Yescomusa.com 500 & 1000 watt 48v rear kit review

I got one of the Imax 50 watt chargers thinking it would be good to have to balance charge individual packs should they need an adjustment from time to time. For a 5s 5000mah pack, do I need a more powerful unit? I'm expecting this sort of pack balancing should not be that often so if it takes more time to charge it does not seem like an issue.
 
Today was my last day of school until August 1st. This year I drove 17 days and biked about 164 days or so. However, I put on about the same overall miles because I started taking a different (34 mile) route home after work 2 or 3 days a week. My odometer last year showed almost exactly 8500 miles. Today it hit the 17000 mile mark about 20 miles from home.

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I asked some hikers to take a picture of me and the bike.

photo on skyline rd 5-25-16.jpg

Some more photos from todays ride:

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overlooking down town la 5-25-16.jpg

close up of down town.jpg

from rose hills.jpg

Here is a map and details of the ride. I did go to the gym for a swim for about 45 minutes and stopped a lot to take pictures.

View attachment 10

map 1 5-25-16.JPG

map 2 5-25-16 ride home.JPG



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I have about 8500 miles on the new 1000w hub motor. The motor and wheel worked great, no playing with spokes, in fact, I never even though of the spokes all year. I did go down this year but the bike did not fly off a cliff (like the last hub) and it took the crash fine. The newer motors might have better tensioned spokes.

The controller just finished its 3rd year on the bike and has about 25000 miles on it. Still working great.

The $30 swap meet bike is still doing well and has close to 30K miles. Still no e-brakes or torque arms. I also figured out why I brake so many brake cables and plan to make some adjustments to fix that issue.

The Samsung 12p 15s battery has also been doing great. It has 13000 mile+. I have not balanced it yet and the cells stay at +/- .02 volts. I still check it a few times a month.

For almost 2 years I rode with 30 pounds of batteries, a 17 pound ping (48v 15ah) in the triangle and 13 pounds HK lipo in the front handle bar bag. Now the front bag has about a pound of tools and a 1 pound lock (2pounds total) and only 18 pounds in the triangle. Much safer. My new battery should be under 12 pounds.

Today I started at 62.6 volts and, after 34 miles up a few hills and into a headwind (at full throttle a lot), finished with 53.4 (after 20 minutes of rest).

View attachment 8

cells 1 to 6.jpg

cells 7 to 12.jpg

cells 13 to 15.jpg

I did one 40 mile ride on a warm day with a tail wind a few weeks back with no problem. I would say the battery is still over 90% of its original capacity.

Here are some pictures of the case and battery.

12p 15s samsung 22p pack after 1300 plus miles.jpg

battery out of case.jpg

case.jpg



These pictures look a lot like last years pictures. I am confident I could get another 13k miles with this pack.


I purchased 130 LG MJ1 18650s a few weeks ago with the rest of my bonus from last year and plan to build a 8p 15s pack with riba's spot welder in the next few weeks. Will post the results of the some tests this weekend.


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Hi,

Love your posts. It is amazing to read about the amount of milage you are able to put on such an inexpensive setup.

I took your advice and purchased two Mean Well HLG-240H-30A chargers. I want to double check the wiring needed to get 60V output. I found a couple diagrams but would love it if you can kindly confirm the proper wiring.

I found a long thread http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1170241 on this topic but there was a lot of comments about the possibility of the chargers shorting if touched together or some metal touching both. You seem to have your chargers unprotected, so how real is charger shorting?
Dual Power Supplies.jpgwiring diagram24Vsupply.jpg
 
On the road, finally.

Thanks for the help getting this kit going. Ordering and receiving and installing the kit was the easy part. There were a couple glitches. The existing hydraulic rear brake was replaced with the brake since it rubbed against the hub. The front brake was replaced since it was not compatible with the brake cutoff. (Might replace the original front brake and remove the one from the kit.

