High power RC motor and drive unit production

[dontsendbubbamail]

Drink more beer!

Bubba

 

[EVTodd]

Drink more beer!

Bubba

I'm going to take that advice!

 

[recumpence]

You guys are hillarious!

My mindset on this is, if someone wants to buy a drive, great! If not, no biggie. I am not twisting anyone's arm.

So, I am a health nut. Can I drink Kefir instead?

Matt

 

[John in CR]

What do you mean? Beer is great food for athletes!

John

 

[oofnik]

So, I am a health nut. Can I drink Kefir instead?

Mmmm, kefir... good stuff.

Anyway I originally scoffed at the price Matt quoted. But then I thought about all the work that goes in to designing and actually making such a thing, even if you do a production run of several units at a time. My alternatives, given my limited access to machinery while at school, looked pretty miserable, and not much cheaper. So that was that. I agree; for what you get it really is right on the money.

 

[recumpence]

Production update;

I am getting numerous emails every day with questions regarding production schedule, drive availability, and support equipment availablility. I will try to give an explanation here to smooth out some confusion.

First, here are the orders I have pending. Any new orders will follow these;



John Holmes;

2 dual stage reductions. I am waiting on a special SDP gear for him and sprockets. All should be here in a couple days.

I have one customer using a Plettenberg Terminator. I am setting him up with a polished two stage drive. His sprockets should be in stock this week along with John's.

1 two stage drive for a complete custom bike with one of HAL9000 frames. I am waiting on a motor for his drive.

2 two stage drives for a Canadian customer. I am waiting on motors and batteries (along with a bunch of other support equipment) to complete his order.

I have two other orders that are not finalized yet.

While I wait for supplies, I have been machining all drive compomponents such as jackshafts, bearing tubes, and modding FW adaptors when needed for RH drive, as well as all bearing pressing into the bearing tubes. That way all machining that I can do is done. That will allow the pending drive orders to be completed and shipped ASAP when all parts arrive.

As I mentioned above, any new orders will follow these. That being said, many orders have requested an Astro Flight motor. Those motors are typically a 3 to 4 week wait anyway. So, while I await motors, I do other drive setup work.

I will be stocking Astro Flight motors shortly along with twist grip throttles modded with servo tester boards and BEC power supplies for use as a bolt on throttle for RC use. I am also configuring HV110s that I will be stocking with added caps and all programming done for EV use.

I was not originally planning on doing anything other than setup raw reduction units for customers. However, popular demand has moved me in this direction.

I appologize for any delays in shipping drives. This is little cottage business is turning into more of an EV store.

I want to thank JohnRobHolmes for all his support. He has been great to deal with (all my lame questions). He is also stocking much of these same components. He is my source for much of my support equipment (magura throttles for modding, HV110s, etc).

For anyone looking for a good EV guy who knows RC and stocks stuff, shoot John an email.

If you want a more complete drive (motor included, ESC presetup for EV use, throttles, etc), I am moving in that direction. I do need to stock up on materials and/or there will be a bit of a wait for support equipment when motors and other support parts are ordered. But, I am willing to work with you.

I feel somewhat obligated to you guys trying to mount RC drives and are having trouble getting what is needed to run it. That is why I am moving in the direction of setting up some other stuff to make the RC transition easier.

Thanks for the patience, Guys.

Matt

 

[1clue]

FWIW, the "apples to oranges" thing is inevitable.

I did some research online, and then went looking at local sources. I rode a BionX, and 2 other hub motors I can't remember the names of right now. One was noisy enough it had to be a planetary gear drive or something similar. The cheapest of these was about $1500 USD at the bike shops. They were all heavy, kludgy and carried huge batteries. If they are the choices I have, then I will power my bike with pedals.

So IMO you can either pay $1500+ for something not worth owning, or you can go look for a DIY solution. That's the attitude I had coming over to see Matt.

I didn't see Matt's bike operate in person, or ride on it, but I did get to look at and handle the parts to the drives. So far, it's the first e-bike I could see myself owning. The machining is good, the concepts are simple and the price is what I consider to be low compared to what the bike shops are selling and giving you.

There IS no real comparison for me. I'm not falling down and worshipping at Matt's feet, I'm just saying that so far, his is the only solution I see as a viable means of transportation.

Oh yeah, that's the other thing. My intent is a commuter vehicle for summer time. 20 miles each way, 5 days a week if possible. Rain or shine, but considering how my bike handles in snow it will unfortunately be limited to summer months.

 

[johnrobholmes]

Can't wait to get my drive units. All I gotta do is get over my fear of welding to my pretty aluminum bikes. My old chrome frames are no biggie. The astro drive is claimed for my motorcycle build, but the Nue drive is just begging to go on a bicycle conversion.

 

[recumpence]

Cool.

I am just freakin sick of waiting on motors and drive parts. I have 7 drives that need to ship!

So, I will complete your Astro drive first, then the Nue drive. That way if there is any issue with the Nue drive configuration, I can still ship the Astro drive for your motorcycle.

Did you talk to Castle about the HV140s? I am hoping to see some more Lipos soon and I am regearing for 55mph on the PK. It is begging for more ESC!

