Well I am sitting here with nothing to do and have read every post twice So I decided to start my official build thread.
First I would like to thank everyone that posts here for the tons and tons of experience and help they have give.
I love the look of the cx450 and the price was right so I got one and started dreaming of the bike I want to end up with. Shortly after getting the bike from ebay (in horrible condition) I decided that it needed a minor battery upgrade to make it even a little fun. So I found the makita 18v 3a batteries and some mounts that would move the project forward and purchased the bits but never touched it for about 9 months. I really wanted to improve the suspension before I took it anywhere. I have started the search for improvements .
Battery dock - I was really disappointed with the weight of the dock but they really did simplify getting to 36v.
There is enough room for 8 of them but I started with 4 and will probably move to lipo instead. It also eliminates any guess work on charging.
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=3915
First get rid of anything that is orange and get the batteries installed. I thought for sure it would kill the controller or motor at 36v but it runs fine, motor barely warm, 22mph top speed and 6 mile range. Too noisy though
I have not decided that I am going to keep these forks but I am trying to keep the geometry about the same as it was and slightly slacken the head tube angle.
Rock Shox DHO 130mm.
Magura Hugin Rear Suspension Bicycle Air Shock 38/165mm.
The original forks only have about 4 inches of travel and the rear shock is only 5.5inch in length. So the new forks have about 5 inches of travel but the new rear shock is an inch longer which will change the head tube angle in the wrong direction. I will try to solve this with pre-load on the rear. So I imagine the final suspension will have 5 inches of travel in front and rear with out changing the bike height too much and hopefully slacking the head tube angle ever so slightly. A fork with 180mm of travel might be a good candidate but it will change the head tube angle a lot. The head tube is over 7" in length so you would want a fork with at least 8" of steer tube.
I haven't decided on a final battery configuration but I think I can fit 12s2p in the original plastic case to neaten things up. Right now I am thinking Zippy lipo 6s1p x 4 to give 48v at 10000mah. Along with that I haven't decided on the final motor, either an astro 3220 or something close. A single stage reduction and finally deciding on right or left drive are also things to be decided.
The bike is really too small for someone 5'10" but it is still very fun, A yz125 seat and raising the seat height a couple inches will help.
I have showed it around in it's current state and people dig it which totally surprises me It is so low quality! My front forks and rear shock should be here mid next week. I hope to complete the entire project by the end of the summer.
First I would like to thank everyone that posts here for the tons and tons of experience and help they have give.
I love the look of the cx450 and the price was right so I got one and started dreaming of the bike I want to end up with. Shortly after getting the bike from ebay (in horrible condition) I decided that it needed a minor battery upgrade to make it even a little fun. So I found the makita 18v 3a batteries and some mounts that would move the project forward and purchased the bits but never touched it for about 9 months. I really wanted to improve the suspension before I took it anywhere. I have started the search for improvements .
Battery dock - I was really disappointed with the weight of the dock but they really did simplify getting to 36v.
There is enough room for 8 of them but I started with 4 and will probably move to lipo instead. It also eliminates any guess work on charging.
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=3915
First get rid of anything that is orange and get the batteries installed. I thought for sure it would kill the controller or motor at 36v but it runs fine, motor barely warm, 22mph top speed and 6 mile range. Too noisy though
I have not decided that I am going to keep these forks but I am trying to keep the geometry about the same as it was and slightly slacken the head tube angle.
Rock Shox DHO 130mm.
Magura Hugin Rear Suspension Bicycle Air Shock 38/165mm.
The original forks only have about 4 inches of travel and the rear shock is only 5.5inch in length. So the new forks have about 5 inches of travel but the new rear shock is an inch longer which will change the head tube angle in the wrong direction. I will try to solve this with pre-load on the rear. So I imagine the final suspension will have 5 inches of travel in front and rear with out changing the bike height too much and hopefully slacking the head tube angle ever so slightly. A fork with 180mm of travel might be a good candidate but it will change the head tube angle a lot. The head tube is over 7" in length so you would want a fork with at least 8" of steer tube.
I haven't decided on a final battery configuration but I think I can fit 12s2p in the original plastic case to neaten things up. Right now I am thinking Zippy lipo 6s1p x 4 to give 48v at 10000mah. Along with that I haven't decided on the final motor, either an astro 3220 or something close. A single stage reduction and finally deciding on right or left drive are also things to be decided.
The bike is really too small for someone 5'10" but it is still very fun, A yz125 seat and raising the seat height a couple inches will help.
I have showed it around in it's current state and people dig it which totally surprises me It is so low quality! My front forks and rear shock should be here mid next week. I hope to complete the entire project by the end of the summer.