Safe's Electric Bike Project #001

[Link]

This experience helped to reassure me that having good brakes (and using them) can translate into being able to get out of situations if you do the right thing.

 

[safe]

As we approach the end of the summer season and I'm crossing the 5,000 mile milestone I'm just thankful that things have turned out well and I'm relatively unhurt and the bike is still working to keep me that way.

Every once and a while it's important to just "count your blessings."

 

[recumpence]

Safe, I am wondering how your brakes hold up? I notice you are running a single front rotor. With a bike that heavy, that brake should be woefully inadequate. I know my 203mm brake is just barely enough (the rotor still glazes if I panic stop a couple times). So, I am installing two calipers and that is on a 47 pound bike maxing at 40mph (I weigh 194 pounds). If I could mount two rotors, I would. But, I am stuck with my single sided fork, so, one rotor is all I can have (untill I go to a suspension fork). :wink:

Matt

 

[safe]

Safe, I am wondering how your brakes hold up? ...on a 47 pound bike maxing at 40mph (I weigh 194 pounds).

My bike is about 110 lbs (roughly) and I weigh 185 (roughly) so the combined weight is 295 lbs.

For you it's 194 + 47 = 244 lbs.

So as a percentage my bike is:

295 / 244 = 1.20 or 20% heavier.

So the difference is not that much. (bike weight isn't all that critical for ebikes)

More brakes are better... I've got a 205mm front and a 180mm rear... so it's not bad. On Project #002 I'm looking to have dual 205mm front discs and a 180mm rear.

Also, I've got massive 3" wide racing slick tires so I can use the brakes fully and not come anywhere near their limit. Brakes heat up more (it seems) when you hold them on for long times. Being able to grab a bunch of brakes quickly without fear of loss of traction means I can let go of them and they can cool off. Glazing happens when the brakes are really hot and you continue to use them. So they heat up quick, but I get off of them just as quickly.

 

[AussieJester]

uh oh here we go... :: sits back grabs popcorn ::

 

[recumpence]

OK, gotcha. I am not rying to argue with you at all. I am just curious because if I grab alot of brake, my rotor glazes (well, if I do it a few times).

Anyway, I am glad to hear you are going to dual discs. :wink:

Matt

 

[vanilla ice]

Safe is right that brake heat can be less an issue if you use them harder. I've experienced the same thing on the track, well at least with bigger ICE power vehicles. Seems counter-intuitive, but when you compact your brake zones, theres less time for heat transfer.

 

[docnjoj]

My trike uses 2 front discs and my total bike/me weight is about 300 lbs. At 20-25 mph (which is as fast as I dare go) it stops within 15 feet and on its nose! More than enough braking power to avoid blind little old ladies in 1975 Buicks! Can stop ok with 1 disc, but on a trike U really have to countersteer like crazy, obviously.

 

[safe]

The Jimmy Filice "Fast Line"

http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/hofbiopage.asp?id=170

In 1988, Filice was set to return full-time to his dirt track roots when a phone call from legendary GP tuner and team owner Erv Kanemoto changed the path of Filice’s entire racing career. The call was to ask if Filice would be interested in filling in for an injured GP rider and racing in the 250GP event at the United States Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, just two weeks away. Filice jumped at the opportunity and showed up to ride a 250 Grand Prix machine for the first time in five years.

Filice said the factory Honda NSR250 was the best bike he’d ever ridden during his career. He was conservative in qualifying, but still nearly matched the pole time set by future 250GP world champ John Kocinski.

“I knew right then I had a really good chance to win the race,” Filice recalled.

He not only won, but also turned in the race of a lifetime and took the checkered flag by a 12-second margin. The victory marked the pinnacle of Filice’s racing career and put him in a very select group of only four American riders, including himself, to have won a World Championship 250 Grand Prix race in the history of the series.

I was at this race watching as a spectator. A few years earlier I pitted for another racer in the Formula 2 class and that was kind of fun because I got to stand out on the grid before the start. Anyway... I watched Jimmy taking this insanely wide line going into turn One which was a new turn because they just changed the track design to comply with Grand Prix rules. Jimmy Filice had discovered the "trick" to the new course ahead of everyone else and it allowed him to win.

I've been struggling to find a fast line on my little private road racing course and just for the heck of it I tried a "Jimmy Filice" wide line. Sure enough my exit speed went up to close to 25 mph. There was a time I was barely making it out of this turn at 15 mph and 20 mph was "good".

Just 16 miles to go til 5,000...

 

[docnjoj]

What?????????????????
otherDoc

 

[safe]

What?????????????????

Sorry... did you still want to talk about braking?

