Black Vigilante.

[sico]

Hi, this is the build thread for my ebike build based on an Apollo Vigilante free-ride bike.

I started out ebiking on this kmart dually with a Rod Dilkes supplied Golden Motor hub, running 36V, then a bodgy 48V set of glass mat SLAs (now decommissioned):

View attachment 8

Performance was not adequate for my goal of commuting 18km to work and back at around 40km an hour on the flats. After a time I brought a zbox motor and built up this Puegoet racer with a 72cc detuned 2 stroke stinky noise machine:

The frame is way too tall for me as well, but It sure makes me smile riding it. I rode this one to work for a few weeks, but my ride takes me directly through the centre of town and in the end I couldn't handle the suspense of waiting to be picked up by the law.

So I started work on this stealthier ebike that I hope will have the performance that I need:


It has a 9x7 9C motor on it:


Controlled with a Lyen 12 FET:


With a battery box to fit 18S2P zippy flightmax packs:



To be charged with the Hyperion powered by a couple of meanwell 350's:


With dingotookmybaby torque arms:


I painted the side panels black (black is still the old black):



and made a mounting plate for the controller. The wires will all run in the battery box and should look nice and neat in the end.

I've ordered a CA direct plugin model so that will go on there as well. I'll post updates as they occur (not neccessarily very quickly though).


SImon.

 

[Whiplash]

I like the box, nice simple and functional design! Lets see it done!

 

[GCinDC]

sweet! looks like a real crime-fighter! :lol:

got a link for the dingotookmybaby torque arms??

 

[GCinDC]

That motored jobbie is pretty cute too. How much does it weigh and how fast could you go?

 

[Garrick_s]

Nice on the battery mounting.
I did the same thing.
View attachment Stinky_bat holder.jpg
View attachment stinky controller moved.jpg

Really works well.
Easy to remove batteries, and keeps them nice and snug in the frame.
Hose clamps work really well too. they form nicely around the frame tubes and are not too bulky.

Nice job!

 

[spinningmagnets]

I have to compliment you on the battery enclosure also! Several builders have been taking a similar route.

Aluminum channel is easily acquired and shaped with common hand-tools (there are SO many minor variations in frame triangles). LiPo is narrow enough that their width isn't a bother between your knees while pedaling...

Steel nutserts can add threads to the channel sidewalls for easy side-panel attachment. I'm thinking the left panel will be a solid one-piece, and the right panel will be horizontally hinged 1/3rd of the way up from the bottom so that it opens like a pick-up trucks tailgate...

Thanks for posting these pics, great ideas and very inspirational.

 

[dogman dan]

Very very nice! Nothing beats a good clean battery build. Someday I may have to try it.

But I hate to break it to ya. If that's a 72v Lyens 12 fet on 18s lipo, you are going to be going not 40 kph, but 35 mph+.

But you are not going to be stealthy on that bike doing 35 mph through town. Everybody is going to be looking like this at ya.

Gotta love a "stealthy" 35 mph bike.

 

[sico]

Hi thanks for the comments guys, its very encouraging I'm really taking my time on this because I know that if I throw it together and go for a ride I'll never get round to finishing it properly.

sweet! looks like a real crime-fighter! :lol:

got a link for the dingotookmybaby torque arms??

Hehe, Mark (dingotookmybaby) is not a big wheel in the torque arm industry :wink: He got a few laser cut for the same price as a pair for himself and sold the rest off in the for sale section (they're all sold out now though):

That motored jobbie is pretty cute too. How much does it weigh and how fast could you go?

It maxes out around 45kph, but screaming like a chainsaw. Its under gearered by quite a long way (the motor on it is bigger than my 50cc scooter) and also badly tuned (uses around 1.5L on a 36km round trip). I guess it weighs around 10-15kg, but that could be off a bit. To me it doesn't wegh substantially more than an ordinary bike, which is part of its appeal. Certainly night and day between that and the Golden Motor with SLAs (that was a curb buster).

Nice on the battery mounting.
I did the same thing.

Thanks Garrick, I was admiring your build thread the other day. Your panels are plastic aren't they? Mine are aluminimium. I am thinking of going for velcro as well but am a bit worried that the panels will become quite bent up after a few on and offs.

