Juicing Up Pictures

HK12K said:
As soon as they see an opportunity to make another buck they'll find a way to monetize it. Just like the air pumps. We may find more accessible outlets if this ebike thing really takes off as an accepted form of daily transportation, but the number of "free" ones will eventually drop to zero I suspect.

Perhaps. OTOH, you see businesses offering free wi-fi all over the place. The incentives don't always work out to the type of end that you describe. Given the low cost of providing an outlet, I don't see things becoming all that grim. But frankly, as I said I don't think that ebikes will be a big factor in what businesses do with exposed and available A/C outlets.
 
markz said:
Ended up charging out of a townhouse that I thought was being built, but when I went to unplug, I noticed someone living in the unit, and this must've been 6 or 7pm, summer time. It literally looked like a construction site to me. I would have never have done it if I knew it was a private residence.

If I were to charge at non-municipal locations with I'd just leave a quarter - which would over-compensate for the cost of the charge by quite a bit. And frankly, paying a dollar to a store or restaurant wouldn't bother me a bit. It is way over-paying for the cost of the electricity, but it could be well worth the convenience.
 
wturber said:
Perhaps. OTOH, you see businesses offering free wi-fi all over the place. The incentives don't always work out to the type of end that you describe. Given the low cost of providing an outlet, I don't see things becoming all that grim. But frankly, as I said I don't think that ebikes will be a big factor in what businesses do with exposed and available A/C outlets.
I really appreciate how you always have a positive attitude wturber. It's good to have you in the ebike community :)
 
I had a maintenance guy say I was stealing power from Walmart, I couldnt tell if he's seen me around, or if he was serious, or if he was having a bad bad day. I was on the phone 5' around a slight bend, the power outlets conduit pipe has been un-secured and loose for years, I had locked the bike up across the door, metal steel door. Old garden area of walmart, never used. I just smiled, and oblidged the old fart. Must've been a power trip for him. Its my usual spot.
 
Those annoying security at Wallmart , apparently not having anything to do .
They picked on me several times when I roll my ebike indoors.
No way I would leave my ebike outside Wallmart.
I also thought about charging at Wallmart at the back close to garden section .
 
markz said:
I had a maintenance guy say I was stealing power from Walmart, ...

Are you stealing water if you use their toilet? If you are a customer, it is a fuzzy area. But if they ask you to unplug, then it is no longer fuzzy. Again, I'd have quarters at the ready and offer to pay.
 
here in surrey, there are no working plugs where youd want to be sitting around. but 3 times before I built my 3rd battery and knew id be 10km short on range I found that chevron gas stations have working plugs, community centers, nope, malls, nope, copper thieves have stolen them but the Surrey Taxation Center/CRA, lots of working plugs at the taxation center, theres big benches to sit on and no crackheads to be seen and the security guys are friendly.
 
miro13car said:
thieves have stolen what?
outlets you mean?
thievs pulled wires from the wall?

yep, outlets and wires, at the library they have EV charging spots for cars but not a single outside outlet is left. you remember the brass caps youd see on buildings for firetrucks or youd see firefighting boxes in apartment with the hoses, now theyre plastic. anything worth money at a scrapyard, aluminum shoring cages wont last a night if just sitting on site. I smoke outside and my ashtray regularily gets emptied over night. my deep freeze, samething. lightbar on the jeep,gone. youd think I live in the ghetto but nope.
 
Yeah the maintenance guy unplugged the outlet side of my charger, one dark green extension cord. I didnt say nothing, just kept looking at him. I still juice up there, but its not my normal spot for that area, which is normally a Subway where I can relax, read the newspaper, have a drink and keep a close eye on my bike charging up at the garbage shed where the mini strip mall uses for their garbage. Dumptruck guys never said a word, though normally my front wheel is a bit in the way, that time I rolled up to them and made sure my bike was out of the way. Train driver wanted to warn me or something, maybe take the electric off, but I kept saying no, no, no. Is it electric - no, is it gas, no, he asked again is it electric i said no again. with wires everywhere, my typical ebike builds lol.

Here are some pics, the table is a grocery store exit/starbucks, bikes juicing up with the outlet 8' away. Not my normal area of town to be cruising, but its good. Did it twice there within 2 or 3 days.

The seats been holding up, Bell elastomer. Didnt last long until it bent, but when it bent I said ah frock it and its been like that for months now. I think my next seat will be exact same, used, but with hockey bucks between the rails and bottom of seat.

