Thinking about making my own Electric bicycle
- Thread starter nat
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
there is a metric ton of stupid sh** on YouTube...
But what I'm planning involves a front freewheel, a 10-1? speed and a Husky 55Rancher...
Oh, and it will be able to use all the gears. Not just one stupid gear
But what I'm planning involves a front freewheel, a 10-1? speed and a Husky 55Rancher...
Oh, and it will be able to use all the gears. Not just one stupid gear
stinkyfj60
SILVER Star
there is a metric ton of stupid sh** on YouTube...
But what I'm planning involves a front freewheel and a Husky 55Rancher...
Oh, and it will be able to use all the gears. Not just one stupid gear
You should go with a small diesel engine!
I know s*** about electric vehicles, but that said. . . .
x2--an electric vehicle without a battery is a heavy albatross. I would try to keep as much of the light-weight functionality of a bike as possible. Maybe have a second drive chain for the motor that is attached to a chainring on the other side of the bike from the one your feet drive? You'd have to eliminate a gear or two to get that done, but still.
On the plus side, every mile up means a mile down at some point.
If you could change at work, that would be a plus to just biking it straight. But I bet it would get old fast. 
Thinking back to the old "add-on" gas helpers, some were mounted on the front wheel with a pulley almost the size of the rim. Could be done with an electric motor and leave your pedal/bellcrank/deraileur in tact so when you battery gave out.....
Plus, that would regenerate power when coastin'
x2--an electric vehicle without a battery is a heavy albatross. I would try to keep as much of the light-weight functionality of a bike as possible. Maybe have a second drive chain for the motor that is attached to a chainring on the other side of the bike from the one your feet drive? You'd have to eliminate a gear or two to get that done, but still.
On the plus side, every mile up means a mile down at some point.
If you could change at work, that would be a plus to just biking it straight. But I bet it would get old fast. Sit on the handlebars and have your wife pedal you in, she wouldn't wine about the lil' hill
with a range of 24 miles, this would work for you...
although...if it's a 17 mile trip, it'll take you a about an hour and a half each way...
Nat, maybe use old track chain/ring/cog? A little heavier. Less likely to jump.
Here is what I did to my electra cruiser. Wilderness bd36 kit with600w 36v(3 12v batt) 12 amp batteries. The kit costs around $450 without the bike. I live in the mountains, so beach cruisers up here would otherwise be limited to the valleys without the electric conversion. the kit includes a front brushed 600w hub motor, controller, thumb throttle, rack, wiring, and batteries with case.
It's a blast to ride and will top out at about 22-25 mph without pedaling on the flats. Up hills I have to pedal assist, but it's a hell of a lot easier than without the electric conversion. Best of all, it doesn't make any noise, so it's kind of stealth. It's kind of funny to pass mountain bikers on a beach cruiser and they don't know why.
Weight is the main issue with sla batteries. Lithium phosphate like the new dewalt cordless 36v batts are the best that I've seen. They weight half as much and last twice as long even with the same amp/hour rating as a sla. nimh batts are good also, but cost almost the same as lifePo. The brushless motors are more efficient than the brushed, but sacrifice a bit of torque.
The bionx kits have the regen brakes, but are more expensive. You want at least 36 volt system to be of any decent power. 24 volts kits are old, 72 volt kits are the top that I've seen.
It's a blast to ride and will top out at about 22-25 mph without pedaling on the flats. Up hills I have to pedal assist, but it's a hell of a lot easier than without the electric conversion. Best of all, it doesn't make any noise, so it's kind of stealth. It's kind of funny to pass mountain bikers on a beach cruiser and they don't know why.
Weight is the main issue with sla batteries. Lithium phosphate like the new dewalt cordless 36v batts are the best that I've seen. They weight half as much and last twice as long even with the same amp/hour rating as a sla. nimh batts are good also, but cost almost the same as lifePo. The brushless motors are more efficient than the brushed, but sacrifice a bit of torque.
The bionx kits have the regen brakes, but are more expensive. You want at least 36 volt system to be of any decent power. 24 volts kits are old, 72 volt kits are the top that I've seen.
Last edited by a moderator:
So are they waterproof? Can I ride in the rain?
Or drop a cluth in so the regen braking if driven when you pull the brake on, could even run it through some gearing to get a bit more from it.
Thing to consider is how much braking your comute has, if it's within the battery charge without the regenerative braking then the additional complication and weight is not going to be worth the effort.
scottm
SILVER Star
If you could change at work, that would be a plus to just biking it straight. But I bet it would get old fast.
I change at work. It takes a little forethought to position some clothes at work, shoes and pants mainly, deodorant, everything else packs easily in a small backpack. You end up driving occasionally and you can swap out fresh stuff. I ended up riding every day last week, wished I had a different pair of shoes at work. I'm management now, gotta look decent, it seems to work out. I don't carry a laptop, just an 8Gb memory stick.
scottm
SILVER Star
What's the range with that setup?
You guys might get me to mtn bike into work now; it seems like a cool idea
When the SLA batts were new, I could cruise with limited pedal input about 20 miles. That's with the throttle wide open most of the time. If you pedal more and use less throttle, then you could probably get 30 miles on a charge. Now all this is relative to hills, headwind, pedal input, weight of rider, etc. LifePo batteries can extend this range and have more power. The only drawback is the cost of the better batteries. I have seen them as cheap as $300 direct from china on ebay. the SLA's are less than $100.
I bought the set-up mainly to cut down on short trips(within 5 miles) into town in my landcruiser, which seemed to be a waste of fuel with $4.50 gal gas here. I wasn't trying to use it to commute to work, since I need to carry lots of tools as a carpenter. I was looking for a better way to do short errands and ride to the local bars. Cool thing about the electric bike is that I can cruise into town faster than taking the landcruiser since I am eliminating warm up time and having to stop at every intersection. With the bike, I can take short cuts and use the much more pleasant bike paths verses the stop and go traffic of the roads.
can someone explain to me how these can be driven in city?
do they or don't they have to be tagged and insured?
I thought anything with a motor i.e a bicycle, and or driven by an electric motor or gas was not legal to ride on the sidewalk.
I thought that anything under a specific specifications was street legal. i thought that anything driven on the street had to be tagged and insured...
I got the local laws thing. But that just means, it either is, or isn't street legal...
do they or don't they have to be tagged and insured?
I thought anything with a motor i.e a bicycle, and or driven by an electric motor or gas was not legal to ride on the sidewalk.
I thought that anything under a specific specifications was street legal. i thought that anything driven on the street had to be tagged and insured...
I got the local laws thing. But that just means, it either is, or isn't street legal...
Put a 3FE in it! I have an old steel Specialized frame I was thinking about turning into a fixie, but this has me thinking...
If it started as a bicycle and can be pedaled with no motor input, it's usually considered a bicycle under local laws, so no tags or insurance. Around here you're not allowed to take a motorized bicycle on the bike trails.
re_guderian
SILVER Star
Looks like Giant has gotten in the game, you can get one for 2k.
Giant Twist Freedom DX Electric Bike Test Drive: A Flying Good Time?Just Don't Call It a Workout (With Video!) - Popular Mechanics
Giant Twist Freedom DX Electric Bike Test Drive: A Flying Good Time?Just Don't Call It a Workout (With Video!) - Popular Mechanics
