So, what would you do with this trike to electrify it?

[MikeFairbanks]

I pulled the hub motor off this Worksman trike and am either going to put the hub into a different rim/fork/tire combination and back onto the trike, or put the hub motor on something else altogether.

So I was wondering, since I've never done a non-hub motor setup, what kind of electric-assist setup would be easy and inexpensive.

Needs: Low-speed (max speed about 12mph, give or take a couple). The trike will only be used in an elementary school that has smooth floors. It doesn't need to be fast, but a little torque is good for carrying heavy loads (the trike can hold 500 pounds, including the rider...me, leaving about 300 pounds for textbooks, computers, my gold bar collection, and people who want a fun ride around the building).

I'm wondering if it will be easy to install a motor inverted and bolted to the underside of the steel platform and connected to the chain with a freewheel type of sprocket helping along the chain line. I'm thinking of 24 volt (and wondering, even, if 12 will work). It just needs to be strong and faster than walking (but not too much faster).

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[Thud]

I'm wondering if it will be easy to install a motor inverted and bolted to the underside of the steel platform and connected to the chain with a freewheel type of sprocket helping along the chain line. I'm thinking of 24 volt (and wondering, even, if 12 will work). It just needs to be strong and faster than walking (but not too much faster).

Any ideas?

Mike F,
Every thing is "easy" once you know how to do it :lol: I see a small outrunner with reasonable reduction unit. It could run easily on 24v with a sensored controller.
My question: Is it easyer to drive the crank?,(requiring a freewheling crank & that added hardware) or add a connection to the rear axel thru another freewheel set up?

I crindge at the idea of powering the cranks (even slowly) without some saftey disconect(freewheel). Something as simple as a shoe lace could start a chain reaction of unfortunat events,

I see a 6374 motor having all the power you'd want. I have a few ideas on the reduction unit....would it be a benifit to have all the running gear enclosed? (dumb question )
I can help you out if you need. anything from a sketch to custom fabrication.

 

[rkosiorek]

front motor on a trike? been there, done that. what a waste of time and effort the front wheel is so lightly loaded you get no traction at all. still it does make the bike look useful eve if it isn't.

RC drives are nice. but a bit pricey.

i'd go with a 1000W 48V cyclone driving the crank sprocket. just buy their regular everyday kit with the regular extralength BB. adapt the bike to use the sealed BB unit using one of these adapters.

View attachment 1

just google Euro to American Bottom Bracket Adapter. i bought mine at a local bike shop. cost me less than 20 bucks.

Spend some extra time and beef up that Cyclone motor mount bracket a bit. that is the weakest link. upgrade the chain idler to a ball bearing one and add a single speed chain tensioner like the "Surly Singleulator" or something similar. again your local bike shop probably has something.



that will take care of most of your slack chain and chain alignment issues.

Those Worksman trikes are good candidates for power assist. they are uber strong. the only bad thing is the lack of a differential driving both rear wheels. one idea would be to use a differetial built from a pair of freewheels like the one Utah trike uses on it's quad conversion kit. then of course you'll want to add dual disc brakes, etc.
http://www.utahtrikes.com/PRODINFO-TT_Quad_Conversion_Kit.html

and that would be a killer trike. no speed records, just plain reliable hauling.

rick

 

[Chalo]

So I was wondering, since I've never done a non-hub motor setup, what kind of electric-assist setup would be easy and inexpensive.

Easy and cheap? How about a gear-reduced Unite motor with bike chain to a freewheel on the Worksman's rear axle?

$60-$85 for the motor from TNC Scooters. This $60 one can be mounted directly to the underside of the deck, if you have the means and guts to slot the steel plate for its mounting screws. You could also slot a piece of steel flat bar, angle, or channel, and weld/braze that in across the tube structure underneath the deck.

$16-$21 for a controller, also from TNC Scooters. $10 for a Hall effect throttle.

$15 or so for the freewheel adapter from Worksman.

$10-$25 for a single speed freewheel. Get the kind that uses a large four-prong remover. 2:1 reduction between motor and axle means the 3000rpm rated speed of the above motor, divided by its 9.778:1 reduction, and assuming a 26" wheel, yields 11.9 mph. So that would be an 18t freewheel to go with the 9t motor sprocket. 17t or 19t would distribute chain wear more evenly.