A pic I made this morning while on the train. Someone had placed a tim hortons cup in the handle. Plus you get a glimpse of my split 36V 27Ah Ryobi's, fresh 1/8 mdf and fresh duct tape lol. Still not the range I've been hoping for. Havent tested it beyond once and I got 24km, obviously various conditions apply, but for me a gentle cruise with short periods of faster then normal, and pedal help on any incline.




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So Ctrain driver concerned about bicycle.
Did he really think your ebike was gasoline powered?
Stinky gasoline engine bicycle of course should be not allowed on public transport.
Markz
Those heater bus stops in Calgary
do they have any outlets?
 
The ctrain driver in that episode, I could tell by his tone, and the fact he was at the other end of the train when he started saying something, wasn't a gawker. I played dumb, and denied everything, kept saying no. I wasn't having anything he was dishing, but I played his game. Obeyed him and never said a word when he said go to the front of the train. But I did not get up right away, just waited until he left the train section to walk through the other. Also they wait for 20 seconds at stops if not the end of the line, I blocked the door for a few minutes, even got a little quick honk from him when he sped away LOL.
I believe I was in the middle car so he made the effort, I noticed. Wasnt like I was in the first train section and by hapistance a chit chat. Luckily I was in a happy mood. Normally I got my tunes going and ignoring the gawkers, but I felt the ctrain drivers bad vibes. He was an older white gentlemen that spoke fluent english, so I respected that because thats a rarity with the union drivers.

Stinky gasoline bicycles, I have only seen one in my countless times roaming the rails.

Bus stop heaters in bus stops - I rarely ever take the bus tbh. Though when I was going through lots of flat tires I would take the bus on the rare occasion. But those times were in communities, and no shelters, sometimes a bench. The 7'x4' shelters on the downtown platforms some have switched heater, no outlet. Most train stations have outlets, but some are deactivated, that is why I always carry around with me an outlet checker. Some outlets have a loose ground, but my Dell chargers only use two prongs. Some outlets just have loose outlet wiring so I've had to find another outlet.

When I run outta juice, my first go to is
*I know where my spots are, and usually get there in time. I prefer places where I can sit on a bench*


- gas stations
- train stations
- churches
- outdoor walkway strip malls
- parking lots with outlets
- apartment buildings (outside outlets)
- restaurants (usually at the back door, sometimes within view of a warm seat)
- grocery stores
- larger malls where you walk inside

- parks with lighted trees (did a rock feature for a community name sign once, but all outlets were off)
- schools are hit and miss
- pilon signs, again more hit and miss if they have an operating outlet
- conv. store, ice machines!






miro13car said:
So Ctrain driver concerned about bicycle.
Did he really think your ebike was gasoline powered?
Stinky gasoline engine bicycle of course should be not allowed on public transport.
Markz
Those heater bus stops in Calgary
do they have any outlets?
 
MarkZ
I mean new bus stops with all those displays, double doors, and heaters underneath benches.
There are quite of few in SE Calgary.
Yesterday I entered one with my ebike and enjoyed warm , nice.did not noticed any outlets.
I just ignore busses stopping .
In general winter ebiking require some warm spots on my routes.
I quite often visit sport centres like YMCA centers payed by my taxes.
Unlike restaurants you can wander around big building
I found live outlets in such centres and plugged my charger more than once.
I dont charge outside in winter below zero, always look at some outlet indoors.
 
Yeah those fancy bus stops are the new MAX bus for BRT (B???RapidTransit) bus routes, as a train replacement. There are 4 routes, Purple, Teal, Yellow, Orange. The bus stops themselves block normal sidewalk flow, typical government p.o.s. building practices right. The 4 routes, usually starting from the downtown core and spreading out, terminating in a community somewhere and not a train station, again typical p.o.s. government a-holes.

They also renumbered a bunch of established bus routes, for some strange reason. Why werent the bus numbers used for 30+yrs not sufficient enough, who knows. Again this is our governments brilliant minds at work (sarcasm).

I have never juiced up at a rec center or ymca yet.
Having a warm battery for charging in the winter is healthier for the battery.
How long do you wait to charge? battery still cold when you bring it in to charge right away.
I was reading an article yesterday of the effects of cold on lithium ion from an off grid author. From experience I knew I lost a lot of capacity, the article said 20% for 0C and -17C(0F?) was 28%. The article also said the affects of charging with cold battery, how crystals accumulate blah blah blah, not good stuff.

