formal introduction

[Lenk42602]

It's alive........ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mmmmboohahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

holy freakin 72 volts! i lifted the back wheel and cracked the throttle - OMFG.....went over to the blue bomber and did the same for comparison @ 48v. This thing is crazy !

did a stage run down the hallway of my house, full throttle. not enough real estate, jake was quickly a dot at the end of the hall.... too cold to go outside right now, 23 degrees and dropping.

I will be doing some testing saturday, regardless of the weather. if it is too cold to take it out, i will get my rollers out and see what kind of performance this thing pumps out in ideal conditions. I am going to guess 51 mph top speed (ideal conditions).....

more to come!

 

[Lenk42602]

58.8 MPH ON THE ROLLERS LAST NIGHT

This is essentially pulling no load (rider weight), no wind, no elevation. Checked my wheel circumference calculations three times on the cateye speedometer last night to be sure! I figure a real world top speed of 51 mph on the flats. Will be doing more useful data testing on the set up soon...

Yikes!

 

[TylerDurden]

 

[pigboy666]

58.8 mph x 1.609 = 94.6 kmh

50 mph x 1.609 = 80.5 kmh

Are you planning on including a cycle-analyst on your set up as well?

 

[Lenk42602]

yes, cycle analyst will be used for data acqusition, and also to limit amp draw on the batts. and also to avoid going back to the future due to excessive speed..... only bummer is that my controller does not have a 6 pin adapter, so I have to install the universal in line shunt thingy......

 

[safe]

50 mph x 1.609 = 80.5 kmh

Not without more power... you need 3500 watts to reach ( 49.8 ) 50 mph.

Either that or you need a road racing position and a fairing.

...or you can go downhill. :wink:

(I've done 52 mph on mine downhill)

http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm

 

[Mark_A_W]

DISC BRAKES!!!
DISC BRAKES!!!
DISC BRAKES!!!
DISC BRAKES!!!
DISC BRAKES!!!
DISC BRAKES!!!
DISC BRAKES!!!
DISC BRAKES!!!
DISC BRAKES!!!


You would be COMPLETELY MAD to attempt the speeds mentioned in this thread, without decent brakes, and balanced wheels.

And a helmet. And leathers quite frankly.

 

[Lenk42602]

DISC BRAKES!!!

You would be COMPLETELY MAD to attempt the speeds mentioned in this thread, without decent brakes, and balanced wheels.

And a helmet. And leathers quite frankly.

mark, mark, mark. didn't anyone tell you when you became a member on ES that this is where lunatics gather? :lol:

just call me burt munro.

seriously though, to operate this thing at sustained speeds above 30 would be very irresponsible of me. would not do much for the local e bike community that I am trying to create here if i slid under a coal truck and got squished like a grape. I can see it now "electric bike shop owner dies on illegal electric bike in collison with tri axle"

i'll behave.......I have to.......I am an industry representative of our budding industry!

 

[TylerDurden]

i'll behave.......I have to.......I am an industry representative of our budding industry!

That might explain why there are so few ebike shops.

 

[Mark_A_W]

Lenk, it says on your website that Crystalyte is an American owned company.

Am I missing something?

 

[Lenk42602]

The owner of Electric Rider, Dave D, invested many development dollars into a viable hub motor design, working/partnering closely with crystalyte to create a product that could be incorporated into todays ebike kits. This individual also created the wholesale business and service center the here in the states known as the ev depot.

I am sure there are many here that have more info about him than I do.

http://hub.ou.edu/articles/article.php?article_id=288063605

 

[Mark_A_W]

So the EV depot is US owned then?

Now, I have no idea who owns Crystalyte, but given their contact details:

Address :

Beiqijia Town,Changping District,Beijing,China

Email

kenny@crystalyte.com

crystalytemotor@yahoo.com

Tel : ++86 10 81758458

Fax : ++86 10 61755076


American as Apple Pie was not the first thought that crossed my mind...

 

[Lenk42602]

Hey Mark,

Was digging around in my users manual for the 5 series motors i have. Recalled this story so I thought I would post. Apparently his vested interest is centered around the 5-series motors/accessories.

