing a bit of pedaling, but I wasn't exerting myself to the point where I need to take any breaks. I actually didn't even have to drink water during that whole ride.

Since I almost died several times, I'm probably not going to do this with the 10Ah pack. :?

On a side note, how big is your frame triangle?

If you have space, you might want to consider this pack:
http://em3ev.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=35&product_id=161

There's definitely a benefit of having a bike you can just hop on and start riding without having to carry the fuel on you. :lol:

I actually made a cardboard cut out of the dimensions to see if it would fit on my Mongoose.

Unfortunately it didn't. If it did, I'd probably migrate all my parts over to that bike and pick up one of these batteries in 11.6Ah.

 

[skyungjae]

About 10-15 miles trail...but the more the better...I'll be pedaling as much as I can...I just want to go uphill with ease and repeat the trail downhill over and over again...
I just want to have some assistance going up and play hard going down. That's why I think your build and eventboi are a fit on my kind of ride. :lol:

I'm actually still in the process of really breaking down the differences between the two battery packs. Sorry, but I just don't have the same free time as I did before.

So far, aside from the weight and size differences, the 10Ah LiFe battery is actually more spunky. I'm guessing this is due to the slightly higher voltage 16S vs 13S. It just runs out way quicker. It doesn't have the same type of endurance as the 20Ah Li-ion. That's probably a no brainer to most though. Despite difference in chemistry, being double the capacity just holds the voltage longer before it starts dropping and sagging more.

I did my Los Angeles to Fullerton Ride today using my 20Ah pack.


This ride consumed 6.272Ah. I was doing a bit of pedaling, but I wasn't exerting myself to the point where I need to take any breaks. I actually didn't even have to drink water during that whole ride.

Since I almost died several times, I'm probably not going to do this with the 10Ah pack. :?

On a side note, how big is your frame triangle?

If you have space, you might want to consider this pack:
http://em3ev.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=35&product_id=161

There's definitely a benefit of having a bike you can just hop on and start riding without having to carry the fuel on you. :lol:

I actually made a cardboard cut out of the dimensions to see if it would fit on my Mongoose.

Unfortunately it didn't. If it did, I'd probably migrate all my parts over to that bike and pick up one of these batteries in 11.6Ah.