Chalo said:
When we see legitimate mass-market electric cars and motorcycles with hub motors, they will have wheels substantially larger than 20 inches OD.
People adapting hokey scooter motors to build even hokier small wheeled homemade bikes is not proof of merit. That's like deciding that shopping carts are suitable street vehicles just because you can find people pushing them in the streets of every city.
Scooters of all kinds are acknowledged to be much less capable than motorcycles with full sized wheels.
Chalo, I know you have your opinions and all that.... but as somebody with a "hokey" scooter motor conversion, I know you're dead wrong. After running like a champ for over 9000 miles, what I thought would be a silly thing to get running for fun turned out to be an amazing performer. It climbs and accelerates great, runs fine off a cheap generic controller, the casting helps act as a heat sink, never a worry about a broken spoke or a broken axle (oversized with 14mm flats), the built in drum brake is powerful and well modulated, whats not to like? Coupled with a decent frame, its been an unbeatable cheap performer with solid 40 mph top speed. I ride a LOT of high end electrics, and a lifetime of normal pedal bikes so have some basis for comparison, and your ideas about harsh ride or unsuitability for general use are just not based in reality. Every person I've ever let drive it comes back raving about the handling, smooth ride and unstoppable power band. That's my "proof of merit".
I recently went for a high speed 30ish mile ride with an out of town guy with a Cromotor and Sabvoton with regen braking, and he was blown away by the cornering, power, braking and climbing of my dirt cheap, low tech setup. I ran into another guy at random at the top of a mountain road, who turned out to a retired aerospace guy who built his own tilting trike, a dual motor mini open wheel race car and an electric commuter van, and he was again blown away by how cool the motor was after the extended climb to his house, and wondered where I got such a "special" motor... His face when I said "off a broken down scooter I got for a hundred bucks" was priceless...lol. So unless you have ridden somebodies "hokey" conversion... you're just spouting nonsense on this particular topic. And for anybody else who might be swayed by that off base opinion, if you like power, cool running, great braking, low cost, unbreakability, and hands off 15 to 40 mph stability, don't sell a cheap scooter motor short.
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And that was how it handled with my old 60lb lead acid pack strapped to the top.... with the new frame and bttery combo it;s even dreamier.
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I'd like to see any other sub $200 motor/controller combo match that...