pocket bike to ebike & back (w/ vid)

[REdiculous]

I couldn't figure any other good way to pedal the little pocket bike, so I'm making a pedgen attachment. I'm hoping it'll qualify as "working pedals" since I'm trying to be within the spirit of the law at least...



The slack rusty chain can be brought up over the handle of the front-most battery and then clipped to the front of the pocket bike, which keeps the pedgen off the ground and gives you foot rests (easily removable for improved clearance). I went that way so it's somewhat adjustable, and there's only 2 nuts to loosen and it's already off.

I was gonna wait and post when it was completed and tested, but whatever, it's a good enough start. At least the inverter is wired and the fake exhaust is on.

 

[REdiculous]

Ordered parts today. Got an 80t and 11t sprocket and a chain coming priority mail so I can get the treadmill motor hooked to the rear wheel with a 7.27:1 reduction. At max rated motor rpm that should give about 27mph. The push trailer I pulled everything from was geared for 40mph so the pocket bike should have tons more torque. I may need an idler so I can get good chain wrap, but I'm gonna adopt 'wait and see' on that.

I'm excited - a 1000w pocket ebike should be fun.

Editing to add specs up near the top;
12v, 1kw PowerDrive inverter. (ruggedized 24v pure sine would be best, imo - $$$)
12v, 50ah total in SLAs. (now accepting free lipo!! :lol: )
90v Minarik SCR controller. (1kw cont.)
130v Argord treadmill motor. (1kw cont. @ 90v/4600rpm)
HNDX (N?) portable speakers.
Air compressor from a Wagan Tech emergency jumpstart kit. (now removable and relocatable)
Semi-adjustable headlight - part of the Wagan ej-kit / front-most battery (removable).
24v pedgen attachment w/ magnetic, fully adjustable head light. (actual volts and power ouput achievable is TBD)
25w charger. (space for at least 2, maybe 4)
The Wagan ej-kit's charger. (7w AC brick so it takes forever but I've finally seen 13.7v [resting] instead of 13.2-13.4v)
2 USB ports.
...and at least 2lbs of tape. :lol:

Still there's a bunch of room to spare on the pocket bike and the pedgen frame is pretty bare. I might add a pringles can as a trunk just above the rear wheel - I already know a full size can fits.

Forwards and pedaling, REd.

 

[REdiculous]

Got a bunch of stuff sorted over the last few days...

I modified and cleaned the crank, mounted a 55t sprocket and got the 24v motor secured. I'm only able to get 8v pedaling as fast as I can so I'll need more of an increase there - 1:12 maybe, instead of 1:5. Even though it's turning the motor, the crank spins more freely now than it did when it wasn't hooked to anything and had old sticky grease in it.

I removed the fan from the inverter and installed a small 12v blower, an air mattress inflator, in its place. I'm thinking I'll run a light off the original fan's power line so I know when to run the blower, which will be manually operated (at first, anyway). If I kill the inverter it's not a big loss.

I removed the large clamps on the emergency jump start kit and replaced them with much smaller clamps. I trimmed the wires a bit too, removing about 6-10".

After reworking the inverter wiring a little, I relocated the 25w smart charger which made a nice little spot for the 7w AC->DC brick that charges the jump start kit.

I made several Pringles can-tainers - some full length and some 3/4 length. I wrap them in electrical tape so they'll last a few minutes in the rain. One full length can and one 3/4 length can should fit on the pocket bike and one full length can and two 3/4 length cans should fit on the pedgen. I also found a small plastic toolbox, similar in size to a full length Pringles can, that fits on the pocket bike.

I also added a hitch to the pocket bike and cut some tubing for a trailer. The trailer has two, 8"x9"x8" plastic cargo boxes built in (also removable). It shouldn't take too long to weld the frame together but first I gotta get into town and get the welding gas refilled. The trailer won't be powered until I can afford a hub motor...and that's a maybe.

