Metallover's Novara Buzz Build

Starting out the 2011 riding season right I want to replace my old tired Mongoose Blackcomb. That bike cost me $50 and last me 1000 miles. It is falling apart so I replaced it with a Novara Buzz mountain bike. It has 5" of travel in rear and a 120mm fork up front. It has Hayes 9 hydraulic disc brakes. I'll be running my 2.4" CST cyclops tires.

This is by far the nicest bike I have ever owned. I paid $525 for it and it is the best money I've ever spent on a bike.

<--- The old bike and Build Thread

And my new Novara Method





And starting the build off is the battery placement. I think I'll go with this configuration, everything doubled up. I'll have room for 12 batteries even though I only have 9 at the moment. I thought about fiberglass but I think I'll use some abs plastic to make the encasement. Probably 1/8" thick abs.



I'll be running a 12fet ecrazyman controller that has 4310 fets. I have modified it with usb programming, a temperature sensor/alarm, speed switches, and regen if I choose to do that down the road. I have two 60mm fans on the way to run off of an 18v power supply inside my 9c hub motor that has a temp sensor/alarm and cooling holes. I might run 88v 20c turnigy lipo but for now I'm planning on just 66v.

Parts will come next week and I'll update as progress is made!

I've done some work. Today I will try to make a trip to the hardware store and see if they happen to have any ABS sheets and torque arm metal..

Taking apart the motor from last year I found some corrosion that I cleaned up using a little oil. It's clean now, and I didn't spray it with any protective coating before I put it back on..





I installed a temperature sensor in my modified e-crazyman controller





I will have an 18v power supply to power two 60x15 fans in my motor. Hopefully 18v doesn't kill the fans as fast as 25v killed my old 50mm fan.





And finally I installed my two fans and cleaned up the wires coming out of the motor. The fans don't stick out of the stator at all and since the cover is raised I have a ton of clearance. The fans are 15mm tall and I might have been able to get away with 20mm tall fans.

This motor has 3 (12ga?) phase wires, 2 wires for the fans, 3 wires for the temperature sensor, and 5 wires from the halls coming out of it.





Hope to start on my batteries this weekend! I burned my old turnigy watt meter and they are out of stock, so I can't order it yet. Along with that I'll get a few switches and 12ga wire for wiring up my batteries. I've got some extra 10ga that I used to hook up the motor to the controller but I'll be making a lot of connections and 35a andersons with 10ga wire isn't fun.

I ordered a disc brake adapter from cycles.us and they used UPS ground shipping and took forever to ship it out... Two weekends played to my disadvantage and it looks like I won't get it until monday, 11 days after ordering it.

I did some work on mounting the motor today!

This situation looked grim at the start.. This bike has dropouts from hell! The slots are tiny, they are aluminum, and they have more ridges than the badlands!



Caliper clearance was also a problem so I had to use two too many washers spreading out the aluminum frame... :?


I cannibalized an old POS bike from the attic. I took my grinder to the steel frame and this is what came out of it.





And after a couple hours of grinding and fitting.. The torque arm bolts to one of the brake caliber holes. I will have to mount something to the end so when I fall I don't rape the wires coming out of the axle.. Again...





Spaying it with primer/paint


And the other side




Still on the list is mounting the batteries, controller, control box, and wiring everything up.
And I turn 18 two months from this Thursday!

Thoughts/comments welcome! Will update with more progress.

That is going to be awesome. If you are brave enough you might file some deeper flats on the motor axle on the drive side. You won't be able to run as many gears but you won't need em anyway Then you wouldn't have to spread those aluminum drops.

That's an option! I'll see how everything works out when I get my disc brake adapter. I can also carefully modify the caliper mount to make room...

I could really use the extra axle space too so my wires can come out at an angle! Thanks Torker!

