Car replacement E-bike that fits me

[ZeroEm]

Put up my 10 yr old panels making a little shade in the 103F temps (ride in the mornings) but the 45 watts is really only 16 to 24 watts after the boost charger gets it due. I put the 3 15-watt panels in series and in full sun 66 volts. Morning clouds, after 17:00 shade from tall trees limits my time charging. Thought if it took a week to charge the battery it would be ok but not a month I guess more panels are needed want 0.5 to 1 amp would be nice.

My short panniers are working out well and with the solar setup back to getting my bike to connect to my trailers.

 

[neptronix]

You'd be better off mounting some new thin panel ones to a bike, for shade while riding too

Your bike would benefit vastly from some aerodynamic aids. Ever considered a windwrap fairing, or even a partial DIY coroplast fairing?

 

[ZeroEm]

by neptronix » Aug 17 2019 1:13am
You'd be better off mounting some new thin panel ones to a bike, for shade while riding too

Your bike would benefit vastly from some aerodynamic aids. Ever considered a windwrap fairing, or even a partial DIY coroplast fairing?

Sorta waiting on you believe or not. been following your post. Reading about there is more to gain from the rear than the front.
It would be nice to have shade and/or ride in light rain so fairings look attractive on several fronts. Just not sure I want to add more weight to this trike. If I drop enough pounds off of me then will try it.

I cut a few tree limbs and changed the angle of the solar panels three times today to track the sun and tripled the daily output and my battery will be charged tomorrow so will wait on more panels.

 

[ZeroEm]

Now have 600k on the trike, started riding in the evening with a group using rechargeable lights so upgrading to 12-24V lights off of a 72v to 12v converter. The converter has a lock wire for a golf cart key switch. I have not worked with a lock before and don't have a key switch yet. The only diagram shows the lock wire (wire is red) attached to the key switch on the high voltage side my guess would be to connect it to main battery power to turn on the converter. Just don't want to let the magic out.

I have found that 32 kph or 20 mph is fast enough for me but will be changing out the 7T leafmotor for a 5T Edge motor. does any one want any info with this motor hooked up to 72V before I take it off. Love the motor but will be putting it on another bike at 48v or 52v and try it out.

currently I know the 7T leafmotor at 72V in a 26' or 47-559 tire tops out at 28 mph 300 - 500 w/h.
after a 20 mile trip the average was 15w/k with out much peddling.

I hybrid on most of my rides and see around 9w/k and charge my 25amp 72V pack every 2 or 3 weeks it is working the way I wanted.
I don't live around mountains but lots of hills and the motor is will pull all of them at or close to 20 mph at 1200w or 1600w never felt the need to run it at 2k or higher have CA3 limit the amps at 36amps the controller is only good for 40amps but never seen more than 26amps used.

 

[ZeroEm]

Now have over 1000 km on the trike. front tires are on my mind all the time now. They are Michelin Proteck 20x1.35, they did not have much grooved thread and are showing signs of wear. Have tried to set the wheels to 0 toe in and thought the tires are wearing on the outside so I toed it out half round on one side of drag link and trike shakes like crazy if I remove my hands from the steering. decided to rotate the tires careful to keep same direction of rotation, left side to right and so forth. When the tires where off it seemed they are wearing on the inside not the out so I figure I'm old and can not see. So put the toe in back and added couple mm of toe in to it. but if I ride around 40km on a worn road it feels wild and I don't like that.

The point is I want better wear on my front tires. my back tire looks like new (26x1.75 SM+) May get 3000km, not enough.

So thinking of going to fatter tires, going to need wider rims so why not go up to 24x1.75 and later put a 29er on the back with torque plates adjusted to raise the back the same as the front will be raised. With the added room under I would mount a battery box under to move weight down and cut the air from under.

Has any one seen a 24" x 29" tadpole trike before and what is wrong with this.
or should I just put some marathon's on the racing rims and call it good?
I am planning on spending most of my time out of the city so turning radius is the least of my worries.

 

[The Toecutter]

So put the toe in back and added couple mm of toe in to it. but if I ride around 40km on a worn road it feels wild and I don't like that.

The width from the edge of tire to edge of tire should be narrower in the front of the wheel than the back of the wheel by 1/16th of an inch. It sounds to me like you may have the toe set up to where the front wheels are slightly wider apart at the front than the rear, which could lead to the instability you describe.

 

[ZeroEm]

by The Toecutter » Oct 19 2019 6:16pm

ZeroEm wrote: ↑
Oct 02 2019 10:23am
So put the toe in back and added couple mm of toe in to it. but if I ride around 40km on a worn road it feels wild and I don't like that.