Matt

 

[nomad85]

I had this prototype set of clamps made but, believe it or not, I have not had one single request for them, not even one! So, I am not doing any more clamp prototyping untill I know there is an interest in them.

Bummer.

Matt

I think if you setup a drive on a normal bike with these clamps you will get more interest, so far the only bikes running your drives are strange frames that most people wont be using. Setup a basic mountain bike and show people its not too hard (no one who has a drive seems to have managed to mount it yet, so its a bit intimidating) I plan to get one regardless when I can afford all the parts. Keep up the great work man!

 

[recumpence]

I spent the entire day at the shop setting up drives.

John Holmes,

Your drives are finished!
The Mod1 gear did not have set screw holes drilled and tapped and I do not have the long tab that would be required to tap it. I did ream the hole to .500" though.

Anyway, PM the address you want me to ship to and I will get them out to you.

I need a couple HV110s. We can work out a trade for your second drive. The first drive is already paid in trade. :wink:


I also finished a radical two stage drive using a Plettenberg Terminator for another customer and did a bunch of setup machining of shafts, bearing tubes, sprocket boring, etc for other orders that will be finished very soon.


For those waiting on orders, I am shipping on a first ordered, first shipped basis. Also, I have ESCs and lipo packs to setup for those who ordered them as well as a batch of parts to go out to the anodizer.

Matt

 

[lesdit]

how heavy is the dual reduction unit ?

 

[recumpence]

That depends on the motor and type of sprockets used.

I will weigh a few different setups for you and get back to you.

Matt

 

[Timma2500]

Can't wait to get my drive units. All I gotta do is get over my fear of welding to my pretty aluminum bikes. My old chrome frames are no biggie. The astro drive is claimed for my motorcycle build, but the Nue drive is just begging to go on a bicycle conversion.

Hi John. I've been specializing in just aluminium TIG and MIG welding/ fabrication for the last 3 yrs (and stainless + mild steel another 10yrs) and can say as long as you find a welder who knows what he's doing (you can always ask to see an example of their workmanship before agreeing to anything), you should end up with some beautiful welds to match your existing factory welds on the frame!

Just let them know it NEEDS to look as neat as possible and they will pay extra attention to the job

Happy hunting!

Paul

 

[recumpence]

I did some weighing;

Single stage drive weighs a touch under two pounds (depending on the pullies used). Two stage drive weighs 4 pounds.

Man, I have alot of orders right now. I have 6 Astro 3210s in stock for customers (and my own builds) and I have on order 5 more 3210s and seven (yes, you heard right, seven) 3320s!

Astro is loving me right now.

Matt

 

[mud2005]

I notice astroflight has the new 8150 motor on their website, in between the 3210 and 3220, might get some interest in those soon

 

[recumpence]

I have twin motored drive parts in stock now.

Once my batch of Astro motors come in, I will post a pic of a completed twin motor drive. It can even be setup for two 3220s.

14kw anyone?

Matt

 

[1clue]

Can you say, "two wheel drive?"

 

[recumpence]

Can you say, "two wheel drive?"

Did you want that with a northern or southern accent?

Hey, when you leave yourself open with a question like that, you gotta expect a snappy come-back. :wink:

Matt

 

[Timma2500]

I notice astroflight has the new 8150 motor on their website, in between the 3210 and 3220, might get some interest in those soon

I just ordered an 8150-5T from astro lastnight, can't wait to get my grubby little hands on it! Will be using it with a HV140 on order from Nuemotors and a 12s 10AH pack from truerc. Hope to see around 4.5kw and hope my 9spd copes....

Paul.

 

[johnrobholmes]

I just got four HV140s in and Matt took them all from me!!

 

[Timma2500]

I just got four HV140s in and Matt took them all from me!!

The selfish bugger! :wink: Hehe, we know Matt will put them to very good use!!!


Paul

 

[recumpence]

Oh, yes, I will put them to VERY good use!

So, I just got back from the shop. Dave (my CNC guy) and I had a discussion. I am purchasing a week of his CNC time starting July 16th [if I am remembering correctly].

I plan on puting frame clamps into production. I am hoping to have 1.5 inch ID clamps made, 2 inch, and 2.5 inch. The clamps will clamp down about 1/8 inch. Plus I will stock shims to make the drive work for odd sizes.

I will also be looking into some other bits like sprocket adaptors for disc brake flanges. JohnRobHolmes is looking at making them in larger quantities. But, for now, I may have Dave whip me up a few to have on hand for my upcoming builds.

I will also have a couple production double motor drives to show off in a week or so. One will be a fire-breathing 12,500 watt monster completely anodized in black, motors and all. The other will be a more reasonable 7 to 8kw drive (also in black).

I will be stocking at least one double motored drive for sale with or without controllers programmed, caps added, and ready to go.

Matt

 

[mud2005]

a black anodized astroflight motor why didn't I think of that! great freakin idea

 

[recumpence]

a black anodized astroflight motor why didn't I think of that! great freakin idea

I have a large box of them coming. I will be stocking black 3210s and a few 3220s with single and double shafts.

The price difference for anodizing is $10 per motor as long as I get a bunch done at once.

Matt