Car "replacement" e-bike and where to park

coinmaster

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Jun 13, 2017
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I've been looking for a 4 season car replacement that doesn't require a license or insurance and I made myself an E-bike with a cyclone 3000 motor last year. I managed to tack on enough batteries to get about 45 miles per charge in my very hilly area running @ about 30mph average.
In the name of faster speed, longer distances, more fun, and less awkward weight distribution I want to convert over to a recumbent trike.
I've been thinking about combining my cyclone 3000 set-up with a belt drive gas motor kit for a hybrid approach, ensuring a minimum of 200 miles per charge/refill. Luckily they can both be mounted onto the same wheel. https://www.bikeengines.com/shop/4-stroke-bicycle-engine-38cc-silver-eagle-kit/

Ideally I'd like something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFC8MRwvgUM&t=224s with the gas motor slapped on the back.
So in theory I have my "car replacement" planned out.

My concern now is, how to I park such a thing safely?
I feel like I'll get robbed if I so much as go to the grocery store and leave it in the parking lot.
Any thoughts?
 
that is downside of three-wheeler ,
you cannot really roll it into the store.
I would never , ever leave my 4000 dollars plus ebike outside the store when I shop, no way.
when I cannot roll it inside I dont use business /shop, office, work, etc./
 
Put your batteries in a lockable box. Have three locks-- one to enable/disable your electric system, a second one to secure the trike to an immovable object, and the third to render it non-rideable in case it's taken from the rack or pole. Don't use cable locks; they're very easy to cut. Make it a hassle to steal and it won't get stolen.

Also, gas motor? Gross. Just don't. You won't ride that noisy stinker 200 miles at a time. Save the weight and expense for more battery if you want more range.
 
Chalo said:
Also, gas motor? Gross. Just don't. You won't ride that noisy stinker 200 miles at a time. Save the weight and expense for more battery if you want more range.
Sorry, I'm not prejudice against gas motors, I only care about results. The amount of money, space, and weight worth of batteries it would take to equate to a hybrid is crazy, then I would need to replace it all after 600 charge cycles. Also who are you to assume I don't need to travel 200 miles?
 
agree with Chialo

GROSS
you want to carry gasolne behind your back???
by nasty noise and even more nasty smell /fuu/ you practically banned from bikepaths.
 
4 stroke belt driven motors aren't that noisy or smelly for the same reason your car isn't. You're thinking of 2 stroke, which is what most people use.
 
In my world, gas bike conversions are for single male alcoholics with poor social skills. I guess it takes a lot of medicine to not mind living with one of those things.

4 cycle gas motors used on bikes are not like those in motorcycles or cars. They're like those in lawnmowers. Which, as anybody can tell you, stink and make a racket.

Cars and motorcycles also stink and make a racket, but less so per unit of power.
 
The typical 4 stroke noise is largely mitigated in a belt drive set-up. I feel like a meat eater talking to a vegan. This conversation is pointless. My only concern is results, no ideologies. I have practical issues that need practical solutions.
 
If you have any gas engine questions there are a few motorbiking forums around. Most of the engines are low quality, so when you receive it, tear it down and rebuild it, use quality bolts. You can have them for a couple hundred bucks.

Your goal is long distances. Gas is an option.

I cant imagine the battery size you'd need for 200 miles.
20wh/mile x 200 miles = 4000Wh divided by 50V (rounded up from 48V) so you'd require roughly 80Ah. At best your looking at $250 for a bunch of used Makita packs but that would get you up to 55-60Ah. DIY from NKON, $2.40 for Lithium Ion 2.9Ah, 13(series) times 28 (to make 80Ah) = 364 times $2.40 is $875 not including shipping. A battery pack from a reputable builder, $1500-$2500.
 
I'm currently using stacks of hoverboard batteries I got for a good price. It seems practically speaking, with my local terrain at 25-30mph I get about 25-30 miles per 1200 watts of battery capacity, meaning I would need closer to 10kw of batteries to get 200 mile range.
A recumbent would help greatly here because right now I'm using a mountain bike with 29'' wheels, not very aerodynamic.
I just can't mentally get over the obstacle of potential and probable theft using a recumbent.

The gas engine I'm looking at is an expensive high reputation kit that last 10s of thousands of miles reportedly without issue and minimal maintenance. Not one of those cheap chinese ones. I also think it's the only one with a belt drive system, it uses its own spoke-connected gear system instead of the bike gears so I can use both the electrical system and the gas power system on the same wheel.

My hope is that synchronous operation with the electric kit will increase the efficiency of both. Gas motors suck at hills and burst power but excel at power efficiency, which is the opposite of electric systems. So I can combine both for the best of both worlds, in theory.
The motor I'm planning to get has an equivalent power of 1.2KW so if I subtract that power from the electrical system load I should vastly increase the range of my current battery system while maintaining its benefits.
 
I have been real pleased with the little motion detector bike alarm I purchased, that sucker really screams, I just keep the alarm and remote in my pocket (both together smaller than a cigarette pack) and affix it to the bike with a hair tie or rubber band when I duck into the grocery store or library. When I arm the alarm it shrieks a bit, anyone casing the bike rack is going to see it's going to get noisy if they touch my ride, let alone start F-ing with the locks.
 
Yeah I've been thinking about using an arduino to make a custom alarm that screams "BIKE THEIF"! whenever somebody gets within 5 feet of the bike. I wonder if that would be enough.
 
"with the gas motor slapped on the back"...

