Adam's Norco A-Line 2009 with HS3540

[adam333]

no problems,

I'll flip the bike tomorow and take a picture.

[fractal]

brilliant!!! did you make the inserts a tight fit? are they pressed in? i called françois and i sent him my designs. seems like a nice guy. cant wait to hear back from him.

[Whiplash]

I have to agree, that is the most elegant torque arm design yet. BEAUTIFUL setup... Plus, it will have to split the aluminum to spin so it should be fine!

[adam333]

brilliant!!! did you make the inserts a tight fit? are they pressed in? i called françois and i sent him my designs. seems like a nice guy. cant wait to hear back from him.

I used a 2 tons press to get em together. I would say it was a "light" press fit. This being said, they wont come out unless some one use a 2 ton press to remove the pieces

I have to agree, that is the most elegant torque arm design yet. BEAUTIFUL setup... Plus, it will have to split the aluminum to spin so it should be fine!

Thanks Whiplash, I am also fairly confident about the strength of the setup. I will post update once I have made some test at 4500W ( controller limit for my voltage atm ).

[ohzee]

Looking sharp. Look forward to that full pic also.

The front mount looks crisp and clean.

[Tench]

That is a good plan brilliantly executed Adam, really neat solution to torque arms for a hub motor in the wheel! the best i have seen.
I am sure they will be more then strong enough.

Simon.

[adam333]

Thanks Ohzee and Simon,

Here is a few pic of the bike on his wheels. ( still missing the CA + trotle + accesories + battery )

Sorry about the mess in background, I'm very limited in space.



Front view ( you can see the controller and I placed a white 3M sticky reflector in the front to increase my legality level )



left side where we can see the wires near the frame:


I will take some decent pictures outside once the project is finished.

[MattyCiii]

WOW! Looking good!

[ohzee]

I love those norco's I really do they look so fluid in their design. Just not a lot of space so
you need to be creative and have some decent skills.. I think that looks great only concern I
had was will the battery box cut off light from the bottom of the magic shines ? May be better
to mount on bottom and cut the light going twards other people's faces ?

Anyway looks awesome thanks for posting the pics.. your work space also looks nice to me.

[MattyCiii]

Regarding the lights:
I was thinking about suggesting lights on the bottom too. I think it was AmberWolf who once said that lights lower to the ground help give better perspective - any lumps or potholes in the road will cast longer shadows due to the beam being more parallel to the pavement.

On the other hand, the on/dim/off/bling toggle button will be harder to reach with lights on the bottom, and you won't be able to see the buttons go from green --> yellow --> red as batteries wear down.

[adam333]

I think that looks great only concern I
had was will the battery box cut off light from the bottom of the magic shines ? May be better
to mount on bottom and cut the light going twards other people's faces ?

Agreed, I thought I would be able to have more freedom to adjust the lights, but it seems that my light holder is not long enough ( still have to put power on it to make sure )

I will make another set and increase the length if this is an issue. ( most likely )

I thought I would not be able to mill the boss on the top of the box in a nice finish, so instead I just re-use those to hold the light.

[oatnet]

Nice work Adam! This is really looking brilliant!

-JD

[adam333]

Thanks Oatnet,

Of course the CA bracket didnt fit between the stems brackets... so I decided to make a stronger holder.

Material is black Delrin. Mass = 56g





Here is a pic from sitting view point:

[ohzee]

nice - now id love to see some videos of you riding it around. She feel pretty good ?
sweet looking bike.

[oatnet]

When you take your first ride, remember that a bike with weight high over the front wheel handles differently from regular bikes.
I don't know if you saw the link on my A-line thread, that compares this configuration to balancing an upside down broom. It works because with the weight on top, keeping balanced requires less movement on the bottom. In an ebike, this translates to using smaller motions to steer. You need to use maybe half of the steering input, because the bike will drop into a lean with a speed that will seem alarming at first, and responsive as a fighter jet later. You will also find, like balancing the broom, it is incredibly easy to set and hold a lean angle, for me that helped as I was getting used to the exaggerated steering response.

I look forward to your ride reports!

-JD

[MattyCiii]

That bike is a work of art.

Adam did you replace the buttons on your CA?

[adam333]

nice - now id love to see some videos of you riding it around. She feel pretty good ?
sweet looking bike.

hehe, I'd love too. I've been working on this new bike on and off for around 3 month and never ride it yet.

When you take your first ride, remember that a bike with weight high over the front wheel handles differently from regular bikes.

yep, can feel the odd extra weight on the front wheel already just by sitting on it, I should be able to try it soon as I am "paraleling" the batteries today.

Adam did you replace the buttons on your CA?

Yes, the original buttons on the CA last roughly 2 month before the resistance went way up... ( humidity is my guess, but I could be wrong). So I just drilled some holes and replaced those "nice non working push buttons" by some "not so nice looking but working push buttons"

[adam333]

a few updates

Completed battery pack ( 24S, 2P, 30C, 16Ah Lipo, 23.4 lbs)
I'm using 2mm foam around all battery.
The battery is removable as an assembly and come with the balance cable as shown below:


Battery straped with velcro inside the box. Centered and constrained.


Charging area in the garage:


Home made charger with 4 x Turnigy 200W unit. They are conected in serie and each is powered by an isolated individual power supply. This allow me to charge without disconecting anything.


Not having a stand is anoying, so I made a hanging support to stabilise the bike. It allow me also to remove the front wheel easily as the wheel is 1/4" above ground.


So far, I did 935km total on my initial battery pack ( 41 cycles ) and it costed me a total of 2$ for the charging.


