DIY TerraTrike with Non-Hub Drive HELP NEEDED!!

[KAZUALT]

Hello All.,
I am a newbie to the E-World and have a few questions. I have a TerraTrike Path with a NuVinci Hub on the rear. Since I hace the NuVinci hub, works great by the way, I want to add an e-drive to the trike, but want to keep my hub. Since I am very mechanically inclined I was hoping to go the DIY route. I will use an inline or mid-drive, unless someone knows a better setup. Well here are my questions.
1) What motor would be the best for this trike. I do have some hills to climb, but high speed climb is not really required. Weight of trike and rider is 210lbs.
2) Other than a throttle, battery and controller, What else do I need?
3) Has anyone done this already and if so can I have the info or link please.

Thanks for being patient with me,
KAZUALT

 

[KAZUALT]

Ok I think I figured it out. I am going to use a cyclone 500 watt bicycle motor kit. Since I have only seen them installed on a bike or a trike with one front wheel. I have yet to come across one, mid-line drive, on a tadpole trike.
Now I just have to wait a month or so to raise the $495 + tax for the kit. In the mean time since I have the dimensions of the motor I am going to work on getting a bracket fabed up. Guess I get to practice my minimual welding skills.
If anyone has any ideas on wether this setup will work please let them fly.

KAZUALT

 

[nsasch]

If you want to keep your rear wheel, you only have a few options. You can use a mid-drive setup like the Cyclone motor with double freewheel, you can have the motor drive the cranks (more difficult on a trike, with the boom way out front), you can modify your hub to have a left-hand sprocket to drive with a motor, you can use a friction drive with a roller against the wheel (causes tire wear, inefficient, and most people are against them; although, I can't remember who, but someone on this forum has done great things with a friction drive), and a pusher trailer that attaches to the rear and pushes the trike (no motor if you don't want to carry the trailer behind you, among other problems).

The Cyclone motor _will_ work though, for your situation, but it's not the best. People, myself included, have successfully used them, but they're not the most efficient nor the most reliable.

The newest fad, and I think it's a good one, around here, is R/C motors. R/C motors designed for model helicopters and airplanes are light weight, high power, and very efficient. It's not the cheapest way to go though, but for a mechanically inclined person, it will be the most rewarding.

If you go the R/C route, you will need more than a battery, throttle, and controller, and the power might be more than your wheel can handle.
For a Cyclone setup, that is all you need, but you'll also want a killswitch of some sort, to shut off all power in an emergency.
A watt-meter (Cycle Analyst or Watt's Up meter) will be beneficial to help you know when your battery approaches empty.

Also, before you weld anything, I don't think it's necessary. I've seen mid-drives on tadpole trikes before that don't require any welding. Also, the Cyclone comes with a little bracket which is a good starting point.

I suggest reading many of the popular posts here, specifically Non-Hub Motor Drives.

And, lastly, welcome to ES.

 

[KAZUALT]

THanks for the advice. I did do a search on Nuvinci hubs to see if anyone dida mid dirve, but I didn't find one. I will be doing alot more research into the rc motors. I am not in a hurry and don't mind learning along the way. Still have not nixed the cyclone yet, just going to read alot more.
Agian Thanx
KAZUALT

 

[deardancer3]

I put a cyclone on a tadpole. It worked just fine. But I had someone buy the cyclone off me, so it got removed in a time of $$ need.

I do have a 360w cyclone on a feet forward bike and it has been extremely reliable, I have not to date overvolted. I used the one chain and one chainring early version of the cylone, with a custom crankset clutch.

Installation; one has several decisions to make on a low slung tadpole- where the motor will be mounted, which of several types of cylones to use- number of chains and number of chainrings. I think yours is a single front chainring, so that simpifies somethings. you probably want the e-drive for hillclimbing.

If you like the cyclone, dont rule out the 360w, it is much less demanding on battery packs. The peak current demand of a cylcone is well over double its contious rating. That is a downside of the 24v 500w cyclone; if your pack cant deliver 40 amps for ten seconds , you will not get great performance form a cyclone. In that respect, if you want that much power you might consider the bigger cyclone, just for the external controller and the 36v pack.

You will have to do some waterproofing of a cylone motor, NBD. I just rode home 2 miles in torential rains last week, No problems.

I helped a fellow try to install a cyclone on a low slung 16" wheels tadpole. He could not find a save place to put the motor considering his low clearance- He eventually gave up. But you have 20" wheels and there are now multiple type cyclones and lots of install options.

A meter is very helpful, but where does one install a meter on a tadpole? take a look at the under construction "newbie" stuff to prevent any gotchas.
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1188

What type battery are you considering? any idea where it would get installed?

best


D

 

[KAZUALT]

Great Info. Yep I do have 20" wheels and a single front ring. With the single ring I figured it would be alot easier to install a mid-drive. I have a TT Path and haven't figured out yet where to put the motor. I figure there will probably be a little trail and error placement once I get the setup. I pretty much made up my mind on getting the Cyclone. Not sure on what watt to get. I need to do some more research on the preformance and battery requirements on the motors. I have not choosen a battery either. Got any suggestions? Nice thing about using a trike is that i can not only carry alot or weight with out tipping over but I can disribute the batteries aroung the trike to even out the balance. That way to don't get pulled on way or the other. I was looking at the TC motor, pretty cool, but with all the technical stuff and machining that would be required has me going for a complete kit and out of all of them the Cyclone seems to fit my needs.

Keep the info coming I need all I can get,
KAZUALT