The electrical is where it took time. Mostly because I decided to DIY it and went with RC lipos. Current config is 6 Turnigy 5000mAh 5S 20C. Used the stock connectors to connect 3 in series and a HK splitter to parallel the two 15s packs.

Two of the six battery packs had a dead cell but HK was very quick to respond and send two new ones. Not sure if this typical but sure seems QA is lacking. Once all batteries were together, the Battery Medic confirmed cell voltage was the cells the same.

The 50w balance charger was used to balance and top off each pack to 4.2v.

Two Mean Well HLG-320240H-30A power supplies were put in series and mounted on a scrap of MDF board. Once the 6 packs were combined it can be bulk charged by the Mean Well power supplies. This model supports adjustable voltage so once they were combined, they needed to be increased to give 62.5v out.

6x #T5000.5S.20/15008 Turnigy 5000mAh 5S 20C Lipo Pack
#HKB-Medic/41170 HobbyKing™ Battery Medic System (2S~6S)
#HXT4MM-PAR/43768 HXT4mm Battery Harness 14AWG for 2 Packs in Parallel
2x Mean Well HLG-240H-30A
Battery Charger Imax B6AC LiPo/Li-Ion/NiMH/Nicad/PB RC Balance Charger Black

To do list
Purchased some Anderson connectors but XT connectors see better. Probably going to replace the Imax B6AC for one around 100w; thie 50 watt is pretty slow even though it should only be used from time to time to balance charge the individual packs.

Will update and report performance stats after a few rides. Again, thanks to all for the help getting this going.
 
Windtrader, post up some pictures when you get a chance. Hopefully you will not need to balance charge much. My cheap balance charger takes about 3 hours to balance a pack when one cell is .03 lower than the rest of the cells. For me, keeping the pack together and not connecting/reconnecting black-red or black-black or red-red is why I did not screw up and ruin any of my HK packs

**********

This spring break I ordered 130 LG MJ1 cells on Aliexpress for just under $600.00. This is my plan.

15s 8p battery design dime is a blank.jpg
I am hoping to cut a few pounds from my bike and have the same range. On paper, this will be about a 1.3kw pack similar to my 12p 15s 22p pack. I also want to use the same shape so I can use it on my 1000w bike. I plan to build a similar mount for my 500w bike and retire my 4 year old ping as a back-up supply for the house. These cells are rated for 10 amps but, on other sites, tests show that they start getting warm at about 5 amps. The 500w bike pulls 20 amps so the cells will be fine at 2.5 amps max, the 1000w bike pulls 30 amps so these cells will be working hard at 3.75 amps max.

The cells arrived about 9 days after I placed the order (those boats from China are really fast) and labeled correctly as lithium batteries. Here they are:

clearly labled as lithium batteries.jpg

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on scale.jpg

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not much protection.jpg

mj1 cell.jpg

I did not plan to do much testing but since this was a new vender I charged one cell over night and then did a discharge test the following night.

View attachment 2
I used the magnets from a broken throttle to attach the clips. When I took off the connectors in the morning it read 4.17v (sorry, no picture). The next night it read 4.16v when I started the discharge test. In the morning it showed 3.395ah which was better than I expected only going down to 3.0v. I discharged at 1.0 amps which took 210 minutes.

discharge 2.jpg



In the next few days I plan to put the pack together, build the case and mount, and be up and running. I am hopeful that I do not screw it up.
 
Markz,

I got the batteries from Alibaba, not Aliexpress. Here is the link:

https://wlsbattery.en.alibaba.com/

The cells appear to be good but I was not impressed by the packaging. A bigger box with some foam would have been nice. I was impressed by the speed that they arrived.
 
So I had some free time this past week and completed the LG MJ1 15s 8p battery build. I still need to build a case and mount for my 500w bike.

