Back in the Saddle: Going to California: 2011

[Kingfish]

Thursday June 30th

Today I focused exclusively on the integration of the DC-DC converter with the new cable harness and the new lighting system, with the keylock switch. This was really tedious work and taking far longer than I had anticipated. The short story is that my smoke test tonight produced no-smoke! Ebrake works as do the Blinkies.

For clarity, allow me to point to another thread to give you a flavor of the concept: Advancing the state of Ebike Electrical Wiring

I have modified the schematic yet a bit more from this thread.

Mainly the big difference is that I decided to keep the isolated grounds for the +3.3V and +12V systems, although they share the same ground, and I added the trailer information. This site was useful in helping me select the common wire colors for the trailer cable.

I also drew out a wiring diagram for Da Black Box, then printed both of these out to have at my feet so I wouldn’t waste time going back and forth to the computer.

Then I built it.

This will really clean up that rats-nest of wiring behind the faring. Da Black Box integrates the keylock switch, DC-DC converter, Flasher, Brake relay, and line capacitance. (Note: I haven't finished it just yet).

What’s left:
Well, in terms of electrical I still need to integrate the headlights and signals to the Motorcycle control (I’ve been calling it the “multiswitch” since it has three separate switches in one unit). That shouldn’t take long at all. Then I can slap the trailer back together and run it over to the Machinist to get the cross-brace made, and maybe take a look at the front wheel. I know where I can snag more shims; Redmond Cycle had a bag of eight and I bought two, so worst comes to shove I could shim the bugger myself. I mean at this point that is the killer diller; you just cain’t go down a road without front brakes! And I hates that metal-to-metal scraping sound – reminds me of someone dragging a shovel on a concrete sidewalk.

Anyways – I am pretty pleased that other than the front brake – there are no gigantic issues so far, other than taking a long time to get this sorted. But I have five weeks and there is still plenty of time to do the trip.

Time for some dinner and a movie.
Optimistic, KF

 

[Lyen]

Hi Kingfish,

Here are some of the suggestions for your trip:
1. Redundancy on the weakest link(s)
2. Ability to bypass things such as BMS just in case of BMS failures or emergency low voltage operation
3. Use commonly use connectors for batteries & other power related components, this way we can offer you backup without redoing the connections
4. Check out http://gatheringpoint.com/ > bike routes. It be may not be related but pretty cool.
5. Ebike "tow cable" that can be hook up to both the front & back so you can help tow someone or someone can tow you from his ebike
6. Ask for phone numbers of friends and ES members you will meet
7. Raincoat
8. Thin but big piece of plastic sheet to cover your ebike in case of rain. You may get it from Home Depot in the paint section
9. Lots of chocolate & energy bars in case man power is the only power source
10. Radio/music player with speaker to keep you entertain while on the road and to prevent you from getting stuck in traffic during the 4th of July holiday weekend

Just my 2 cents. :wink:

Lyen

 

[dnmun]

avoid the july 4th weekend, those guys in cars are drunker and more of them than most other times of the year.

i am in portland, will pm you my contacts and will try to provide sag service if you need it. maybe all the others along your route will add to your list of contacts.

i have a honda wagon too so i can carry your entire rig if needed. BOL, dm

 

[dbaker]

Just went through your bike & trailer threads. Epic I really enjoyed following the trip last year and your technology this year is amazing I wish you the best weather and fortune for the trip

 

[Kingfish]

Thanks guys - much appreciated! DnMun, I sent you a reply

Quick update: Making progress. I tested the 3-Way Speed; Freewheel details below...

• Default (SP2) @ 120% = 48.4 mph
• Low (SP1) @ 115% = 46.0 mph
• Hi (SP3) @ 110% = 45.9 mph

These have since been reset to 75% (default; cop-away), 100%, and 120%, though I might tweak the first two down a bit more. Made no other programming changes to the Primary controller. Mounted the turn indicators and brake lights on the bike only. This sets me up to complete the last of the ebike wiring.

Bustin' a move to get out the door by Noonish and head over to the Machinist for one/two final parts/mods. Then I'm off to go shim the funky front hub.

