E-BikeKit rewiew, 36 volt front hub

[ambroseliao]

Hi Mike,

I would be very interested in an aluminum thumb throttle. I keep worrying about breaking off the little tab. Let me know how much it is!

Ambrose

[mwkeefer]

I guess I'll start a new thread to offer these at buy in cost to ES folk since I have no plans of stocking them (it's for a custom build).

Dogman - I could also send you a half grip or full twist if you would like to give those a go?

-Mike

[dogman]

I just turn the broken thumb throttles into half twist ones with a piece of glued on pvc pipe. If you do that before it breaks, you get both a thumb and a half twist throttle. Nice for really long rides where hand fatigue can be a problem.

I know I should let off the throttle on those dips, but I forget sometimes, or just hit a pothole by suprise. On the mountain trails, I use only half twist throttles, and pay a lot more attention.

All those broken thumb throttles were from aotema kits anyway. No problems so far with the Ebikekit stuff. I'm supposed to try the thumb throttle and the full throttle too, but I confess, I just put on my favorite, the half throttle.

[dogman]

Not a lot of riding going on lately, in the winter I do a lot more work that requires a truck, and even here, it's 25F at dawn so an hour ride is not ideal.

So it's a good season to rebuild bikes. I just moved the EbikeKit motor to a new bike. Actually an old bike, but new to me. Here it is,

Dogmans commuter V2.0.jpg (102.03 KiB) Viewed 822 times

All the seat, rack, etc was just transfered to the newer bike. This bike has much better suspension including, Alloy suspension forks. Something I never thought I'd do, but after some fiddling around with a couple forks I found one that the motor fits well, and installed it along with dual tourqe arms and c washers from Ebikes-ca. Kid's, don't try this at home. The fit had to be absolutely perfect for me to try this. A complete description will appear in a review of the C washers in another thread.

I have a 48v pingbattery on order, so by early spring I should have some opinions on how the Ebikekit runs on 48v. The motor continues to work flawlessly.

On this install, I tidied up things a bit more. For instance the wiring harness comes like this.

Wiring before.jpg (80.55 KiB) Viewed 821 times

Actually, you want it that way, so when you install it you can troubleshoot any connector issues that though rare, do happen. After testing, then you can do your own idea of how to seal up things. I live in a dry climate, so I just like to tape em up like this.

wiring after.jpg (82.86 KiB) Viewed 820 times

Back to the subject of throttles, I have put the full throttle on the bike for a test. I sorta hate it already but will give it a fair try., It would be fine if I always rode full throttle. I find it just a bit harder to keep a steady partial throttle speed on a long run with the full throttle.

I tried to use the thumb throtte, but it did not fit well with my shimano trigger shifters on the new bike. One issue with all thumb throttles is that the spot where the throttle tab is comfy may cause the part where the wire exits to interfere with brakes or shift levers. If you install a thumb throttle in the wrong position on the handlebars, then you get hand fatigue.

[Rassy]

Dogman, look at my reply at the end of one of your threads. Adding a little "thumb" tab to a full twist is working real good for me. The inspiration for the tab came from some of your modifications.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11505

[dogman]

That's a great idea, that would work with any full or half twist throttle. Having it both ways, a regular twist throttle, plus a bit of extra grip for the thumb can really help with longer rides. I'll have to do something like that for when I ride long distances. I'll have about 60-75 mile range when my second ping arrives.
Definitely planning some long weekend tours this spring.

[dogman]

I've now aquired a 48v 15 ah pingbattery. The ebikekit runs fine on it, and really zipps. I was expecting 25 mph but have hit 27 without pedaling when the battery is fresh off the charger. Well worth it to upgrade to 48v if you need more range or want a second battery. So far no problems with the controller, but I've only ridden about 30 miles so far. Hill performance is great, I can climb a 7% hill at 17-18 mph without pedaling.

Technically illegal in my town though, 25 mph is the speed limit for mopeds. We have no ebike laws in NM.

[geetarboy]

Hey Dogman, Nice set-up on the mongoose! I am in the process of upgrading my E-Bikekit to 48 volts. It's encouraging to see that you're getting 27mph. Any idea how many watts you're pulling at full throttle? does motor or wires get very hot?

[dogman]

Nothing gets hot right now. We are having winter this year, even in New Mexico. Everything stays cool when it's below 40F at 3 pm.

[dogman]

Still a good season to work on the bikes, but riding season is really just a few weeks away for this part of the southwest. I got a great deal on a new bike for pedal riding on mountian trails, so my commuter just got a real upgrade. The version 2 mongoose frame turned out to be weaker than it looked, and was going to crack someday for sure when I load up the panniers. The frame would bend with every pedal stroke when the panniers had a load.

So here's the EbikeKit on the commuter V 3.0 The frame is a 2005 Giant OS 3. This frame does not bend at all, and 5" suspension travel is very nice. Fitting the motor on the alloy front forks was quite a process, and recomended only for the very experienced. In the end I took the file to both the forks and the axle to get the fit perfect so the axle fits snug and the forks don't bind from being spread to use the inner washers.

Giant OS 3 Ebikekit build.jpg (95.89 KiB) Viewed 501 times

[ambroseliao]

Hey Dogman,

Awesome build. Great to see a quality, heavy duty workhorse ebike. You need to change your signature now to reflect your new ride!

Ambrose

[torker]

Here Dogman, a fitting avatar Of course you may not be a monk but

[dogman]

Not a monk, but I do have a St Bernard. I'm dogman because I'm a dog whisperer. Not quite in Cezar Milan's class but I can make freinds with any dog however mean he may be. I have blown the minds of many people who's houses I was remodeling. I'm in the yard with the man eater working away on the house, and the owner comes home and says, NOBODY has ever gone in the yard with that dog! My wife says I am a dog that looks like a human. When I met her she said I had to pass the her dog likes me test. I knew then I was going to have a happy night. Turned out to be a happy 31 years.

[dogman]

This thread has been dormant for quite some time. But the motor has not been so dormant. After a few thou miles this motor got moved over to my racing bike, and did some testing. Then it was a bit of waiting whille I beefed up some things on the bike, got batteries and controllers sorted out.

This very same motor is now being fed 100v, and is going racing Oct 30, 2010. See the race bike thread here.


viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18644

[dogman]

The trusty E-Bike kit 9 continent motor has gone racing and not only survived but did well! With vent holes, no overheating issues, and the wires into the hub did not cook. I did put 12 guage phase wires on it from the controllers to the forks, but left the wires stock into the hub.

Running 40 amps of 100v, I was reaching about 40 mph on the kart track. With a long straighaway, 47 mph is possible. Gasoline bike riders eyes were bugging out all over, when they saw this thing take off after a corner. Only one guy was faster, and he got black flagged. Unfortunatley, I mis read the flag to mean everybody, and got off too as I was leading the race.

I'll get em next time, with my ebikekit.