Bullfrog said:
Update and a question.....
Ended up buying a Schwinn Shuffle Scooter (Kick Bike) as opposed to using a bicycle for this project:
https://www.schwinnbikes.com/products/shuffle-adult-scooter
Put it together and rode down some local hills and the stability is not as good as I expected so I would like to limit my top speed to around 20 mph on flat ground. Plan to run a 13s4p (48v) battery with 30Q cells. Also plan to mount the motor in the rear wheel which uses a 20" diameter rim and the frame spacing (OLD) in the rear is 100mm.
I wanted to try one of the very inexpensive motors from Amazon/EBay like the Jaxpety, AW, Voilamart...but it doesn't appear there is anything available in a 20" rim with a 100mm width . After searching and reading about every motor in the world :lol: , it looks like the only options for a Direct Drive Hub or Geared Hub motor where I can get the Kv I want are "MAC", "Leaf Bike" and "Grin Tech".
Plan to mount my battery on the down tube using Grin Tech's Bottle Bobs and hose clamps holding the Bottle Bobs in place as well as around the entire battery assembly with pieces of inner tube placed between the hose clamps and the downtube to prevent scratches. Controller mounting is dependent on which controller I end up using but a stand alone Baserunner from Grin will fit on the bottom side of the footboard between the frame rails :wink:.
Question...Any info on motors, pointers on the build, or ideas I may have overlooked?
Thank You :thumb:
Just a quick update on what I did with the Schwinn Shuffle scooter...bought a Bafang geared hub kit from Amazon and installed it with a 48v EM3ev battery I already had. Top speed on level ground was 21-22 mph. The kit was 750 watts max so it slowed down to about 12 mph on relatively steep hills with me on it (210 lbs). No temp sensor but the motor never got hot to the touch. This is the kit I bought...it was $336 delivered:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QD5S44K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I did not particularly care for the scooter...just didn't feel as connected to it as a bike. Ended up selling it to a neighbor who really enjoys it. I did not use a torque reaction arm...the motor came with two tabbed washers and the Schwinn Shuffle had a steel frame (front motor installed on the rear of the scooter due to dropout width). I did ensure the axle nuts were as tight as possible without stripping the threads. Supposedly the motor put out about 65 NM of torque and IMO that is about the limit for steel dropouts. Grin Tech has some good info and graphs regarding torque arms and axle spin out for anyone that is interested: https://ebikes.ca/product-info/grin-products/torque-arms.html
Contemplating my next build now and I am leaning towards using a kit sold by AW via Amazon that cost about $250 delivered. It has a controller that can put out 26A max. This is a link to the exact kit I am contemplating:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Q8JT9H2/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=A2V0U2CDI8OSTK&psc=1
Both of the kits I listed above are among the least expensive kits available. I don't expect either to produce "High Performance" by any means. They both seem to be decent and OK for the price.
After all of my research and testing...if I was going to build an ebike for general purpose use on paved and/or smooth surfaces and was going to use a Direct Drive hub motor, I think I'd go with one from Leaf: https://www.leafbike.com/ or Grin Tech: https://ebikes.ca/getting-started/hub-motor-options.html.
I appreciate all of the responses, help, and recommendations along the way...you guys are awesome :wink: . Thank YOU
