All dogmans Ebikes , 2008-2011

[dogman dan]

Got to thinking it would be cool to show the progression over two years. So more or less in the order I rode em.

First build. Schwinn meridian trike- Wilderness energy BD36. 36v SLA batteries

Second build, Mongoose wallmart special with BD36. Ping v1 36v 20 ah battery Got a waterbottle stuck in the front wheel of this one, flipped it and broke both collarbones. Still hurts everyday two years later.

Variation on 1st build. Trike with 800 watt generator charging sla's. Too heavy, 100 extra pounds really slow.

Third build Aotema kit from High Tech bikes. 36v ping. 56 tooth crank added to wallbike allows pedaling at full speed

Fourth build, pic unavaliable. Heinzmann 24v rear gearmotor. Quicksilver Yakota hardtail MTB Lasted 30 min. Shoulda used the temp sensor to cut off overheat. Nice while it lasted, great dirtbike

Fifth bike, pic unavaliable. EV Global pre built, Heinzmann 24v rear gearmotor. This time run at 24, nice dirt bike, but loud and horrible range on two slas.

Sixth bike, fifth build. Fuji blaster 24" mtb with rear 5304. front 26" wheel added. Watt hog, but tried to run it on 20 amp controller as dirtbike with 48v 8 ah nicads. Sorta nice while it lasted but it killed the nicads. Never had a good tire for it so the rear wheel always felt like it was just about running on the bare rim. Untill I got some batteries mounted forward it made a nice wheelie bike though.

 

[dogman dan]

Sixth build. Schwinn meridian trike converted to beach cruiser. WE BD36 motor. 48v 8 ah nicads. Very nice bike despite the primitive brushed hub that by this time had 2000 miles on it. Very low seat makes it feel nice in a corner, but don't pedal through the corner, you'll drag a pedal and bend the crank. Coudn't ride it too far, no suspension kills my back after 10 miles.

7th build. Vintage Mongoose IBOX. Fusin 36v gearmotor kit. 36v ping. One of the better bikes of them all. Slightly better mongoose than the 56 tooth commuter, The 15 amp controller limited power some, but it could climb a hill slowly so it made a decent dirt bike too. Front hub limited dirt performance, but still far from the worst of my attempts at a dirt bike. Could ride at least 1.5 to 2 hours on the ping. Good commuter too, so nearly a do everything bike.

8th build, well not really a true build. Same wallbike with an E-Bikekit on it. 36v ping. Small panniers have been added to carry the 48v nicads for longer rides. First use of diagonal bracing on axxiom pannier rack.

9th build, or bike, whatever. The mongoose gets the Ebikekit, and new panniers on Axxion rack. Turned out to be a bad bike choice for the panniers. The extra weight on this bike made the tail wag like a dog when fully loaded with 2 pings. Strong dropouts, but the front part of the swingarm not so strong. 48v 15 ah ping added to battery stable. View attachment 1

10th build. 2005 Giant DS3 gets the ebike kit and panniers. This time I got it right. First decent frame since the EVG. Nice suspension, but first install on alloy suspension forks. Much filing to get the dropouts deeper, and to get the right distance so the axle nuts don't pinch in too much and make the fork bind. Worth the effort though, real sweet ride even when carrying two big pingbatteries and a gallon of water in the panniers.

 

[dogman dan]

11th build. The 56 tooth commuter mongoose frame becomes the first Ebike to seriously run in the Spooky Tooth Death Race. Well not that serious, but I did make the main event heat. 48v ping powering the well worn Aotema front hub. No brakes really, the bike is so worn out that applying the rear brakes makes the frame bend instead of pushing on the rim. By the end of the racing, the front brakes had begun to do the same thing. Finally, after about 6000 miles this trash bike goes into the trashcan. Of course not really, sorta historic now, the frame hangs on the fence in my bike junkyard.

12th build Fusin 48v gearmotor kit. no pic I ran this on the 56 tooth mongoose for a few weeks, but no brakes( see build 12) in town is no good. Looking for another good replacement for a bike to run motor tests with. I did come up with another identical mongoose, and ran this bike in a motor meltoff on a huge hill in 110F weather. It melted. No pic of that either.