Not looking good for Saturday; likely leave Sunday now.

Antzy, KF

 

[HumboldtRc]

I was just listening to a song I like, and I thought I would be a perfect theam song for your journey.

Paper Tongues Ride to California

[youtube]xiUwt5u86M8[/youtube]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCzFYU17Soo

Well I guess none of the YouTube videos work....

 

[Kingfish]

Friday Night July 1st Brief Status

Finished getting all the electricals wired up with exception to the trailer cabling from the ebike. Signals work, and the little flasher unit is loud enough that I can hear it through the helmet; clean and crisp. Headlights work; there is no hi-beam ~ perhaps in the future I could use that to fire the plasma canon or enage Cop-Away (patent-pending) . When I turn the keyswitch the Blinkies and Taillight are lit which is how I want it.

The downside is that my brake light does not work; the LED will illuminate with voltage, thus the light is functioning, however the relay circuit is not. That relay is a delicate device; I have a spare but methinks that the eBrake circuit of the Controller is not pulling enough current to initiate the relay. The brake light is not critical, however I am keen on discovering a viable solution if someone has some ideas how to make a go of it.

I waited too long to get back to the Machinist and he was short three people today and couldn’t get to my job; I’ll need to sort out another bracing solution. We don’t know yet if it is a problem, but a wobble is a wobble no matter how small, and when I put this bike & trailer under load it might get very pronounced.

I need to take a break and go eat. I ate myself out of house and hovel; I was planning on going vacation so I ate all that I had fresh. At least I feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The handlebar looks awesome! The 2nd CA could go above the present one which is where I had it before. Any ideas where I could mount my cell phone? It's getting pretty crowded, though I'm happy

Note that the areobar padss are removed, and there's still a bit of faring work left. The LED headlights fit right between the bars. 8) Here’s a shot of the bike neckkid.

Dig those big fat monster tires! The controllers are mounted in the rear this time (only the primary is shown; the secondary that drives the trailer will be on the flip-side). So much wiring; I’m doing what I can to minimize it. I’m nearly out of heat-shrink tubing. Tomorrow I’ll work up the battery harnesses and then go get the shims, and fix that pesky brake.

Cheers for now. KF

 

[Kingfish]

Saturday July 2nd Short Status

• Completed the ebike power cabling.
• Got an idea on how to fix the brake light problem, so I took the bike out for a maiden voyage; reset the Shunt value in the CA to 2.400 until I can get it sorted properly. Got to the bottom of my hill and when I hit the throttle the bike shuddered and struggled to come up to speed, growling the whole way.
• Made it to the bike shop and bought 8 shims.
• Went to Radio Shack and stocked up on wire and bought a 12V 30A relay.
• OT: Stopped at the local grocery outlet to fetch a snack. Man I have to tell you when the guys are out to play their wives come in to shop! Lots of window dressing; I wasn’t hating any of it!
• Headed back to the saucer implanted in the hill – listening intently on the growling trying to figure out what I did wrong. I have this one tidbit to offer:
  • There was a thread that said the Lyen 12-FET Controller has the Blue and Green phase wires swapped. I confirmed this with my other controllers and made sure that the EBikekit hub wiring was swapped accordingly, including the HE signals.

After my last programming effort I noticed that the freewheel is now lower; I have the “HI position” set to 120% but the controller doesn’t rotate as fast now.

I can back out my changes to the CA and the programming to return to where I started. I have not applied any hardware changes to the PCB (yet). The growl is extremely pronounced and loud.

Unsettled, KF

ADDENDUM: CA says MaxS was 32.4 mph which ain't bad considering the growling.

 

[Kingfish]

OK, got this sorted:

The Programming app may not have loaded a complete configuration; I can only reload the first one that I made with all the details. Here’s a screenshot of the new configuration that I burned in just a little while ago…

And the results are:

• MaxS (Freewheel) = 51.2 mph
• MaxS (on the Road) = 39.4 mph! THAT my friends is a new personal record! And I did it with a gimpy front rotor slapping the sides of the caliper. I was pulling away from traffic
• The Regen is outstanding; a whopping 9% - and I haven’t applied the R12 mod yet

The motor pulls hard, which I take to meaning that the phase current is doing its’ job correctly. The Wh/mi = 31.6, but I also started out going hard uphill then down it for regen, then downwind to get some length, and then WOT, and back up the hill; very aggressive riding.

