Animalector's Ebike Builds

[Animalector]

that was just a guess. some will be more, but none I think will be less.. have a look a bit further up on page 8.. the downtube bracket system consisting of 2.5mm plates was quoted locally $190AUD. I found an overseas cutter who is cutting those parts plus torque arms for $88AUD delivered. in stainless..

Meh back to work.

 

[Alan B]

Nice job on the Greyborg!

 

[Animalector]

Thanks. You set a high standard with yours. . Need to find more time to ride it now.

 

[Animalector]

Finally tightened up the front brake mount, It feels "solid" and as I eluded to previously significantly improves the braking performance..

Now that the Front E-Brake is connected I could finally set up the cruise control. At the moment, the rear e-brake switch is connected directly to the controller for regenerative braking. With this setup it is very easy to lock the rear by squeezing the lever firmly but not excessively. What I might do is reprogram the regen for "low" to which will allow better feel braking modulation.

The front E-brake switch is hooked up to the CAV3. This acts as throttle cut-off and cruise control cut off. With a (reasonably) high powered bike, the cruise control feature is absolutely fantastic. previously I would get a sore hand having to continuously tweak the throttle position to maintain a steady speed, now after 4 seconds it holds the speed automatically, and economy and comfort are dramatically improved.

I just got a voucher for my birthday so I'll be heading off to the Electronics store to get some go-pro mounts (handle bar and chest mount) and then I'll be able to get some good vids.

Just a reminder this is still for sale.. see the link.

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=58246&p=905592#p905592

Ta

Andy

 

[Animalector]

Well possibly one of my last posts for the Grey borg. I have a buyer. A local Melbourne guy so I might even see it cruising around the streets. So... I wired up my lights today. There are wired straight to VBat after the circuit breaker. And are designed for up to 80V input. However. I took it for a short ride up the street and with the lights on when enabling regen. The controller resets. No throttle response. I turned the bike off and back on. All good. Full power. But regen again and same issue.

So. I think there is a switching regulator in the lights that is spewing HF noise and under regen conditions the controller ecu is reset. Tomorrow I will try again with the lights off. I expect no odd behavior with the lights off . It's been flawless the whole time until this.

So thinking that it could be just a matter of unplugging regen for night rides? Or scrap the lights on the main pack and get a supplementary battery for them
Thoughts?
Andy

 

[Animalector]

Ok well, just as an update. Anyone buying cheap Dealextreme 80V capable LED headlights be warned that these may reset your COntroller when using regen. solution. no regen at night. seems to be reliable.. alternative is to run off a totally isolated battery pack (small lipo pack or something)

Quick summary about the Tektro Brakes. This saga has been ongoing (and is still ongoing) I group ordered a batch. anyone who ordered Left and right sets ended up with right levers on rear (cable length) brake sets, and left levers on fronts.. so those that had 1 of each were ok because they could just swap. However I got a single rear (right lever), and another member bought 3 spare rears (all rights). That's part 1 of the saga.

Rather than shipping them back, we both (myself and the other ES member) decided to buy matching Left lever sets so we could have pairs, then just swap the levers around and sell the spare matching sets on the forum or ebay. I ended up with the correct order. THe other guy was sent a bunch of right levers again.. so now he had 6 spare right levers and no way to use them..

Ok, so in between this there were delays due to manufacturing errors being picked up at QC, so delay after delay. The final resolution is that they are sending the other guy his complete original 'correct' order, and will reimburse him to send the current sets he has to Tektro Australia.. However the order was shipped only last week (I think not yet received) so, Kudos to the other guy for his patience and confidence that we'll get it sorted.

Now... THe plus side is that the brakes are truly awesome. on a big heavy greyborg they pull the beast up like any moto brakes I have used.... and the front switch I had set up as CA cruise control disable, and the rear direct to the controller for rear regen, so the combination of front and rear E-brake switch was a BIG plus to the control of the bike.
I think overall if Tektro and get their Sh1t together, they will be able to deliver good stuff.. However caution... Expect possible delays.

Ok, Greyborg is now officially sold.. Goneskie.....

Andy

 

[Animalector]

Ok well someone once said

"it's not about the destination, but the journey"

NFI who it was but whatever. In that spirit, I have already purchased a blue Avanti D8 for a new build. I don't know why I just said a Blue Avanti D8 maybe that's my wife in my ear who's only question was "what colour is it".