"The History of Phoenix
In 2002, I was vacationing in Idaho and wanted to ride the new rails to trails paths and the Hiawatha trail in Montana. I didn’t have a bike, and didn’t have much interest in pedaling. Most of the people I saw on the trail were wearing special clothes, armed with water bottles and a variety of specialized bicycling equipment. Being more engineer than athlete, I decided there must be a way to see the sights without having to dawn a new set of clothes and depend on perspiration for survival. I decided to build an electric bike. To my surprise, when I started researching candidate parts, I discovered electric bikes already existed. I chose a Currie e-ride mountain bike and the fun began. In jeans and without any special equipment (except a basket for my dog), I was able to enjoy the views of Idaho and Montana without breaking a sweat.
After riding the trails – a lot – I discovered that a run to the grocery or restaurant could be made on my e-bike more easily than in my car. I wanted to share my discovery with as many people as I could, so I became an e-bike dealer and started an online retail operation. As time passed, I found my electric bike more and more useful and enjoyable, but as my reach extended into more populous towns, I discovered the displeasure of having cars whiz by my left shoulder as I rode along the right-hand edge of the road at bicycle speed. I could have bought a motorcycle and been done with it, but that’s not what engineers do.. I decided again to build an electric bike. This time I borrowed from a marvelous machine I rode that blew me away – the Jackal, designed and built by Thunderstruck EV. I used a LashOut bike frame and spent 2 months designing, welding, breaking things – finding the weak spots the hard way and strengthening them. The resulting bike did 53 MPH in about 7 seconds, and appropriately became known as the Insane-a-cycle. With this electric bike – the only one of its kind in the world – I could traverse the entire town at the highest speed limits. I could ride with traffic at last.
I began trying to find a way to share this newfound freedom from the pump. After several false starts with a number of US importers of light electric vehicles, I gave up on US companies and began contacting Chinese manufacturers. Most were interested only in selling a product they already made – typically 180-250 watt hub motors on flimsy plastic bodies that look like small motorscooters. I finally found Crystalyte. They had designed a motor that would do the job, but our testing resulted in controller failures. We finally arrived at dependable, powerful 36 volt 40 amp and 48 volt 40 amp controllers. We call the systems the Phoenix 3640 and Phoenix 4840, and they are available today. The system is unmatched in the industry, but we are not stopping there. We are working with battery manufacturers to produce batteries with greater range and less weight. We are working with frame designers and builders to produce the coolest, fastest, safest electric bike ever built for the consumer market. The Phoenix system you buy today will be able to take advantage of upgrades as they become available. We want you to be sold on electric power as a regular means of transportation."

Dave

 

[fechter]

That's interesting.

I didn't know that "Insane-a-cycle" Dave was connected with Crystalyte.

I do know about the Jackal, though.
I believe the picture below is the first prototype:

 

[Lenk42602]

ahhh christmas. suvs jockeying for spots at the mall, crazyz crazy crazy! was 53 degrees here staturday and dry. took v 2.0 out for its first real ride. Traveled a total of 9 miles on varying terrain, however most was flat. top speed on the flats is just over 41 mph if i hunker down. I rode at sustained full throttle on the flats for about three miles with no issues. still do not have the CA hooked up, so I do not have any graphable data. None the less, I detected no heat issues from the wiring, controllers or batteries.

Only problem was that a friend took it for a test ride, and the hub motor axle decided to jump out and spin.....luckily no damage was done to the wiring inside the motor.

Just happened that I was carrying all my tools, so just popped the axle back in the drop outs and tightened her down. Looks like I will probably being fabbing some torque arms, as I probably should have done in the 1st place.

 

[Lenk42602]

Well, the bike is pretty much complete. Took her out today and cruised around for a cool place to take some pics. A local bike shop owner offered me his helmet cam so I can take some video footage....that will be next...however the weather looks bad for the next few weeks again. Think I am going to clean up the blue bomber a bit (V 1.0) and wait until the weather breaks.....clean it up and make it look purdy....

Enjoy!

Will be posting video soon.....

 

[albie]

i like it... looks really really clean

 

[Lenk42602]

Although I was hoping to keep the original version completely intact, I have decided to scab all the good bits off the Blue Bomber, aka V 1.0 and put together a second ebike that my GF can can use with me, or I can use when just cruising around. the blue bomber was just too big and heavy for her to pilot...