So I think we can give this motor and controller a pass; they exceed my expectations.

Winded, KF

 

[Kingfish]

Finally shimmed the front disc rotor enough that it doesn't slap either side of the caliper; no small feat. I can now tear that wheel off with my eyes closed. The front brake is within acceptable range of motion, though there is a lot of travel before the rotor will lock; it's not optimum, though it will unblock me from leaving.

One less worry, KF

 

[jonathanm]

Getting close now, and looking good! Did you figure out real time updates yet?

 

[dbaker]

I am pulling for you, KF Best of luck with the rest of your preparations

 

[Kingfish]

Getting close now, and looking good! Did you figure out real time updates yet?

D'oh! Nope, I have been nose-to-the-grindstone trying to get the basics resolved. However, I could use a wee bit of help laddy if yer willin' to chip in and give me a boot in the right direction :wink:

Thanks dbaker; we needs all the good well wishes that can be conjured up over a burbling pot of brew!

Da List of wots left TO DO

ebike:
-------
fix brake light
reprogram the Primary
do R12 and cap mods
Add one more pigtail to controller-side power cable
Add trailer pigtail to signals cable
integrate speedict
build wrapping or faring for cable from triangle to controllers
built front faring
add aerobar pads
check derailleurs
lube chain
check front shock pressure
check tire pressure
add blue locktite to front lugs
install left mirror
install 12V-USB adapter
Install front fender

trailer:
---------
cut wood
mount brackets
add battery boxes
finish battery cabling
build little slings to transfer batteries quickly into and out of batt boxes
Get one more Blinkie from REI
build whatever structure to mount lights
build faring
complete signal cabling
test for wobble and figure out how to assuage it
install steering dampener
Install rubber fork dampeners
Install Blinkies
Install rear fender
Mate electricals
Program Secondary

to go:
--------
Last minute Motel reservations?
Charge batteries
setup Droid with Google account
d/l music
go to Best Buy and get ear stereo phones (if they exist)
pack clothes
pack equipment
clean hovel
pack food
stop mail
unplug everything possible
notify all when leaving

REI:
-------
Blinkie 1X
small bags
White Ortleibs

pray  :o*

Note: Discovered why the Programming app isn't saving my configurations. Setting any of the Speeds (1,2,3) above 100 then saving and exiting prevents the app from reloading and correctly parsing that file. I suspect it does a passive assert then quits which is better than a blue screen of death. Therefore I resolved to save the speed settings to whatever, but when I want greater than 100, that value is set to 100 cos I knows it's wrong. Strange logic... but then I'm strange. :lol:

Another problem arose late last night in creating the List: Motels are booked up and priced to the Moon on the 4th of Julie. Considering the mountain of stuff to do, I think that Tuesday (yes ~ a whole week late) is likely the best course of action. (Breathing deeply). However I may be able to pick up a couple of days along the way if I can stop and charge for two hours at an RV park; needs checking into.

More coffee, KF

 

[jonathanm]

D'oh! Nope, I have been nose-to-the-grindstone trying to get the basics resolved. However, I could use a wee bit of help laddy if yer willin' to chip in and give me a boot in the right direction :wink:

Hahaha, ok Kingfish, seeing as you still have such a long to do list, then I tested a few GPS apps today on the way to work and back....

All of them worked fine with other GPS apps running, in fact I ran all 4 at the same time without problems, so I think they will run with Speedict fine.

Google Latitude
no good for this application. mainly for seeing where your existing google contacts are.

Spysat.eu
app runs quietly in background, most accurate tracking "out of the box". online map is small and doesn't have much info on it. Website crashed on me.

