Hey guys, my name is Robbie, I'm from Melbourne Australia and have decided it's time to get back on an Ebike.
When I was about 14 (9 years ago) I met this really cool guy that lived down the road from me who ran his own super successful computer programming business, but had a real passion for engineering up electric vehicles. He started me off on making an electric powered trike out of a hubbed motor a plank of wood, golf cart wheels, lead acid batteries and a few lengths of metal. The thing was a blast, albeit bloody dangerous. (Had a decent tendency to flip if cornering at high speeds).
After this I decided I needed to use the motor on a bike, so for a year or so i rode around on a hard tail mountain bike with 4 heavy lead acid batteries whacked on a bag rack on the rear. Eventually this became too cumbersome and I left it (although it is still being ridden around today in an updated guise by one of his friends!)
When I was about 17 I found myself and old electric trike at the tip and bought it of them for 30 bucks! I then proceeded chuck the dead old lead acids away, put the motor in a tall frame road bike and bought myself some cheap second hand lipo's that I put in a backpack. This was the first craft that I was properly happy with. With around 500w combined with the super skinny tyres, large diameter rims and long gearing for speed. If i slammed all the power on and pedaled hard I could actually pop a wheelie on this gargantuan frame. Top speed was about 50kph combined heavy pedaling and motor assist. Eventually i sort of lost interest in this bike because it was only good for commuting, and at the time i was just about to start uni so I was catching public transport to the city every day and ended up selling the bike.
I always vowed that the money I got back from the ebike I'd eventually use to make another one. One Uni degree down and 2 years of full time work with the prospect of another year at uni, I am looking to get myself a flexible use ebike that I can use on occasion to get myself to uni (not in the city and much closer to home now), but also just be able to take it out on the weekend for a great urban/parkland freestyle ride. I very much love the idea of being able to go up and down as much possible.
So, here is the part where I start giving you information about what I want, and pose questions;
I have decided that I want a very softcore motorbike so I thought;
Something with front and rear suspension
very wide tures with a moderate amount of tread
midmounted motor probably around 1000w
lipo's that I can mount in the frame for weight distribution as well as not having to carry a battery bag around
Stealth-ish (obviously the amount of power I want is illegal here in Australia, so I don't want to draw too much attention from the fuzz).
My budget is around $2000 (AUD) max with roughly $1,000 on the frame (secondhand). But of course this is flexible depending.
What would you guys suggest?
When I was about 14 (9 years ago) I met this really cool guy that lived down the road from me who ran his own super successful computer programming business, but had a real passion for engineering up electric vehicles. He started me off on making an electric powered trike out of a hubbed motor a plank of wood, golf cart wheels, lead acid batteries and a few lengths of metal. The thing was a blast, albeit bloody dangerous. (Had a decent tendency to flip if cornering at high speeds).
After this I decided I needed to use the motor on a bike, so for a year or so i rode around on a hard tail mountain bike with 4 heavy lead acid batteries whacked on a bag rack on the rear. Eventually this became too cumbersome and I left it (although it is still being ridden around today in an updated guise by one of his friends!)
When I was about 17 I found myself and old electric trike at the tip and bought it of them for 30 bucks! I then proceeded chuck the dead old lead acids away, put the motor in a tall frame road bike and bought myself some cheap second hand lipo's that I put in a backpack. This was the first craft that I was properly happy with. With around 500w combined with the super skinny tyres, large diameter rims and long gearing for speed. If i slammed all the power on and pedaled hard I could actually pop a wheelie on this gargantuan frame. Top speed was about 50kph combined heavy pedaling and motor assist. Eventually i sort of lost interest in this bike because it was only good for commuting, and at the time i was just about to start uni so I was catching public transport to the city every day and ended up selling the bike.
I always vowed that the money I got back from the ebike I'd eventually use to make another one. One Uni degree down and 2 years of full time work with the prospect of another year at uni, I am looking to get myself a flexible use ebike that I can use on occasion to get myself to uni (not in the city and much closer to home now), but also just be able to take it out on the weekend for a great urban/parkland freestyle ride. I very much love the idea of being able to go up and down as much possible.
So, here is the part where I start giving you information about what I want, and pose questions;
I have decided that I want a very softcore motorbike so I thought;
Something with front and rear suspension
very wide tures with a moderate amount of tread
midmounted motor probably around 1000w
lipo's that I can mount in the frame for weight distribution as well as not having to carry a battery bag around
Stealth-ish (obviously the amount of power I want is illegal here in Australia, so I don't want to draw too much attention from the fuzz).
My budget is around $2000 (AUD) max with roughly $1,000 on the frame (secondhand). But of course this is flexible depending.
What would you guys suggest?
