LightningRods
1 MW
Four kits nearly out the door. I'm waiting for my machinist to come over with 12 new jackshaft axles. All of the other parts are here and ready to assemble.
LightningRods mid drive kit
- Thread starter spinningmagnets
- Start date
teslanv
1 MW
LR, that bench looks way too clean.
Which brings up a great request...
How about some pics of your workshop for us gear-heads???
Which brings up a great request...
How about some pics of your workshop for us gear-heads???
LightningRods
1 MW
teslanv said:LR, that bench looks way too clean.
Which brings up a great request...
How about some pics of your workshop for us gear-heads???
It's only clean because I got so fed up with not being able to find anything that I spent an hour cleaning the damn thing! If I panned 5 degrees left or right it still looks like a bomb went off in there.
My work shop isn't terribly interesting. It would be more interesting to see the piles of parts everywhere. I may do something along those lines.
I posted the photo of the kits to Facebook before posting it here.
LightningRods
1 MW
A few snapshots of my life these days:
My garage-
Another shot of my garage. More parts and 90 motors crammed in next to my '56 Chevy:
Immediately to the left of my "too neat" work area. The clean area was worse than this before I stopped to straighten up.
A 7' tall baker's rack of parts in my art studio:
This has to turn into a business and get out of my house. If this is a hobby, I clearly have a problem.
There are a LOT more parts over at my buddy Steve's garage where we have our machine shop set up.
My garage-
Another shot of my garage. More parts and 90 motors crammed in next to my '56 Chevy:
Immediately to the left of my "too neat" work area. The clean area was worse than this before I stopped to straighten up.
A 7' tall baker's rack of parts in my art studio:
This has to turn into a business and get out of my house. If this is a hobby, I clearly have a problem.
There are a LOT more parts over at my buddy Steve's garage where we have our machine shop set up.
LightningRods said:. . . If this is a hobby, I clearly have a problem.
. . .
Sounds like the hobby has morphed into at least a habit (as in "can't kick the habit"). At least you picked a good thing to get addicted too.
Business that supports you and then some of course is a goal I think your well on the way too. You certainly seem to have quite a few customers chomping on the bit wanting you to take their money and that realize the superiority of what your doing compared to the GNG you started from.
LightningRods
1 MW
Here are some shots from the Machining Department at LightningRods Industries.
Our combo lathe/mill:
Another work area with yet more parts:
Our 20 ton shop press:
Our combo lathe/mill:
Another work area with yet more parts:
Our 20 ton shop press:
m4s73r
100 W
speedmd said:
Ok so since were talking mid drives, what is your gearing/tire size for that? I looked at the link in your sig and that thread has nothing about your set up on it.
speedmd
10 MW
The BBS is on a 26" mountain bike with standard knobbies and a 48t /12 top gear. It has good power and should be able to pull 35mph easily (at least for short duration) with the right gearing at my weight. Will see with the replacement 20 amp controller if significantly slower when it gets here. My GNG setup has a wide range 39/52 front rings and a 12/34 cassette on 700c x 32 road wheels. I have to move the photos over to the new host as they are not showing now.
Thing with the GNG/ LR setups is that you can bump up the system voltage with the swap of controller/ battery connections and get right into motorcycle territory. Mine with the 18fet controller I was running on 18s /60+ amps felt faster than any 125cc motorbike I have ever ridden. It is not faster, but felt it in the lower gears and off the line. Total blast!
Completely different experience.
Thing with the GNG/ LR setups is that you can bump up the system voltage with the swap of controller/ battery connections and get right into motorcycle territory. Mine with the 18fet controller I was running on 18s /60+ amps felt faster than any 125cc motorbike I have ever ridden. It is not faster, but felt it in the lower gears and off the line. Total blast!