13th build. 5304 24" rim rear motor on the IBOX mongoose. Rode it around the block once and remembered why I hated this setup. 24" rear 26 " front. It just messes up the frame geometry too much, and the new taller suspension fork made it even worse. And the cheap 24' tire is just all wrong for that motor. View attachment 1

14 th build. 9 continent 6x10 rear hub on the IBOX mongoose. 48v 15 ah ping. Finally a fairly decent riding dirt bike. A nicer bike would be better, but this motor is the right one for a budget dirt rider not requiring a fortune for high discharge batteries. Nice hill performance, able to ride singletrack trails without killing your battery or getting overly hot. This one will get real interesting when the lipo arrives in a few weeks.

15th build. in progress. Death race practice bike. Vintage Yakota Quicksilver MTB. Will run with Lyens 72v sensorless controller and 20s lipo battery.

 

[dogman dan]

Build 15 Here is the race bike, completed and ready to ride in the Spooky Tooth un death race, halloween 2010.

It ended up running 24s, 100v hot off the charger. Lyens 12 fet sensored high volt controller. 9 continent 2807 front hub. 3200 watts seen on the CA. It weighs exactly 70 pounds with battery, so it will qualify to enter the worlds challenge this summer, if I can afford to show up.


Build 16 , a dirt bike. Mongoose blackcomb frame, upgraded forks to rockshocks dart. 2810, Rear 9 continent direct drive motor from the previous dirtbike plus 72v 15 ah lipo. Took it out and melted the motor, but it was repairable. Thereafter, it ran on 48v 20 ah lipo.

Build 17, a street commuter, but can do dirt roads if it must. Another mongoose blackcomb frame. Rear carry battery so it doesn't handle as well as build 16, but more comfortable to pedal a long distance. Beach cruiser tires to soften ride and make dirt riding on easy trails possible. Panniers for grocery getting. In this photo, there is a second silver controller for an experiment with 72v, but normally the 9 c 2810 rear motor runs on the stock infineon 48v 20 amp controller. View attachment 3

Build 18. 5 speed beach cruiser, 72v 20 amp lyens 9 fet controller, and 20s lipo. Whee! no brakes to speak of at 35 mph but a fun bike that can really lean into a turn. At this time, the bike now has the trusty ol aotema motor and 20 amp controller. Much more sane to ride with 10s lipo. Excellent for the short blast down to the flea market or nearby McDonalds. Otherwise too short range to be real usefull. Could carry more battey easy, but only so much fits in the little lunchbag in the frame.

Build 19. Really just modifications to build 16. Motor is now 9 continent 2812. Controller is either lyens 9 fet 20 amp, or 12 fet 40 amp. Fun on the 12 fet, but nicely efficient on the 9 fet. 20s 10 ah lipo battery in the front box that was once on the race bike. Man, can this bike really climb a hill. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfwdkfNZ7RQ Unquestionably my favorite ebike build yet. 25 mph top speed, but it will really climb!

Build 20. One of the most fun to build. A frankenbike longtail. 9 continent 2810 rear direct drive motor. Controller is the Aotema 48v 20 amp. Front half is an old Currie USPD ebike frame, welded to half of a wierd old Wallbike type steel FS frame. Front forks are pure wallbike. Viola! a Full Suspension longtail cargo bike. Pingbattery can fit in the frame box, or carry all the battery you could ever want in the saddlebags or toolbox. For a long expedition, more panniers can fit the huge cargo beam. This bike handles a crappy washboard dirt road suprisingly well, and can comfortably carry a large load on the cargo beam. Wish I could take a summer off, and ride this bike across the continent.

 

[dingoEsride]

That giant build of yours looks like a DS/3 not a OS3 (sounds like my OS X computer)cause I have the DS/2 not a bad handler but little space for battery in frame, your 15 build mongoose looks like it'll do the all rounder alright

Cheers mark

 

[dogman dan]

The way it's printed on the frame it's very hard to tell if it's a DS or OS. But it matched OS3 on the web when I researched it, unless I read it wrong there too.

The same frame with much better components might be a DS model. It has the suspension travel to be a DH bike, 5.5' rear. No telling if I have the stock fork on it, but I bet it isn't. So maybe it is the DS model, with all the good DS components stripped off it. Who knows with a used bike. Just hope nobody goes, Hey! that's my ripped off bike!

