Lowrider eBike project

Turbotd04

100 mW
Joined
Nov 17, 2018
Messages
42
So then i have been doing this build for a while now and finaly getting around to doing a build thread.

It all started with an impulse facebook market place buy (as they all do!)

And i managed to get in quick enough to snap up this beauty (doggo not included):
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From the start i fancied turning it into a eBike but knew it would be a pretty long road as there weren't even brake mounts on the frame and a few other bits needed so i started to sort them out first.

Banana seat and sissy bar to start
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Looking pretty fly up in the whistler mountains!
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After this i had to start sorting the wheels and tires out, the tires were letting out air and the rear wheel had a coaster brake which wouldn't work for an eBike conversion. The original plan was to go for a rear motor but the frame isn't wide enough so i then decided to go for a front motor (has now changed to mid drive) the motor i was eyeing up was this one so i went with a rear wheel of the same style.
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Managed to find a rear wheel of the same style with threads both sides on fleebay all the way from china :thumb:
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WILL BE UPDATING MORE LATER
 
After i got the rear wheel sorted i started cracking on with a metal plate to go between the sissy bar that would eventually hold the battery box
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I then found a cheap wheel to put on the front that will fit a disc brake on just for testing before i get another more permanent wheel when its finished
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Starting to come along nicely with some new rubber on her
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After this i started working on the brakes issue, found a company called bicycle designer that make a lot of bits for these bikes and it just so happened they had a kit to fit a front disc brake mount on so i got that ordered and started trial fitting.
505216springerforkdiscbrakeadapter505216.jpg

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Its a 203mm disc on the front so most likely WAY to much stopping power but it looks pretty good. The rear im not 100% happy with atm as its just a cheap adapter from amazon and wouldn't mind something a bit more solid but we will see how it performs, might get something a bit better made up when its done. After alot of mucking about i ended up going with a 160mm disc brake caliper mount and 180mm disc rota as that's what seemed to work best on this set up.

db80abc1-859c-40ff-97ce-80e77cc19be1.jpg

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Few pictures with the brakes roughly run
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Next step was actually eBike related at last! Getting the battery box mounted, just three holes and some bolts/washer spacers and she was on!
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Why not hang the battery pack under the lower frame tube for a much better center of gravity? Then it will handle a lot better. Even with that geometrically changing springer fork...
 
SlowCo said:
Why not hang the battery pack under the lower frame tube for a much better center of gravity? Then it will handle a lot better. Even with that geometrically changing springer fork...

Yeah would be a pretty tight squeeze under there though and feel it would ruin the look of the bike quite a bit. Will be able to do mad wheelies with all the weight at the back :lol:
 
Turbotd04 said:
SlowCo said:
Why not hang the battery pack under the lower frame tube for a much better center of gravity? Then it will handle a lot better. Even with that geometrically changing springer fork...

Yeah would be a pretty tight squeeze under there though and feel it would ruin the look of the bike quite a bit. Will be able to do mad wheelies with all the weight at the back :lol:

Hmm, how about a custom contoured pack that fits under the seat, but still follow the curves?
 
E-HP said:
Turbotd04 said:
SlowCo said:
Why not hang the battery pack under the lower frame tube for a much better center of gravity? Then it will handle a lot better. Even with that geometrically changing springer fork...

Yeah would be a pretty tight squeeze under there though and feel it would ruin the look of the bike quite a bit. Will be able to do mad wheelies with all the weight at the back :lol:

Hmm, how about a custom contoured pack that fits under the seat, but still follow the curves?

That is a very good idea! Will start looking into that
 
Next come the motor, I decided to go for a Bafang mid drive as that looked like the best option for my set up
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I needed to convert my bikes bottom bracket from American style to BSA so I first ordered an adaptor from bicycle designer which would have been fine if I was just going for a normal 3 piece crank but with the motor we had clearance issues
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So I had a good old search on google and found these adaptors from luna cycles, im currently waiting on them to arrive to carry on with the bike
eccentric_bb_adapter_1_of_3__88277.1550197644.jpg
 
Little bit of advice needed. I'm now looking into the under the seat battery route, i don't have a spot welder and don't really want to invest in one so i am looking for options that don't involve one. First question, the cells pictured below will need to be spot welded at one end, would the wire route (second picture) be the best way to go?
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Second question, these cells would be all good for just soldering. I'm thinking of having one row of 16 cells then a second of 15 and a third of 8 to make a 48v 7.5Ah battery but wouldn't know where to start on the right way of wiring them up, is there any how to guides or any information you could provide me with?
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It's possible, but it would be quite the mess of wires! What's your location? I think there are some people who will make custom shaped battery packs.
 
If you're solving for both the aesthetics and the weight distribution, you could test the latter before building the pack by strapping the existing pack under the seat and test riding it. Hard to see what the dimensions of your seat are, but looking online on general dimensions, it looks like it can tuck under the seat for function testing. Something like this, but it may need to sit back further, since the seat narrows toward the front.


banana batt.jpg
 
E-HP said:
If you're solving for both the aesthetics and the weight distribution, you could test the latter before building the pack by strapping the existing pack under the seat and test riding it. Hard to see what the dimensions of your seat are, but looking online on general dimensions, it looks like it can tuck under the seat for function testing. Something like this, but it may need to sit back further, since the seat narrows toward the front.


banana batt.jpg

I had a quick measure last night and it narrows down to about 70mm near the seat post and will have about 300-350mm going back. Will trial fit it later today and see what we’ve got
 
I use lights that accept a range of voltage to make things simple. Both of my controllers came with an output that turns on whenever the controller is powered on.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XVAEP8E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
Turbotd04 said:
Just looked into it, could I have one super bright led (3.2v) running on the front then a normal (1.8v) running on the rear in series?

Probably not. In series they will be forced to run at the same current which would put too much on the rear. Most bike lights are made for a higher voltage though. The 6v light output from a BBSHD can't support much current either (I don't remember the spec, but something like 500mA). You may want a separate dc-dc for the lights or get lights that are made to run straight off the pack.
 
thundercamel said:
I use lights that accept a range of voltage to make things simple. Both of my controllers came with an output that turns on whenever the controller is powered on.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XVAEP8E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Do the fins get pretty hot on this? Was thinking i could buy it and take it apart and use 3 lights in the front holder I've already got and one in the rear holder I've got. Trying to keep a lowrider look to it but don't think the heat fins would fit.
 
fechter said:
Turbotd04 said:
Just looked into it, could I have one super bright led (3.2v) running on the front then a normal (1.8v) running on the rear in series?

Probably not. In series they will be forced to run at the same current which would put too much on the rear. Most bike lights are made for a higher voltage though. The 6v light output from a BBSHD can't support much current either (I don't remember the spec, but something like 500mA). You may want a separate dc-dc for the lights or get lights that are made to run straight off the pack.

I need to check if my front light is 12v or 6v but as long as i had them at the same voltage (either both at 12 or 6) and the appropriate step down converter would this circuit work?

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Turbotd04 said:
Just looked into it, could I have one super bright led (3.2v) running on the front then a normal (1.8v) running on the rear in series?

That should work great, as long as the LEDs you use are rated for the same amount of current. They'll divide up the voltage whatever way makes them use the same current. If the light circuit is 6V, make sure it won't send more current than the LEDs can withstand. If you use a USB 5V supply, a white and red LED in series should self-regulate to a reasonable current level (probably lower than their rating).
 
Cool build. I like how nicely the battery fits under the seat. Much better than on the sissy bar. I think a shorter sissy bar would look better on this build.
I also had purchased the regular BB adapters before I found the eccentric ones from Luna :D
 
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