I was talking about the non-wire side. The axle is a lot longer on the freewheel side but if you make the flats longer you may not be able to get 8 speeds. Maybe only 5 or 7 but I hardly ever shift out of high gear on mine. I didn't want to spread my drops at all. That is really the only reason I did it. Bear in mind, I haven't finished my bike so not sure if it will pose any other problems yet. It did gain enough room to put 1/8 inch torque arms on the inside and outside.

ahhh,, I never thought of making room on that side.. I'll take a closer look at my freewheel tomorrow but I think it's the 7 speed and it's already past the flat... but I could get a shorter one!

I hardly ever shift gears, or pedal for that matter lol. I'd be more than happy with a 4-gear freewheel if it meant fitting the brakes.

Yea, I am considering a single speed freewheel myself. Only time I pedal is when I want to look stealth 8) I carefully cut mine with a 4 1/2 inch cuttoff wheel and finished it with a flat file. The axle is really soft.

what kind of batteries are you using?

I have nine 5000mAh 6s turnigy 20c lipos. I will switch between 12s 20Ah, 18s 15Ah, and maybe 24s 10Ah.

I got my disc brake adapter in the mail today. I'm about to head out tonight and tomorrow I've got a track meet so maybe Wednesday I can get it mounted. I am very excited!

I've been working on the bike all weekend, save a track meet and ACT test.. I got my brake adapter from choppers.us awhile ago, and, embarrassingly, I f'd it up trying to shorten it up with a grinder and threading it back on. The metal on the threads of the motor and the adapter is very weak.. Strips like butter!! Thank god for jb weld!!





To get the caliper to fit pretty much all I had to do was grind the down frame, and comprimise with another washer in the wheel. The frame is spread apart a little extra, but not much.

The situation with the brakes is crazy. I carelessly bent the rotor earlier on,, That and the jb-welded on rotor mount and modified caliper mount are making a rub-free rear brake hard to get. The hydraulic brakes don't have much adjustment; None at all really. I'll have to figure it out!





I got both of my tires on and started work on the battery tray. I have a sheet of black HDPE plastic that I will finish it off with. The tray is about 5" wide, which is a little wider than I would have liked,,, But at least I'll have room for more lipo padding!

Notice the clearance of the back tire!






Still left to do:
Finish battery housing
Order wire, switches, and watt meter once it comes back in stock
Mount controller and throttle
Fill up shock with 175psi
....
Wire it all up
...
..
Damn I'm almost done!

Looking good man.

mini-update

I got my shock pump today! I paid $12 shipped for it on ebay on Sunday and it arrived already (wednesday). I can easily get 250 psi with it without much effort, and it seems to be a quality product. I currently have the shock at about 185psi. I couldn't be happier with the transaction here's a link to where I got it on ebay if you're interested - http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Motorcycle-Shock-Suspension-Pump-with-Guage-Compact-NEW_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZalgoQ3dLVIQ26ituQ3dUCIQ26otnQ3d3Q26poQ3dLVIQ26psQ3d63Q26clkidQ3d8437110342117794474QQ_trksidZp5197Q2em7QQcategoryZ35592QQitemZ120686481611

It was raining today so a test ride with the new shock couldn't be carried out.



I also got a new countersink bit today and once I get some hardware I will finish the base of the battery enclosure and start on the rest of it. My watt meter still isn't isn't in stock yet. :|

Progress will be awhile down the road tho I have a busy weekend.

Looks awesome. I have been riding my FSR comp with a 9C 6x10 in a 20 inch. I love it. Got rid of the pedals/crank today and mounted some footpegs.
A little update on milling the axle on the hub. I can't even fit a 5 speed freewheel now the shoulder of the flat is down inside the freewheel which I could have fixed with some washers but that would have lost the dropout clearance I gained so. A singlespeed freewheel fit fine but I yanked the crank off anyway It is going to be my dirt ride anyway.. Loving the full suss. I can fly over the rough stuff now

You must have some thin dropouts! A little lost weight is a little performance gained so I guess you could look at it that way.

Quality full suspension is something I really am looking forward to having! Hello world of offroad!!

So sick. Love your builds. The novara is a good FS ebike platform.

Long time no update. I took the AP Chem test on Monday, and it was the hardest test I've ever taken. Wow. Good news is I have less homework which means more time to work on the bike!

