MelloYello
100 µW
- Joined
- May 15, 2022
- Messages
- 7
You probably haven't seen one of these before, it's a Force 450 that I've had for many years. It was sold through a company in Santa Barbara, California in 2003.
A friend of a friend worked there and was selling them for $60 brand new. Scooters were pretty basic twenty years ago. This came with two wet cell batteries, a 24v 450-watt motor, and a rear band brake that was more of a suggestion to slow down than an actual brake. No lights or suspension, just basic transportation. On the plus side, it has belt drive and 12.5" wheels. I used it for job where I needed to get around a huge warehouse in a hurry. Well, sort of a hurry, this topped out at about 12-13 mph, but indoors that was quick enough.
I eventually left that job and the scooter sat around unused for fifteen years. I was going to toss it out but decided to get it going again and bought two new batteries. I quickly found out that when used outdoors the range and speed were terrible. Started tinkering with it by doing a shunt mod (no improvement) and changing the motor pulley from 13t to 19t. Better speed, but range was still bad. After looking at the circuit board, I figured I'd take a chance and bump it up to 36v. A third wet cell battery temporarily wired in proved that nothing smoked and provided decent speed, so I decided to build a Li-ion battery.
First things first though, I needed to be able to stop, so I welded some tabs on the front forks and added a V-brake. No room for a disc, but this improved the whoa factor buy a good amount.
I know nothing about building batteries but figured I'd give it a shot. Purchased a Malectrics spot welder, some LG MJ1 cells, a JBD bluetooth bms, and got to work. It was actually pretty easy with the help of YouTube. Here's a pic of it while I was trying to figure out how to attach the bms.
Got it all together and everything seems to be working fine. I replaced the small steel bar that was mounted across the mosfets with a much larger piece of aluminum. Don't know if it makes a difference but I've been riding it every day for a month and no smoke. The motor gets a little warm (150-160* F ) when I pull a long hill, so I added a small air dam to direct more airflow to it. Anyone have an idea of what temp a scooter motor should operate at?
Top speed on flat ground is 25mph now. Not fast by today's standards, but quick enough for runs to the hardware store etc. Farthest I've ridden it so far is 18 miles, and the battery level dropped from 100% to 76%. For the shorter local trips, I've been keeping the battery charged at 85-90% max. Any comments on that are appreciated. So, all in all, this has been a fun upgrade. My wife thinks I'm an idiot for putting several hundred dollars into a $60 scooter, but I really did it as a learning experience and it's been fun.
A friend of a friend worked there and was selling them for $60 brand new. Scooters were pretty basic twenty years ago. This came with two wet cell batteries, a 24v 450-watt motor, and a rear band brake that was more of a suggestion to slow down than an actual brake. No lights or suspension, just basic transportation. On the plus side, it has belt drive and 12.5" wheels. I used it for job where I needed to get around a huge warehouse in a hurry. Well, sort of a hurry, this topped out at about 12-13 mph, but indoors that was quick enough.
I eventually left that job and the scooter sat around unused for fifteen years. I was going to toss it out but decided to get it going again and bought two new batteries. I quickly found out that when used outdoors the range and speed were terrible. Started tinkering with it by doing a shunt mod (no improvement) and changing the motor pulley from 13t to 19t. Better speed, but range was still bad. After looking at the circuit board, I figured I'd take a chance and bump it up to 36v. A third wet cell battery temporarily wired in proved that nothing smoked and provided decent speed, so I decided to build a Li-ion battery.
First things first though, I needed to be able to stop, so I welded some tabs on the front forks and added a V-brake. No room for a disc, but this improved the whoa factor buy a good amount.
I know nothing about building batteries but figured I'd give it a shot. Purchased a Malectrics spot welder, some LG MJ1 cells, a JBD bluetooth bms, and got to work. It was actually pretty easy with the help of YouTube. Here's a pic of it while I was trying to figure out how to attach the bms.
Got it all together and everything seems to be working fine. I replaced the small steel bar that was mounted across the mosfets with a much larger piece of aluminum. Don't know if it makes a difference but I've been riding it every day for a month and no smoke. The motor gets a little warm (150-160* F ) when I pull a long hill, so I added a small air dam to direct more airflow to it. Anyone have an idea of what temp a scooter motor should operate at?
Top speed on flat ground is 25mph now. Not fast by today's standards, but quick enough for runs to the hardware store etc. Farthest I've ridden it so far is 18 miles, and the battery level dropped from 100% to 76%. For the shorter local trips, I've been keeping the battery charged at 85-90% max. Any comments on that are appreciated. So, all in all, this has been a fun upgrade. My wife thinks I'm an idiot for putting several hundred dollars into a $60 scooter, but I really did it as a learning experience and it's been fun.