Anyway, the plan is to couple it with this: (which might look familiar to some)

I haven't really researched to see if it's compatible yet. it should fit.. (maybe???) I'll measure when I get the bike, but Dmitrii had the GNG450W on his D8 so should work
I figure even in granny gear, 750 W should be able to flip this bike.
so Torque.. check,
light weight.. check,
handling characteristics like a DH bike.. hmm we'll see
able to take the front and rear wheels off to put in the back of the car.. check....
stealthy. hmm more so than the greyborg... check.
Something different to build... check.

Ticks most of the boxes.. so let's see what happens. if it isn't enough power I'll get a lightning rods mid-drive. simple.

Andy

 

[Animalector]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ GONE!!!!!

Parts on their way......

Andy

 

[Hyena]

Congrats on the sale, it's often hard to sell a specialized/customized bike like that.
Interesting comments about the regen and that headlight, I've used a few similar ones and never had any issues. I normally use the 4 LED ones though not the triples like you had.
I've got a new projector style one arriving any day for testing so it'll be interesting to see if it does it.

Also, you don't know how close you came to missing out on that avanti I very nearly bought it but decided against it as I've already got more bikes and even more unfinished projects that I can't ride even if I clone myself :lol:
I hope you're happy with the bafang after stepping down from a big DD hub. So far I haven't been impressed by any of the mid drives.

Urggh, that business with tektro sounds like a nightmare! Your comments about the brake performance is interesting, have you used any better brakes you can compare them with ? I seems unlikely they could be comparable to any sort of motorcycle brakes, unless you're comparing them to cheap and nasty baby pit bikes brakes ? It's hard to imagine them pulling up better than something like this and with a big 9-10" moto disc warping rotors would be a thing of the past

 

[Animalector]

Well my most recent comparison was the pit bike brakes that came with the forks. But I have ridden an old dr650 and rmx250 2 stroke and although it had been a while actual stopping performance of the tektros reminded me of that feel. My old downhill bike had high end avids and while the bike was lighter. I could draw parallels between brake feel. No metrics to support my statement. Just that the feel was impressive from the tektros for a big heavy bike.

I jumped on that d8 probably aday after it was advertised. And have had it "on hold" until now. So you would have had to be quick. I rode full-throttles 450w gng avanti d8 with and war impressed mainly by the weight of the bike and how "stock" it felt like a MTB. That is why I an giving this a go. Not so much about raw power but what I can use on a downhill track.

This is what I used to ride.

[youtube]uJ7r-Yu_kv8[/youtube]

I want to get back out there. Just couldn't do it with the Borg. That is me riding too...
Andy

 

[Samd]

There seems to be a few D8's changing hands atm, a good thing to see them used.

Have you pulled the pin on the BBS? I rode several 750's on a recent EV gathering at RMIT and they were a bit, um, soggy. My bafang rear at 63V 35A was a hoot in comparison and drew the attention of a few BBS owners.
My wife's kiddie hauler has a BBS02 500w 48V and its ok for hauling kids. I've fitted a BBS01 350W and a 250W bbs for commuter customers. Nice for that application.

Have you considered a big block kit from lightning rods? That rickshaw motor seems to be the new sh*t. Adam Mercier is running his direct drive and spends more time on the rear wheel than both.

Or even just a stock new generation GNG with chain primary drive?

 

[Animalector]

Yep. Paid for. Should be shipped today. If it is.. Soggy.. I'll on sell it and go for lightning rods kit. Its worth the 450usd to give it a go. I can always spend more money later. The other thing that drove me to the bbs02 over the 650w gng was the noise factor. I read that the gng was noisy noisy noisy...
Time will tell.
I will document my findings / feelings as I go.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Hyena]

Well my most recent comparison was the pit bike brakes that came with the forks. But I have ridden an old dr650 and rmx250 2 stroke and although it had been a while actual stopping performance of the tektros reminded me of that feel.

Fair enough. I have a cheap pit bike and the brakes are pretty aweful but the lines are probably full of air and water by now.
My madass however weighs probably twice that of an average heavy ebike and stops like nobody's business. Braking from sensible speeds on a heavy ebike with bicycle brakes is fine but when you're doing 80km/hr and have to stop promptly they're largely inadequate. A single hard braking incident from 60km/hr saw shimano saint calipers warp my 9" rotors. Hence why I'm thinking thicker moto discs and suitable calipers are probably worth the extra kg or so for braking confidence.

I jumped on that d8 probably aday after it was advertised. And have had it "on hold" until now. So you would have had to be quick.

I'm fairly quick I'm not far up the road from voicecoils and see/speak to him a fair bit :wink:

I rode full-throttles 450w gng avanti d8 with and war impressed mainly by the weight of the bike and how "stock" it felt like a MTB. That is why I an giving this a go. Not so much about raw power but what I can use on a downhill track.