Last summer I purchased a battery tab welder from Riba so I was looking forward to using it on this project. However, the battery I had been saving (about 5 years) out in my car port, did not take a charge. So I pulled my old welder out from retirement and started very slowly putting the first few sections together. I planed to make it the same way as my last battery. Here are some pictures:

getting started.jpg

View attachment 23

could not charge this 12v car battery.jpg

3p section.jpg

After a few hours I remembered that someone posted that he used a HK 20c battery to weld his pack. I could not find the post but decided to try it anyway, so, I broke open my 25ah HK pack that has been sitting in my tool box for the last 19 months, and pulled off a 3s section. After some practice on some old cells and checking for heat, I was ready to go. Riba's welder worked wonderfully! Here are some more photos:

View attachment 20

3s 5ah hk battery.jpg

pack at halfway point.jpg

14s.jpg

close up welds.jpg

Once I had all the sections welded I put it on the scale. I was a little disappointed that it weighed in at 12 pounds but I will put it on a more accurate scale later.

completed pack on scale 12 pounds.jpg

next to samsung 22p pack 15s 12p.jpg
I just use these 8 inch balance extenders from HK for the balance leads. I cut one side off and solder it to a nickel strip, then weld it to the battery. I do not have good soldering skills.

View attachment 13

prepping balance leads 2.jpg

safety tape on nickel strips.jpg
I tape everything that goes close to the battery. Last time I put together a battery, one of these strips flipped up, touch the battery, and was vaporized.
To do the positive and negative leads, I pre-solder some 10g wire, then use my old welder to quickly heat up the nickel. This forms a good bond.

View attachment 10

welding the positive to the pack.jpg

positive finished.jpg

adding balance wire peeling up section of tape.jpg

work table adding balance wires.jpg

left side no tape.jpg

right side no tape.jpg

cells 1-6.jpg

cells 7-12.jpg

cells 13-15.jpg

My Samsung pack two years ago, all 200 batteries were at the exact same voltage (+/- .01v). No such luck with this order of LG MJ1.

About 50 were at 3.63
About 50 were at 3.61
about 30 were between 0.10 and 3.56
5 of these were unusable (under 2.5v)
I had to charge about 10 batteries before I could parallel the last 2 sections.



I think this is normal but I was still disappointed.

On paper, this will be a 28ah pack. I will report back on the range once I have it on the 500w bike.
 
Finished the battery case and got it mounted on the 500w bike. In a previous life I was a shop teacher and had access to all the tools I needed. Now I have some hand tools and access to part of the living room and balcony. Here is the progression:

getting started on the case.jpg

getting started on case 2.jpg

first bend.jpg

2nd bend.jpg

eyeballing shape.jpg

cutting out shape 1.jpg

battery in case.jpg

rough shape 2.jpg

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working on top.jpg

working on top 2.jpg

helper adding foam to case.jpg

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weight of case and battery.jpg

View attachment 2

cutting tool with modified battery.jpg

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View attachment 5

lining up side pieces to rivet later.jpg

quick paint job.jpg

mount on bike complete.jpg

first charge to 57.5v.jpg

out for a short ride 2.jpg

Went out for a short 3 mile ride and used about a volt (57.5 to 56.5). The cell groups seem to be in balance. Plan a much longer ride soon.
The 500w bike is 4 years old and has about 6000 miles total. It stays outside so it has more rust but seems to be in good condition.
 
Been using the LG MJ1 15s, 8p pack for the last 2 weeks mostly short rides but I do have one long ride, just under 40 miles. Here is the data:

Starting voltage:

voltage at start of range test mj1 battery 500w bike.jpg
Ending voltage:

voltage after 40 miles mj1 500w bike.jpg
Created by Google My Tracks on Android

Name: 12200 Montecito Rd
Activity type: biking
Description: -
Total distance: 63.64 km (39.5 mi)
Total time: 3:11:28
Moving time: 3:10:51
Average speed: 19.94 km/h (12.4 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 20.01 km/h (12.4 mi/h)
Max speed: 52.23 km/h (32.5 mi/h)
Average pace: 3:01 min/km (4:51 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2:60 min/km (4:50 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 1:09 min/km (1:51 min/mi)
Max elevation: -14 m (-45 ft)
Min elevation: -40 m (-131 ft)
Elevation gain: 305 m (1001 ft)
Max grade: 8 %
Min grade: -10 %
Recorded: 6/18/2016 3:15 PM

