Newbie & wife trike build in need of direction

She's retired living is south Florida for the winter months.
Last year I bought her Sun tricycle 26" front tire (non fat tire) with a 3 speed changer.
Trike weighs 50 lbs and she is over 350.
I also have a 36v 20ah lifepo I got as a gift.
She needs to get to the stores 3-6 miles round trip.
I'm looking to install it myself. Is a front wheel kit and $4-500 a good start?
Your help is most appreciated.

I looked at sun bicycles for trikes , the traditional looks to have 20 inch wheels or 24 inch wheels, which model do you have ? http://www.sun.bike/trikes/

Since you already have the trike , and battery then $ 500 could work for a simple front hub and controller with throttle .

For best results, you'll need to use a hub that has unusually low RPM per volt. If you can find one that is limited to 20mph or less in a 26" or 29" wheel, then when it's mounted in a 20" wheel it will have adequate torque and efficiency at speeds that are appropriate for a trike. You don't want to end up with a motor system that goes twice as fast as the trike is safe and comfortable. That's a recipe for beating up the trike and/or dumping the wife on the ground.

It will be tough, but not impossible, to keep your budget with a battery that has acceptable range and performance. Check out the 201 rpm version of the Q128 motor from BMS Battery.

He's already got the battery, 36V20Ah, and a Sun trike with a 26" wheel. Yes, a front motor kit is easily done for $300-400.

The Q128 motor from BMSbattery.com is around $250 shipped with a 26" wheel. It's a 500W motor, and can be paired with a KT controller with an LCD3 display. The latter allows you to set the power levels to keep the trike under 15 moh so it doesn't tip over. BMSbattery has some S06 controller, which are about 17A, or you could buy the 20A sinewave controller from PSWpower.com, also in China. EIther place is $90-100 for a complete kit. KT controllers are good for a decent feel on pedal assist.

Hopefully, the Sun has a steel fork, which is better for a front drive. You should use a pair of torque arms. whether the fork is steel or alloy.

I believe the Q128 can pull 400 pounds. I've pulled about 320 total with the smaller Q100 on the front axle with one of my bikes. These are geared motors, and and suited for pulling at slower speeds.

You could go direct drive. There's any number of $200 kits on amazon/ebay. They're more suited for high speed though. Not too good for slows starts, in my opinion. And unless you upgrade the controller, I think their pedal assist is like an on/off switch. Might have 5 levels, but they all hit max speed. Of course, maybe you and your wife may just want to use the throttle to assist pedaling.

The best, and only US supplier that I know of, kit for that trike will be the trike kit, from ebikekit.com.


Why? because its the one with the lower rpm motor you need for a sun trike. Those guys specialize in electric trikes, and have the right kit for a sun. It will match with your battery perfect. No problem at all with the weight, unless you move to a place with huge mountains.

https://www.ebikekit.com/collections/tricycle-kits/products/e-trikekit-no-battery

You can easily get a front hub kit for it wayyyyyyyy cheaper, and it will be too fast, and quite dangerous for a sun trike.

I am quite overwhelmed the amount of feedback. And a little confused which direction we should proceed. So many options. Which should we choose.

Always listen to the Dogman. He's helped hundreds of customers on all kinds of different bikes.

Still, there are lots of old coots showing youtube videos of their $200 kits on Schwinn Trikes in Florida.

My wife has the Sun heavy duty trike with an ebikekit geared front motor. and a 20 AH battery. Has worked fine for about 5 years without any problems. Reliable and climbs 4-5% hills.
otherDoc

Not much confusion. do you want your wife on a safe trike? Then this kit. https://www.ebikekit.com/collections/tricycle-kits/products/e-trikekit-no-battery

Same kit used by worksman for their electric trike for many years. Same kit EBK uses for the sun trike when they sell them attached to sun trikes.

No other US vendor of kits has been devoted to supplying an ideal kit for trikes like EBK has.

The geared motors in the smaller size can be slow enough, but they lack power. So they are not so great if the rider is over 150 pounds. Your wife is 350, she needs a powerful motor, that is also slow, safe, and easy to control at lower speeds. That's the EBK trike kit. Worth the money. If you are looking for a lower price, get on the EBK mailing list, and a good sale may come at Christmas.

@350 you will need power.

Not sure what Florida is like when it comes to gradients/slopes but undoubtedly there will be some hills there so power is the #1 concern. Ebikekit is reputable but I'd look into their Heavy Duty selections.
https://www.ebikekit.com/collections/heavy-duty-systems-no-battery

Best for Heavy Riders & Cargo

Click to expand...

E-BikeKit™ Rear 500-1000w Direct-Drive Hub Motor Conversion Kit w/ Pedal-Assist and Throttle On Demand functions. New programmable LCD!

Click to expand...

Looks like that should be a good choice.

Is the Trike for Montreal or Florida, or both?

Trike sits in Florida all year round but we are there Dec to April. I plan to take the battery with me when I get down in Dec and take it back in April. I also use it in my Schwinn scooter during the summer here in Montreal. It would be a waste to keep there for 8 months sitting idle even though we live in a climate controlled home.
Florida is very flat no hills where we live. I agree the regular kit will suffice, just can't recall if the front wheel is 24 or 26", will it make a difference
I am quite pleased with all the honest feedback this forum has provided, this group is so smart.
I will get on their mailing list.

FWIW, the trike kit and the heavy duty kit have the same motor, other than the HD can be ordered in a rear motor.

The motor itself is a low rpm version ( ten turns) of the regular DD motor found in most cheap kits. In the cheapest kits, the motor is often a very fast 6 turn motor, and completely unsuitable for trikes because of the top speed.

The trike kit or the heavy duty kit has plenty of power, 750w at 36v. Plenty for getting a heavier rider away from stop signs, and it will have the power to get over a bridge, if your routes in Florida include any water crossings that are big hills, for larger boats to go under the bridge.

The trike kit will let you convert your sun trike, into the same trike EBK sells as a complete trike. These guys are the electric trike specialists in the USA. Check out the other trikes they have, particularly the liberty trike. https://www.electricbikestore.com/collections/electric-trikes/products/sun-traditional-electric-tricycle