I think that's about it. Still waiting on my sprockets to show up. Hopefully they arrive today so I can work on getting the treadmill motor on the pocket bike.

 

[richirich1113]

From your picture that seems like one interesting set-up. make sure to get some good pics when its all done.

 

[REdiculous]

Pics for sure, and some video.

 

[REdiculous]

Finally got the sprockets and chain today. I need to turn the motor shaft down a bunch to fit the lil 11t....there's a thinner threaded part I could grind down, and I think I'll do that first, but it'll make the motor stick out an extra inch or so.

Oh, I think I'm gonna see what I get when I put the 80t on the pedgen crank. I know it's not going to be enough but it'll be another data point and shouldn't take long.

I should have something to show by the end of next week...hopefully sooner.

 

[REdiculous]

I got a max of 14.5v spinning the pedgen with the 1:7.27 ratio (80t). Not quite there. Maybe closer to 1:10 would work best. At least it only cost 10mins. Maybe I can find a bigger sprocket I can make work, I dunno. I can probably fit a 2-stage if I need to but it hardly seems worth it.

The 80t sprocket was really for the rear wheel, so it's on. It's pretty big for such a small wheel but it looks awesome! 8)

Now I'm slowly grinding the threads off the motor shaft. Then I gotta make the flats so the sprocket slides on. Then I'll need some way to retain it. Definitely not the funnest part of the project, but if I take my time and get it right (I didn't on the push-trailer ) then I think it'll be worth it.

Oh, I may have found a sponsor of sorts so I might be getting some new/real batteries before too long. If that comes through then I can start the mini-generator project a little sooner. 8)

 

[REdiculous]

I got the 11t sprocket on the treadmill motor and got it partially mounted. It's mounted well enough that I ran it at 12v to make sure the chain would align ok and stay on. I need to hit the hardware store again and get some stuff so I can get it tightened all the way down is all.

I added an adjustable skateboard wheel assembly to the motor to ensure good chain wrap. I made a slot in the motor face and put the skateboard wheel on a long-enough bolt so it's square to the shaft/sprocket. There's no spring(s) involved this time, so hopefully less power gets wasted. Double-nutted so the wheel spins nicely but it won't all fall apart - I learned that lesson already.

I might be able to figure a way to get the motor fully mounted tomorrow and then it's basically ready to test ride. I'm stoked, can't wait. 8)

 

[REdiculous]

Motor mounted, ready to finish wiring...

 

[REdiculous]

I got it wired and did the first short test ride through the house. Not satisfied with that, I took it out in the snow for a minute.

I still need to make sure the motor is more secure since I was able to throw the chain in the parking lot - the motor moves a touch under heavy power. On it.

Oh, I need a better throttle. I tried to rig a throttle using the 10k potentiometer the controller came with and the pot pops out of the hose clamp too easily (besides the lack of adjustment range my ghetto throttle had). I've seen 5k throttles - would it be an easy mod to make one of those mimic or use a 10k pot? later

 

[REdiculous]

[youtube]y9yaQOFpfYo[/youtube]

 

[REdiculous]

Yay! My guy came by with some lipo - but only brought me 96wh. At least it's a start though.

 

[REdiculous]

So I laid down some rubber and burned a nice hole in the linoleum last night. I basically re-did what's in the vid, but at rabbit speeds instead of turtle speeds. From zero to hole-in-the-floor in 15 seconds or less. :lol: The stupid thing is I knew better - that's why the vid shows turtle power. :wink:

 

[DATABASE00]

your treadmill motorm could probly handle 130 volts are you planning on increasing voltage to get more power out of motor?
started my own project with treadmill interested to see you outcome.

 

[DATABASE00]

I just read through your whole other build. I see you ve gone through alot in trials. One question is why were you going from dc- ac back to dc? it will work just going strait dc v wouldnt it? I havea 60v, 1500 watt controller comming for my treadmill motor and was going to use 5 batteries. so it will be interesting.

Thank you for your threads its helped in a few ways for ideas.