A2B Metro restoration / modification - Fechter's first Ebike

I fixed my centerstand for good with a 1/2" Allen bolt, washers, lock nut and locktite. I drilled and tapped the A2B frame for the bolt thread 1/2"-20 if I remember right. I first tightened the allen bolt through the centerstand into the frame with locktite and then put a washer and nut on it for backup. It has not come loose. There's a picture near the end of page 2 of my build thread:

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=43482&start=50

Jim

Finally got a flat tire. I'm actually surprised it hasn't happened before now considering some of the trails I ride on. In one area there are huge blackberry bushes on the sides of the road. They trim them back, but over time runners reach out across the road like those spike strips the cops use. Between the blackberries, are goat head thorns sprinkled around. It's like riding through a mine field.

The leak was slow, like about half the pressure lost over a week. I just pumped it up before riding for a couple of weeks, then decided to fix it. The hole in the tube was hard to see. I had to use a basin full of water to find the spot where bubbles came out. Even then, I couldn't actually see the hole, so I just marked it. I used a 'glueless' patch just to see if they actually work. Basically just a piece of adhesive tape.

An hour after returning from the next ride, I noticed the tire was completely flat. Bummer. I took it all apart again, and find a new hole not far from the first one. Guess what, I didn't check the tire for thorns well enough when I patched it the first time. Not a thorn either, but what looked to be a single strand from a piece of stainless steel aircraft cable. A little smaller than a pin, with a round cross section. It was pretty hard to yank it out of the tire too. New patch in place and I'll see how it goes.

I may catch slack for this but.... I use tire slime in my ebikes. What's four more ounces per tire on a 80 pound bike. I even got a pinch flat on my bomber and barely made it to the local bike shop. Took out the valvestem, put in four ounces, filled it with air and went about my way.

I hate slime... HATE IT.... specially when you don't know it's there, the tire still has some pressure, you spin the wheel to get the valve near the ground since most pumps have short hoses, then PSSSst.. you get a face full of slime and your pump, tire valve and everything nearby gets covered in green goo..

adds weight to the outer edge of your wheel, also bad.

and generally does not work out here, depends on the type of puncture.. i know some people swear by it. but i just swear at it.

I've thought about the slime stuff before but I've never actually tried it. The A2B tires are pretty wide, so it might not be real effective toward the outer edge of the tire unless you used gallons of it. It wasn't too hard to patch the tube without taking the rear wheel off. I just unbeaded the tire on one side and worked the tube out to work on it and stuffed it back in. This was really practice to make sure I could do it out on the road.

My .02 :
I was getting slow leaks when I first got my metro. I ride animal trails, dirt paths and roadways (to get to the off the beaten path stuff). I checked the inner tube and found multiple pin pricks, actually cactus spikes in the tire was puncturing the inner tubes. I added slime (hate the stuff for the added weight and memories of imbalance with dirt bikes)..the leaks stopped. I replaced the tires with new and also with the kenda heavy duty inner tubes, along with a dose of slime in each. When I pulled the original tires/tubes the tubes had over 30 tiny green spots which I assume were pricks in the tube that normally would have been leaks. The tires had well-worn tread, even the hard spiny things we call cockle burrs (actually sand burrs) were penetrating the tread.
The new tires and tubes + slime have @ 3K miles on them and are due for replacement again, but I have not had any leaks or flats with them. In my riding the slime is worth the mess, others probably not.

wj

If you get tired of those Kendas, and believe me you will, there are much better choices with Moped tires.. Shinka and Pirelli have some good choices.. They are cheaper, they don't leak and they don't get flats anywhree near those Kendas.

Will the moped tires fit on the stock rims?

16" moped tires, fit 20" bicycle rims ! :wink:

fechter said:

Will the moped tires fit on the stock rims?

Click to expand...

The two that are currently being sold by the largest A2B Dealer in the country are:

Havent tried it and heard it is more difficult to install: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CD5F54/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AJO8BSPGGJBVI

Been using this one over a year, no problems, no leaks.. Lower profile and narrower than the Kendas: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00274F0G6/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

oh and you would need new tubes.. thorn resistant http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009JGXLW/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I see they also have a 2.75 x 16, which is a little closer to the stock width.

OK, the rainy season finally arrived so working on the bike doesn't cut into riding time much.

I was curious about the tires, so took a chance and bought a Shinko 244 in 3.00-16 size. Really beautiful, but heavy tire. Unfortunately it is just a little too big to fit either the front or rear. If anybody is interested in an new Shinko 244 in this size, PM me.

Bummed but not deterred, I tried another one. I figured if the tire was a bit smaller, at least it would fit.
Since I ride a lot on dirt trails, I wanted a dual-sport type of tread. I finally found a candidate on eBay from a place called scooterpartsdepot1. The tire is made by a Chinese company called MMG tires. I got a 2.50-16, since I was pretty sure it would fit. The same place also has it in 2.75-16 size.

This tire seems to be about half way between the stock Kenda and the Shinko in terms of weight and thickness. Mounting was challenging but not too bad with my 12" motorcycle tire iron. Biggest problem was getting the rubber block the valve stem comes out of to clear the tire bead. Eventually I got it in the proper position.

Here's the stock Kenda in the front fork. On mine, the tire actually rubs against the fork a little.