Instamapper
app runs quietly in background, best looking maps online. However shared online map only seems to display last 50 points on your path....so if updating every minute, that means only the last 50 minutes would be displayed. Also, the map you get to see when you login displays speed, altitude etc all along the route.... But the public map only show the *current* data.....

Green Alp
Messiest looking interface. sloppiest accuracy (out of the box - didn't try tweaking). But....uses full screen map. Map displays speed, altitude, bearing etc for any point on the route. There seems to be some kind of messaging thing - you type a message on your phone and it appears at your location on the map. The app on the phone has a map as well and you can see your location on it. Don't know how many points it will display though....

So basically Green Alp is the only one that does what you want really, although lacking elegance.

The app is on the android marketplace called "Real Time GPS Tracker" by Greenalp

The website to register is here:

http://www.greenalp.com/RealTimeTracker/index.php?page=register.php

I found a few others, I will try and test them on the way to work tomorrow. Will let you know if any beat Green Alp or not.

 

[Kingfish]

<snip>

I found a few others, I will try and test them on the way to work tomorrow. Will let you know if any beat Green Alp or not.

Excelente el Capitán, mucho gracias!

Sunday July 3rd
Accomplished this day…

• fix brake light: I ended up buying another microswitch and stacking it on top of the ebrake microswitch. Make up a new taller a… stop, yeah I guess we can call it a “stop”, anyways from ABS that I had scavenged.
• reprogram the Primary: 60%, 90%, 120%. The 60% is about equal to 22.5 mph, so I might back that off to 55%.
• Add one more pigtail to controller-side power cable: Done.
• Add trailer pigtail to signals cable: Done.
• integrate speedict: About 30% complete.
• build wrapping or faring for cable from triangle to controllers: Made one, didn’t like it. Now I’m on a tear to make it right. In progress.
• build front faring: Actually I modified the existing one.
• add aerobar pads: Base for pads added, though I won’t add the actual pads until I leave.
• check front shock pressure: Done. Set to 125 psi. (Rear is set to 175 psi)
• REI: Snagged Blinkie 1X, small bags (10, 15, and 20L). White Ortleibs; all they had were yellow and black, so I snagged the black; good enough.

The ebike is in a pretty good state; now I am just tweaking and fine-tuning. Shifting is funky but I can fix that later.

In the past my ebike occasional attracted attention. Now it’s a frickin’ magpie! People point at it when I’m on the road. I stopped at REI and was trapped outside for 30 minutes giving a talk on how the machine works. One guy came up and told me he had never seen tires that big before. :lol: Wait till I mount the plasma cannon; that’ll git some attention!

Anyways, winding down for the evening. I am getting to the point where I want to go back and work on the trailer and test the system integrations. I checked with REI, Radio Shack, and the local hobby & craft supply and they will be open for business tomorrow. I’ll probably need to run to Home Despot for hardware.

The only real worry I have about the ebike now is mounting the front fender; the big fatty tires preclude the way I did it before. May need to fab a mounting block out of basswood to stabilize the area.

That reminds me... forgot one very important item; actually it’s a bit of bling… I couldn’t resist

I found it lurking on Amazon some months ago and thought “I have to have it for my bike”. Somehow I couldn’t quite figure out where to put it though… until this morning. I actually got a smile when a driver didn’t know what to think or how to react, until she espied my bling.

Life should be fun, yes?

Take chances every chance you get, KF

 

[gcholman]

Best of luck on your journey. FYI,plumas-eureka state park is beautiful, yet closed as a superfund site this summer. Also on the park closure list for 2012.

 

[Kingfish]

Best of luck on your journey. FYI,plumas-eureka state park is beautiful, yet closed as a superfund site this summer. Also on the park closure list for 2012.

Yep, that's what my folks had told me just last week. At least they got LOTS of snow this winter so water is running well (so far).

