Theft proofing your ebike battery.

[cal3thousand]

Can I ask what is the benefit of a battery that you cannot remove? (An extreme situation, but) What happens if your battery happens to go up in flames and you are present to do something about it? Do you rush to take your whole bike outside and watch it burn?

I like a removable battery for:

• Security - if they overcome my other security measures, they won't be leaving at 40mph+
• Convenience of opportunity charging (you're more likely to gain permission to charge if you are just bringing in a charger and your pack vs. a whole bike)
• Versatility (I can use my pack, in various configurations, on all my bikes)

 

[Ozziebike]

1. I can leave it on my bike, and will be very difficult to remove. Even if they somehow manage to remove the battery box that I'll make, they will still have to compete with'the GPS unit that I will have installed in it. It has motion detection, a listening in microphone, and obviously up to date GPS signal. If someone miraculously undoes the bike and tries to ride away under electric power, well too bad, because the GPS shuts off power to the motor unless its unlocked by the key fob.
2. I don't really see a situation in where I'd need to charge the bike away from home...
3. If I am doing a days worth of really technical offroading, if I think I need to save a tiny bit of weight off the bike, I could always spend 15 mins undoing it all and whack it in my backpack.

If the battery goes up in flames... Well the odds of this happening are so stupidly low, I'm not going to worry about it. If I was using Lipo's I'd be much, much more worried. But the chemistry of the batteries I have are very safe.

 

[friendly1uk]

Well you can only slow them down. Against a cordless grinder and some tree loppers, nothing is safe for long.

My kit is in a cage tied into the frame at a number of points. All the wires go through it. It would be a dozen snips if they knew the quickest option.
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=56886&p=992821&hilit=yginrut#p992821
Once they saw that in the bag, I imagine it would be a lot of nothing to them.

Can't you make it in on a commercial pack that comes off? Use a locker or ask security/office staff to pop it in the corner. They shouldn't mind watching your £300 battery. They didn't provide alternative facilities. They should be catching up with demand. Lay it on lol

I had a frog box for some time. I never took the key out the lock. I don't think anyone is interested. There is no market for one without a lot of advertising you have one. It's not desirable.

 

[Ozziebike]

University's don't often provide such services, BUT after just attending O week. They have a bike lockup room! Yes I know it's not hard for someone to get a copy of the fob and break in. But I somehow think it's much less likely. There is no type of premade bag/ box that will fit my bike/battery, so it's going to have to be a custom jobbie.

 

[scouttster]

I made up some red and yellow theft warning stickers for my bike. Stickers announce the following: WARNING - THIS BIKE EQUIPPED WITH THEFT TRACKING DEVICE - WARNING

WARNING - THEFT PREVENT WIFI PIN CAM RECORDING MODE ON - WARNING

 

[Ozziebike]

Hahaha, that's great.

But sort of works better if you don't have one at all...

 

[fourbanger]

I've been mulling this one over for some time now as I really want a battery pack that

a) fits in the frame
b) can be detached without too much trouble
c) is reasonably theft resistant

What I find myself leaning towards is some kind of triangle bag with a high powered alarm inside it that goes off when said bag is removed from the frame. So sure, the whole thing is there for the taking, but you'll have a hard time looking casual walking down the street with a funny looking briefcase blasting 120db of "hey look, I'm being stolen". Odds are nine out of ten crackheads would drop it and run, I figure.

How to apply this method in a way that would allow me to disarm it easily myself and NOT allow someone to just open the stupid bag and take its contents I haven't quite figured out just yet.

 

[TyJedi]

I'm having the same dilemma. My Xtracycle Stokemonkey is pretty secure with locking skewars on pretty much everything, sold Kryptonite Mini-evolution U-Lock, but I'm always paranoid when I lock it in front of Costco, etc, and leave my battery in the frame bag. Yes, I could detach it and carry it in, but I really don't want to carry a 10 lb battery in the store every time I do some shopping.

I like to think that E-Bikes are still pretty obscure. I rarely see them where I live in San Mateo, Ca, even though I am spitting distance from where the Maker Faire is held every year. Also, I have NEVER seen an Xtracyle around here, much less one with a Stokemonkey, though I do see EBikes in SF where I work. Odd, but I've only seen ONE other stokemonkey in the city (San Francisco) and yet that is where the stokemonkey was invented. Go figure...

So I know the average thief has no interest in a bike battery, but the right thief knows it is a big money item. So I worry... What if one of those guys happens to walk by my bike in safe ol' Suburbia where I live?

I do like the idea of locking cases. I saw Spinning Magnets included a link of a very cool idea of locking the battery to the bike,

https://www.electricbike.com/duty-cycle-awd/

but the machining skills there are beyond me at this point. I am under no illusions that ANY anti-theft system will work against a pro. The idea is to just make it difficult enough to move on to easier targets.