I got a countersinking bit and I countersunk a couple holes for mounting the batteries



I have a final layout for the batteries. I also installed a vertical bar to support them. I still have a day's work left to get the batteries fully mounted and another to mount the plastic and make it look nice.



And I spent a couple hours tonight whipping up a wiring harness. It got very repetitive.... I designed the harness to be switchable to 6s for charging, 12s, 18s, and 24s easily, if the needs ever arise. It's a little over the top, but I felt I needed the little extra boost of efficiency at a lower voltage and capability to try 24s and blow my controller if I ever so desire.





Well, Friday my physics teacher leaves for the middle east and I have a track meet, Saturday I run a 5k, errands, city-wide rummage sales, and a few graduation parties,, then Sunday I have slowpitch practice. I really hope I can find time to finish up the bike!

My friend has a motorcycle that he rides to school on nice days and I really want to get a ridin with him! He taunts me every day that I'm not on two wheels and I really want to ride around town with him!

Metallover said:

You must have some thin dropouts! A little lost weight is a little performance gained so I guess you could look at it that way.

Quality full suspension is something I really am looking forward to having! Hello world of offroad!!

Click to expand...

Yea mine were only 135 mm which is always tight with a 9C. I always make sure to run washers inside the dropouts which makes it even tighter. Milling the axles worked ok for running a single gear freewheel. It allowed me to run 1/8" thick torque plates x 4
Hope you get some more time to finish er up soon

Yaaaayyyyyyy!!!! It's alive!! After wayy to long of an e-bike hiatus! It's ALIVE!!!

I took it out for a test run today. I still had the current limit from pulling a sled in the winter so it wasn't full speed, but it was probably a good thing because my temperature sensor wasn't working!

It was dark and I didn't drive too far but MAN AM I IMPRESSED WITH THE BIKE!!! THE BRAKES!! THE STABILITY!!! THE SUSPENSION!! I encourage everyone to spend at least a few hundred dollars on a quality bike to fully experience what an e-bike can offer! The difference is so substantial... I can't imagine going back to a cheap bike! I can't fully explain what it feels like to ride on a nice FS bike.. Grass is as smooth is pavement... Curbs are now small bumps in the road.. It feels less like a squeaky ghetto shab-rocket and more like a,,, pedal-assisted electric bicycle that rides like a motocross bike.

I hobbled it together to get it finished.. Just got it done in time for a short ride before bed. The fans and temperature sensor didn't work. Right now it is a MESS of wires and straps. It will take a couple days to clean everything up. Once I am happy with how it's set up I'll put the plastic on the sides and mesh on all the wires. Until then I introduce to you franken-bike.







My smile is literally touching me ears right now! I can't explain how excited I am!

Glad to see it running. Looks like a lot of sharp edges and hard points in your battery tray. The lipo's can be easily damaged without some sort of cushion and protective layer.

I had cardboard mostly everywhere lipo met metal, and I plan to add more in the future along with some softer padding. I'll take out the batteries and charge/balance them real well this week. When I put them back I'll make sure they have a nice nest to sit in!

I agree, good brakes and suspension make a huge difference. Your bike is pretty cool, for a frock bike at least

Good to see you got-r-done I want another full. suss. for my other 6x10. My hardtail isn't getting any use right now

I solved some problems today.

I bent the shifter so the throttle wouldn't get in the way



I got more wire clearance mounting the batteries.



And first time charging the bike at 600w!



I took it out for a ride and man, I could blast through tough offroad terrain like it was nothing!! I love the suspension on this bike!!

Problems still to solve
-fix temp sensor in controller
-set endpoints on rear dérailleur

Things to still do
-get a keyswitch
-mount rear fender
-finish battery enclosure
-put sleeving on the wires

My last day of school was Friday. Summer is upon me!! Now it just needs to warm up... Yesterday at the conference track meet it was raining and low 40's all day. Miserable.

Looking good man. Is nice to charge at such a high rate heh.