Yeah, I think that short hard braking seems to be easier on the pads than long slow braking. All things have a certain thermal mass to them and brake pads and rotors are no exception. As long as the background temperature of the pads and rotor start at outside temperature it takes some time before they heat up. Once fully heated then you will start to get glazing.

It's the same thing as with an electric motor... you can exceed the thermal limits for a time and the motor can absorb it, but if you held a steady overloaded condition the heat just builds and builds.

Having lot's of traction means that I can grab a lot of brake for a second and then let go of it. This means that the heat disperses and everything has a chance to cool. As long as the separate from one braking event to the next is long enough the heat will go away.

A long steep downhill that did not permit freewheeling (brakes being necessary) is the hardest thing on brakes. Truckers on mountains have it the worst and they build these run off sand pits to try to catch runaway trucks.

If I was in a mountainous area this issue would be more serious... but I live in the Midwest...

 

[safe]

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6115

5,000+ Miles!

 

[Miles]

That's 1.0826 posts per mile travelled......

 

[Link]

That's 1.0826 posts per mile travelled......

That's still a HELL of a lot better than me. I'd wager that I've posted 35 times for every mile I've ridden. That's a post about every 150 feet. :lol:

 

[Miles]

:lol:

 

[recumpence]

Hmm, I'm at about 1.5 posts per mile. :wink:

Ice, I love the new Avatar!

Matt

 

[safe]

That's 1.0826 posts per mile travelled......

A good metric... I'd like to see how other people fair in that area. I figure if I'm putting so many miles on these ebikes that "qualifies" me as being "ebike post material". After all, my life is basically:

Eat, Sleep, Ride, Research, Build, Post, TV, Beer.

(hmmm scary how accurate a description that is )

As the old saying goes:

"Live to ride, ride to live." (something like that)

 

[AussieJester]

Eat, Sleep, Ride, Research, Build, Post, TV, Beer.

Hrmz sure its not Eat, Sleep, Ride, Beer, Research, Beer, Build, Post, TV,

Would explain alot

 

[TPA]

Eat, Sleep, Ride, Research, Build, Post, TV, Beer.

Hrmz sure its not Eat, Sleep, Ride, Beer, Research, Beer, Build, Post, TV,

Would explain alot

Some on the ghetto list might say:

beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer.......

.........Post

 

[vanilla ice]

Hmm, I'm at about 1.5 posts per mile. :wink:

Ice, I love the new Avatar!

Thanks, I thought it was appropriate.. I'm like 10 posts per mile methinks. Hopefully that'll come down closer to safe-ish levels when more than just the bmx works.

 

[recumpence]

Hmm, I'm at about 1.5 posts per mile. :wink:

Ice, I love the new Avatar!

Thanks, I thought it was appropriate.. I'm like 10 posts per mile methinks. Hopefully that'll come down closer to safe-ish levels when more than just the bmx works.

I would love the same avatar except I don't power through messes, my power creates messes. :wink:

Matt

 

[safe]

...beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer.......

I wish! When I was 35 I could drink nearly every day if I wanted but now (at 47) if I drink anything (even a couple of beers) the next day I'm pretty wiped out. So now it's once a week at most... lately I've been skipping it entirely. (the problem is that even a couple of beers seems to nullify my REM sleep, so I wake up exhausted)

All sobriety and no play makes Safe a dull boy I guess...

I envy people who have the genetics to be able to drink beer every day and not have it screw up their body. :|

I am looking forward to Oktoberfest (Kansas City has a pretty good one downtown) which is always a big event for me and it involves lot's of beer drinking, the consumption of brauts, and blonde chicks to dance with... (and sometimes some pretty cute ones)

The timing of Oktoberfest is really good because it's at the end of the summer and the fall is coming. It sort of symbolizes the end of the "useful" summertime and a time to start to think about winter. It's the "last hurrah" before heading back indoors.

P.S: Today I spent about four hours sanding and cutting and fiberglass fiddling. Rather than try to upgrade Project #001 with fairings first I'm going to focus on Project #003 and see if I can get it to be just a functional "bicycle" first. Then after that I'll add the batteries and the motor. That way I can get something visual together... if it looks good I'll switch my avatar to Project #003 even if it's not truly functional.

 

[AussieJester]

I envy people who have the genetics to be able to drink beer every day and not have it screw up their body. :| [/color]

yep there called Aussies...erm alcoholics LoL

 

[Lessss]

Or Aussies with manners . . aka Canadians. Of course what most Americans call beer is really piss water.

 

[AussieJester]

Or Aussies with manners . . aka Canadians. Of course what most Americans call beer is really piss water.

hahahaha....ahhh yes "piss water" tiz what us Aussie bottle label "Fosters" and sell to the Americans as "beer" ;-P Only people in Australia that drink Fosters are Tourists