Currie Kick Scooter conversion

Minor changes in the scooter...

I noticed that my watt meter was running down the battery pack too quickly. It ought to need 10-15 mA to run, but it's pulling down more like 150mA. I was running it direct to the battery buss previously. Now it gets power through the enable switch so it's off when the scooter isn't enabled.
 
I got a tire pressure monitoring system on ebay. It cost less than $50 and monitors 2 tires...assuming you have schraeder valves. It took no effort at all to fit it to the scooter. Thread on a locking nut, thread on the sensor, tighten the locking nut and you are done. I know it's going to add a little weight and make my wheels a little out of balance, but that's just a small wheel weight opposite the valve stem to fix that. As soon as I turned on the computer unit, it showed front and rear tire pressure. With a little button pressing, I had it set to Fahrenheit and had my high and low pressures set. There is also a setting for max tire temperature. Exceeding any of these 3 settings will set off the alarm function. The LCD screen flashes red and you hear a beeping sound. I simulated a tire problem by unscrewing a sensor and within a second or so, the unit was alarming. I had filled my tires on my air compressors regulated output which was set to 40 psi. I was glad to see that the sensors also were close to 40 psi. The sensors use a small lithium watch battery that is replaceable. They also go to sleep when the wheels are not turning. It takes like 5 minutes and they shut off. As soon as you start moving, they turn back on.

TPMS%20meter.jpg


It came with a standard ring clamp for mounting to the handle bars, but mine are quite full so there was no place to mount the TPMS unit. I chose to cut off most of the clamping mechanism and use the original screw hole, a 6mm screw and a mirror mounting hole on the brake lever to mount it. It's out of the way and yet right where I can see it. The battery is fully charged. I'll see tomorrow...assuming the weather is cooperative how far I can go on a charge. The monitor unit has a screw mount on the bottom of it and locking nut to keep it mounted. The other end of the screw has a ball on it so that the whole thing can be tilted to your needs.

TPMS%20mount%20point.jpg


As you can see my handle bars are quite crowded with stuff. Soon the app on my phone will replace the watt meter, speedo and the temp meter that is currently hidden. when I lock up the scooter somewhere, I'll need to grab the speedo, TPMS, phone, bike light and camera before I walk away.

Handle%20bar%20instrument%20cluster.jpg


I have been riding around with my phone in my pocket and been wanting to use the great app and telemetry module that Vadym has worked hard at creating. I finally got a quad lock mount for my phone so it can securely mount to the scooter.

Quad%20lock.jpg


So far, I've been enabling the scooter via a rocker switch in this spot. I found a key switch that is compact and capable of several amps so I installed it. Of course if you remove those 4 screws, you can get to the back side of the switch easily enough. It's meant to keep the curious from flipping on the scooter, not be Fort Knox.

Key%20switch.jpg
 
I got one of the Currie Flyer scooters included on a recent package deal, from skimming this thread and another thread with info from Dark Angel regarding the Currie stuff am I correct that the original internal controller will likely fail if run at 36V? The 2 SLA's in the thing we're pretty much totally discharged when I got the thing and after an attempt at charging them they only went up to about 19V.

I hooked up 2 Greenworks 18V NMH 3ah powertool batteries I had sitting around to it on a bench test and it ran real good at 36V, just ran it for maybe 20 seconds. After searching the forum I couldn't see any info on what the internal controllers were rated at and was hoping someone might know so I don't have to open the motor up to check.

I don't think I want to put an external 36V controller on this thing so my question is am I better off just running it at 24V or will the controller handle 36V, or are they a maybe you might get away with it type thing?

Thanks in advance to anyone who might know.
 
Raisedeyebrows said:
I got one of the Currie Flyer scooters included on a recent package deal, from skimming this thread and another thread with info from Dark Angel regarding the Currie stuff am I correct that the original internal controller will likely fail if run at 36V? The 2 SLA's in the thing we're pretty much totally discharged when I got the thing and after an attempt at charging them they only went up to about 19V.

I hooked up 2 Greenworks 18V NMH 3ah powertool batteries I had sitting around to it on a bench test and it ran real good at 36V, just ran it for maybe 20 seconds. After searching the forum I couldn't see any info on what the internal controllers were rated at and was hoping someone might know so I don't have to open the motor up to check.

I don't think I want to put an external 36V controller on this thing so my question is am I better off just running it at 24V or will the controller handle 36V, or are they a maybe you might get away with it type thing?

Thanks in advance to anyone who might know.

i have no idea. I got my Currie with a blown controller. Not that I cared, I wasn't going to use it anyway. But yeah...most likely it was designed for 24 volts and it will blow up at 36 volts, but I don't really know. Honestly, crack open the motor and bring the halls and phases out of the shell and run a real motor controller! The built in one is crap.
 