Here's the MMG 2.50-16. As you can see, plenty of clearance on all sides. I'm sure the 2.75-16 would fit.


Guess I'll be getting a 2.75-16 for the rear!

Here's a side view of the new tire.


These tires are DOT rated and take 40 psi inflation, so I expect the rolling resistance will be pretty close to the stock Kendas.
View attachment 1

i bet the ride quality will be way better, specially while turning/leaning !

Tire looks good! Hope the cheap Chinese tires work out for you.. Let us know.. My only complaint about the 2.25 shinkos was that cornering was not as good, and it lowered the bike... Looks like your 2.50 is about the same OD as those bastard Kendas! Have fun with it..

I have the 2.75-16 version on order. It should arrive soon (it will go on the rear).

Well, the rainy season never really came this year but I decided it was time to do the controller upgrade anyway. I removed the spokes from the wheel noting the approximate amount of dish in the wheel so hopefully I can put it back the same way. I didn't have a large enough gear puller, but that would have been the tool of choice for getting the motor apart. Instead, I used a pair of stiff aluminum bars with a socket extension between them as a fulcrum and pried the halves apart. I worked my way around trying to keep it even as it backed out. When it finally got 'loose' it was still held by the magnets and I used the small puller I had on some bolts inserted into the brake disk holes.

View attachment 7

View attachment 5
View attachment 4


Once the halves were separtated, I immediately placed the magnet ring inside a large ziploc bag to prevent metal shavings from getting stuck to it (my garage is loaded with magnetic debris).

View attachment 2

After removing the side with the magnets, the other side was still stuck on the shaft and wouldn't budge. Here's where a large 3-arm puller would have been handy again, but I found an old brake drum from a Zappy and theaded it onto the freewheel threads and used my small puller to get it off. I don't think I'd ever get that one off without a puller.


Whew! Now that that was done, I snipped the connections between the stator and the controller and removed the 3 screws holding the controller in. Donut-shaped controller anyone? This one was working, so could be a spare for somebody who fried a stock controller and wants to replace it (man, that would be a LOT of work).

Reserved

way cool. the ziplock bag is like the voice of experience.

dnmun said:

way cool. the ziplock bag is like the voice of experience.

Click to expand...

Yeah, tell me about it... My workshop is like the opposite of a NASA clean room. It took me hours to clean one that got too close to the drill press/grinder area.
You can use your fingers to slide the crap toward one edge and try to pinch off as much as you can. After that I use duct tape to try to get the remainder. After that, dig all the little metal splinters out of your fingers. Duct tape is good there too.

so this is what you have been up to!

curious what else you do in you spare time, surprised to find you just now got an ebike, myself just put something together, had the stuff for a while but ended up overthinking it, long story short I ended up ordering a new motor.

question for you, I got the cheap noname ebay hub, the first one as mentioned I had too many ideas, took it apart and messed up the axle in the process, but one thing I noticed different than yours, lots more poles and coils, most others I saw on ES same, this A2B not only has few, but they are far apart from each other too, I have limited electric motor knowledge, I assume more poles more torque? how about volts per rpm? bit off topic but you know your stuff, just curious if one was to build something how would you go about determining your ideal voltage/coils/turns, maybe you can point me to some good reading.

Replying to a dated post here. About the MMG tire, I was pleased to see someone else took the time to search for an ideal tire for this A2B. I noticed within 10 ft that this was a superior tire for this ebike. Balance, cornering just improved tremendously. The only caveat? NOT easy to mount. Holy lord don't try to mount one of these if you're in a bad mood already. But once on, the best tire for this bike. I did have one flat because of a giant piece of roadside wire , of course on the rear.

fechter said:

I have the 2.75-16 version on order. It should arrive soon (it will go on the rear).

Click to expand...

Will 2.75-16 fit both front and rear? Any problems? Tire iron suggestions? Got lots of bicycle tire experience. Never played with motorcycle/moped tires.

My A2B Metro got a flat tire. My tube patching skills must be bad because it leaked. Have gotten many flats caused by assorted metal trash in the road. Hate pushing this bike with a flat tire.

Looking at:
M/C Tire 2.75 - 16 Front/Rear Dual Sport On/Off Road Performance
https://www.amazon.com/Tire-2-75-Front-Sport-Performance/dp/B005IARA3M

$34.90 each, free shipping

Also will buy new tubes.

I ride on dry roads 90%, Wet, rain, snow, ice, 9%, Mud 1%

Should I press the buy button? Any other tire suggestions? My goal is no more flat tires.

I have the same tire. Fits OK but hard to mount. I used tire levers made for motorcycle tires. Huge improvement in handling.

I installed these (different tread pattern)
https://www.amazon.com/Tire-2-75-Motorcycle-Performance-Street/dp/B00QUBZY7M

after burning through 4 sets of Kendas

the new tires are quite heavy and I could feel the extra load when accelerating, could feel the change in front suspension over bumps, they are quite hard and very difficult to mount, hard enough that they are actually
'run flat' for my application - 170# rider.
The shape makes handling must more fluid, no more falling off the edge and having to quickly correct your line.
I would say that installing them changed my A2B from a maybe emergency pedal bike to an only under extreme emergency situation pedal bike.
In my situation the tires pushed me to upgrade my batteries for more power and have me looking at a new patterson crank assembly...ymmv


wj