As the Hub Motor Turns and the Lipo Fire Burns. Sidewalk Special reloaded. / which bike for 50mph?
Sure I already posted the sidewalk special before. This is a different bike so it is reloaded.
The chain is good. About four miles and still nice and tight. The batteries were in and I put them in the back. Five SLAs and the weight is totally ridecelous and adding one more for six SLAs for 36V@20Ah is insane! For speeds under 15mph and distance of four miles or less I dont see it neccessary to haul around all those batteries. I went to the drug store and found that basket and placed it on top of the batteries as seen in pic3 so people would not notice the batteries.
Anyone with a scooter or power chair could steal my batteries in a minute. At Wall-Mart I decided to get 100 zip ties for about $3. The reason is after I hook up my batteries for a trip I can zip tie that on the back over the SLAs and haul up to 20lbs back there if I only run three SLAs instead of six. I dont want to put much weight in the front basket as the motor and those brackets are enough weight. This system is superb as with a large back-pack I am good for at least 60lbs. 20 in the back,20 in the front and 20 in the back-pack.
I will eventually need to get more zip ties as when I get home I have to cut the ties to take the batteries upstairs to my charging area. That is acceptable though as they should last about I month anyway. As far as the overall saftey rating of the bike it goes according to speed and road conditions. On small hills not very steep it rolls down them surprisingly slow. On the flat the bike decelerates quickly when cutting motor power. From 5 to 10mph the bike is very safe. 15mph the bike is moderatly safe as long as the roads are smooth. The fastest I will probably go with it is about 20mph if I decide to run all six SLAs.
As far as the bike putting me down fast as DA. said; a couple of weeks back when I ran that variable controller that made the terrible noise and cut out at low speed I finally opened up the throttle for a few seconds and about 18 to 20mph I would say I hit two pot holes with a man hole cover in between but did not lose control of the bike. Five 24oz cans of beer came up out of the front basket and one of them broke suds all over the road. It scared the hell out of me and I gained a new respect for the bike. I dont go fast now. that also was with the Dimond Back and it was a miracle the shock I butchered did not snap and cause a serious injury. I got lucky.
Both brake levers on each side did not work well (pic2) so I decided to lose the throttle and run the pot. exclusivelly and I moved the front brake handle over to the right handelbar where it belongs. The cable needs to be shortened and hopefully it will work better. The brakes could be a lot better but at slow speeds under 15mph it will work for now. At least it is functional. I wish they had good deals on 5s packs like they do 4s packs. four 5s packs would be much better than hauling all those SLAs around. I wont be ordering any more any time soon.
I am going to hunt hard for that geared motor for the DB. I need a lighter bike! 24V is fine and four 4s Lipo packs in parallel series just makes sense to keep the weight down this time. I would like to get it next month as well as studded snow tires for it. I do agree with DA about it putting me down fast on slippery roads though. I wont even ride the red bike if it snows or is snowing out. Not worth it. With an overall saftey factor of about 6 on a scale of one to 10 at 15mph and 8 or 9 at 10mph or less. It drops to below 0 as soon as the roads are covered. That is why I need a rear hub motor for the DB. and studs in my tires for when it snows as the only way the red bike would be 100% safe when it snows out is to keep it in my closet on time out.
http://gocarlite.com/400-watt-geared-motor-kit/ Just found this on google after not seeing anything on e bay. Have to call the dude. Another Doug! OMG!
Looks like the Dimond Back will be going about 27mph with the LIPO packs. That will be my light and fast bike and the red bike can be my slow powerful bike as it is decent up hills I noticed. I also pedal assist a little now. Can hardly wait to get that motor. It dont look very heavy in the picture. Had a cheap one on e bay but no freewheel or gears. It was for the front though and I'm looking for rear. I'll find out tommorow the price and more details when I call.
Also now that I have extra money the Currie needs a motor. I wonder if I could put two motors on the Currie. A hub motor on the front and a chain motor on the back for say 40mph
The master plan is.
Red bike <20mph. medium hauling dual baskets up to 50lbs low range <5 miles <10mph
Dimond Back >25mph <30mph. light hauling up to 30lbs one basket medium range about 10 miles <15mph
Currie 40 to 50mph dual motors. heavy hauling 60 to 70lbs one huge basket. long range 15 to 20 miles. <20mph
Schwinn 25 to 30mph no hauling super range up to 50 miles. <20mph
Thanks. Just told the ol lady about 4 total e bikes and no car. How do you think that went over?
LC. out.