So I just came up with a redneck-tech kind of idea. Instead of buying/making some nice case, how about using something readily available at any office store like this cashbox?

I found the one seen above at this site:

http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/office-school-supply/cash-handling/cash-boxes/all-steel-cash-box-w-latch-lock-spr15501-11w-x-78h-x-4h-gray?infoParam.campaignId=T9F&gclid=CLbD1o3hvMYCFQ6Sfgod9Q8EgA

but any one of the right size would work.

Just looking at the dimensions, it looks like it would work. Then all I would need to do is line it with some foam, drill some holes for mounting and power cord, and mount it to the upright water bottle attachment. I think if a thief saw this he might think, "OK, something's in there he doesn't want to lose, but looks like more trouble than it's worth."

What do you all think? Dumb? Genius? Something in between?

Thanks,

Ty





https://www.electricbike.com/duty-cycle-awd/

 

[amberwolf]

It doesnt' help the majority of bicycle designs, but you can trap the case inside the frame:

That's a 50cal ammocan, which with time and care can be wiggled out of the frame for access, but it's not easy and takes a lot longer than I'd be in a store.

Might be a little easier to see the box vs the frame in the pre-painting pic:


Sorry they're blurry/pixellated, I can't find the original file those were shrunk from.

My ammocan isn't actually locked, but it's possible to do it with the bits already on them, and of course it'd be easy enough to add a hefty hasp for a padlock if you wanted to.

 

[TyJedi]

I like it!

Mainly because it's a 50CAL AMMO CAN! Super cool!

Have to eyeball the bike when I get home, but I'm thinking it won't fit due to my Stokemonkey set-up as you can see in this pic below:

but maybe I can figure something else out? Hard to tell from a picture, and the bike is at home.

Really, really like the idea of the 50cal Ammo can though. If I can't get it to fit the way you did it, perhaps a modification of my original idea and bolt it inside the frame triangle?


Ty

 

[amberwolf]

You've got PLENTY of room...right under your xtracycle side carrier frames! You could make a simple frame around that, bolted to the x-frame, that would be pretty hard to undo quickly.

A little riding time and you'd never even notice the "unbalanced" loading when you don't have anything to carry on the other side to balance it.


If your pack will fit inside 7.62 ammocan, you could use those on their sides and they'll be thinner, more clearance for those knee-out-leaning speed-turns.


There's lots of other existing cases to use, too, but the ammocans are pretty tough so for me they're worth the extra weight. Wish I had a lot more of them. (only have 1 7.62 and two 50cal)

 

[TyJedi]

So you mean the side rails, right?

Have to take a look at that. I don't want to interfere too mich with cargo carrying or passengers back there, but I think you might be on to something. Have to check when I get home.

I found these 7.62 cases on line right now for $10!
http://www.armysurpluswarehouse.com/7-62-mm-ammo-can.html

50 cal also:
http://www.armysurpluswarehouse.com/50-cal-ammo-box-grade-2.html
http://www.armysurplusworld.com/product.asp?ProductID=920

I hope I can get the 7.62 case to work. They are 7in. x 3 ½ in. x 10 in, so not sure if my pack is bigger than that or not, but I know it's close! If that worked, that would be ideal. Can put a padlock on it and be pretty low profile.

Ty

 

[amberwolf]

So you mean the side rails, right?

Have to take a look at that. I don't want to interfere too mich with cargo carrying or passengers back there, but I think you might be on to something.

*under them* won't interfere with any of that.

Close to the bike itself also won't interfere with cornering unless you're doing it so fast that you're leaning really really far over.

There is at least one similar-frame-type build (a mundo, I think) that has steel boxes custom built under those frames, here on ES.

I hope I can get the 7.62 case to work. They are 7in. x 3 ½ in. x 10 in, so not sure if my pack is bigger than that or not, but I know it's close!

Build a cardboard box with the inside dimensions of the ammocan and see if the pack fits in it.

 

[TyJedi]

Ah! I get it now, sorry. I tend to think too much in Xtracycle terminology. By side carrier frames, you meant the 'U-tubes." Yes, that could totally work. I could test it by using your cardboard box idea that way. After making sure the battery would work inside the case by making a cardboard box and seeing if it would fit inside, I could make a larger box the size of the ammo carrier and see if that scraped when I rounded the corner or not. I don't corner like a maniac TOOO much with this bike... :wink: , so it should be ok.

If it worked, then I would just have to make it harder for the U-Tubes to be removed, but that's easy enough.

Hey, I've got a new project to explore!

Thanks!

Ty