Ideally wouldnt we all want a large enough battery for all our needs, 30Ah+, or large enough battery for most of our needs with the opportunity to "top up" whenever possible. That is why I will try out a small 30cc trimmer motor for trial purposes, alongside my battery setup. Though the size of the 30cc motor is a big dilemma, probably some rear rack "pannier box" action for that. This will be for very long cruises on Sundays in the summer. This video is a guy building a Ryobi trimmer for a child. Hopefully it wont stink too much, or be too loud.
Trying new things out, call it a hybrid ;)
Few gasser fans around these parts but this city is Canada's Oil HQ!



miro13car said:
MarkZ
I mean new bus stops with all those displays, double doors, and heaters underneath benches.
There are quite of few in SE Calgary.
Yesterday I entered one with my ebike and enjoyed warm , nice.did not noticed any outlets.
I just ignore busses stopping .
In general winter ebiking require some warm spots on my routes.
I quite often visit sport centres like YMCA centers payed by my taxes.
Unlike restaurants you can wander around big building
I found live outlets in such centres and plugged my charger more than once.
I dont charge outside in winter below zero, always look at some outlet indoors.
 
After riding around Calgary here and there and draving 15A - 20A cells in my pack are not that cold.
So I dont wait, I roll bike in and plug in.
 
Chinese restaurants been there a long time, and lots of take out orders during supper time but I was not impressed at all.
I sat at a corner table, the outlet was around the corner 8 ft. Basically at my back.
This was the episode where I rode on the flat rear fat tire rim for 18km or so with minimal damage to the rim, because the tire amazingly never caught and stayed "afloat" so the rim was always riding on the thin rubber of the tire.




20200119_174330.jpg
 
MarkZ
did you try those fatty thick inner tubes for bicycles Canadian Tire is selling.
I ride on them on both of my ebikes - excellent results.
 
I dont normally go looking at Crappy Tire for bicycle stuff, only in a pinch and I got a flat and its nearby. I cant tell you how many times I have purchased a flat head screw driver, a pump and an inner tube and/or a tire then returned the air pump and flat head screw driver (use it as a lever)

I will take a look when I am in the store.
The website doesnt have fatty thick.


miro13car said:
MarkZ
did you try those fatty thick inner tubes for bicycles Canadian Tire is selling.
I ride on them on both of my ebikes - excellent results.



Did you keep a very close eye on it?
being BC Housing 'n all. Alberta dont have no provincial housing projects, only cities provide that like Calgary, maybe Edmonton.
I like how you hidden the charging wires behind the trailer.
Good crotch cup holder.

HK12K said:
At present:
 
This particular mini mall, in a new community, had ZERO outside outlets, NONE!
I remembered this outlet because last time I needed juice real bad, about a year ago. I scoped the mini mall out doing several circlings (sp?), back then I noticed the outlet inside a locked door at 8pm. What you see is the entire entrance area, and an elevator going up to a Dentist and a Medical. Literally the hour I spent, no one came or went!


 
Mine is a risun motors frame and hub motor.5000watt,8000 max.100a,82.3v fully charged.72v system. The rear wheel is 26inch. The front is 29inch. Brakes-shimano decor XT 4 piston.On a full charge it tops out at 60mph. I have already broken front spooks from hard braking.
 
markz said:
Did you keep a very close eye on it?
being BC Housing 'n all. Alberta dont have no provincial housing projects, only cities provide that like Calgary, maybe Edmonton.
I like how you hidden the charging wires behind the trailer.
Good crotch cup holder.

HK12K said:
At present:

I had to step back to get the bike and sign all in the frame while taking the pic and that's as far away as I got for the 45 min I was there. My 2.5 year old was asleep in the trailer so I was happy to leech their power and Wifi for a bit.

Looked as if someone had attempted to forcibly remove the weatherproof outlet cover and I didn't have high hopes it would be live, but sure enough it was. Hope they don't decide to "fix" it by removing it entirely.
 
Do you carry around a Continuity Tester?
I carry one around all the time, you'd be amazed at how many Live/Neutral have loose connections or missing a ground when you plug in the cord.


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HK12K said:
I had to step back to get the bike and sign all in the frame while taking the pic and that's as far away as I got for the 45 min I was there. My 2.5 year old was asleep in the trailer so I was happy to leech their power and Wifi for a bit.

Looked as if someone had attempted to forcibly remove the weatherproof outlet cover and I didn't have high hopes it would be live, but sure enough it was. Hope they don't decide to "fix" it by removing it entirely.
 
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