The motor is working so well on #14, it's waaaaay temping to strap it on to my Specialized FRS. But on a cool summer morning, I still want to be able to pedal it, and take it up to the stone staircases in the mountians 6 miles from home. Sweeeeet suspension on the specialized.

 

[Drunkskunk]

No Build #13?

Thats an impressive collection of bikes

 

[thewmatusmoloki]

You really love your ebikes alright dogman.
Impressive collection.

May I ask if that is a horn on the handlebars of build #9 ?
It looks like it might be chrome plated, is it electric ?

Matt

 

[drewdiller]

Hey dogman, do you know for a fact if your collarbones ever healed together?

I lived through 18 months and several doctors insisting that I didn't have a broken collarbone. This was after a dislocation injury, I still thought something was wrong after I was supposedly healed up.

I'm missing 3/4" off the end of my right clavicle now, and my tendons are held to the end with a titanium screw and some gore tex. It still hurts with certain movements, but thankfully holding a bike handlebar does not hurt.

 

[dogman dan]

Oops on #13 Wierd that I happened to miss that one.

The commuter bikes usually sport a horn. Little honker with a squeeze bulb. Used to let walkers on the bike trail know I'm coming at 25 mph. Once they get to know me, and the sound, they clear the path FAST when they hear me. After a few times, they stop blocking the path walking three abreast alltogether. I usually stop to chat with any newbies that get startled by it.

The collarbones did heal, but there was lots of good damage to the ligaments and stuff. I rarely pop the shoulders out of socket anymore, but usually if they hurt, it's just a front going through, or I was swinging a sledgehammer, log splitter, pickaxe, etc. And I subbornly refuse all painkillers. On the right shoulder the bones healed much better since they screwed it all together with a nice piece of titanium. But on that side, all the ligaments were seperated 100% 16 years ago, so that shoulder is no better than it's been for years. The left side healed shitty, despite my best efforts to keep resetting it 20 times a day. Got the huge bump on that side, and that spot seems to be the weather sensitive one. On the left side, it seemed pretty bendy even a year later.

 

[dingoEsride]

11th build. The 56 tooth commuter mongoose frame becomes the first Ebike to seriously run in the Spooky Tooth Death Race. Well not that serious, but I did make the main event heat. 48v ping powering the well worn Aotema front hub. No brakes really, the bike is so worn out that applying the

Just keep hearing about this Spooky Tooth Death race, has it been held and did you get the right bike for the event, would love to see video's or pic's

 

[dogman dan]

Hunt down in the Ebikes General section for threads about racing, spooky tooth, or death race.

There is some helmet cam video from me in those threads. On You tube, search spooky tooth death race, or go to the Spooky Tooth cycles site for links, the winners helmet video is from Fairracing 31. Mine is from Titonrow. Thanks for the video support Titonrow!

Very fun go cart track. Spooky tooth cycles has been staging this Death Race for gasoline powered bicycles for years, and in the last few years moved it onto a nice track in Tucson AZ. Last year they also raced on two other dates, october and january.

I showed up with a very slow 30 mph 48v commuter setup, but was generously allowed in the main event anyway. To my suprise I was not dead last in a field of 30, at least one or two riders I actually beat without them crashing out! :lol: Might have made that one guy just want to be behind me.

More fun than a barrel of monkeys on shrooms. The real competition is very stiff, you'll see when you look at how fast Fairracing 31 is. The gas bikes are awesome. Some race, some just ride practice laps, some are sculptures on display. Not to be missed if you live within 700 miles. I'm working on learning to lipo, so I can at least come in the top ten next time. Or even just not lapped would be progress.

 

[dingoEsride]

looks like a lotta fun unfortunately i'm about 1/3 way round the world from US, thanks for the info, i'll look into it
cheers

 

[kartopla]

I don't share too many of my projects on this forum. I probably should. I'm just lazy. I will say that I've stayed away from hub motors to this point because I see them as cheating. I need to really suffer a lot and build non-hub motor drives that are bulky and usually ugly with welds all over and chains spinning at harms way. Maybe I'm just an idiot. Anyways, try your hand at buiding a non-hub drive and see how much blood will drip on the worshop floor. How many black nails, angle grinder finger contacts, welding flash, burns, hurt back etc. I have never gotten hurt while riding like you did which I'm sorry about, but I've gotten hurt while building the damn things. I tend to use a hack saw for everything. Maybe I shoudn't be so cheap and purchase a band say. :wink:

Greg.

