Current Cycles Prototype Buildlog...

[Whiplash]

Man I just got the 44.4V worth of LiPo from Dozentrio, and MAN I cant see why anyone would use anything BUT Lipo, these things are TINY and weigh NOTHING! I have 44.4V@10AH and it weighs in at a HUGE 6lbs!! Unbelievable! This is going to be fun!I was totally expecting them to be bigger in real life, even though I knew they were small...

 

[Whiplash]

Its Alive! rigged up ghetto for now, but it works great!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7V1KnYfdSU

 

[dozentrio]

Once you go Lipo you never go back

 

[torker]

That is awesome. We here at ES are a busy bunch. I saw Whiplash, Mikefish, VRDublove, YPedal and DrBass etc. I swear , We got our own freakin youtube page

 

[GrayKard]

Its Alive! rigged up ghetto for now, but it works great!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7V1KnYfdSU

Sweeeeet! Good idea to test the components on a regular frame first before you start building your custom monster. Also gives you something to ride now.

I've got a 1000 watt 48 volt motor coming from YXM that should be pretty similar in performance to the one you are using although I think it's a 9C clone rather then a GM. I will slap it on a Mongoose frame my brother gave me.

Be sure and make 2 of everything when you are doing your custom frame so you can send the extras to me.

Seriously though it would be cool if you supplied templates or files so we could copy you if you aren't going to be selling them.

Gary

 

[Ykick]

Man I just got the 44.4V worth of LiPo from Dozentrio, and MAN I cant see why anyone would use anything BUT Lipo, these things are TINY and weigh NOTHING! I have 44.4V@10AH and it weighs in at a HUGE 6lbs!! Unbelievable! This is going to be fun!I was totally expecting them to be bigger in real life, even though I knew they were small...

One way to look at it is 12s lipo remains closest to 50-47V over the majority of the discharge curve. Anybody who's ever rode lead will get to discover what life is like without voltage sag. Charging amperage is something I'm becoming more and more impressed with too. Mine actually cool-off following a ride charging 8-10A. Starting to see where folks are pushing 5C rates...

I'm currently looking for suitable housings or at least some hardpack materials for basic protection of these packs? Helmets are also a great piece of gear to go along with all this fun stuff.

 

[Whiplash]

Well, to be honest at least locally I might actually try to sell them, after riding this, I think if I give out free test rides, I will be able to sell these things! If I actually do sell them, I will offer them either built up, or in KIT form where I can just sell you a chassis with or without parts supplied or the complete bike. I have not seen anyone offer them like this and I think it will allow me to blow the other guys out of the water price wise! What do you think? Hell I bet the chassis will be able to be produced for no more than a few hundred..!! I have not come to a final decision on what the bike will cost complete, but if it works out the way I think, I am fairly confident I can deliver a nice basemodel (but still full suspension with brand name Parts and a motor similar to this one) bike complete with batteries for under 3K, and if I can do that, I think they will sell well....hell, you can BARELY buy a nice MTB for that kind of money with NO motor!Now I just need money to get the dam prototype together!! SOOONN!!

 

[dozentrio]

That is awesome. We here at ES are a busy bunch. I saw Whiplash, Mikefish, VRDublove, YPedal and DrBass etc. I swear , We got our own freakin youtube page

There are many more. I've seen liveforphysics, FrankG, steveo, and on and on.

 

[GrayKard]

Well, to be honest at least locally I might actually try to sell them, after riding this, I think if I give out free test rides, I will be able to sell these things! If I actually do sell them, I will offer them either built up, or in KIT form where I can just sell you a chassis with or without parts supplied or the complete bike. I have not seen anyone offer them like this and I think it will allow me to blow the other guys out of the water price wise! What do you think? Hell I bet the chassis will be able to be produced for no more than a few hundred..!! I have not come to a final decision on what the bike will cost complete, but if it works out the way I think, I am fairly confident I can deliver a nice basemodel (but still full suspension with brand name Parts and a motor similar to this one) bike complete with batteries for under 3K, and if I can do that, I think they will sell well....hell, you can BARELY buy a nice MTB for that kind of money with NO motor!Now I just need money to get the dam prototype together!! SOOONN!!

Now you're talking! A kit form would be excellent. And for the less mechanically inclined, a fully built version. I'm gonna be following this build real close.