It was a hot day but with light winds. I stopped at the gym, to swim, and Golden West College, to get in a running workout along with a few stores (Frys Electronics, Harbor Freight Tools, & Target) Here is the map:

MJ1 battery range test 6-18-16.JPG

500w bike after 40 mile range test.jpg

I still have not balanced the pack and usually charge it with my Mean Well (NES 350-48) which tops out at 57.8 volts because most of my around town rides are under 12 miles. I have one cell group that seems to be underperforming the rest of the groups by about 10% so I might wire-up my extra battery if it becomes a problem.

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I have been trying to lighten my load and carry less stuff when I commute. So, I took off the front bag on my 1000w bike, which holds all my tools and lock, and relocated them to the back rack bag. This is what I have been carrying in the front:

open front bag.jpg

bike tools and supplies front pack.jpg

front pack with tools.jpg

back pack with tools and lock.jpg
This takes up about 1/2 of the back bag and I usually ride with 2 extra tubes when I get over 3000 miles on the back tire. I am always looking to simplify & lighten my load.

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I am definitely not a bike person. I never thought much about the brakes on this bike. I have been braking about 3 cables a year, so, when I first took off the front bag, I noticed that the brakes really needed adjustment. Here I had my son squeeze the front brake:

front brake before adjustment.jpg
These cables are way too straight to effectively apply friction to the rim, so I moved each brake pad in about 1/2 inch.

moved pad in a half inch each side 2.jpg
Now I use about 1/2 to force to stop. Here my son is squeezing the brake again.

front brake after adjustment.jpg
I recommend that if you buy a bike for $30, you look it over carefully. I should have done this 3 years ago.

I will report back on charging and cheap power supplies later.
 
Rear axle turning issues.

How much torque do you use on the 1000w rear hub axle nuts? There was a mention of 100 ft/lbs torque. I have a torque wrench to screw to 100 ft/lbs but it seems like the axle shaft will split.

A torque arm is not visible on the bike in the pics but is there another way to lock that axle in place?

Any other tips to keep axle from rotating?

Thanks
 
I don't have a torque wrench, but I used a 12 inch cresent and got them real tight. I weighed 270 lbs at the time and leaned on them pretty hard. Try 50 lbs and if they come loose, tighteh them more. Use the torque washers that came with the kit. I think you can see the tab bent into the dropout in this photo. BTW, if the dropouts are not steel, you need torque arms or plates.
lnut4.JPG
 
Windtrader, since my bikes are steal, I just use a 6 inch adjustable wrench and about 50-75 pounds of force. I do not see a need for torque arms yet because they are more expensive than my bike. Had one side come loose and rub on the frame but it was an easy fix.

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My electricity has been temporarily turned off today for a few hours. This is the 3rd time this year. I am currently running my house (refrigerator, tv, wifi, computers, roku & xbox) with 2 48v inverters and my retired bike batteries (Ping and HK packs).

In March I arrived home from work one day and the power had been shut off for maintenance almost all night. The power came back on just in time to charge my bike battery with a 600w power supply for the ride to work. So, I started checking out inverters on ebay and ended up purchasing a 300w inverter and a 2500w inverter. I wanted to be able to run the refrigerator and some basic electronic to keep my kids entertained. Last week there was another notice posted next to the mailbox.

power outage notice.jpg

I have the 4yr old Ping and a 300w inverter running the refrigerator (about $42 shipped)

300w inverter running the refrigerator.jpg

The 2500w inverter (about $160 shipped) and 20 Ah of HK lipos are running everything else.

View attachment 4

The power should come back on in a few hours but I have 2.5KW+ of power in reserve.