Here is the skeleton. Looks kind of sad, eviscerated, entrails all over the floor.....those sla's are HEAVY!!!

Oh, while I am at it, those black hardshell breifcases are actually hard panniers that mount to a rear rack and come with universal mounting gear. 30 bucks a pair from here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Travel-Side-Cases-NOS-Benelli-Wards-Ducati-Moped_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ84148QQihZ009QQitemZ4555800865QQtcZphoto

cosmo motors is a really cool old school italian moped NOS wholesale company here in Pennsylvania. These are kind of neat, although I am going to wait to mount them to the Norco.

The new frame is a cheaper 4130 cromo Norco. Consider it an "homage" to all of the Northern Influence here on the sphere... It has horizontal dropouts, so I can go one speed. Found a cheap front suspension fork, and a set 5.5" rise ATV bars on it to really get me nice and upright.

Now that it is roughed in, it kind of reminds me of a 26" bmx cruiser..Kind of a man sized bmxer...

I don't think I can get my intended battery choice @ 48v inside the frame triangle, so I may mount it on a rack aft of the seat tube. Intend to purchase one of Gary's new lifebatt packs @ 50 + volts when he is ready to go.

At least this will keep the fire burning until we get some decent riding weather. V 2.0 has not yet been put through the proper paces either...much e biking to do this year!!!!

btw, I now have a few rigid frames I would like to get rid of - if anyone is interested in details, let me know

peace,

len

 

[GGoodrum]

Looks good, Len.

You know, a 16-cell pack might fit on the down tube, maybe using a U-shaped mount that attaches to the water holder screws.You need about 7 inches clearance between the tube and the controller.

-- Gary

 

[Lenk42602]

Thanks Gary,

I am convinced the 16 cell is the way to go also. I wont have to spring for a new charger! I figure I can fabricate something if it fits dimensionally inside the triangle.

I received a mig welder for christmas, so now the sky is the limit regarding sheet metal battery box dimensions.... Not just ammo cans....

If not, a rear mounted battery pack is probably how most individuals would configure their kits out of the box, so I am not quite as concerned about the look and weight distribution as much as on the fast bike (v 2.0). This would be a good bike to show potential customers what they can do as a basic e bike home conversion.

Let me know when your 16 cell packs are ready for sale - I will need it on hand when when I begin the process of figuring where on the bike to place it.

Len

 

[GGoodrum]

I'd still try and keep the battery weight forward, especially if this bike is what your girl friend will use. I originally had a front-mounted 5304, with rear-mounted pack setup, on my Townie. I recently switched to a rear-mounted 5304 and initially left the batteries in back. Way to much weight in back that way, and it is really hard to manage, even for me and I'm a pretty big guy. No way my wife could handle it. It also made the front-end squirrelly as all get out. I now have moved the main pack to a basket up front, which is still not optimum, but it will do until I figure out how to do something within the triangle.

-- Gary

 

[Lenk42602]

All,
Finished the battery box late last night. Thought I would share some pics...

On this bike, only the battery will be inside the box. Controller will be mounted underneath tray.

Still have to purty it up..

Also found a cleaner way to mount the lower brackets to the box.

Now, what batteries are going to fit in there............. :?

 

[Lenk42602]

Updated pics on the frame mounted battery box....

carbon finish is on, controller mounted beneath the battery tray

next, the gratuitous, shameless plug for the fantasy ebike company I have yet to truly start, via application the green oval sticker. hoping once I am out on the road this summer I can drum up some excitement.

Also need to find a suitable battery - thinking Li Po again.......

then my woman can at least experience one way that I can put a grin on her face

 

[disadvantage]

I'm confused...

I see three bikes: a black, blue, and yellow one.

The black one is finished, and I like it very much!
The blue one was a part donor; I can understand that.
Is the yellow another one that you are building after the black?

Maybe I need to re-read this thread from the beginning...

disadvantage

EDIT: I did re-read and I'm still confused.

 

[Lenk42602]

The Blue Bike is dead. All of the electric running gear has been removed and is currently being re-installed on the yellow bike.
Thanks for the compliments!