Some bike chain. $10 or so if you don't already have some around.

A battery and charger. I think 24V nominal makes the most sense for the performance profile you describe, but it's a matter of taste and the limitations of the other components. SLAs, dumb and heavy though they are, may still represent a good combination of modest cost, fault tolerance, safety, and ease of maintenance/charging for your application. I'd only look at other chemistries if I needed deep discharge, or if I already owned something I could spare. Whatever you use, you can probably hang it underneath the deck on the side opposite the motor.

Good luck with your project.

Chalo

 

[liveforphysics]

RC would be a mistake. It's strengths are applications where saving every last pound is the highest value parameter in the build.
On a utility trike you're not going to care if an RC controller saves 1lbs over a 6fet and an RC motor saves 2lbs over a cyclone/unite etc. You're just going to be stoaked that you don't have to make jack shafts and specialized bearing supports and custom pulleys and shaft adapters and crap, and then deal with fiddly controllers that explode randomly.


You want something like the above suggestions, cyclone or unite etc. Take it to a local welding shop to have a bracket welded on to mount the motor extremely solidly in the ideal part of your chain path (wherever that may be). From there it's not too much more work than just wiring up a hubmotor.

 

[Chalo]

i'd go with a 1000W 48V cyclone driving the crank sprocket.

Did you miss the parts where he said 12 mph was plenty, and it would be used indoors? No kilowatts are needed or desirable for that job. Over 12 mph on a Worksman trike is a little hairy even in the street.

 

[rkosiorek]

i'd go with a 1000W 48V cyclone driving the crank sprocket.

Did you miss the parts where he said 12 mph was plenty, and it would be used indoors? No kilowatts are needed or desirable for that job. Over 12 mph on a Worksman trike is a little hairy even in the street.

yep, i must have been wired on at least 48V myself chalo. i blitzed right past that 24V bit. so in that case, make it the 500W 24V cyclone kit. just get one of the ones using the external controller. that way if you ever change your mind, you can easily upgrade the controller.

one more thought. is this one of the bikes with a coaster brake? if it is than chalo's idea of adding a second sprocket to the rear axle that is driven directly by a Unite motor would be much simpler to do. no worries about adding brakes using this method.

rick

 

[Chalo]

one more thought. is this one of the bikes with a coaster brake?

The one in the picture appears to have a straight chain run to the rear axle.

All the full-sized Worksmans I have worked on used a coaster brake hub as a jackshaft, except for one that had been modified by the owner to have a derailleur. On that latter one, I was asked to add a rear brake, which I did with a band brake on another freewheel adapter.

Chalo

 

[Gordo]

Last time I was in a school the floors were almost level. Unless Mike is going to climb stairs with this trike, he does not need 1000W.

i'd go with a 1000W 48V cyclone driving the crank sprocket.

Did you miss the parts where he said 12 mph was plenty, and it would be used indoors? No kilowatts are needed or desirable for that job. Over 12 mph on a Worksman trike is a little hairy even in the street.

 

[rkosiorek]

i found that i was always tempted to fill the big rear basket on a trike with as much heavy stuff as i could. even on level ground a couple a hundred pounds of cargo slows you down a lot. more power makes that easier. in my mind it is better to have more power and not use it that it is to be always wishing you had more power to begin with.

rick

 

[buzzfirst]

I would suggest keeping power driven mechanicals to the very very minimum. Parents today will not hesitate to litigate against any person or place that harms little Johnny. Even when little Johnny is a known pinhead with absolutely no home training. A crank drive setup would almost certainly get a finger stuck in it, Murphy's Law is still at work. I wonder how hard it would be to mount a single sided hubmotor into a rear wheel? Keep all the drivetrain compact and under the rear basket. Being as how this will be used in an elementary school I would also keep the power as low as possible. Explaining how you decided to put 1000 watts of power on a vehicle used at an elementary school to a Judge may prove to be difficult. Once you change the trike, you are probably now the manufacturer. All this makes that hubbie look good. Just my two cents.

 

[Chalo]

Explaining how you decided to put 1000 watts of power on a vehicle used at an elementary school to a Judge may prove to be difficult.

As defense counsel, you should know to describe the vehicle's power as "one point three horsepower" of even better, "approximately one horsepower".