Monday July 4, 2011

Well, I can hear the fireworks but I’ve been too busy to go see, or even enjoy a beer. I’ve been at this since 7 AM. Let’s see if I can summarize from memory…

• Worked over the bunched up cabling near the controller; it was hitting my foot. I figured out a way to tie it down against the side of the frame; it’s a work-in-progress and evolving. Probably finish it in another hour or two. I got it to a point where I felt good enough that I could begin working on the next task.
• Added the R12 mod and upgraded caps on both controllers. It must have taken me two hours to do the first controller, but the second went really quick, probably ¼ the time.
• Also prepped the second controller for slaving which means removing unnecessary wiring and building… connectors. I hate building connectors. :x The only good connector is one that’s already built. Although the crimp-type aren’t so bad. :lol:
• The only electrical left to do is the trailer lighting harness from the connector (yuck) to the signal and brake lights, and the phase/HE wires to the hub motor (the other end is finished). I suspect this will take an hour.
• My ToDo list didn’t hardly shrink today, though some of those items will go very quickly. I don’t think I’m leaving tomorrow, though maybe Wednesday. I better get this finished soon or there won’t be any time left. Tomorrow I expect to do a freewheel test on the rear wheel, and finish ALL cabling. I’d like to get it to the Machinist and have him make that cross-brace.

That’s about it for me today; I’m pooped. OT: Cooking me up a skillet-dinner. Let me describe it:

• I found this local butcher; he just recently opened – they are part of a chain called “Bill the Butcher”. Anyway, I was intrigued by fine dining and convinced me to get a cast-iron skillet; I’ve never owned one before, so I did. The idea is you throw your meat into the hot skillet, sear on one side, then flip and cover it with veggies, put a lid on it, then throw it in the oven at like 350-425 depending what it is, and wait 25-40 minutes. Pull it out and go for it! It’s like a little Dutch Oven, and there’s an unmistakable smokiness like I’ve never had before! :wink:

Anyway, I’m starving and it’s ready so…
Bon Appetite, KF

 

[jonathanm]

Hi Kingfish....

So I got to take a look at a lot of different tracking apps last night, and narrowed it down to a few candidates. I set them up before I went to work, then had to rush in to deal with some problems, and spent the whole day firefighting....didn't get home from work until 10pm....to find a very disappointed wife, lol. So that was my July 4th....good job I'm a Brit, and July 4th is not really a day for us Brits to celebrate, haha.

So to cut to the chase, there is ONE other app (well a combo actually) that might be better than Green Alp......

It seems way more sophisticated and featured out, but it also requires a little bit more effort to set up.

Ok, this second one is based on an online sevice called GPS Trace Orange. http://gps-trace.com/

sign up there....it works with many different clients, the best one I found for android is called Wiatrack. search for it on the android marketplace.

You put the unique ID into the system and then it will track you on a very detailed map, there are also embeddable links for posting on websites or forums.

My advice to you is to install both this app and Green Alp on your phone and go for a short round the block style ride, if you get the time.....you can then see them yourself and decide if either of them will work for you......

I wish I'd had the foresight to figure this out for you sooner, sorry about that.....but if you want to give it a go with either of these apps, I am happy to help you out...I can even put a map on a web page for you if you like...just PM me if there is anything I can do to help.

Cheers, J

 

[Kingfish]

Thank you jonathanm; I think this looks like a good solution so long as I can turn the tracking on and off with ease. I’ll take a closer look tonight.

Brief Status

• Stayed up late to reflect upon how to finish up the last part of the cabling between the triangle battery bag and the controllers.
• Remounted the primary controller and paid attention to the details where the parts rub together and added HDPE as padding being that the material is self-lubricating.
• Assembled the secondary controller and made it ready for mounting.
• This AM, began by reprogramming the primary and secondary controllers for CA shunt calibration; related thread.
• Drew up a second layout for the cross-brace and evaluated it against the first design; decided that the first would work well-enough and save time.
• Contracted with the Machinist to fabricate the brace and make ready to mount it this afternoon.
• Also discussed with him the issues with the front hub disc rotor being out of true, though decided there wasn’t enough time to correct the problem; it would cost yet another day of delay.
• Since I'm, making a run into town I crafted a list of items to get.