Completely different experience.i see, so the car won't be moving for a while.. you need more racks. all you need is a your own laser, and your'e set to be self sufficient.
hey if someone lives near L-R lend him a racc/shelfs or 10? :lol: if it were me i'd probably fall over those things.
i still don't get what exactly you are with motors and and drill press, i tried reading it before , but the terminology were beyond me. is there any chance you can show a motor before and after the L-R treatment? i know it has something to do with replacing the shaft, but from what i saw in my bmc magnet the shaft is an integral part of the magnet.
hey if someone lives near L-R lend him a racc/shelfs or 10? :lol: if it were me i'd probably fall over those things.
i still don't get what exactly you are with motors and and drill press, i tried reading it before , but the terminology were beyond me. is there any chance you can show a motor before and after the L-R treatment? i know it has something to do with replacing the shaft, but from what i saw in my bmc magnet the shaft is an integral part of the magnet.
m4s73r
100 W
speedmd said:The BBS is on a 26" mountain bike with standard knobbies and a 48t /12 top gear. It has good power and should be able to pull 35mph easily (at least for short duration) with the right gearing at my weight. Will see with the replacement 20 amp controller if significantly slower when it gets here. My GNG setup has a wide range 39/52 front rings and a 12/34 cassette on 700c x 32 road wheels. I have to move the photos over to the new host as they are not showing now.
Thing with the GNG/ LR setups is that you can bump up the system voltage with the swap of controller/ battery connections and get right into motorcycle territory. Mine with the 18fet controller I was running on 18s /60+ amps felt faster than any 125cc motorbike I have ever ridden. It is not faster, but felt it in the lower gears and off the line. Total blast!
That helps a lot. how was the wear on the drive line at 18s? Out of the 12-34 cassette do you find you have a lot of gears you dont use?
On the bbs do you think that if there was a 63t chain ring on there it would have enough power to turn it and the 12? (Aka Using a 3speed hub with cassette with a 1.33 overdrive)
The reason i ask is im getting ready to build a commuter. But until i find what solution im going to be happy with i wont spend money. Im stuck between doing a LR kit at 18s, or a davinci drive from recumpence. it will be on a catrike. The LR is cheaper as i wont have the schlumph drive on the front. However, with the weight, and amount of power i want to get to, the front boom may not be strong enough (nor the Alfphine 8) to handle 3k watts. And at higher speeds i wont be able to peddle.
speedmd
10 MW
If you want to run 18s, that rules out the BBS unless you control it externally some how or know how to mod the stock controller. Not a easy task digging out the potting material and I would not consider going that route. On 48 volts aside from chain line issues, I would love to have a 42 / 53 tooth rings both on the front. One for off road and the other for road use. I have a few old rings I will play with once it gets going again. Would not go bigger than 55T / 13. A 55 / 12 would most likely be trouble with heat / wear on it.
On the modded 48v 450w GNG, I have a slightly lower primary ratio than the LR belt and 13/ 52 secondary. Slightly different ratios. With 48 volts I can keep up pedaling the whole way up, but at some point it is just to fool cops that catch you rolling along. On 18s it is just a bit too fast unless your a spinner. Just the lowest two or so gears are off limits unless your weight is way far forward (elbows bent and chin to the bars). All the other gears work well and used if your climbing at different speeds, or accelerating through the range. Mostly use the 39 ring when riding around on slower trails and the big ring when out on the road or on a faster trails. The LR kit with the belt primary should be reasonably quite compared to mine.
On the modded 48v 450w GNG, I have a slightly lower primary ratio than the LR belt and 13/ 52 secondary. Slightly different ratios. With 48 volts I can keep up pedaling the whole way up, but at some point it is just to fool cops that catch you rolling along. On 18s it is just a bit too fast unless your a spinner. Just the lowest two or so gears are off limits unless your weight is way far forward (elbows bent and chin to the bars). All the other gears work well and used if your climbing at different speeds, or accelerating through the range. Mostly use the 39 ring when riding around on slower trails and the big ring when out on the road or on a faster trails. The LR kit with the belt primary should be reasonably quite compared to mine.
cwlater
1 µW
Will the jackshaft and housing for the big block conversion be the same as the small block conversions?
LightningRods
1 MW
cwlater said:
The basic design will be the same. The tube housing and jackshaft axle will have to be longer by 32mm, the amount that the big block is wider than the small block. The primary drive is the same, the secondary drive is the same.