The width from the edge of tire to edge of tire should be narrower in the front of the wheel than the back of the wheel by 1/16th of an inch. It sounds to me like you may have the toe set up to where the front wheels are slightly wider apart at the front than the rear, which could lead to the instability you describe.

I agree, tried with a tape measure just not that accurate. have been shooting for no toe in or out. looks like its close now but can not let go it will start to shimmy after a few seconds. Thought about taking it to the tire store by me and see if they can check the aliment lol.

 

[The Toecutter]

I agree, tried with a tape measure just not that accurate. have been shooting for no toe in or out. looks like its close now but can not let go it will start to shimmy after a few seconds. Thought about taking it to the tire store by me and see if they can check the aliment lol.

You probably have a very slight toe-out. It's better to have a very slight toe-in if given a choice. Adjust it ever so slightly in and see if the problem goes away.

I've found that using a tape measure for this that I can be accurate to within 1/16". The trick is to use something to lock both brakes up(zip ties as an example) and use blocks to hold all three wheels of the trike steady so that it does not move when adjusting toe. This way you can get consistent measurements, all from the same base.

There is a possibility the trike could have some slop in the frame itself, causing the toe to adjust itself simply from mechanical weakness in the design.

If the tire store can check the alignment, go for it.

 

[ZeroEm]

Put in slight toe-in and the bike rides great at 30 mph/50kph.
put new front tires 1.35x20 picked up some speed but need to slow down to corner, lack of traction.

Have 2300 km on the trike, watts/km varies a lot.
Did a 70km trip yesterday on a greenway with lots of twists, turns and up and down small hills keeps my speed down average 22kph and used throttle as needed, using pas. 560watts for the trip last week using throttle in long straights at 50kph used 1000w for the same trip.
Over all use of the trike I average 7w/km. I ride with regular bikers and leave my pas off don't need it below 17kph that keeps the average watts low.
I am putting twice the miles on the trike than I do my car now. I can replace this trike for the cost of insurance every two years.

 

[goatman]

car replacement ebike. ive never been that much into biking once I started driving but was out of shape so I bought a cheap bike for exercise but the hills around me were too much exercise so I bought a cheap kit then biking became fun. I bought better bikes and better motors, batteries, controllers. get more speed, power, range, a new hobby for me really but I live in a rainy city so a bike couldn't replace a car. I don't work in an office where I can change my clothes when I get to work. then I moved, we had 3 vehicles and only 2 parking spots so I sold my minivan.
im cheap I like the whole 1000 mpg cost of ebikes without the insurance costs. I bought a well used and abused trike for cheap. I was amazed at how easy it was to pedal compared to a bike then I put a kit on it. now that is fun, a street legal go kart and comfortable but laying on your back doing 30 in the rain isn't fun so I wound up buying 2 tents for the parts and materials and built a canopy, nose piece and windshield. now I have an all weather car replacement etrike. I think trikes are going to be the way to go if they would just get their initial cost down. theres no way ordinary people are going to pay 8 grand for a trike. im into mine for around 2 grand the way its sitting right now and that's pretty reasonable when you consider the negative sides of Trikes. theres a good chance of becoming road kill because of lack of safe road infrastructure, I pretty much have to plan a safe round about way of getting somewhere if I take the trike or I have to plan on doing 30mph on some stretches so I don't piss off drivers but then I might piss off a cop and be minus a windshield and canopy. basically my trike is good for rain and ice but if its nice and I gotta go, ill take the bike. also after almost one year I lost 30 pounds because of riding ebikes and I really don't pedal but it does get you up and out of the chair and active again plus it puts a smile on your face.

im pretty sure I have to adjust the toe on my trike, I saw a guy using one of those old chrome telescoping radio antennas like a micrometer to set his toe

 