I was able to do my 1 st ride with this new bike finaly

Steering at low speed is odd although I get used to it quickly. As soon as you go above 30kph, the feeling is awesome. As Oatnet said, steering is realy quick, I would compare it as driving a 400 lbs motorcycle. Prety stable at high speed and in curves. The weight at the front prevent any chance for me to make wheeling even if I didnt increase my wheel base distance. ( controller is limited at 45 A though )

I took some mesures:

Battery pack weight : 23.4 lbs
Bike weight with battery pack : 96.4 lbs
Bike + driver ( me @ 175 lbs ): 271.4 lbs

max speed according to CA : 88 kph ( 55 mph ) I need a longer road to test the real maximum ( Controler is limited at 45 A )

Negative point :

I bought a 9 Speed Freewheel 11-34T from Ebay, and this thing is noisy as hell even if lubricated. ( grinding sound )
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/180826901365?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

No space to carry anything. I need to look for a solution.

No stand...

My fenders could protect me a bit more.

My rear break disk is also very noisy... ( anything I could do to improve that ? )

Anyway, , so far, I am realy pleased with this new bike, the "plush" and stability at high speed is just awesome. Huge improvement compared to the last one.

[sn0wchyld]

a few updates

Completed battery pack ( 24S, 2P, 30C, 16Ah Lipo, 23.4 lbs)
I'm using 2mm foam around all battery.
The battery is removable as an assembly and come with the balance cable as shown below:


Battery straped with velcro inside the box. Centered and constrained.


Charging area in the garage:


Home made charger with 4 x Turnigy 200W unit. They are conected in serie and each is powered by an isolated individual power supply. This allow me to charge without disconecting anything.


Not having a stand is anoying, so I made a hanging support to stabilise the bike. It allow me also to remove the front wheel easily as the wheel is 1/4" above ground.


So far, I did 935km total on my initial battery pack ( 41 cycles ) and it costed me a total of 2$ for the charging.


I was able to do my 1 st ride with this new bike finaly

Steering at low speed is odd although I get used to it quickly. As soon as you go above 30kph, the feeling is awesome. As Oatnet said, steering is realy quick, I would compare it as driving a 400 lbs motorcycle. Prety stable at high speed and in curves. The weight at the front prevent any chance for me to make wheeling even if I didnt increase my wheel base distance. ( controller is limited at 45 A though )

I took some mesures:

Battery pack weight : 23.4 lbs
Bike weight with battery pack : 96.4 lbs
Bike + driver ( me @ 175 lbs ): 271.4 lbs

max speed according to CA : 88 kph ( 55 mph ) I need a longer road to test the real maximum ( Controler is limited at 45 A )

Negative point :

I bought a 9 Speed Freewheel 11-34T from Ebay, and this thing is noisy as hell even if lubricated. ( grinding sound )
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/180826901365?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

No space to carry anything. I need to look for a solution.

No stand...

My fenders could protect me a bit more.

My rear break disk is also very noisy... ( anything I could do to improve that ? )

Anyway, , so far, I am realy pleased with this new bike, the "plush" and stability at high speed is just awesome. Huge improvement compared to the last one.

looks great mate! I like the seriesed balance chargers too!

that rear wheel is screaming out for a fatter tire though... looks a bit strange with a road tyre on a norko...

whats the weight distribution like?

[adam333]

Thanks Sn0wchyld,

hehe, I totaly agree, I am still waiting for some Maxxis 2.5" tires to come by mail.

Now, for the weight distribution, if I hold the bike with 1 hand by the yellow marked area, I am able to lift it straight with both wheels staying paralel to the ground.

[crusoe]

For rubbing disk try this:

First, take out your pads and reseat the pistons with a box wrench (make sure not to put any pressure on the little metal mounting posts for the pads). Your pistons should be flush with the body of the caliper. After this is done and if it doesn't get rid of rubbing, try below instructions:

1. loosen caliper mounting bolts so the caliper can wiggle (around 2-3mm)
2. squeeze the rear brake lever and put an elastic band around the lever so it stays engaged
3. tighten your rear caliper bolts, but do quarter turns on each bolt and alternate between tightening the top 1/4 turn, then the bottom 1/4 turn.
4. take off the elastic and release the brake
5. spin the rear tire and check for rub
6. if there is still rub, loosen the top or the bottom caliper mounting 1/4 turn, repeat process from steps 2-5.
7. repeat above until you've got no rub

You'll notice that there is some play on the mounting arms for the calipers and this method attempts to zero out the play and center the caliper over the disk. Let me know how it goes!

[adam333]

Thanks for the tips Crusoe,

The procedure to center the caliper work great.

I cleaned both the disc and the pads with isopropanol and I get a few good brake without noise. But then the noise come back while braking. I noticed the rear disk is rapidly covered with black dust while the front one ( shimano original disk ) is always clean.

My guess is that wavy form disk I bought is degrading the pads quickly.

[crusoe]

Disc brakes will always make some noise/squeeks when you brake with them.

You can "true" your disk by literally grabbing a pair of pliers and bending the disc into shape. Just spin the rear wheel and look for the waves and then bend away! The discs are quite flexible - but don't go overboard.

[BATFINK]

Love your build, if you won't to carry some things and don't have space or eyelets for a regular rack then try using one of these freeload racks. They can he mounted very easy on your rear swing arm and can support around 50lbs of weight so would solve all ur carrying problems. http://www.freeload.co.nz/pages/9/products

Sent using Endless-Sphere Mobile app

[adam333]

Thanks Batfink,

Nice find