 

[will_newton]

Dogman, maybe there should be a thread following the life of your BD36. I bought D-man's motor a while back and it has been great.

I was in my number 1 and I've reworked it, simplified connections, gauged up the wiring, and new brushes for bike #3. I just installed it today in my xtracycle commuter!

 

[tritonwow]

... Mine is from Titonrow. Thanks for the video support Titonrow!...

Dman,
I'm working on your replacement disc. I ate it earlier this week on my ICE Diamondback and broke my left clavicle and scapula and bruised several ribs. I get the clavicle pinned/plated this week. Painkillers make me nauseous and sleepy so I get to the video work a bit at a time (plus I'm left handed so typing/mouse manipulation is challenging!)
Triton

PS nice bikes BTW. I wish I'd be able to get to the Jul bike race or next year's Death race but I doubt it will happen. They are two places work usually doesn't send me.

 

[dogman dan]

AWW CRAP! Well, welcome to the metal collarbone club. At least you didn't do the double like I did. Doing both more than doubled the recovery time. The simplest things got real hard with both. Right at the start of summer riding season too.

One nice thing I found, riding the bike was about the only thing I could do that didn't hurt right afterward. Any kind of pulling or lifting a weight, owwww. But leaning into handlebars was actually comfy. So you'll be back on the bike soon. I was riding again before my surgery since I had to wait a month for my metal. What was I going to do? break it more?

 

[dogman dan]

Cool that that original BD36 is still kicking. Now I sorta wish I'd kept it for a museum peice. I do still have the first motor I smoked though, so it would do if the smithsoninan ever wants it. :lol: My original ping might be a museum peice someday too. Not the first one bought, but it's a pretty early model for sure.

 

[wardjewell]

I am new to the forum and have been doing a lot of reading of old posts in the past week. I am very interested in your experience with the Wilderness BD36 and Ping battery. My wife rides a Sun recumbent trike with a BD 36 and 12 Ah SLA batteries. She wants to switch to lithium to save weight. The 12 Ah SLAs make it through most rides that we do, and she never uses the full speed of the BD36, so I'm looking at the 36V 10 Ah or 15 Ah Pings to get the biggest weight savings. But with the 35 A Wilderness controller, and with the different discharge characteristics of LiFePo4, I don't know how much the Pings will slow her down, and possibly reduce (or increase) her range. Any thoughts you have on this will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[dogman dan]

With the brushed hub, I'd recomend the 20 ah 36v battery. Or if you want more speed, the 48v 15 ah. A 10 ah ping is pretty small to use with a 35 amp controller. The brushed hub wastes a bit of power, so it has a higher amp controller to make up for it.

The main thing you will find if you switch to lithium is that the bike speed willl not drop so fast along the way as before, and since you need a 20 ah, your range will go to about 20-25 miles. It won't be noticeably faster than fresh charged sla's, but it will ride that same speed for at least 15 miles before slowing any.

It seems like a lot of money to pay, but it's worth it to switch to lithium. Sla you have to be sure to charge right away, lithium can wait till you get home at the end of the day. And losing about 15 pounds of weight from the bike helps a lot too.

 

[wardjewell]

Thanks very much for the response. I also so your posts in the V is for Voltage forum on the same topic. It's all very helpful. I just ordered the 36 V 20 Ah Ping.

I see that you have bikes with both front and rear hub motors. Do you have a preference? I'm getting ready to build an electric for myself and I'm trying to decide. Thanks!

 

[dogman dan]

At this point I'm liking front on asphalt, and rear on dirt. I've learned how to mount a front hub safely on alloy hubs, but it is not for newbies. So if you have alloy suspension forks, you should go for rear.

 

[toaroa]

Dogman,
This thread is one helluva magnum opus in ebike terms!
But... as somebody running in his first build and already spotting the conceptual errors in his ways... it's also scary! Thing is, I could easily see myself doing 13 builds and still not feeling like it's quite right.
All the best, Toa.

 

[oatnet]

Dogman nice build log! I wish I had kept a record like yours.

-JD

 

[dogman dan]

Here's the race bike completed. Don't worry, I'm just a dang Virgo who can't leave anything alone for long. You won't have such a big problem unless you're one too.