total and complete failure

The front wheel drive was a miserable failure, It was just too far out of balance. I rode it a few miles but in the end it was just too dangerous. I moved the motor back to the rear and now trying to get the thing more dependable.

The big issue now is trailer security. A flying trailer is not only likely to leave me stranded today, but also puts pressure on the wiring which left me stranded a day later. Not to mention it could easily have struck someone as it rolled along the road out of control. i think a cable tying it to the bike as a secondary safety measure is the answer. that is todays project.

goign to redo a bike

I have plans to redesign the front wheel drive bike I just finished. It is way out of balance. I can ride it but just barely. I don't mind the weight or the noise of the front drive but the motor hands off the side and that is truly dangerous.

the more things change

The more things change the more they regress. I am back to 36v battery packs because I don't like to strain to climb a hill. I don't mind assisting the bike, I just don't want to work at it.

I also stripped down the spare rhino bike, to reassemble the hub motor bike. It is a weird looking bike but I don't think it will kill me. At least not for a while maybe.

It has the 26" hub motor on the front and a 20" coaster wheel on the rear. I did install a front brake just to keep it a little safer. I'm not all that sure that the fork is safe enough. We shall see soon enough.

24v test

Today I rode the 24 bike a total of 7 miles. Two miles, then I recharged it, then five more miles. On the five mile ride I took note of something which I had noticed before. After about 2.5 miles the power curve changed dramatically. I had been running the bike at about half throttle the first 2.5 miles but had to run it wot the next 2.5 to get the help up the hills. Obviously the batteries put out more amps for a short period of them, then it goes downhill rapidly.

On that bike I am running a 24v battery pack, a 24v 500 watt controller, and a 600 watt motor. I took an hour to change out the controller on a test bike that is the same. It now has a 600 watt motor, a 24v 350 watt controller and a 24v battery. What I want to know is will that flatten out the power curve of the battery pack. If I have to run on half amps after two miles, I would just as soon run on it all the time. So I may have some definitive answers on how to handle that sort of thing.

I am going to make the same ride tomorrow with the smaller controller to see if the range is the same and the performance is more even.

test results

I tested the bikes. The very best for speed and performance is a heavy duty 24v controller 600watt 24volt motor run with a 36v power supply. It is also the least efficient battery wise.

I have the same setup now powered with a 24v 19am battery pack. I am going to give it a try for a while. It lacks the speed and power of the other bike, but it does perform pretty well. Going uphill it is like pedaling on the flats. That being the case, it seems to be adequate. It should force me to conserve power.

I'll let you know more when I get a better test done.

revamped the bikes again

I reset one bike for 24v with a 600 watt motor and one at 36v with the same motor. I won't get a chance to test them out completely until the weather gets better.

I have a 12ah pack on the 36v bike and a 14hr on the 24v bike. So I will have to see what is what before I buy new batteries. I might get more miles on the 14ah pack at 24 volts because I will be pedaling it some.

The more I read about those guys who get more milage on their batteries the more I realize that they are using very low v motors which means they have to pedal more. I think that it the really big difference. I am going to try to pedal more with the 24v rig and see if it has a significant effect.

Im sitting around waiting for the mailman to bring my bike parts. Yes I foolishly took all my bikes apart to "improve" them. Now I have nothing to ride for a day or so.