I rode it too and remember thinking "is that all?" But I wasn't looking at it from an aerial acrobatics point of view. I rarely leave the ground so I prefer a heap of power pushing me along but if you want it for downhill then yeah, the borg ain't the right tool for the job. I guess if you're primarily looking to use it for downhill you'll only really use the power in low gears for climbing back up ?

 

[Samd]

I'd be interested on your take on it for sure. Sounds like HVC on the controller is 61 volts, so you can run 15s partially charged, or 14s.

I found with my aprilias that the final pinion before the inrunner motor naturally copped all the torque transferred back thru the drive train. It copped it all. The bbs has spares available, but at some point that pinion is only going to be capable of less than the larger metallic pinion of the GNG Bigblock's primary.

Although if you skip the reduction altogether and ditch the pedals, the sky seems to be the limit with the rickshaw unit.

I think crossbreak has a new design ditching the GNG reduction altogether, and using the pivot of the swingarm as an axle for the reduction stage.

Lots of people programming BBS units, one guy claims to wheelie. I am not sure what state Kepler's was in the day I rode his as it was some time ago - it wasn't too bad. He challenged me to a ride up Lysterfield, but that isn't my home riding style. If you live near places that are more vertical than horizontal I am sure its a great solution. I'm an urban freeride and singletrack kinda guy/wannabe.

 

[Animalector]

Yeah. Granny gearing back up the hills is the objective and enjoying the down without power. But also to and from work commutes. I bought the kit from jason at conhismotor with their Samsung 18650 pack. All up with spare throttle and charger it was a neat 1000usd delivered.. He double confirmed that the new 9fet 25A bbs02 is the one I'll get.

I'll look into crossbreaks thread. Sounds interesting.

Andy

 

[Samd]

Here's one based on the rickshaw big block. People are starting to call it "bigblock alternative" as it has half the kV rating of the bigblock, about 32 rpm per volt I think.
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=57483&start=150
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=58313&start=25

Mercier's videos of the latest build are certainly impressive.
https://www.facebook.com/LMXbikes

 

[Animalector]

yes I've been watching the LMX build with keen interest. I wonder how the LMX will handle long uphills hill climbs?? interesting.?? Looks awesome for tight technical single trail and BMX tracks but cross country with long uphill stints? hmm dunno...and that's where the D8 BBS02 will shine... hopefully.

Anyways enough speculation, everything ordered and on it's way. give me a week or two and I'll post some ride impressions.. (maybe 3 or 4.. weeks..)

Andy

 

[Animalector]

so I need one of these. it's a inner sleeve / tube / precision hollow shaft.

obviously this one is a bit stuffed. with the bearing surfaces quite worn.
ANy ideas where to get one? it's 10mm OD, 6.3mm (maybe 6mm nominal ID) and 40mm long.

no way bunnings have it, and cannot find anything like it on ebay. don't really know what to search for?

Help?

THanks
Andy

 

[full-throttle]

I've used a case-hardened steel rod. Might still have some left.. Will have a look.

 

[Animalector]

Cheers mate that would be awesome. Otherwise a steel shop hey

 

[Animalector]

well shit... oh well I guess without getting the motor in hand how was I to know.

The good news is I got a new BBS02 750W 25A from Conhismotor, well packed / double boxed, battery module well packed in foam, BBS02 contained within a third box with moulded foam. So excellent work from Jason at Conhismotor.

The Bad news is it doesn't fit the D8.






So. might sell off the D8 and pick up another doner bike. The D8 will come with replaced shock bushes and some new bearing hardware (once that's done). and new chain, etc so it will be pedal-able.

Back to the drawing board.


Andy

 

[Samd]

Holy crap. How much clearance do you need? Looks like just a few mm.

I'm about to cut up and weld in a battery box for a customer who also has a d8 - should have one here this week. Sing out if you want the frame tweaked if its just a few mm.

 

[Animalector]

it would require relocating the shock mount OR hacking into the down tube. neither of which is a good outcome. I'll just get another doner bike for around the same money and go again, I'm not particularly attached to the D8.. anyone want a D8? Maybe I will advertise. just have to get this bearing tube back in so the new owner has a linkages with no slack.. :lol:

 

[full-throttle]

You should try the BBS02 on a different bike before selling the D8. Chances are you won't like the former..

 

[Animalector]

hahaha. yeah so I have been told... I was tossing up at the start between the ligthningrods GNG kit or the BBS02. and I just couldn't justify all the $$$$ for LR kit.. plus controller plus CA etc. so this is it. I "could" go another cheapy hub build but that defeats the purpose of an electric uphill / downhill bike..

Andy