Great thread for a scooter build and very nice work. I have learned a great deal for my upcoming conversion of three Schwinn Stealth 1000w scooters with all original parts still working great. But out with the old tech and in with the new goods. Would you have any suggestions for my particular scooters? Using your links on the rims/wheels I found them no problem. Do you have links for the ceramic bearings, brake rotor and sprocket mounting plates for the hub on the wheels, and the better tires you finally settled on? Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and very detailed build. Cheers
 
I'm doing a little rework on the Currie.

The ignition switch is a bit problematic. I'm switching a good bit of current and the contacts didn't last very long. I was using this switch..which is rated for 2 amps and I'm definitely pulling a good bit more than that. I need a higher amperage key switch.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/On-Off-Key-Switch-Lock-Keyed-Alike-Key-Removable-in-OFF-Position-With-2-Keys/282283460289?hash=item41b967c6c1:g:umsAAOSw5cNYSIf7

Since I'm working on the scooter, I though I'd add a 3 speed switch control. I've got the controller wiring done and added the 3 new wires into my terminal block in the battery bay. I've also ordered some new wire so I have more conductors going to the handlebars. This will end up being a fairly large change, but will fix a couple of things I didn't like how I originally implemented them.

1. New connector at the controller that now incorporates speed, enable and throttle, new cable from the controller to the terminal block.
2. New battery bay terminal block since the original one was full.
3. Replace the cables to the handlebars with one that has more conductors.
4. Replace the handlebar terminal block with something weather proof. I have 8, 18 and 24 pin IP68 connectors for this.
5. My handlebars are fairly busy. I really went over the top on the Currie! I've come up with a new switch cluster that combines all my current switches into a single cluster.
6. I'm adding USB charging. My phone gets used a lot on the Currie and on anything future I build as well. I need USB power. Also, my GPS speedo and the TPMS all have micro USB ports for charging. Currently I remove them from the scooter for charging. Why?

I had an issue with my Yimia dumb BMS on the scooter. It let my pack get too low on some cells and badly out of balance without shutting off. One cell was at 2 volts and several more were less than 2.5 volts. The rest were nearly fully charged. As a result the watt meter was showing I had plenty of charge left and the scooter was riding like nothing was wrong. I've replaced the BMS with a smart one that has bluetooth. I'll be able to see pack status on my phone. No more surprises from a malfunctioning BMS!

This is the new BMS. I've been fairly active on this thread. I now have 6 of these things and while inexpensive, they work really well.
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=88676
 
I think this will be my new key switch. It's dual pole and the contacts are rated for 4 amps so parallel those contacts for 8 amps...that will lake care of my current switching needs. Also the key is removable in either position. I put super glue around the tumbler to tighten it up on the old key switch. Riding around, sometimes vibrations and bouncing would dislodge the key from the ON position from the weight of the keys. NOT leaving the key in the ignition will take care of that.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Philmore-30-10077-DPST-ON-or-OFF-Position-Tubular-Barrel-Type-Key-Switch-/263674009964?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l4275.c10#viTabs_0
 
I replaced the terminal block in the battery bay with a slightly larger one 30 connections instead of 24. I've purchased some new wire which has 15 and 24 conductors in them. I think the way I wire up the handebars will be different. The left switch cluster needs 12 wires for 2 3-way switches and 5 buttons. I might as well just run that in it's own 18 pin IP68 connector and add the 6 throttle wires to it. A second cable can incorporate brakes to it direct to the battery bay instead. I want IP68 connectors at the handlebars so that I can disconnect if a switch cluster or some other module goes bad. Pulling the wires back up the steering tube is a royal pain when a connector eliminates the need for that.
 
This is the existing left side switch cluster. They work OK, but it's not pretty and the orange directional switch is not very clicky. It's common that by feel that I miss turning off the blinkers or just go all the way the other direction when doing it by feel. I've never eally liked this 2 switch cluster set up, but it has worked OKish.

Left%20side%20switch%20cluster%20-%20old.png


This is the new switch cluster. It does everything the 2 clusters did, plus it adds a 3 speed switch and an AUX switch that feeds those 3 wires coming out. The green button is horn. This is the only momentary button on the cluster. Everything else locks down. The red toggle is a 3 way switch or ON-OFF-ON for the left and right directional lights. The yellow button is head lights. I'll probably replace this with a toggle since the 8mm locking switches can only handle about 1 amp. Blue is side lights. The grey toggle is low, medium and high speeds. On the bottom of the cluster are 2 more switches. Right under the green button that will be for the battery bay lights. Under the speed toggle connects those external 3 wires to 12 volts so that I can put a USB charger on the handlebars and whatever else I might want.

7%20switch%20cluster%201.jpg


7%20switch%20cluster%202.jpg
 
That's looking good, I think it's the simplest option you had on the table and should be the most robust, How's the ride coping most of my builds have hit a wall so I've been taking many steps back and I've wasted some cash lately but there we are that's life, glad I still got one my rides working or I be tamping.
 
