Hyena's e-bike builds (now with HD video)

[amberwolf]

If you want to be more visible / piss off oncoming traffic then aim them higher.

Or use something with a diffuse light output but very large surface area, like scanner-slide adapters from image scanenrs for pc's. I used a couple of different kinds and while they give almost no light useful to see *by*, they have almmost 180 degree hemispherical light output for others to see you with. Many run on 12V, and they're found at thrift stores often.

You can use any lrge-area diffuse-ouptut light source for the purpose, including a whole lot of small-output LEDS over a wide area. However you do it, it will be better than small bright pointsource lights with the same total lumen output, as they wont' be blinding, and will make it much easier for people to see everything on the road.


What I would like to do eventually is make several square feet of the front of the bike's fairing (once I build one) glow white from inside so others can see me, and the same in red for the back, and amber to the sides in a few areas, that can blink for turn signals. That plus a real good headlight (off a car, most likely as that type works well for me already) so I can see the rest of the road/etc., and I should be pretty well set on lights. :lol:

 

[Hyena]

Sounds good amber, then you'll just need double the watthours you currently carry to power it all :lol:
I agree though that a backlit fairing or screen or something on the bike is good for visibility. I currently have a handlebar bag on my commuter bike and the spill from my headlight (right above it) illuminates all the top of it which throws off quite a bit of light
How about a spot light on the front mud guard pointing back up to illuminate the rider

I've been tossing up whether to fit a motorbike HID projector headlight. They're quite cheap and small now but are arguably overkill...

 

[amberwolf]

Actually it won't take much more power than I currently use, with bright MR16 LED spots for the turn signal areas, and possibly a larger set of PAR25s or 35s for lighting the front and rear areas.

I'd still have regular turn signals too, primarily so they'd be visible in daylight when small-surface-area or even point-source lights are not blinding, because of hte relatively brright illumination of the rest of the vehicle/road/etc.


On the Crazybike2's rear end, the licenseplate light of the old honda taillight unit brightly lights up the white cargo pods and the back of the seat, too, as well as the road around it.


At one point I was going to take all the UVLEDs out of a bunch of old computer fans I have aroudn here, and put them under the seat and handlebars of DayGlo Avenger, pointing at the dayglo paintjob and makign it glow at night. Like most non-essential projects it has never gotten high enough on my list to actually get done. but it would look nifty if I ever do.

 

[Hyena]

Yeah unless you're running multiple 50-100w halogen globes any amount of LEDs illumination is going to be insignificant to the draw of the motor. Atleast one that few thousand watts like I run.

I bought one of those gimmicky laser lane projection rear lights and have had more questions about that in the last 2 weeks that I think I've had about the whole bike ever! Part of what gets peoples interest is that it projects a line about 1m long but you can't see where it's coming from and it's kinda weird because it's on the back of the seat post yet projects forward to the cranks and back beyond the back wheel.

I figure no matter what you have on the bike, if it's causing people to notice you then it's doing its job. I did remove my blue strobes though. The did a fine job of causing people to promptly notice you but I wanted to avoid unwanted attention from other people who have blue strobes on their vehicles

 

[icecube57]

I actually have one for a customer that im doing a lighting job for and I must say even though it seems gimicky the lan light does appear impressive at night I must say. Just like you said the light comes out from no where and it shows a few feet behind the bike and a few feet in front of the seat post. I would defintely respect the lan even if I didnt know what it was i dont wanna ride the red line. Almost like they saying step on a crack and break your mama back but you do have idiots that instead of avoiding light they get attracted to them like moths. There also was another poster that mentioned a flashlight. Next to the lumenator there are good 18650 flash lights that are removeable and and just as bad ass as the Magic Shine and the Cycle Lumenator. The flashlight i just sold had 3 brightnesses. SOS and Epilepsy flash. It was brigh to where you were going to be seen. Hold it an inch away from you sin in 10-20 seconds it would burn. Please dont discount these flashlights on ebay. 15 dollar light was the best low budget bike light ive ever had. For value flashlight vs lumenator i would choose the flashlight no doubt about it.

 

[amberwolf]

Yeah, here blue lights on your vehicle are illegal unless you're an authorized emergency vehicle/peace officer.

I have some doggie leashes with blinking red, white, and blue LEDs, which at one time I was gonna put on DGA wrapping them thru the spokes of the wheels and tying them in place. I ended up not doing it because shortly after I had the idea, I saw a gal with dim little LED Christmas lights strung all over her bike, including blue ones, some blinking. I'd seen her around before, but this time she was surrounded by a handful of officers. Later on I saw her with the same bike but no lights at all on it, and I caught up with her and asked about it, and a complicated and really stupid story basically said she was told to take them off.


Either way, I have no wish to deal with officers just becuase of a stupid color of light on my bike. Unfortuantely it is easily possible with the police in this area that at least one of them might well take offense to blue lights on anything, regardless of how small or dim or whatever.