Gary

 

[Whiplash]

Since the current build is likely to just show me what I want to change, I am already considering other motor options, but I like this one really. My only concern is the low end power output, I really want considerably more, and I may have found the ideal motor for my bike in the BMC V3 1000 watt geared hub motor, still quiet but with comparatively massive torque output, even at just 48V. I am anxious to try one of these motors and may have to drive to find someone willing to let me test it out. I am just blown away by the performance of the Optibike, but I feel there HAS to be a way to get at least 90% of its performance from a hub motor if its designed right. Possibly getting a geared hub like the V3 BMC but having it wound slower for even more torque and then possibly having it wired up with the Delta option for the street? I don't know, but when I find the right motor I will know it by riding it, it needs to be really torquey, but still decently fast on the street, to at LEAST 30MPH for me to consider it. That being said, the BMC is a front runner for now... I will be ordering the tubing and chassis bits for the basic frame soon to build the prototype, if I have someone interested in the first kit right off the bat, I may build two and see if I can at least sell the chassis....who knows?? I will keep you posted here for sure! All I know is I am hooked on these things now I rode my bike like 5 times today @ work in my dress clothes!! LOL! And I don't even have the voltage up to the 57.4 I want it at yet!

 

[Whiplash]

OK! I made my first commute on the bike! 10 miles, It made it all the way to work with a couple 4+% grades included and I was hauling most of the way, believe it or not I actually got there FASTER with the bike than with my truck! LOL! I never thought I could do that... Nothing got hot and it worked flawlessly. I only took the pack down to 46V too! I know its not an accurate way to measure it but its all I have right now, at least it didn't cut out! Thanks for the great deal on the Lipo Dozentrio!

 

[dozentrio]

Thanks for the great deal on the Lipo Dozentrio!

no problem just spreading the love. Haha. Glad they're working well for you.

 

[Whiplash]

Made it there and back! in 110* weather to boot!! I was workin with the voltage sag on the way home though climbing the big hill,(about 4 percent climb over roughly 5 miles, so really long) I was sweatin!...Did great though, really fun ride! I think the heat outside was playing hell on the LiPo's....still have 45V resting voltage after the ride home though, I was just scared to work it too hard I guess, when I noticed the slower climb...I can't wait for my other two packs!! No more sag baby! I am curious how much more power it will have with an additional 7.4 volts to play with?! I figure even when it is getting low, it will still have good punch, right now when I get towards the bottom of the pack you can really feel the difference in voltage...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFVq_S0VoO8

 

[dozentrio]

What you're seeing is probably voltage sag under load (do you have a watt-meter of some kind on your bike?) however, it's probably not the voltage sag itself that's causing the decrease in power. My ecrazyman controller had a LVC of 41.5V, and when the voltage got to around 43 it would start to limit the current that could be drawn. So, what is probably happening is that the voltage sag puts the voltage close to the lvc and that limits the current you can pull. The voltage sag alone wouldn't cause too much of a noticeable decrease in power. Not like the current limiting would.

 

[Whiplash]

AAAHHH HA! Now that makes sense! It seemed to me like the couple volts it was losing would not take that much out of it! I think you are right, I have a feeleing when I get my remaining two packs here, it will be a whole different bike. I did get to work this AM with WAAY more power left in the battery...I tried a little taller charge up this time, I wen up to 49.7V charge rather than the 49.1 I was doing. I think it was able to put a "better" charge in the battery and more total AH than I was getting in there before. That is still only 4.14 per cell, so I am not working the cells too hard. By the way I can't believe ho well balanced they are staying, I have charged it up like 7-10 times so far and I have not had to balance any cells yet! I check each cell with my DMM to make sure they are balanced and none are off more than a 10th of a volt even after all the charges! I am not running it down very far I think though...

 

[Whiplash]

Had my first bigger ride today! Going home from work on my usual path, (@ a minimum of 25MPH the whole time) I decided to go to the hobby store to pick up a balancer so I could balance the packs as they were getting a TINY bit out and I wanted to keep them in line. I turned off Portola to the right and went to the west. This is all in fairly heavy wind mind you, like 30ish MPH! The bike did great and climbed all the way home up the 4-5% grade it has to do every day over a few miles. 12ish total and it did it with room to spare!! I was hitting 47 ish Volts right by my house so only like 3.35 per cell. The best part is, I can't even charge the pack totally full yet, I am only able to get 55.5V out of my current charger and the pack is a 14S2P so it SHOULD go to 58.1! So i am doing all this driving with like 75% of the pack! I can't believe how much better this thing performes with just a few extra volts, ging from 44.4 nominal to 51.8 nominal is a BIG difference! I can cruise at 25MPH EASILY and hit speeds of around 35 with no pedaling and yesterday I went by a radar trailer in the city and pedaled pretty good and hit 40!! I am totally impressed with the cheapo kit from Conhis Motor, its really fast, torquey, and FUN! I don't even WANT to drive my truck anymore and its WELL over 100* outside, what am I NUTS!!! LOL!