Daylight is burning and I’ve yet to cut wood.
More coffee <slurp> KF

 

[Kingfish]

Tuesday July 5, 2011
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I shoulda, coulda been gone by now… though it is Fate or Fatwa that has chosen a different path for me. Feeling the pangs of urgency I was in a mad dash to git to the Machinist with trailer in tow, and yet all the planning of mice and men came down to a simple failure which brought this calliope to a complete crash.

I had a flat.

Bugger of buggers. When one is in a rush, there are no tools or patches – only resolve. Too late for vanity I walked the beast back down into Redmond, satisfied in part at having gleaned some scientific data; it was not a complete waste of effort.

The Good:

• Two controllers – Connected by Ground and no other.
• Synchronous Throttle by sharing SP-only from Primary Controller.
• 3-WAY works by sharing X1 and X2.

The Bad:
Ebrake does not work. Test required two people, lift each tire and throttle on, then ebrake. No effect on rear tire. Weird cos –EBS is protected by diode on similar circuitry and we’re only pulling unified signal to GND. Primary works fine. I shall double-check wiring. Potential workaround: There is a spare signal wire (Blue) running through the harness from the controllers to the handlebar and it is possible to add a third microswitch to the brake lever – and yet it makes no sense; we are pulling the signal to GND; it should work when others do as well!

The Ugly:
Flats are going to kill me. REI gent at bike shop suggested something better in his experience than Slime: coffélatex

I resolved to drink a couple of pints and contemplate my navel on the trek home at my local. Beers do me well to relax the tension. Therefore this afternoon was not all a complete bust:

• We proved that it is partly possible to slave a controller!
• And that 3-WAY works across substrates.

This is good news, and advancing the progress forward. The Machinist was contacted and we are delayed a day due to the flat. And yet – I could use a breather; it’s been at break-neck pace and fatiguing. I’m good with leaving on the 7th. Old Scout motto: Be Prepared!

Feedback on two tires:
Oh man! I had three settings; 55%, 90%, and 120%. The first I used through the center of town; nice easy 22.5 mph; no problems – except no load issues on trailer-bike but we expected that.

Leaving center of town I used 90% to climb the Bel-Red Road (which is very steep) and quickly achieved 31.5 mph! It was at the next traffic light at 148th that I noticed the flat. Rotating through the 3-WAY selection was awesome; I could easily dial the power required to run on flats in town or to climb a hill. The trailer bobbed on divots in the road and I quickly learned a behavior to not throttle-on in those circumstances, or when rounding a sharp corner. Otherwise the trailer definitely boosted acceleration out of the gate and appended power across the entire spectrum when not skipping due to no-load. This is exactly and precisely the affects that we desire from a trailer, and at no time did instability encroach.

Front Motor is set to 24A, and Rear is set to 18A. I’d rather keep the front as is in case I separate the two vehicles.

Overall, pleased as punch. KF
ADDENDUM: Flat was on the MIDDLE tire; the once that wasn't armored or on a driven wheel; go figure

 

[Kingfish]

Wednesday July 6th

Got started about 8 AM and I’m now just wrapping up for the night.

• Took an assay of my battery supply, counting every unit and checking voltages. Organized into groups of similar voltages, I went ahead and topped them off – most anyways. There’s a handful that are on the fringe and require some TLC. The grand total is 83 bricks. I am shy one that went belly-up on me. However I have two batteries with one good cell each, and one battery with two dead cells, so it is possible I could reconstitute a single good battery from donors. Anyway – the battery department is looking good with most of the cells in balance.
• Repaired pesky middle tire. Gutted the wheel, applied a second wrap of rim tape – this time using wide Velox over the top of the Specialized rim tape. Installed a Kenda DH 26x2.5 tube, slathered with talc, inspected the Kevlar liner, and then spooned it all together, inflating twice to ensure all was seated well.
• Applied 125ml of coffélatex to all three tires. It was very easy.
• Dove into the rear wheel regen problem. The investigation was time-consuming and is covered on two other threads (see Trailer status).

