tgfarrell
1 µW
Newbie here. Been researching and reading up on doing a project to electrify a vintage mini bike.
A little background on myself and situation. I'm a tinkerer and like to learn new things. In the past when my 80 RX7 ignition box failed I created a newer, stronger ignition using GM HEI modules and solidcore E coils which was better than OEM. So I'm no stranger to electronics and electricity. I'm a computer engineer (mostly software these days) and have been at that for about 40 years.
I recently relocated to a managed community and have a bunch of EGO lawn and garden tools that moved with me. Some will find a home with relatives but the blower and chainsaw are staying. I want a small electric conveyance that the wife and I can use to scoot around the neighborhood that is not a huge electric golf cart. I don't want to dedicate that much of my garage to a cart either.
So I thought maybe I would look at some kind of ebike setup. I've always wanted a minibike to zoom around on anyway and making it electric seems like a fun project. I've done some research and it looks like the EGO chainsaw would be a pretty capable motor for the project plus I have the batteries already as well.
The specs on the motor and batteries as best as I can tell until I tear it all down are:
56v (probably 52v, the batteries are labeled 56v)
840 to 1200 Watts depending on what you can find on the interwebz.
6800 rpm top speed
May have a cutoff of 500 rpm based on some reading.
The motor controller is simple and not varying speed I don't think.
I have 2 2AH batteries and 1 5AH battery. I can probably get a range of 5-10 miles on the 2AH batteries if the minibike with me on it is 300lbs or less.
My plan is to find an old non-running vintage minibike frame with wheels, sprocket, and brakes working and then modify it with the EGO motor, battery and a speed controller. Working to keep the costs down, but if I have to I can buy the frame from gokartsusa or similar for $500.00 or so. No hard timeline on this, but hopefully have it done for the summer.
Remember I'm new, so take it easy. LOL
A little background on myself and situation. I'm a tinkerer and like to learn new things. In the past when my 80 RX7 ignition box failed I created a newer, stronger ignition using GM HEI modules and solidcore E coils which was better than OEM. So I'm no stranger to electronics and electricity. I'm a computer engineer (mostly software these days) and have been at that for about 40 years.
I recently relocated to a managed community and have a bunch of EGO lawn and garden tools that moved with me. Some will find a home with relatives but the blower and chainsaw are staying. I want a small electric conveyance that the wife and I can use to scoot around the neighborhood that is not a huge electric golf cart. I don't want to dedicate that much of my garage to a cart either.
So I thought maybe I would look at some kind of ebike setup. I've always wanted a minibike to zoom around on anyway and making it electric seems like a fun project. I've done some research and it looks like the EGO chainsaw would be a pretty capable motor for the project plus I have the batteries already as well.
The specs on the motor and batteries as best as I can tell until I tear it all down are:
56v (probably 52v, the batteries are labeled 56v)
840 to 1200 Watts depending on what you can find on the interwebz.
6800 rpm top speed
May have a cutoff of 500 rpm based on some reading.
The motor controller is simple and not varying speed I don't think.
I have 2 2AH batteries and 1 5AH battery. I can probably get a range of 5-10 miles on the 2AH batteries if the minibike with me on it is 300lbs or less.
My plan is to find an old non-running vintage minibike frame with wheels, sprocket, and brakes working and then modify it with the EGO motor, battery and a speed controller. Working to keep the costs down, but if I have to I can buy the frame from gokartsusa or similar for $500.00 or so. No hard timeline on this, but hopefully have it done for the summer.
Remember I'm new, so take it easy. LOL
