kisshu wrote:wow i'm glad to meet you ... i just returned one to the store. did i do the wrong thing?
Nice to meet you too.

I don't know if you did the wrong thing...let's talk about it.
kisshu wrote:you mention the motor being 250 watts i thought it was a 450 watt motor?
Motor ratings are very open to interpretation. Basically the rating should be the maximal amount of input power that the motor can handle continuously without being damaged. This motor is rated by its manufacturer for 250w (I forget the website, we've discussed it another thread here). Currie is already feeding it about 840 watts max (24 volts X 35 amps -- the controller is a 35 amp controller). So I don't know where Currie gets their 450 watt rating. Anyway, without extra cooling, the motor will handle 1,260 watts (36 volts through the stock 35 amp controller) for short bursts of a couple miles. Another member ruined his same currie motor running it at 36 volts 35 amps -- he reported the motor died after 7 miles going 26 mph.
kisshu wrote:also if the motor dies why not switch to a 600 bmc watt or higher instead of a hub motor?
Correct me if I'm wrong, I think the BMC is a brushless motor, and so would require a new controller. I have a high-power brushless ebike already. This is supposed to be my cheapo that I can leave in public places and still be able to replace if it gets stolen. Brushed hubmotors are cheap too, or I could bolt-on something like that $169 1000 watt motor we were just discussing...
kisshu wrote:now the important stuff.... modifications
i live on a long hill about 1 mile with various grades 10 to 25 maybe and want to be able to travel to the next town over and back about 7 miles each way the trip from the botom has a lot flat road and some 1 to 5 degree grades.
i too found i could only go a short distance before the batteries indicated red etc. right now i would only be able to go to the store at the botom of the hill - about two miles and back with pedaling before it runs low - and the power is not great for climing the hill i live on.
is it a good bike for modification so i could make the 15 mile round trip and beable to do 20 - 25 some times? its way to slow and powerless
The bike really perks up with an extra 8-12 volts. The simply way to get 15 miles sometimes going 20-25 mph would be to wire in series a third 12v 12ah SLA battery (just like the two it comes with). Check the motor and don't let it get so hot you can't hold your hand on it. If you don't want to worry so much about the little motor burning up, do the "forced air cooling" modification that's detailed elsewhere here. You'd also need a second charger (a 12 volt SLA charger) to charge the third battery, or a 36 volt SLA charger, rewiring the charging system to charge all three at once.
Alternatively, you could wire in parallel two extra SLAs (total of 4), keeping the whole system 24 volts. Your range will more than double to at least 20 miles as you describe the terrain, the bike will perform a little better because of less voltage sag (the red light won't go on after only a couple miles), you won't need to do anything different to charge the extra batteries, and the motor shouldn't ever fry, but you won't be able go 20 mph without pedaling really hard.
I did a combination of the two mods, first wiring in parallel two more 12v SLAs, then wiring that in series to 8 volts of extra lithium batteries from my other ebike.
kisshu wrote:also, ive been looking into other setups like a crank drive set up to take advantage of gearing
why not put the motor where the controller sits and run it off the crank with free wheel?
If you've got metal fabrication skills and equipment, or have a friend who does, sure...you could do almost anything you wanted.
kisshu wrote:i noticed everything it welded - the controller and kick stand - how feesable is this for modification like using a cyclone system
or other type crank driven system? given the kickstand would have to be removed with a torch etc.
Seems to me if you wanted to go with the cyclone, you might as well put it on a regular bicycle. What would be the advantage to tearing this Currie down in order to make it a Cyclone system?
kisshu wrote:or can i get away with converting it to a higher voltage with same motor or using a higher watt motor? i really would like to use the gearing though
is it worth the bike frame or is it better to find a lighter used frame?
I'd get a different frame. Jondoh here has a nice review of a cyclone system:
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewto ... ht=cyclone
kisshu wrote:its really unusable without modification and you have given me some hope
i really appreciate your expertise and advice
let me know what you recommend
also i weigh about 180 lbs
thanks alot xyster !!!!
Glad I could help. I think this is a terrific bike for the money, and after a couple battery additions, (total cost bike + mods about $400), achieves a very respectable 20-25mph for 20-25 miles. Motor temp must be monitored regularly, especially after riding up hills or at speeds more than 20mph for more than a few miles, else a cooling blower mod is in order (another $20 or so).
If you have more than $800 dollars to spend, I'd choose something else.