I've actually seen several bikes with such LED Christmas lights strung all over them (including blue and red blinkies), or Halloween-colored ones (orange and purple or orange and green), and a couple of walmart type trikes. None electric, though, other than the lights. I haven't stopped to talk to any of them but I presume none have been harassed about having htem on there. One has been riding around like that for years, with mostly green lights, and a big white box on the rack (or maybe it's cardboard on a metal rack, I can't tell).

 

[Hyena]

Oh yeah IC some of those cheap torches are stupidly bright.

Sounds like the cops there have no sense of humor AW. As if a chick with christmas tree lights could possibly be causing enough problems to warranty multiple cops. Unless she hot

Speaking of which, I bumped into a few girls (almost literally) on the way home this evening and got to deploy my favourite ebike cheesy pickup line

[youtube]vUMOr7Txbuc[/youtube]

 

[Animalector]

haha love it! :lol:

 

[winkinatcha]

You are a bad bad man Hyena

Joe

 

[Hyena]

I had an epic ride today through the national park. I hit up some new sections I haven't ridden before and they were steep and rough. The fighter didn't bat an eyelid but I did loose a blood schlumpf button with all the jarring
Then I came to a familiar part of a fire trail on my way out and decided to take a short cut down a section I always turn back at because it's too steep. It's a walking track only but I figured I could nurse the bike down it on foot as it was only a short distance to join up with another main trail below. Or so I thought...
With all the recent bushfires there (as per my previous vids) everything is now black and charred so where the track was quickly became obscured with everything just being sparcely burned out thin trees and rocks. IT was steep, really steep but I perservered thinking it was only a short segment. By the time I was far enough in to realise I wasn;t on the track I thought it was too late to turn back. I'd walked the bike down sections that were so steep the rear of the bike ended up over shoulder height and the bike tried to topple end over as the weight of the hub got to vertical. It did that to me twice and I nearly died. Other sections of rock shelfs (more like small cliffs) were too high roll down so I had to lay the bike across my legs holding under the seat wiht one hand and the bars with the other then slide down and off the edge like it was a slippery dip or something. So intense! I wasnt lost as such, I knew I could have walked back to 2 main fire trails within 20 minutes if needed but getting my bike back out was the concern. Any with my heart and lungs not being much chop these days it was hard going. I finally got to the bottom of the gully , found a spot to get across a small creek then started the ascent back up the other side. 90% was too steep to ride but I was able to power up most of the rock ledges with a bit of throttle. Close to the top of the ridge (that I knew a main trail ran across) I wheel spun in a patch of sand and loose rocks as I tried to push the bike up the ledge. Looking down to see where the tyres were spinning and to maneuvre the back wheel to get traction a brown snake slithers between my legs and off into the bush. Needless to say, as it my heart wasnt pounding hard enough with the struggle as it was, it certainly was after that!

I left the gopro recording most of the time so I might edit together a quick segment later. Girly scream when I saw the snake may have to be omitted
The ride did end on a positive note though as I rode out and followed a girl on a skateboard being towed by her dog on a leash. Oh, she was in a bikini

 

[Kepler]

Look forward to the video Jay. Glad you got home safely.

 

[Architectonic]

All's well that ends well. The danger of snakes is totally overrated, so long as you don't bother them (like running over them with an ebike).

The problem with the 18650 flashlights is that the lenses aren't ideal for use as a headlight. Oh and the battery life on those 3x or 5x is pretty crappy and they're pretty heavy with 3 or 4 cells. (I have a Trustfire 3T6).

Re: laser lane light, are they any good? There are a few on DX, even one for $52 (I wonder what you get for $52!).

 

[Hyena]

The danger of snakes is totally overrated, so long as you don't bother them (like running over them with an ebike).

How about accidently doign a burnout on ones head

The problem with the 18650 flashlights is that the lenses aren't ideal for use as a headlight. Oh and the battery life on those 3x or 5x is pretty crappy and they're pretty heavy with 3 or 4 cells. (I have a Trustfire 3T6).

Yeah I wouldn't rely on one as a torch, on the bike it will be powered by the main pack. Handheld I think it's powered by 4x 18650s in parallel so can probably put out a few amps but not for long.

Re: laser lane light, are they any good? There are a few on DX, even one for $52 (I wonder what you get for $52!).

$52! Damn! They'd want to incinerate anything that came my side of the line for that price. Actually, now there's an idea...

They're OK, a bit of a gimmick but certainly catch attention. I'll do a video next time I get a chance to show what they're like. They're not a bad looking LED tail light anyway compared to alot of the cheapies.
In the mean time this is the reaction I got when I pulled up at an ebike shop last weekend with them on.

