Routy's Kona Ebike project

[Routybouty]

Hi!

Little background: I bought a cheap Chinese 1000W kit for my bike I've had for 17 years (got it when I was 13). I assembled that and have had a blast riding it around town. Anybody I have let ride it has always come back with a big grin! I started a little awhile ago a new, more powerful Ebike, aimed for my work commute. The commute is ~19mi with about 25% city and 75% highway (low use highway 55mph limit).

Here's what I have so far:
2009 Kona Dawg Supreme
Crystalyte H4080
Adaptto Mini-E
20x HK 4S 5A Lipo (20S 4P battery configuration)

Some pics!

Kona


Receiving the motor...


Adaptto Mini next to a Lyen 18 FET


Planned area for mounting the controller, made a small bracket



Cut out a carbon fiber bottom tray for the batteries (this is actually V1, I had to redesign slightly)

V2 with headlights mounted


This is a horrible shot, but roughly how the batteries will sit


Charged and tested 21 batteries, I bought one extra to throw out the weakest


Here is the simplifying of the wiring. The packs are assembled in series "bricks" of 5. Then 4 "bricks" will be paralleled



This is how I made the parallel connections to the 4 "bricks". The controller is the single side in the middle with batteries out the other surrounding it. I wrapped it with desoldering braid to keep it all tight and provide some copper (then soldered of course)!



Headlights!


I flipped the brakes to match a motorcycle, front on right


Quite a bit to go still.
Securely mount the batteries
Finish truing the motor and wheel
Finish wiring
Torque arms
Probably a bunch of other things

Work in progress, thanks for reading!

 

[broke]

great job!

 

[Routybouty]

Lots of progress since my last post:

Battery hold down straps made



Here she is! Cheesy torque arms for now till I decide to keep them or create new drop outs instead.


And a test ride...


Still tweaking in the Adaptto controller. There are so many settings it's amazing! So quiet!

Still need:
Chain
Freewheel and single sprocket
Chain tensioner of some sort (I removed the rear derailleur)
Rear light
Horn

 

[r3volved]

lol...Did you print, frame and hang memes on your wall!?

 

[Routybouty]

Yes :lol:

 

[Drunkskunk]

lol...Did you print, frame and hang memes on your wall!?

Yes :lol:

Dude.



Awesome

 

[Samd]

Awesome green meme machine. That thing should handle pretty nice!

 

[Routybouty]

It handles like the lightest motorcycle I've ever ridden, it's fun! I have been gone to work twice now with it without any problems! It only extended my commute by 10-15mins, which I don't consider bad. At least it's entertaining and virtually free! They are nice enough to let me charge it at work.

 

[GiantEV]

I'll be upgrading to the mini-e soon, and already have a 4080 and the same batteries you do, so I'm curious about your metrics.

What is your top speed?
What is your range?

 

[Routybouty]

Top speed is about 41mph flat out, no drafting, no wind, need to play with OVS more. (I'm slightly disappointed with this)
My commute is 19mi and the cell voltages, at rest, are around 3.6-3.7 at the end of the one trip. This is with 9 miles city and 10mi highway. I'm guessing I could get about 22-23 miles over a fully drained pack.

The biggest thing holding me back is the motor temp. I debated for a long time whether to vent the side covers or not before I installed the motor, and I should have!! This winter, I will be trying to improve the efficiency of the bike. I will be venting the motor, possibly getting ceramic bearings, finding a lower drag/quieter freewheel, front wheel has brake drag and needs bearings replaced, and possibly start working on aero.

 

[GiantEV]

How high are the temps getting? On 12S/18FetLyen/22" wheel the highest I got was 80C going uphill at WOT.

I'm on a 19" motorcycle wheel so my top speed may not break 40mph based on your numbers in a 26" wheel.

What are your speeds like over your whole commute? Full throttle the whole time? Cruising at 20mph for parts of your commute?

Just trying to get a feel for your riding style and how that translates to your power usage.

 

[Routybouty]

The temps steady climb over my entire commute and have been ending up around 250-270F. The ambient has been around 80F. On the way to work, I ride 9 miles through traffic and do a bunch of stop and go. I keep up with traffic doing 35-40mph. Then it's 10 miles of highway where I stay at 35-38mph constant. On the way home I can usually do 40mph on the highway because of a slight tailwind, then back to 35-40mph stop and go. I recently got regen working and will see how that affects things.

I used the auto-detect on the Adaptto controller for the hall sensor settings. I have been thinking about adjusting it manually and see if I can get any gains (range and/or lower temps).

 

[broke]

20 miles on 20 ah seems short. I was hopeing to go 20s 3p so 15 batts total. I have the same batts as you
I was hoping to hit 40 mph with my ht 3525 doesn't sound like thats going to happen

 

[GiantEV]

The price of going faster is less range. Maintaining 30-40mph takes a lot more energy than 20-30mph.

What I do on my commute to manage my power is to ride at 20mph while on bike paths and then bump it up to 30mph when there is no bike lane or bike path so I can better keep up with traffic. Once it gets colder, range goes down even more, so I'm going to have to slow down even more to get the same range in the colder months.

 

[Routybouty]

Some updates:

I've traveled 235 miles according to the controller's odometer. It has been pretty trouble free.

This is my "not so clean looking, but works prefect" safety switch. I soldered the wire direct to the wiper so all the current didn't have to run across the rivet. This is the ground side of the battery so there isn't a voltage danger (not that I have the frame grounded anyway) other than if you have the switch open. I have a small 1k resistor ziptied to the side for a pre-charge.


Vent holes. 3/4" holes along the perimeter on one side and 5/8" holes towards the inside on the other. I didn't angle any of the edges yet. I was in a hurry and going from a sealed motor to anything with holes is probably an improvement. If this isn't enough, during the winter, I'll pull it back off and angle the holes plus form fan blades.

 

[sacko]

Any updates on the temps?

This is the same config I was looking to run.

 

[Modbikemax]

This is my "not so clean looking, but works prefect" safety switch. I soldered the wire direct to the wiper so all the current didn't have to run across the rivet. This is the ground side of the battery so there isn't a voltage danger (not that I have the frame grounded anyway) other than if you have the switch open. I have a small 1k resistor ziptied to the side for a pre-charge.

Very Steam Punk.

 

[Routybouty]

Any updates on the temps?

This is the same config I was looking to run.

The temps still get a bit too high, I will be adding fan blades during the winter. The venting holes make a big difference, just not enough for my particular commute. I still make it fine if I take it easy and have a cool down period somewhere in the trip.

I am over 450 miles logged! I also added tail lights, brake lights and pre-wired it for a horn and turn signals (not pictured).

This is where I charge it at work!