HUGE FAIL... in "ebike terms"... If ya follow the newz... watt some of us do [cough cough], the trend is 1) urban (aka "shorter" distances and 2) folding with 3) smaller diameter wheels (see folding but also torque... aka faster accelerations aka higher average speeds)

Folding specifically `cause of 1) inter-modal use aka taking pubic transit vehicles (sp?) and 2) to TAKE INDOORS FOR SAFETY.

To lower Wh/kM... would add a windshield if yer thinking aerodynamics. ;)

L

PS ... And the fastest "recharge" I know of is to just swap batteries... a "dead" one for a "freshie". :wink:
 
Lol, listen to yourself. You'd rather suggest impractical and inconvenient methodologies (shorter distances and public transit? really?) than consider a hybrid. That's fine for you, but Ideologists need not reply here, it's annoying. I'm only interested in practical results. Take any E-bike, add a gas motor onto it, you've just extended your mileage by 200 miles for 13 lbs and a few hundred bucks. I'm not going to ignore those results.
I'm starting to get more comfortable with the idea of a loud and obnoxious alarm for theft prevention using a recumbent. Is this practically effective?
 
coinmaster said:
Yeah I've been thinking about using an arduino to make a custom alarm that screams "BIKE THEIF"! whenever somebody gets within 5 feet of the bike. I wonder if that would be enough.

Just order a couple of the motion activated bike/motorcycle alarms, get two, install one in a hidden spot on the bike, then when you park put one on the handlebars or other spot and arm both. The one I got you can purchase multiple alarm units to go with the remote. If a thief tries a quick move to remove the visible unit they will be dealing with 120db of piercing scream from both and will be so thrown off by the first alarm they'd have a pretty hard time thinking finding about locating the second. This in conjunction with a couple good locks is highly effective. $25.00 bucks on Amazon, a hell of a lot better than nothing.
 
coinmaster said:
Lol, listen to yourself. You'd rather suggest impractical and inconvenient methodologies (shorter distances and public transit? really?) than consider a hybrid.

One of the problems you're trying to solve is parking, but then you're talking about putting a toxin sprayer on the bike that makes it unwelcome in most indoor spaces.

Every e-bike with pedals is a hybrid vehicle.
 
I can't bring a recumbent indoors anyway so it's sort of a moot point and so is the mentioning of an e-bike being a "hybrid". You know what I meant, you continue to waste time with wordplay and pointless counterarguments.
 
Lol, listen to yourself.

The trend is 1) urban (aka "shorter" distances) and 2) folding with 3) smaller diameter wheels (see folding but also torque... aka faster accelerations aka higher average speeds)

Folding specifically `cause of 1) inter-modal use aka taking pubic transit vehicles (sp?) and 2) to TAKE INDOORS FOR SAFETY.

To lower Wh/kM... would add a windshield if yer thinking aerodynamics.
 
For faster speeds and longer distances look at getting a recumbent with suspension on front front and rear .




coinmaster said:
Ideally I'd like something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFC8MRwvgUM&t=224s with the gas motor slapped on the back.
So in theory I have my "car replacement" planned out
 
... and re aerodynamics/watt energy-efficiency looks like...
[youtube]4Rt4A6UYnH4[/youtube]
 
Yet another of those want three things but you get to pick two deals. ( want it badass and pretty, but not get stolen)

Not sure why you want it legal without insurance or license, but in many places your 3000w "bike" is already an illegal homemade motorcycle. But like many places, it can still pass for bike. :twisted:

The way to have it not get stole is for it to look like Amberwolf built it. Not ugly per se, but still not obviously a highly desirable tadpole trike either.

Back to the license thing, motorcycle might be cheaper to insure than you think, if you can get licensed. Or where you are gas moped might go unlicensed. Anyway, that should take care of three seasons.

You can have a pretty, badass, trike. Just don't park it places that suck. Have something fugly to park at the liquor store. For more range, have additional batteries, but don't carry those daily, at least not on the fugly bike to run to the store on.
 
Aren't gas powered bicycles covered under special exemption for riders who can't drive? I was under the understanding if you can't get a license/insurance/registration all you need to do is show proof of DUII and you can ride wherever you want. Also I saw one for sale in a classified ad and it didn't say anything about not being able to ride them on the street, I assume it must be okay.
 
The way to have it not get stole is for it to look like Amberwolf built it. Not ugly per se, but still not obviously a highly desirable tadpole trike either.
I've been looking at the Scorpio SR-i900 alarm system. I have a difficult time imagining someone would steal a bike with such an alarm no?
 
dogman dan said:
The way to have it not get stole is for it to look like Amberwolf built it. Not ugly per se, but still not obviously a highly desirable tadpole trike either.

I had a run of about 20 years without getting a bike stolen. Then when I finally did get a bike pinched, it was one that had been built on a normal sized beach cruiser type frame. That made me wonder how much it has helped that most of my bikes are too tall for most people to ride.

I've left my latest e-bike unpainted, as-welded, to help keep it looking especially homemade and maintenance-intensive to a casual observer. If it gets too rusty, I'll probably scrub it with steel wool and give it a wipe of linseed oil, or maybe shoot it with a couple of different colors of primer. Whatever makes it look like an ongoing project instead of treasure.
 
coinmaster said:
The way to have it not get stole is for it to look like Amberwolf built it. Not ugly per se, but still not obviously a highly desirable tadpole trike either.
I've been looking at the Scorpio SR-i900 alarm system. I have a difficult time imagining someone would steal a bike with such an alarm no?

The one I got is the cheapo "Wsdcam 113dB Wireless Anti-Theft Vibration Motorcycle Bicycle Alarm Waterproof Security Cycling Bike Alarm with Remote" $16.99 Amazon. So far I've got several months of good use out of it and you could order three for 50 bucks, use two and have a spare when one breaks just toss it over your shoulder.
 
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