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This spring, my 2 year old cheap 60v 400w power supply stopped working. Students working at my desk had been kicking and rolling over the wires so it was getting beat up. Chargers seem to be a consumable item. I have spent more money on chargers than bikes or ebike kits. Batteries are still the most expensive part of this hobby. My luck with cheap supplies has been ok. I currently have a 60v 600w supply and a 60v 400w supply that still work. Of the 7 cheap supplies I purchased, 2 quit after a few charges, 2 stopped working after getting dropped but worked great for more than a year, 1 never worked, and 2 are still in circulation but both have modified cooling systems. This 60v 400w supply cost about $40 shipped but the fan did not turn on till it was too hot to touch so I added a 9vdc supply and relocated the fan so it would run all the time and stay cooler. This supply actually runs closer to 8amps.

View attachment 3

Some old supplies.

cheap power supplies heading to the electronic drop off.jpg

I have come to the conclusion that not being so cheap would actually save me money on chargers. I the future, I will be purchasing quality chargers and spending a few more dollars. These mean wells work great. Especially for bandito charging. I keep a lookout on ebay. They cost $39 each. One is slightly used

meanwell HLG-185-30A in series.jpg

bandito charging at a hacienda height park.jpg

I start back to work in less than 2 weeks and plan to use both bikes, 500w and 1000w. May need to add a BMS to the new battery.
 
Thanks guys about the rear axle torque. The frame is 6061 so may need to get torque arms. For now I set the torque to about 60. It clicked at 50 but not 70 without feeling like it was going to strip. Will see if it holds.

The 15s 10amp HK LiPo battery pack is delivering 20 miles or so, up/down, hardly any flat. Running battery from 62v - 52v. Ran it down one time and boy does it just die at the end, when getting under 50 or so.

Have about 300 miles on the bike. Nearly all kinks worked out. Plenty of little things were updated. Rear tire got a flat right away. Swapped in a panaracer and a heavy puncture resistant tube. Put the one that came with the kit on the front and a new tube. But a 52 front chainwheel, now able to peddle up to high twenties. Need to add some links or get a longer chain. Rear rotor worked loose, needed tightening. The rear brake was not setting right; had to move one of the washers to the inside of the frame for more room for the brake caliper into range of bracket. Took a few tries to get batteries into frame housing I built. Got the meanwell chargers configured and added a volt meter to measure final output. Got spark supressor XT60 for the battery-charger connector - very nice. Added a cheap electrical meter to provide basic metrics like voltage, watts, amps, etc.

To do: Add cosmetic cover to battery housing, Add coupling in wheel cabling so wheel can be easily removed. Experienced the PIA it is to remove rear hub wheels. Find better way to secure meter to bike. Need better mount for mini tactical light (i.e. front headlight).

Planning next build now. Will be a mid-drive.

Thanks again for all the advice - sure made it a far more pleasurable journey.
 
This is a great thread. I have seen it a few times and think what you are doing is awesome for those on ES that want that commuter type thread. I have been using my ebikes for commuting mostly since 2009. I have the same experience with chargers, but the meanwell hlg's I have now have been flawless for about 2 years now :?
 
windtrader said:
Thanks guys about the rear axle torque. The frame is 6061 so may need to get torque arms. For now I set the torque to about 60. It clicked at 50 but not 70 without feeling like it was going to strip. Will see if it holds.

The 15s 10amp HK LiPo battery pack is delivering 20 miles or so, up/down, hardly any flat. Running battery from 62v - 52v. Ran it down one time and boy does it just die at the end, when getting under 50 or so.

Have about 300 miles on the bike. Nearly all kinks worked out. Plenty of little things were updated. Rear tire got a flat right away. Swapped in a panaracer and a heavy puncture resistant tube. Put the one that came with the kit on the front and a new tube. But a 52 front chainwheel, now able to peddle up to high twenties. Need to add some links or get a longer chain. Rear rotor worked loose, needed tightening. The rear brake was not setting right; had to move one of the washers to the inside of the frame for more room for the brake caliper into range of bracket. Took a few tries to get batteries into frame housing I built. Got the meanwell chargers configured and added a volt meter to measure final output. Got spark supressor XT60 for the battery-charger connector - very nice. Added a cheap electrical meter to provide basic metrics like voltage, watts, amps, etc.