Aluminum channel is easily acquired and shaped with common hand-tools (there are SO many minor variations in frame triangles). LiPo is narrow enough that their width isn't a bother between your knees while pedaling...

Our big hardware (bunnings) don't sell it as stock, these are prepainted parts of some kind of fencing system. Cheaper than stock would have been (if they sold it, which they don't). :? Don't get me started on the logic of that! The width is perfect though, with around 10-15mm of clearance to allow some wires to pass between.

Steel nutserts can add threads to the channel sidewalls for easy side-panel attachment. I'm thinking the left panel will be a solid one-piece, and the right panel will be horizontally hinged 1/3rd of the way up from the bottom so that it opens like a pick-up trucks tailgate...

An intriguing idea that I will think some more about. There is limited space to allow any bolts to go through without puncturing the lipo. So the inserts would have to be strategically placed.

Very very nice! Nothing beats a good clean battery build. Someday I may have to try it.

But I hate to break it to ya. If that's a 72v Lyens 12 fet on 18s lipo, you are going to be going not 40 kph, but 35 mph+.

But you are not going to be stealthy on that bike doing 35 mph through town. Everybody is going to be looking like this at ya.

Gotta love a "stealthy" 35 mph bike.

Hehe, thanks dogman :lol: You're to blame for this though (see my efficiency thread), so I'll be shooting any traffic infringements out to New Mexico

Seriously though, I'll have the CA and will be controlling the top speed with that. I'd be too scared to run 55+kph on a pushie

Here is a picture of the bike with the wheels on:




Simon.

 

[shorza]

Hey this is the exact battery/motor/controller setup that I am starting. Looks great.I'm going to steal your battery box idea.

Does it fit all 6 batteries in it?
Do you have a link as to where I could get those fence posts? Although, I'm thinking Bunnings may have 3 sided plastic guttering.
What made you choose the Apollo?

 

[sico]

Hey this is the exact battery/motor/controller setup that I am starting. Looks great.I'm going to steal your battery box idea.

Does it fit all 6 batteries in it?
Do you have a link as to where I could get those fence posts? Although, I'm thinking Bunnings may have 3 sided plastic guttering.
What made you choose the Apollo?

Hi Shorza,

the 6 batteries fit in there very neatly with a bit of headroom for the wiring harness etc. The ali channel is some kind of fencing material (from bunnies) can't remember exactly what, maybe edging for glass screen or pool fencing or something? I'll check it out next time I'm down there (which is all too often). I guess if you go to a decent ali stockist you could get it unpainted for cheaper (we have Capral over here, not sure about Melbourne).

I chose the Apollo beause I picked up the frame from a guy down in Rockinham who was selling a few ali frames cheap. I really like the look of this one, though I've had to replace almost all of the ancillary parts.

I'm looking at converting this one to a non-hub drive at some point (from the same guy):



Nice big triangle for batteries, two stage reduction, etc.

Simon.

 

[shorza]

Nice, keep us posted.

 

[knoxie]

Thats an awesome rig!

Love the battery box, what a great idea that is? should make for a super fast great handling ride, keep us all posted looking forward to seeing some more pictures and videos maybe.

 

[dingoEsride]

Doing a nice job there Simon, yeah finish it before tacking it together like I did and its still not finished, I wouldn't have recognized those torque arms after your customizing, let us know when your done, hafta go for a ride or maybe AJ will organize another river run soon, been stinking hot here lately don't feel like doing much, hopefully will cool a bit soon, oh and like that Apollo frame, how much did it cost?

mark

 

[shorza]

Stinking hot? It's sucking here in Melb, we never really had any heat for longer than 2 days running.

Sico, I'm looking at getting a rear tyre, what are you running?

 

[sico]

Doing a nice job there Simon, yeah finish it before tacking it together like I did and its still not finished, I wouldn't have recognized those torque arms after your customizing, let us know when your done, hafta go for a ride or maybe AJ will organize another river run soon, been stinking hot here lately don't feel like doing much, hopefully will cool a bit soon, oh and like that Apollo frame, how much did it cost?

mark

Hi mark, the frame cost $30 from this guy I found on gumtree. There are often bargains on there if you keep an eye out. He had a bunch of alloy frames, but it was at least a year ago. The torque arms should work well and you saved me some time cutting the bolt holes for sure.

