The biggest hub motor I have ever seen...

[HAL9000v2.0]

Just five houses away, in an old garage I found this bike. It is labeled "easy bike" and on motor "da ponte eng. easy bike dsg" I tryed for an hour and absolutly nothing came out of google. The motor is 350mm dia an it has only one wire (+). X5 looks tiny... Throtle is huge and it has integrated battery monitor and kill switch. Cherger also installed and "coded" with two relays connected via third wire in connector so you can't use any other charger. It has old fiam lead batteries 6v12Ah 4 pcs. It works but has no power at all. I can't wait tomorow to open the hub...
Owner said that it is over 25 years old and probably came from Netherland...
Really nice piece of machinery...

[kfong]

I'm thinking it had to be that big to get some torque. Magnets are probably horrible compared to current ones. If it has a decent stator and core, replacing the magnets might be worth doing but it sounds like it's just a DC motor.

[neptronix]

lol, good to hear that we've came a long way.

At that size, you might as well make a motor the size of the damn wheel.

[John in CR]

If it's got good lams and a slot count divisible by 3, then someone could be in business with a rewind and neo mags. Imagine the hill climbing torque that diameter could have.

[jag]

Just five houses away, in an old garage I found this bike.
Owner said that it is over 25 years old and probably came from Netherland...

So, circa 1985 some bright minds in Netherlands see all the bicycles on the roads, and start a business producing eBikes using hub motors and lead-acid batteries. Presumably not much later the business folds without having made much of an impression, despite a potential local market of 700million frequently biking Europeans.

Circa 2005 some bright minds in China see all the bicycles, and start businesses producing eBikes using hub motors and lead-acid batteries. Five years later 121million Chinese are eBiking, and China is starting to exploiting it as a new export product.

Congratulations to the Chinese, and slap in the face for us dumb Europeans. (In 1985 I was a teenager in Sweden in possession of a moped, but not much of a budget for gas. I also had both NiCd and lead acid batteries, bikes and motors. However somehow I never put them together.)

[liveforphysics]

I am defiantly interested to see inside that old monster! I remember reading about a super early form of hubmotor that was built like a brushes, but used a fancy slip ring that turned with the rotorto handle the commutation, so even though the stator/windings were clamped stationary in the dropouts, it had mechanical commutation like a brushed motor. I wonder if this works like that.

[karma]

yes please... inside pics

[beast775]

that whole bike is very nice.interested to see guts.i like everything old except my ladies.

[torker]

It looks brand new. One wire to the motor? Does that mean it uses the frame of the bike as a ground?

[HAL9000v2.0]

For the firs time I will use big letters and collor...
AMAZING!!!

Complete wheel with tyre is 4,1kg!! great design, excelent quality, never seen something good like that..I am thrilled!!!

The black "tube" between motor and small gear is freewheel with bearing. Completly silent. The motor is standard DC and ,yes , bike frame is negative.
Ideas just pop...must speak with owner...
The covers fit so perfectly that I have to make some sort of puller to take it down. They even have big rubber seal!

[Ypedal]

wow !!.. that's cool !!!..

Not sure how durable it would be but it's certainly different and light weight.. awsome find !

[markobetti]

..one of the most inovative things i ve seen .... In many things the concept is better than usual hub motors ...

[slayer]

Cool, this way you can add more gears, and also put a small rc motor instad and run real power ....Maybe Aussiejester will finally have a frockmotor.

[Ypedal]

hub on the outside, RC on the inside.... transvestite bike ?

[John in CR]

25 years and it still looks like new. Kind of a roundabout way to make a hubbie, but very interesting. Thanks for sharing that HAL.

[beast775]

thanks for sharing the pics,very neat looking inside.

[karma]

what the OK i wasn't expecting that. big hub little motor. not the type of motor for overvolting

[The Mighty Volt]

So it's a froutrunner?

[liveforphysics]

A design like that is pretty interesting. It's got the potential advantages of an RC motor build, but retains many of the advantages of a hubmotor. If the gearing was made to be really strong, like hardened forged steel ring and spur, the size differences there enable a ratio of perhaps 30-40:1. That would enable a 1-2lbs little RC inrunner motor that can do a few KW of power to work in there, along with the controller, and plenty of room for fans and things.

Right off the bat though, I see that spur/pinion gear needing a hell of a lot more shaft support if it's going to get the power cranked up.

[HAL9000v2.0]

Yes, shaft support is the weakest point, then tiny torque arms... The big gear is made of some ultra hard plastic and it can take more. But it is so new and I think it is pitty to modify anything. I will keep it as it is. I will even put original lead gel batteries so it will be as it was...

[madact]

So it's a froutrunner?

frinrunner, actually, by the looks of it.

That's awesome, I must admit - and it gives me an idea: why not make a geared 'frock' motor with an RC outrunner at the centre with teeth on the casing, OD of about 2 inches, two 'fixed' planetary gears at around 9 inches dia, and the mother of all huge lightweight aluminium casings? Is 1:10 step-down enough for one of these bigger outrunners? Anyone here with the capabilities to make big gears?

If this were workable, you'd have an RC-powered system with pretty high reliability (larger number of engaged teeth on the sprocket is good for both torque capacity and noise) and decent protection from the weather - air circulation inside the 'can' would be enough to keep the motor cool, and the sheer surface area would keep the air cool with no hassles.

[docnjoj]

Hmmmmm........! It reminds me of a hamster running in a wheel. But I wax poetic.
otherDoc

[amberwolf]

Hamstemotor Inc.?

[methods]

I will keep it as it is. I will even put original lead gel batteries so it will be as it was...

I agree - that thing is too clean to hack up. Restore it to how it was and enjoy a piece of history.

-methods

[HAL9000v2.0]

I found the problem. One of the magnets fell off. I will let epoxy to rest for a day then we go for a test ride. I think this bike is brand new.
The ratio is 1:19,5555.