The Plan for Tomorrow

• Finish the trailer decking so I can put a load on it and get it to the Machinist for the last frame mod. We also have an opportunity to investigate how to correct the front disc rotor from scraping the caliper when under load. It was suggested that we tighten the spokes to reduce the issue; I contacted WheelBuilder and requested the tensile strength and tension data for the Sapim Strong Single Butted Spoke.
• If there is no cure to my Regen problem then I will likely provision an older 12FET controller into a slave.
• There’s still some battery cabling to do; it’s tedious work.

At this point I am just working through the blocking issues day-by-day.
Fighting the fires, KF

 

[Kingfish]

Gosh, as delayed as I yam, it might have done me good to register for the STP. :lol: Alas, the event is sold out.

So much to do, so little time... KF

 

[Kingfish]

Friday, July 8th

We are making a plan for Launch; all issues are coming to closure or are closed. There are still items that require completion, though the belief is that these can be accomplished by this afternoon, leaving the evening for final preparations. We (using the Royal “We” as this is a human and machine system) plan to leave tomorrow, Saturday, July 9th.

The Route has changed: We are going to target the STP route south to Portland. This path was previously considered early on as a speed-route; a way to safely pick up one day of the schedule. Coincidentally, the departure is on the same day as the STP, and we plan to use this event to maximize opportunity to utilize public services and facilities. The departure will be from Redmond, heading south and linking up with the STP path in Renton at about Mile 20. It is a pretty dang easy path for an ebike; about 204 miles in length with 3621 feet total elevation climb, and assuming to take 8-10 hours depending on traffic and weather.

The original plan was to head south of Redmond to Hood River over one to two days depending on how the system performed at the midpoint neat Cayuse Pass at Mt. Rainier NP. However there is risk in taking a remote route without sufficient road-testing – and we are running late. Therefore the STP becomes an inviting opportunity as well as a safe bet. After Portland (or Hood River as originally planned) the next destination is Bend, Oregon; the distance and elevation climb is nearly identical at 161 miles with 9200 feet of elevation climb, following US-26 East to Madras and south on US-97 to Bend. The route to California then follows US-97 south, eventully linking up to Hwy 89 at Harris Spring Rd, bearing south to South Lake Tahoe, picking up Hwy 88 West over the Sierras to Jackson, then following Hwy 49 south to Oakhurst, then South on Hwy 41 to Fresno - the farthest southerly point of the entire trek - arriving about Saturday, July 23rd - some 1200 miles from Redmond, Washington.

OT: Just briefly, this whole business of going to California actually began as a personal challenge to complete the STP on an electric bike on P1, the present bike frame. Leading up to last year I acquired the Felt Compulsion frame in December 2009 for the STP event with the plan to craft a 2WD. This is when I began collecting and evaluating different controllers and bike components. Sometime around Spring plans for a family reunion solidified around the 4th of July. The STP took a backseat as the challenge instead morphed into a road trip to California. The compressed schedule did not allow for enough time to complete the 2WD bike as planned and instead I opted to use the P0 bike, doing the “Hail Mary” move using Amtrak to save time. It appears that this year I’ll get to do both even though I’ve missed the 4th.

Trailer:
Yesterday I made a successful test run to the Machinist purposely over steep hilly terrain to stress the system with a deadweight of 30 pounds on the trailer. The RShunt values are off and I cannot relate the actual current used, however I can tell from the battery voltage how much capacity was used. With hope, the Speedict unit should resolve the mystery anyway. The results of powered ebike and trailer were richly rewarding, however I am prepared to trim back the power for the sake of distance, though not before I do one final speed test today

It’s 9:30 AM and there is much yet to do, so with that – I am going to bust a move. Most kind ES Folks that have offered assistance, I shall PM you my intended dates and contact info.

T-Minus 24:00:00
Portland or Bust, KF

 

[grindz145]

Good Luck! Fantastic Journey and coverage. Can't wait to hear about the experience! 8)

Edit: 7.5 kwh?!? holy hell. Jealous. :lol:, by my calculation it's 6840w-h, still crazy for a bicycle 8)

 

[dbaker]

Way to go, KF! Anxious to hear how your speed test went. Were the previous results with the trailer done with a much smaller pack than you expect to take on the trip?