To do: Add cosmetic cover to battery housing, Add coupling in wheel cabling so wheel can be easily removed. Experienced the PIA it is to remove rear hub wheels. Find better way to secure meter to bike. Need better mount for mini tactical light (i.e. front headlight).

Planning next build now. Will be a mid-drive.

Thanks again for all the advice - sure made it a far more pleasurable journey.

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/wdt5qvibojkwhkr/AADOIvH_mhwqOjD2LlVO_iTsa
Few pics of the bike. The issue with the axle torque was resolved by a custom torque plate. The plate provides the needed strength to keep the axle from twisting; that was causing the axle to slip out of the dropout. The plate also provides much more area for the washers and nut to be fully supported.

Everything else is running pretty well. Cruises comfortably at 25-28. Top speed on flats is about 33-35. Distance on 6 5S 5000ma batteries is good for all daily trips. Could use more for longer jaunts.
 
wineboyrider, thanks for the positive review.
windtrader, nice work! I like the torque arms.

So far this school year I have commuted to work 45 times by ebike, and 2 times by car. Since it stopped raining here in southern California, the weather has been perfect for biking.


1000w bike with 2000 plus miles 10-7-16 this school year.jpg
View attachment 7
My 1000w bike has 38 commutes, and yesterday, ticked past the 19000 mile mark which means 2000 miles for this school year. I made a minor few changes to the bike. First, I removed the front bag which held my tools, spare tubes and lock. I put those items in my rear bag but after a few days I broke the zipper stuffing too much stuff in the bag, so, I remounted the front bag with more support. I took a thin sheet of aluminum (leftover from a battery build) and glued it to the bag, then used a rear rack mount to keep it from bouncing against all the cables/wires. It seems to be working so far. Here are some pictures:

View attachment 10

new front bag mount side view.jpg
The current motor now has over 10,000 miles. I am hoping it will last the year. Since I crashed last year, the rim has a slight wobble but not enough worry about. I have not touched a spoke or spoke wrench yet. The controller is probably close to 30,000 miles, and the throttle, probably near 20,000 miles. My current front tire has 10,000 miles but does not work well on wet surfaces and plan to which out when the weather changes. The 15s, 12p Samsung 22p battery pack it still well balanced (0.03 between highest/lowest cell) and has over 15,000 miles and, I would say, still has more than 90% capacity.

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I also commuted 7 days with my 500w bike and the new 15s, 8p LG MJ1 pack. The reason I went with the 3500mah LG MJ1 for this battery was because it had a good power curve and was close to the best as far as total watts:

LG MJ1 3500ah graph at 3amp no2.jpg

LG MJ1 3500ah watts graph.JPG

So far I have been disappointed with this pack. First, I had to spend 20-30 minutes each morning (7 days) manually balancing the pack when I topped it off at only 62.4 volts. I am not sure if I got some bad cells from my supplier, if LG does not have good quality control, or I suck at battery building, but I had to order a 15s BMS. This pack is unusable without one. Here I am keeping a few cells under 4.2v with some lights

View attachment 6

At school I had to watch the pack carefully and stop charging when the high cells reached 4.2, which was around 62.0v.

checking the balance LG MJ1 with small cell checker.jpg

Also, this LG pack got much warmer than my Samsung pack. I figured I would be pulling 2.5 amps from each cell, but even at this power level, the battery was as hot as my 12 year old flat screen (30+ degrees above ambient temp) when I checked it after 25 miles (mostly all out):

checking the LG MJ1 pack's heat after arriving at school.jpg

I do not charge if I can not watch it closely at school or home. I will report back when I have installed the BMS. I would not recommend the LG MJ1 yet. I am still hopeful I can get a few years from this pack.

