Monday 7 July 2014

2nd Ebike

Down to 320lbs before this bike died.  So working out, is working out!  Fresh air, exercise and I'm not eating like a rabbit.


So, the next edition I went with a Kit that I purchased from Ebay.  Front wheel system for a hybrid mountain bike.  Came with the controller, hub motor already on the spokes, throttle.  No battery and no PAS.


The motor was a 350Watt motor and it worked for 6 months.  The flat tires stopped happening as much and I could get the ebike speed up to 25km-30km and could do the 25km distance.  Changing from the back to the front, was a bit of a learning curve and I would highly recommend a front hub motor for any ebike conversion.   They don't make the kits anymore, but when I bought it.. The hub motor looked similar to this.




From Phat Tire Bike Guy


The battery I found online from a person who Bionix motor died, Lithium Ion battery. The bike was a Supercycle $150 model.

The setup was a bit unsafe, I have to admit.  The battery just sat in the cradle and was only protected by Gorilla tape.  I don't think I ever took a picture of it.  I still have the bike, so I'll try to post a few things of it.. that remains.  It's mostly a part bike now, since I blew the motor.

Blowing the motor was my fault, as the battery I got was for a 750 watt hub motor, so I really pushed this 350w really hard.  The trick was to use the battery for the first 5min of the drive and then start to pedal.  That way the motor was really being pushed at a 450w.  But I once connected the battery and was pushing on the throttle with the hand break on.. Trying to find my wallet in my backpack.  Once I found it, I looked down and saw steam pouring out the side of the hub motor and the motor never worked again.   Cooked!


Lessons Learned:
  1. If you over charge your motor, do it right.
  2. Front wheel configuration made for a smooth ride.  Since I was pushing the bike at a higher speed then what it was designed to do, the back tire warped easily.  But it was easily replaceable since the motor was on the front!
  3. Mount the battery so it can't move. I wiped out once (got cut off by a car) and the battery turned into a flying brick.  Glad no one got hurt (other then me).
  4. When buying a kit online, ensure the battery comes with it.  It's the most expensive part of the ebike.  Finding one that matches and connects properly can be a challenge.  When in doubt, I made all the connecters into Anderson connectors.






From Phat Tire Bike Guy

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