[ZeroEm]

by goatman » Dec 17 2019 12:22pm
car replacement ebike. ive never been that much into biking once I started driving but was out of shape so I bought a cheap bike for exercise but the hills around me were too much exercise so I bought a cheap kit then biking became fun. I bought better bikes and better motors, batteries, controllers. get more speed, power, range, a new hobby for me really but I live in a rainy city so a bike couldn't replace a car. I don't work in an office where I can change my clothes when I get to work. then I moved, we had 3 vehicles and only 2 parking spots so I sold my minivan.
im cheap I like the whole 1000 mpg cost of ebikes without the insurance costs. I bought a well used and abused trike for cheap. I was amazed at how easy it was to pedal compared to a bike then I put a kit on it. now that is fun, a street legal go kart and comfortable but laying on your back doing 30 in the rain isn't fun so I wound up buying 2 tents for the parts and materials and built a canopy, nose piece and windshield. now I have an all weather car replacement etrike. I think trikes are going to be the way to go if they would just get their initial cost down. theres no way ordinary people are going to pay 8 grand for a trike. im into mine for around 2 grand the way its sitting right now and that's pretty reasonable when you consider the negative sides of Trikes. theres a good chance of becoming road kill because of lack of safe road infrastructure, I pretty much have to plan a safe round about way of getting somewhere if I take the trike or I have to plan on doing 30mph on some stretches so I don't piss off drivers but then I might piss off a cop and be minus a windshield and canopy. basically my trike is good for rain and ice but if its nice and I gotta go, ill take the bike. also after almost one year I lost 30 pounds because of riding ebikes and I really don't pedal but it does get you up and out of the chair and active again plus it puts a smile on your face.

im pretty sure I have to adjust the toe on my trike, I saw a guy using one of those old chrome telescoping radio antennas like a micrometer to set his toe

The weather and driving with cars is a big draw back.
They are adding more bike lanes every year so my routes are planed around them. I would like a shell but not in the city but a nose piece windshield would be the way for me. I still drive when needed but fear my trike being taken. I have about 3k in the current setup not counting all the stuff I bought in the beginning like an extra battery. The one on the trike is an 72v 24a or 1.6kw which last me between 1 and 6 weeks. The second battery is charged by solar panels, buck charger. Each battery has only 7 cycles on it. Trike's CA3 shows 24kw has been used in the 2300 km driven. The city here clams electric is $0.09/kw but I figure it at $0.12 so $2.88 in fuel for 2300km.

 

[goatman]

youre around 10wh/km and about 2300km per gallon of gas if gas is $2.88 gallon where you live, here its about $5.20 Canadian pesos a gallon.

 

[ZeroEm]

Have not bought any gasoline in 15 months now and don't even bother to watch the price anymore. But in Texas I am sure it's at or below 3 US dollars a gallon. I was figuring cost thru the electric company with out road tax but with fuel sur charges. I get 10w/km only with self control, with out it my trike will use around 25w/km around 50kph.

 

[goatman]

im using about the same 20-25wh/km and we pay about 12 cents per kwh for electricity

 

[ZeroEm]

I was watching my speed to keep it around 32 kph/20 mph but I ran across this:
TX Electric Bicycles
In Texas, electric bicycles are bicycles that:

Can be powered by either an electric motor alone OR with combined human power.
CANNOT go faster than 28 MPH without applying human power.
No more than 750 watts.

https://www.dmv.org/tx-texas/other-types.php

My trike will do 52 kph now that it is broke in and have set up three power settings 750w, 1500w, 2000w.
now I can let'er rip at 48 kph so that is where I will set my speed limit at and I can take the peddles off.
Note: with more reading there is three classes of ebikes so to do 45 kph need to leave the peddles on if removed limited to 32 kph.

 

[The Toecutter]

Can be powered by either an electric motor alone OR with combined human power.
CANNOT go faster than 28 MPH without applying human power.
No more than 750 watts.

This change in the law was recent. There used to be a speed limit of 20 mph without applying human power, but no power limit, the weight of the vehicle was limited to 100 lbs, but you had no speed limit as long as human power was assisting the vehicle. Now the speed limit for throttle-only is 28 mph, but there is a 750W power limit, but no vehicle weight limit and no speed limit as long as human power is applied.

Build an aerodynamically-efficient body shell around that trike, and 750W from the motor plus your pedaling could mean more than 50 mph on flat ground... as long as you're pedaling. Hell, maybe more than that if you had a Milan SL velomobile(can do 55 mph on 600W, so 750W plus human pedal input could probably mean 65+ mph with the right setup). I wouldn't worry too much about the wattage limit. As long as you aren't showing off, they won't be able to tell without confiscating the bike and either putting it on a dyno or taking it apart, and that is if they even have the knowledge to do this(unlikely).

 

[ZeroEm]

I'm trying to set my trike so I can flip a switch and be within the law. Decided to understand the law as 750w motor power not battery power makes a big difference. I can run at 28 mph on 750w motor power on flat ground. Need a bigger chain ring to see how fast I can get with pas. If cadence is fast my trike moves around to much at speed.