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Also, I have 3 flats this year, mostly from stuff that would normally wash away with a good rain (nail, glass, sharp plastic). 2 of the flats were riding by the same construction site on the same day. I was able to patch one flat (I was out of tubes) and limp home. I am able to fix a flat well under 20 minutes now.

first flat 2016.jpg

My spare tires have arrived.

tire supply.jpg
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I have been commuting by bike along the San Gabriel river bike path here in California for more than 22 years. 13 years I worked in Whittier, and for the past 9 years, I have work in Hacienda Heights/La Puente area. The last 5 years, my ebike has been my main vehicle for transportation. I only crossed paths with 3 other ebikers my first year along this path while riding an ebike. Now I see about three ebikers a day. I am not sure how long I will be able to use this path, but it sure beats siting in traffic. 4 years back, I had an interesting experience that I will write about later.
 
Today I purchased my 14th, and probably last, tank of gas for the year. I have been averaging about 13 tanks a year but I drove to San Diego a few times with my son.

Also, purchased a 15s bms and have been doing some testing. Can't seem to get it to balance the pack. Seems just to shut down the charge when the first cell reaches 4.18v. If anyone has a 15s bms recommendation please post. I am just interested in the balancing feature. Here I have the good half of a bad 36v (5s) pack added to a good 36v pack (10s).

01 testing 15s bms.jpg

At work, my semester ended December 15th. I ebiked 79 times and drove 10 times. My 1000w bike is still running great.

01 1000w bike at sunset.jpg
The 15s 12p samsung 22p pack has just under 17K miles in 2+ years of use (about 740 cycles). Still in almost perfect balance but loosing some capacity. I hope it will last the rest of the year. Just in case, I ordered 200 samsung 25r 18650 cells for $2.50 each plus $127.00 fees/shipping ($627 total). Also, not sure if there will be a change in policy toward China.

01 200 samsung 25r for next build.jpg

01 closeup 25r.jpg

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On my first year commuting by ebike it was very lonely. I only saw 3 fellow ebikers total. Since ebikes were rare, I got the occasional negative comment. "Cheater" was the most common. Since I was usually riding under the 20 mph limit, I just smiled, nodded my head in agreement and kept riding. At times, I would explain the law that an ebike going less than 20mph was just a bike.

On the San Gabriel bike path, you come across many colorful characters. You've probably seen the old guy wearing a black speedo with a black plastic bag tied to his handlebars a few times over the last 20 years if you ride in the afternoon. My brother calls him "leatherback." Many homeless camps also spring up, especially in the summer. In September 2012 I ran into 2 homeless guys that left me wondering.

Along the north side of the San Gabriel River, under the 91 freeway in the summer of 2012, there were about dozen tents and a large population of homeless people. This group seemed to have a more than enough bikes and bike parts to open up several bike stores. Twice I observed 2 guys harassing commuters and bikers in general. One guy on a small bmx bike seemed to be trying to knock out the front wheel of bikers passing by, using his rear wheel, while the other, older guy, rode up along side and tried distracting the rider. To me, they seemed to be goofing around, because they were not successful at getting the rider off the bike. I could hear them laughing and cursing.

One day, while commuting home on my 500w ebike, I looked up and noticed that these 2 had targeted me. I knew the routine so I started riding real slow to keep my front wheel out of range of the bmx bike as he weaved back and forth on the path while looking back gauging his timing. The guy on the mountain bike came along side me and started laughing. I turned and got a good look at him: plaid shorts, white tank top, kind of skinny, dirty blond/brown hair, sneakers, and thick black ankle braclet with a small black box attached. Up close he looked older, maybe 40+, and not that big. He did not worry me much. The other guy on the bmx was fast and could jump the bike like a racer. He wore jeans, no shirt. I did not see an ankle bracelet but his pants were extra long, covering his ankles. I was worried about him, so, when I had the chance, I full throttled past him wide to one side. As I was going by he said something i couldn't make out. When I was safely ahead, I slowed down and smiled, planing to explain about ebikes and the law. Instead, the bmx guy said "get that f##ken bike out of here" and reached out and grabbed my handlebar with his right hand. I was shocked and just kept riding giving it a little more throttle. He did not let go. After 150 yards we were going over 20mph and he tried to kick me. I was able to block each kick with my leg. He tried to shake my handle bars but I just held on giving it full throttle. Finally, he gave one final shove to my handle bar. He lost his balance and went down hard. I continued riding while they both were screaming profanities at me. I did not look back.