[youtube]KGrYPAeB9f4[/youtube]

 

[airtime]

Hi Hyena,

Sounds like you put in the hard yards on your last ride.
Off topic what would be a good power supply to use with your charger that your selling to charge 20s at a time.

Asto

 

[Hyena]

Sounds like you put in the hard yards on your last ride.

Yeah, ironically it was 2 minutes after I blasted up a steep rocky hill past a big group past a group of lycra MTBers that were all buggered and stopped for a rest. Half stood there with their mouth open, the others gave the expected "aaawe that's cheating!"

Off topic what would be a good power supply to use with your charger that your selling to charge 20s at a time.

anything that can happily deliver over 20A @ 12v. Not much over, I think it draws about 20.5A. Or 15A at 15v.
I use a modded server power supply but a 350w meanwell or similar would be suitable too. Or if you want something neater one of the commercial hobby charger power supplies.

 

[t3sla]

I was thinking of getting a laser lane light, but you gotta watch out with importing lasers... No idea if DX labels it as such

That being said I could apply for a permit

 

[icecube57]

I suggest that maybe you contact that gent that has the psus on ebay i told you about and just simply say Im international Aussie. I need some in bulk ask a price for about 10-15. Im sure he would drop it to 25-30 if you entertain him with a decent quantity.

 

[GCinDC]

long story w/ no pics. uh oh, i'm thinking, you're gonna end laid up in a hospital bed...

It did that to me twice and I nearly died...Oh, she was in a bikini

glad to hear you made it out fine. psyched for the vid!

 

[GCinDC]

Off topic what would be a good power supply to use with your charger that your selling to charge 20s at a time.

i use thisto charge @ 20s (83.5V) but beware there are plenty that are duds. See hereand here. once you realize there are no other easy affordable options, cross your fingers and order one.. or if jay has other ideas, listen to him!

 

[Hyena]

I was thinking of getting a laser lane light, but you gotta watch out with importing lasers... No idea if DX labels it as such
That being said I could apply for a permit

I wouldnt worry about customs picking these up, they look just like a normal bike light. And they're not THAT high powered anyway.

I suggest that maybe you contact that gent that has the psus on ebay i told you about and just simply say Im international Aussie. I need some in bulk ask a price for about 10-15. Im sure he would drop it to 25-30 if you entertain him with a decent quantity.

Still not worth the international shipping cost. I have enough for my own use, for others that I build stuff for I spring for neat looking commercial units.
Or I should say, they do

long story w/ no pics. uh oh, i'm thinking, you're gonna end laid up in a hospital bed...

Nah all good, I got out fine but it was just hard going for a while there. It's the most desperate I've ever been for a drink on an ebike ride though! I was never in any real danger, only of losing the bike down the steep rock faces and damaging it. That would have been the real tragedy! Worst case scenario I could have left it there and got someone to come back and help me. That didnt really cross my mind though.
Here's a pic of the bike when I stopped for a rest and tried to get a GPS lock to pull up google maps (couldn't get an internet signal though with teh steep rock face behind me)
I'd just walked it down the area to the top left. The pic doesn't really show the grade though (and right behind where I stood to take the photo a ledge drops off down another 4 feet)

glad to hear you made it out fine. psyched for the vid!

Unfortunately I just looked at the footage and my bloody front brake cable has come loose and is flicking back and forth past the camera. You can still make everything out but it's SUPER annoying.
I guess I'll upload it anyway but you've been warned.
Here's a teaser of what you want to see, ya big perve
(other dude got sprung too having a look too. lol)

 

[GCinDC]

you just made my monday morning.

 

[Timma2500]

I just had to see it one more time :wink:
Can't blame the bloke for having a sly perv!

Glad you got down the hill ok mate (and didn't get bitten by the browny!), man you get yourself into some sticky situations!
Good to see the Fighter rolling again too.


Paul


Ps Oh yeah, the east coast trip is off for us this year though we're planning a 4wd trip to Cape York in winter 2014 so might swing by Sydney on the way.
If i have my way, we'll be the first people to ebike in the Cape :lol:

 

[Rix]

Hello Jay,
While searching ES I came across your forum. Good tech stuff. Keep the vids coming and I hope all is well.

Rix

 

[Hyena]

Yeah Rix this is where I post all my vids, pics and ramblings. Sometimes more ramblings than vids but I usually get it back on track eventually :lol:

 

[Hyena]

Sorry if you needed any lipo from HK



Going for a ride to Qld, BRB

Can't blame the bloke for having a sly perv!

What a terrible human being. Atleast he didn't have a camera recording :lol:

man you get yourself into some sticky situations!

haha it's unintentional but that seems to be how I roll!

If i have my way, we'll be the first people to ebike in the Cape :lol:

Too late mate, Maurice from glowworm bikes just rode all the way from the Cape to Sydney on an epic ebike adventure. You'll have to ride there from Perth if you want to top his effort!
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=42355