YZ125 frame - mid drive or hub?

PRW

100 kW
Joined
Nov 10, 2011
Messages
1,046
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Hi All,
just picked up this frame, to see what I could do with it.y1.JPGy2.JPGy3.JPGy4.JPG

the easier answer seems to be the Enertrac hub..

[youtube]1vHZvAd6dvo[/youtube]

but should I be looking at any alternatives?
thanks
 
From my point of view it all depends how you will be using this bike. If on road, I would go with the hub. Less work. If for off road, then mid drive as you want balanced bike and option to gear it right.
 
Personaly I love mid drives. :) How much power are you looking at running? You may want to look at getting a better frame as the cost of the electronics to run the bike properly would be ~$2-4k depending on range. Building the bike on a junker really hurts as i have come to realize with my motorbike build.

If you are looking for around 15-20kw+ then a midmonster as a mid drive from John in CR could be fitted into the frame, if you want trouble free operation then i would sugest using Kelly controllers over greentime ones. The new sensorless option on the greentimes does not work well with the dual controller motors and also the throttle variation on the greentimes is like in 5 steps rather then a smooth accelleration. Ebike controllers do not survive very well at motorbike type power usage.

If you want <15kw then running a hub motor will be fine, the cromotor would probably survive very well.
 
You could use a Mini-monster for that :) It has a 2 speed electrical "gear change" which would prove useful. Run a chain drive, trim all the excess metal from the mini-monster, weld a sprocket onto it. Run it at 20S using a Kelly KEB72601 and it should be alot of fun. Use low gear for technical stuff and bust out the high gear for speed runs.

Otherwise if you dont want to fab anything then the Cromotor would do the job too.
 
I would tend to agree, mid drive. If for no other reason than you can gear it to your liking. But it would still be a fun ride if you just slapped a big cheap hubmotor on it. If range is an issue, then you'd fit more battery in the frame without a motor in there.
 
Bluefang said:
You may want to look at getting a better frame as the cost of the electronics to run the bike properly would be ~$2-4k depending on range. Building the bike on a junker really hurts as i have come to realize with my motorbike build.
Bluefang, I think you are very right about this - I think I will turn the other frame into a quasi-offroad bicycle. Picked up this frame today rather, as a base for the mid drive build:rm1.jpgrm2.jpgrm3.jpg
Hopefully this meets the approval of the learned ES crowd, 'cos I've used up all my motorbike frame purchasing credits for this month... :)
 
If you want something really loud and showy, go with a motenergy/etek type motor driven to the rear wheel.
Those are designed to be ran on sine wave controllers, but when run on square wave controllers, they've got a nasty audible bite.

Every etek/motenergy motorcycle video i've seen on youtube has sounded freaking mean.

For a hub, the cromotor does come in motorcycle form, 180-200mm axle and motorcycle brake and all. You can find that motor from greentime. It's rated for about 4.5kw continuous, so on a motorcycle, your reasonable top speed would be 50mph continuous, with a decent amount of thermal headroom to do probably 60mph tops for a few miles.

John in CR's scooter motors are pretty cool, but the optional rims are quite small, designed more for a scooter than a motorcycle.
 
the yz125 has a very interesting hollow tube frame, where is rear suspension spring sits - about 90mm internal diameter. Is it a stupid and unworkable idea to put say 12 rows/ lines of 8 18650 batteries in this tube, and change the rear suspension to something simpler and smaller?

My wife has taken over this bike, so it is likely to end up a hub motor.yz21.jpgyz22.jpgyz23.jpgyz24.jpgyz25.jpg
 
We could fit 4s lipo packs in there and in the frame its self and run a BMS system :D
I think a 10kw hub should do it for your wife 80-90km/h and 3kWh battery system
 
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