Agree about the heat, its been roasting hot and humid and the aircon at work is busted ... 33 degree office = good temp for beers around the pool, not debugging c code. A river ride would be cool when I'm done, hopefully the timing works out (still a few bits on order).

Stinking hot? It's sucking here in Melb, we never really had any heat for longer than 2 days running.

Sico, I'm looking at getting a rear tyre, what are you running?

Yep, it always seems to be pissing down when I'm in Melbourne, but there are worse things I guess.

I'm running maxis slick tyres from bikeshed mortdale for $35 a piece. I've no idea of their durability but I guess I shouldn't expect too much. They are very slick though, so wet weather performance might be poor.

 

[sico]

Well, I couldn't resist firing it up for a test run on 44.4V (nom.) with velcroed on panels:


12S2P 5Ah fit with room for two more bricks (+birdsnest ):


The dtmb torque arms installed:



Uncluttered controls, due to lack of features:
View attachment P1010504_800x600.jpg
You can see that the width of the bike is still nice and narrow.

I was happy with the way the bike rode on the lower voltage. It feels nice and light and is quiet too.

The speed is nearly what I want, but not quite. I might look at buildng up a 14S pack, which will be easily bulk-balance charged on the hyperion.

I'll be looking forward to upgrading to the higher voltage and seeing how it goes. I still have a CA coming and should also order more battery packs (I have a couple of stuffed packs that I can use for a test ride on 18S though).

Pretty happy at this stage. 8)

 

[sico]

I bumped it up to 18S:



Its very quick now I guess around 55kph, no speedo until the CA comes.

 

[sico]

Well I killed a lipo pack:
View attachment 1

It was an oldie that I had been experimenting with (about a year old, but badly looked after). Bit of a hopeless case I'm afraid (that's mV :| ):




The other green one is equally stuffed. Probably a bit lucky because I think their balanced stuffedness saved my two good packs.

In the end they were basically acting as wires ... very high resistance wires.

Anyway it was good while it lasted ... my sack is still intact and I've ordered two new bricks from hk. Mean time I'm enjoying the 12S and waiting for the CA to come.

 

[dingoEsride]

UP in SMOKE LIPO's Cool, well probably not the best way to get the most of them but fun trying, with some newies and a bit more care might go even faster than 55k, still thats a not bad speed

 

[sico]

UP in SMOKE LIPO's Cool, well probably not the best way to get the most of them but fun trying, with some newies and a bit more care might go even faster than 55k, still thats a not bad speed

Hi Mark, that speed is an educated guess, but wouldn't be far off. Its excellent fun but too fast for any semblance of law abidingness. I reckon I'll probably end up running a 12S setup until I can make myself a 14S3P custom jobbie. That will be a tight squeeze in the existing battery box though.

Today I rode out to Garvey Park and back (about 10km, probably a bit more) and took my pack from 50.4V to 46V, so still a bit left. I reckon the 12S3P should comfortably take me out to work (18km) but I will need to recharge there somehow. As you can see (if the forum bugs are fixed) my charging setup isn't exactly "worksafe", so I need to adress that.

 

[dingoEsride]

As you can see (if the forum bugs are fixed) my charging setup isn't exactly "worksafe", so I need to adress that.

I see nutinck :lol:

 

[sico]

Yeah its not the best.

does this look like the lower half is pale pink to you? It does to me:

This is what it looked like premeltdown:



The exposed 240V wiring wouldn't go down well with the OHS guys here. I've been (idly) thinking about some cast rubber "fascias" that stick over the ends of the meanwell psu's with nice holes for the wires to come out. The industrial look is fine for the shed, but not so good for the office.

 

[grindz145]

The name is perfect. So well done. awesome.

 

[sico]

The name is perfect. So well done. awesome.

Hey thanks for the compliments grindz. The name is just the colour and model of Apollo freeride frame that I used, not a statement about my plans to bring fairness and justice to the ebike laws or anything.

 

[sico]

I used this $9 paralleling board:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=14856



to make two $4.50 balance boards:



It makes a bit of a mess:



Here it is soldered up:



and connected to the spaghetti monster:



I'm charging and balancing my 15AH 12S3P pack with the hyperion set to charge at 7A. I can't go higher at this stage because I'm connected to only one meanwell. I'll cycle tonight and tommorow charge them up and head out for a 60kph ride.