Ianhill said:
That's looking good, I think it's the simplest option you had on the table and should be the most robust, How's the ride coping most of my builds have hit a wall so I've been taking many steps back and I've wasted some cash lately but there we are that's life, glad I still got one my rides working or I be tamping.

Hi Ian!

The Currie is still some what take apart and unridable right now. This switch cluster might just become "standard" for all my builds from now on. I can't imagine needing more than this number of switches on an EV.

How's the A2B doing?
 
It's doing well, still at slow speeds so I can match the top speed peddling, I've got a plan to push the chainset up in size and swap the cranks out to get me upto 30 mph peddling and run it off 48v it don't sound much but when I'm climbing my local mountain I leave the lycra lovers for dust even at 36v 40amp it climbs anything.

Don't worry I've not gone sensible Im thrown all my crap out and building a 29er bike that's gonna be focused in high speed only, I've worked the gearing out and found cheap enough parts to get one to 60mph and still be able to peddle along, single speed motor and single speed peddling so it will take off like a rocket with an 8kw motor, sourced that too.

How's the move gone fella I left you be as I thought you be upto your eye balls with it, I got my op next week to sort all this health shit out so I'll keep in touch over time.
 
Ianhill said:
It's doing well, still at slow speeds so I can match the top speed peddling, I've got a plan to push the chainset up in size and swap the cranks out to get me upto 30 mph peddling and run it off 48v it don't sound much but when I'm climbing my local mountain I leave the lycra lovers for dust even at 36v 40amp it climbs anything.

Don't worry I've not gone sensible Im thrown all my crap out and building a 29er bike that's gonna be focused in high speed only, I've worked the gearing out and found cheap enough parts to get one to 60mph and still be able to peddle along, single speed motor and single speed peddling so it will take off like a rocket with an 8kw motor, sourced that too.

How's the move gone fella I left you be as I thought you be upto your eye balls with it, I got my op next week to sort all this health shit out so I'll keep in touch over time.

Geez...8kw on bike...yeah it will be fast! Midrive or hub? What motor?

There's still boxes everywhere that need to be unpacked, but it's coming along.
 
Mountain bike rigid rear end frame, motor mounted above the wheel in behind the seat with a dual chain setup to the rear, Motor direct to hub no freewheel with regen on #219 chain and sprocket using a lmx motor 3kw nominal and 10kw peaks looks just like a big block to me not sure on kv of it, I'll be peddling on a massive front sprocket 60t and either a single speed rear or a 10×cassette depends on the hub prices a single speed disc 36h rear hub is bucks vs the mtb version.

Depending on the wheels, gearing, volts and amps used the top speed will change obviously but with a 29er mtb that setup would pedal comfortably at 55-60mph and could get there with 8kw 20s range I believe, I could take it down the UK motorway and overtake lorry's it be fast enough, not that I got a death wish to do that mind.

Glad you got some where nice the house looks smart you can hopefully get your mind back in on the game.
 
Ianhill said:
Mountain bike rigid rear end frame, motor mounted above the wheel in behind the seat with a dual chain setup to the rear, Motor direct to hub no freewheel with regen on #219 chain and sprocket using a lmx motor 3kw nominal and 10kw peaks looks just like a big block to me not sure on kv of it, I'll be peddling on a massive front sprocket 60t and either a single speed rear or a 10×cassette depends on the hub prices a single speed disc 36h rear hub is bucks vs the mtb version.

Depending on the wheels, gearing, volts and amps used the top speed will change obviously but with a 29er mtb that setup would pedal comfortably at 55-60mph and could get there with 8kw 20s range I believe, I could take it down the UK motorway and overtake lorry's it be fast enough, not that I got a death wish to do that mind.

Glad you got some where nice the house looks smart you can hopefully get your mind back in on the game.

It looks like they milled off the face of the HLD inrunner. Yeah...I'd say that's an HLD motor for sure! Well cool! When will we start seeing a bike? 60mph with that motor is not a problem. That's what I get out of mine on a 100 pound moped.
 
Be a while yet it's on the drawing board at the moment, I got a lot of projects around me half I'm gonna throw out and get some space back.

Op this week so I'll be quiet myself for a while.
 
Ianhill said:
Be a while yet it's on the drawing board at the moment, I got a lot of projects around me half I'm gonna throw out and get some space back.

Op this week so I'll be quiet myself for a while.

I found a couple of local EV groups yesterday. Both have events this weekend...I think I'll go check them out. It would be cool to find locals that build that I can hang with.

I'll have to get the XB-502 going again. It just needs the throttle wired back in to be useable.
 
Moving sucks...had to move again and finally getting set up. I think this is a keeper this time...stay looong term. Time to get this EV back together and using the new switch cluster and other details. I've been in the new place 26 days now and already back to doing EV stuff again.
 
fechter said:
Where did you move to?

Just a few miles away...just moving twice in less than 6 months is highly disruptive to getting anything done. I was just getting set up again when I was packing it all up to move.
 
Back
Top