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=77670+Enfield+Lane,+Palm+Desert,+CA&daddr=Portola+Ave+to:Town+Center+Way+to:CA-74+W+toesert+Heights+Cir+S%2FFrank+Feltrop+Cir+to:73465+Little+Bend+Trail,+Palm+Desert,+CA&hl=en&geocode=FUknAwIdM0IR-Skj9ngo7PvagDF9GZHie7Ps8g%3BFdSuAgId7EYQ-Q%3BFYekAgIdvOYP-Q%3BFXpyAgIdyPwP-Q%3BFZ5OAgIdlhAQ-Q%3BFYA3AgIdjyIQ-SkJdqPZWv7agDEfwXRWTOZetw&mra=mr&via=1,2,3,4&sll=33.716558,-116.38341&sspn=0.026665,0.043731&ie=UTF8&ll=33.722626,-116.357574&spn=0.106654,0.174923&z=13&dirflg=d

 

[dozentrio]

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, but a video is worth (1000 words)*(frame_rate)*(video_length). Assuming 24 fps, and 10 seconds, that means 240,000 words.

 

[Whiplash]

I need to do it, I will try to get some today, I don't have any camera mount though!! Hands off the bars I guess! LOL!

 

[Whiplash]

Here is my 100,000,000 words or so.... LOL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE5Sk28HoYA

 

[Whiplash]

Welp, Just put the first 100mi. Notch in my belt so far so good! Just got through a 12 mile ride with plenty of life in the battery after my typical climb home!! That's 25 bucks paid back from the purchase of the kit! Only 495 bucks to go! So I figure, if I have no failures, in 19 weeks it will have paid for itself in the GAS ALONE! Nothing like comparing 9MPG to about the equivalent of 200MPG! LOL!

 

[Whiplash]

OK Got a bit done today getting prepared to build the prototype chassis. I fabricated the build table and will put casters, and leveling screws on it when time allows. For now this is a good start, now I need to clean out my garage so I have space to work indoors as the temps here are BLISTERING during the day in the sun. When I finished this up 30 minutes ago, it was nearly 114* outside!! I have an A/C in the garage though so, once I get it cleaned out I will have a nice place to work. I will be setting this up for production once the bike is built and tested. I included enough space for a complete jig to be built so I can duplicate the bikes exactly once the prototype is tested. That's all for now!

 

[Whiplash]

Well, did a bit of mountain climbing today...well not really but its it the steepest road I know of around these parts, about 10-15% grade I would say, but the bike took it in stride doing about 25MPH up the steepest part climbing about 1000-1500 feet in about a mile or a bit more! Just light pedaling to keep up with the motor, but believe me at the new voltage of 58V hot, WOT its basically a waste of time to try and pedal, I just can't even make the freewheel engage for a second as fast as I can possibly pedal!! The first vid is just getting up the 5+% grade to get to the real climb. Once I got up there, coming down was a BLAST! I HAVE to believe I was doing WELL over 45MPH probably more like 50, as I was pulling away from the car behind me!! REALLY FAST I tried to pedal, but even in the tallest gear, I pedaled so fast I almost fell off the bike and still didn't even get the freewheel to engage at all! Needless to say, I am figuring on setting my top speed for the prototype at no higher than 40 as its PLENTY fast to have fun and if you fall, you MIGHT live to tell about it if you are wearing a helmet and leathers and don't hit anything!! LOL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k42-uyilmM

Here is the actual climb up the windy's!

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

 

[Whiplash]

Just Ordered my Head tube and bottom bracket! I will have them tomorrow, I just need to get the tubing to start the chassis!! I have decided the plate Chromo is too heavy and I will be building the frame out of .049" Chromoly and then skinning the outside of the frame with some sort of flat material, VERY possibly Carbon Fiber sheet, if its not too expensive, as I think it would look MEAN as HELL with polished stainless cap-screws holding them in place!The chassis and swing arm will likely be powder coated in the color of your choice, but I will do my first one in semi gloss black for that evil look.. I hope to have the basic bike built in a few weeks to at least test out the bicycle part, as I want it to be a quality piece that ANY mountain biker would be proud to own, even without the motor! Priliminary estimates are putting the frame in the 6-7lb range which is competitive with the nicer bikes available, but we will see how it turns out when its all together, I am sure it will gain a few lbs over my best guess. But I have a goal of NO more than 30lbs less motor and electrics, so I should come in somewhere around 50lbs fully motorized, and if I can do that.....I am in business!! I figure its pretty realistic, as my cheap bike is 38LBS without electrics and ended up right about 60lbs, and it has very heave junk parts compared to what I will be using here...

 

[torker]

Nice vid. No wind at 25 mph. What town is that? It looks really nice.

 

[Whiplash]

Thanks! Yeah I don't know why the Mic does not pick it up, but there was a lot, guess I got a good mic? As for the town, I am in Palm Desert CA. Just outside of Palm Springs, Actually the more resort town, Palm Springs is kind of old school Hollywood-ish.