At dinner that night I remember saying to my wife "I think either people don't like ebikes, or, 2 guys tried to steel my bike today." I saw these two guys a few more times but kept my distance. Once I called the police when I saw them stealing a bike from the Walmart a few miles down the bike path, but the dispatcher refused to take a report.

About a year later, I was riding a public bus with my students on the way to the mall in West Covina and noticed a nice carbon road bike on the front rack. I assumed it was the bus drivers and we started talking about biking and bike paths. I mentioned that I ride the San Gabriel bike path a lot and he told me to be careful. He said a buddy of his was jumped by 2 guys a year earlier and they got his carbon mountain bike. I thought about the 2 guys that engaged me a year earlier who probably didn't know what an ebike was and were, most likely, trying to steal my faster moving bike. I often wondered about what happened to them and their collection of bikes and bike parts.

Then in the spring of 2014, I opened the LA times one day and saw 2 familiar faces. I showed the paper to my wife and explained that these were the guys that tried to jump me on the bike path (I do not think she remembered my earlier comment). They had been accused of killing 4 women. I looked at the photos carefully and told her I was 99% sure about the older guy but the younger guy's face looks fuller (he was probably eating better). I was only 80% sure about him.

The older guy's trial just ended here in Orange County. He was found guilty of 4 counts of 1st degree murder. He represented himself and claimed that the probation department failed to do it's job and he should have been in jail (no kidding) because of numerous probation violations. The bmx guy's trial is coming up.

I am not really following the story or the trial but I see about a dozen ebikers daily and have not heard a negative comment in over 2 years. If someone grabs your handlebars because they do not like ebikes or they want to steal it, hang on tight with both hands, and keep smiling.
 
mcintyretj,
As always, very much appreciate the regular updates, although they are getting somewhat boring :) That is your kit just works like a mule. Love to get the updates knowing what does work when in service so much. I'm sure you are in the 1% of high use for a ebike. Thanks.

and btw - I would have kicked that bike down a lot sooner than you decided to take off. Too many scary types as you found out.
 
Cautionary tale for anyone who lets his lady friend ride these areas, even with a weapon. +1 on thanks for the updates; I have one of those kits that I power with a 52V, 10 a/h battery. 32+ mph on a flat road, no wind, 180 pound rider.
 
Question not meant for me, but I purchased the Marathons for their flat resistance; they've performed extremely well in that category (we have goathead thorns in socal that can be a PITA). Otherwise seem to be wearing well.
 
Well, I just hit 6 years and ~22,000 miles on the 48V 1000W yescom motor. Been running it the last 5 years on 24s rc lipo with cheap ($33 shipped) 72V 1500W 40A controller with no problems with motor, controller, or throttle. Ebrake switches have got stuck a few times in cold weather, but they still work. As long as you don't overheat a DD motor, they should last many years.
 
What would last longer yescomusa or hallomotor?
Thats a rigged question. Which is better built?
Are they the same, generic motors spit out by little asian hands by the millions.
 
markz said:
What would last longer yescomusa or hallomotor?
Thats a rigged question. Which is better built?
Are they the same, generic motors spit out by little asian hands by the millions.

Yes they're pretty much the same. Wires exiting the axle are usually what fail first if they get bumped around at all. Beyond that design fault I think its luck of the draw for what will fail; for example you could have a bad hall or a broken magnet but these would be intrinsic to any manufacture because they're probably using a similar supplier.
 
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