I have a analog switch for power settings. 3 position 1= street legal 750w 2 & 3 I will call off road 1500 & 2100 watts. My trike will max out at 53 km/32 mph so the max setting is not really needed unless a hill, no mountains here.

I like the new laws 28 mph is fast enough. Will be swapping out the 7T 1500w leaf motor for a 5T 1500w edge and will try to get the trike to handle better at speed and see how fast I can go with pas and not feel like I'm going to get hurt. So what 53T and 29" wheel or 55-60T chain ring, 26" wheel. I have thought about a 24" rear wheel but the chain ring would need to be crazy big or some other expensive setup. Don't want to ghost peddle do need some exercise but it is fun at speed and like to do 50 mile trips.

The weight limit was a bummer but with out a limit I may try to build a trike with to much battery in a space frame low as possible. faring and tale box.

 

[goatman]

have you looked at the potentiometer for pas that grin sells, they have a youtube video on how they set it up

 

[ZeroEm]

Have not look at that. Purchased the digital and analog controls that piggy back each other. use the digital for pas levels and the analog for power. Had speed set up but found that if I tried to peddle past the speed then reg kicked in. I use regen for my main break so I switched to power not speed.

 

[amberwolf]

in teh ca menus that's under speed limiting, then:
https://www.ebikes.ca/product-info/cycle-analyst-3.html#ca31-setup-menu
[ SLim->Regen Lmtg ]
Chooser to select if Speed Limiting should use regenerative braking to help control the maximum speed.

Disabled: Speed is limited exclusively by reducing power. Above the speed limit the motor power is reduced to zero, but regenerative braking is not applied allowing the rider to continue to coast or pedal above this speed limit. [Default]

Enabled: Regenerative braking is used to enforce the speed limit setpoint. This means that regen may engage automatically when descending hills even without the rider applying the ebrakes. Proportional throttle regen (EBk->PropRegen) need not be enabled. This feature requires a controller with 0.0 - 0.8V throttle regen function (e.g. Grinfineon or Phaserunner).

 

[ZeroEm]

Thank you, Amberwolf. The CA3 has more settings than most need. Only play with one at a time but will turn that one off. Love my variable regen, main brake.

 

[ZeroEm]

Had a scare today, thought one of my batteries went down from neglect. It has been setting on floor of my bed room for 9 months.
Had been checking it every month for any voltage drop it never changed. Have not checked it in 4 months so today got out the multimeter and it reported 36v on my 72v battery.

Thought it was possibility damaged so put it on the charger (not in my room) and charged it when I was around and unplugged it when busy with other things. I would check it before charging it more and watched the voltage increase with each short charging session but still below 40v. Started checking the voltage while charging and it was in the high 70s. Then the charger shut off and checked the voltage one more time and it was at 42.1v.

Then it hit me that the battery was not bad just my memory. Have a switch on the BMS that cuts the pack/voltage in half. So flipped the switch and checked yep 84.2 volts, right where the charger shuts off.

So now i'm stressed because my battery is full and will be that way until tomorrow. But it has not had a full charge in 10 months so it should be well balanced. Over all good news and i'm happy.

 

[The Toecutter]

I'm curious to see if you have any future plans for this project or to make one that is similar but improved(perhaps better aero, full suspension, ect)?

 

[ZeroEm]

After my mishap with my battery, my mother broke her pelvis and was down for a while, she is all the better. Put my trike up during this time and it's still put up so batteries my need to be broken down and remove any dead cells.

On to your question. Have always wanted a Velomobile, may buy one someday. Like my trike the way it is, have a 24" wheel and a 5T Edge motor wanting to try on it. but the rest is good as is.

So the question is what's my next project. Was getting the parts to turn a tandem into a recumbent but the bike never showed up. It's so hot here it that has turned me away from any aero mods unless it was rode during the winter months. Have given this a lot of thought and still thinking on it. One other project is a Larger eTrike like a Pebl. This would be enclosed and want a Heatpump in it like the Nissian Leaf's. Not sure how Aerodynamic it would be if any at all.

I'm just not into the speed anymore 30 mph is about my limit. Have thought about buying a Pebl but would want to pull the motor set up and maybe put a QS 273 slowed down, this would give me all the Torque needed.

by The Toecutter » Jul 09 2022 11:18am

I'm curious to see if you have any future plans for this project or to make one that is similar but improved(perhaps better aero, full suspension, ect)?

 

[torker]

I wonder if the handling improved after moving the battery between your legs. Did you ever put the 5t motor on. I am with you though. 30 mph is plenty.