Bad news/good news on the big block. The vendor that I was buying from previously now says that he can't get the same big 1100 watt motor. He only has a 1000 watt motor and the big problem there is that it's not as wide as the other one and so won't fit the brackets I had made. The good news is that the factory that I bought the 100 small blocks from says that they can make big blocks to my specs. So that may end up being even better. I hope to be able to get a few motors air freighted to hold us over until the boat makes it across the Pacific.
m4s73r
100 W
speedmd said:
Id run the bbs stock voltage and with a 48T chain ring. Sturmey archer makes a rear 3 speed hub that you use with a cassette giving you a 3x8,9,or10 speed on the rear wheel. It has a .75 under and 1.33 over. That was my very first plan of attack. That gives me the gear range to be able to contribute pedal power up to 40 mph. If the bbs can do this then ill save myself a shit ton of money.
LR, i need a kit that is left hand drive and will clamp to a 2inch pipe please lol
speedmd
10 MW
Regardless of the gearing, it would be optimistic IMO to expect the BBS to reach 40MPH unless you were very light and aerodynamic or had a tail wind. It is not made for that and running it that hard would be interesting.
http://kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm
The LR kit should get you to 40 reliably with proper gearing on the flats depending on the overall weight.
http://kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm
The LR kit should get you to 40 reliably with proper gearing on the flats depending on the overall weight.
--freeride--
100 W
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2011
- Messages
- 237
You need 2000W on the rear wheel for 40mph. My BBS02 does 31/32mph with myself doing 500W... A roadbike will do better than a 6inch travel freeride bike... but still 40mph is a lot and you will have to pedal very hard for that.
i'm sorry ya'll i must be living in another dimension, my standard ecospeed kit NEVER reached 30 mph, maybe 25 mph, and that's was 1000-1300 watts system, with 50.4 volts and a 6 FET external controller, the only possible way i can reach 30 mph is by using the bmc motor (instead of their original MAC) which had thicker windings AND with a 12 FET controller going 2000 watts, a setting that eventually causes magents to crack, plastic bearings to melt, teeth on planetary gear to brake. maybe it's my 250 pounds (good excuse to loose weight? save battery? 
) maybe it's because it's a 29, but i have no idea a 750 watt system can do 30 mph.
in fact i'm getting L-R ,it in the hopes of at least RETAINING my current performance speed and acceleration, without constantly worrying for a possible meltdown.
) maybe it's because it's a 29, but i have no idea a 750 watt system can do 30 mph. in fact i'm getting L-R ,it in the hopes of at least RETAINING my current performance speed and acceleration, without constantly worrying for a possible meltdown.
LightningRods
1 MW
I want to get one of these:
A Rotovelo fully faired tadpole. They do over 40 mph on pedal power alone. Install my kit, set the controller for 84V 40 amps, put on my full coverage Bell helmet and see what she'll do.
That will be the official top speed of my kit. I'll make sure that I do the test on flat ground with no wind so that no one can accuse me of cheating.
A Rotovelo fully faired tadpole. They do over 40 mph on pedal power alone. Install my kit, set the controller for 84V 40 amps, put on my full coverage Bell helmet and see what she'll do.
That will be the official top speed of my kit. I'll make sure that I do the test on flat ground with no wind so that no one can accuse me of cheating.
LightningRods
1 MW
emaayan said:
It looks cool. I can tell you at a glance that my Bananamobile will kick it's ass on top speed. The rider is too exposed on the Battrike. Very dirty aerodynamically. I bet I could get another 15-20 mph with the same power.
LightningRods
1 MW
What's carbon? The Battrike? I'll take clean aerodynamics and low rolling resistance over light weight for top speed. The Battrike might be quicker accelerating at low speeds but all of the turbulence around the rider will really slow it down at speed.
Carbon fiber should work fine with my kit. I'm not a big fan of carbon fiber frames because they're so brittle. Carbon panels and covers are cool.
Carbon fiber should work fine with my kit. I'm not a big fan of carbon fiber frames because they're so brittle. Carbon panels and covers are cool.
m4s73r
100 W
Yeah that's because ecospeed designs their system to only go 20mph.emaayan said:
The Rotovelo is interesting. Can get a top for it to increase your aero. (with windshield wiper!) But like i said earlier. I dont think that the boom is strong enough to handle 3k watts with out bending the boom. Ive seen some ego kits and a bafung mounted to booms. but those are limited to 1000 and 750 watts.
speedmd
10 MW
Its the torque not the KW that will get you. I don't see any of these booms bending much with the amount of torque we are dealing with unless you go with a bunch more gear reduction. Some will certainly out last others when you start stressing them a bunch.
