My bike is done, complete, finished, at least 98%

[mvadventure]

With now over 1,500 miles I think the last modification is complete. Everything works and even though I'm not finished testing the LiPO4's I find it hard to imagine they won't live up to the hype and perhaps exceed my expectations.

Despite the fact I liked my Xyster imitation battery cover I took Deep Kimchi's advice and my brides advice and found a more attractive and functional battery cover. Searching through Home Depot proved fruitless and Wally's World was just as bad until I stumbled into the cooler aisle and found this one. The fit is perfect and all I had to do was put a rigid bottom in it and lace it onto my wire saddle bags. There was room for me to use my garden hose shock absorbers and with the little access flap on the top I can charge it, using either the Lithium charger when the new one gets here or my SLA charger.

Now the battery is protected from the elements and even a heavy rain shouldn't bother it. All I lack is mounting the controller to the front of it, behind the seat and getting a few better connectors then the wire nuts that are in place. When I mount the controller I can put it in a plastic bag that will allow it to stay cool yet rainproof. I would have done it today but after so many trials and errors I'm about out of wire ties.

Mike

 

[D-Man]

Good job! Looks like you got everything on there. You might want to intall a Labtop Computer on there also so you can check the internet while riding. :lol:

 

[knightmb]

And a train horn, gotta have the train horn

 

[mvadventure]

Got the train horn, it's in the black bag in the basket!
Mike

 

[Drunkskunk]

good looking bike. Beer cooler FTW!
But how does that seat not hurt?

 

[RevDon]

Great cooler, but you might want to update it for next year and add another 8 8) .

 

[rossfree]

Very nice! Nice choice on the battery bag... a splash of color!

Look forward to hearing your results of the Lipos.

Cudos!

Ross

 

[recumbent]

And a train horn, gotta have the train horn

What is a train horn :? I have a bell on my bikes because of pedestrian traffic on our expansive trail system, so i need a horn of some sort.
Am I missing out on something here

 

[vanilla ice]

Bell for peds, train horn for cars.

Time to throw some more lead on the escoots.

 

[EMF]

Using the cooler for a battery bag was very, very clever. The most fun for me is to re-task things that are readily available and cheap, yet work for a bike just perfect. Good job.

 

[Jay64]

And a train horn, gotta have the train horn

What is a train horn :?

Train horn/air horn, those VERY loud air powered horns. Makes people in cars who are not paying attention, and about to run you over, jump out of their skin and pay attention REAL quick!

 

[mvadventure]

Also have a bellows type horn on the handlebar, oooga oooga type, great for lots of different purposes, especially when you don't want to blast the air horn. Only three or four bucks at wally world. Plus it's plastic and doesn't rust!

Now that I have a FOUR extra SLA's I'm going to put one each on the e-scooters and wire it so I can use one 24 volt and a cheapo 12 volt charger. Maybe I'll get time to play with that this coming weekend. It won't be a big deal if I blow a controller as I still have two identical spares from TNC.

It is absolutely amazing how little time us retired folks have. Quite frankly I don't know how I ever had time to go to work. Bike, golf, grandkids, yard, shop, boat, Bride, and pretty soon the day is shot. Oh, I forgot nap. Nap is important and didn't happen today. Didn't go fishing either. See, it's easy to get behind.

I agree wholeheartedly with EMF, it's a lot of fun to make stuff designed for one thing work well for another. I go through stages of building doll houses and making miniature furniture. Many years ago I took a lead pellet, .22 caliber from a air pistol, turned it flared side up, painted it gold and put a bb, painted white, in the flared end. A perfect egg cup with egg and in 1/12 scale to boot. I've made all kinds of great, quality furniture from stuff I've picked up on the side of the road.

Mike

 

[iberkt]

The cooler looks great. Functional as well.

The Insulation should help too. You won't need to blanket wrap the batteries in the winter. The insulation should protect the batteries from the cold. 8)

 

[Nimbuzz]

Looks great! How bout some specs for those of us who don't remember -- motor, pack & controller if not weight & tires etc.
Thanks,

 

[mvadventure]

The motor is a 5304, Crystalyte Cruiser with Crystalyte 4840 controller mounted on a 12 y/o Boss six speed beach bike with 2.0 slicks @ 70#' & slime tubes. Only problem with this bike is brakes, the bike is heavy and these are OEM brakes which I probably should do something about.

One thing I've noticed about the LiPO4 batteries: With the limited range available with the SLA's it became automatic to watch the watts up meter's upper left hand corner to monitor amps being used. It was important to balance speed with amps in order to maximize range, especially if the distance being traveled was more than eight or nine miles. This resulted in cruising speeds within the 20 MPH electric bike speed limit. With the LiPO4's there is simply so much power and so much potential range I find myself going way too fast, often times 29 - 30 MPH without even thinking about it. This is fine within my gated subdivision but on local roads & sidewalks it is dangerous. More so cause it ain't going to stop quickly.

Mike

 

[TylerDurden]

That's a fine ride.

Only problem with this bike is brakes, the bike is heavy and these are OEM brakes which I probably should do something about.

That would be the remaining 2%?...

...or are you planning a sidecar.

 

[Nimbuzz]

Thanks for the details -- great project! If you have V brakes the Shimano XT brakes are awesome. If you have side pull or others an upgrade of brakes and pads can help a lot -- and clean the rims where the pads hit, oil or renew the cables.
'Have bike must stop.' It's an old TV show.

What's the story on your batteries?
Specs, cost, vendor?

Thanks,

 

[mvadventure]

Thanks, I'll check out the Shimano XT brakes online. The batteries came from Aten Energy http://www.atenenergy.biz/

Zane Tatum, a principal in the company, handled my inquires and phone calls. Delivery took a while, from 8/8/07 'till mid November. He is a busy man but will take plenty of time to discuss what's available and their potential.

At the time I ordered I prepaid $832.00 which it turns out, I think, pretty inexpensive for the battery. The others I've seen are close to or exceed twice that but may include a pretty case which mine didn't. It's a 48 volt 20 AH that has been delivering lots of power and range. I have yet to give it a good distance test and weather permitting hope to do so this weekend. I have put 26.5 miles on one charge and didn't begin to use them up but I want to see how much more there is. The physical size is approximately 12X8X7 and I've never weighed it but it's a lot lighter than four SLA's.

Mike

Mike

 

[Smoker]

Cool, if you get chased by black helicopters they won't see the heat from your batteries. Somone should build a stealth ebike.