LightningRods mid drive kit

[nukezero]

that is a massive motor for some serious hauling. Are we even biking anymore?? :lol:

 

[emaayan]

have you considered asking the motor supplier to at least give the motor with the shaft you wanted , for your'e buying in bulk aren't in the right task for some modifications?

 

[Wishes]

have you considered asking the motor supplier to at least give the motor with the shaft you wanted , for your'e buying in bulk aren't in the right task for some modifications?

Doesn't work that way with Chinese suppliers. He's lucky he even got this large shipment of motors.

Wishes

 

[emaayan]

actually MAC motors ,have been rather helpful in sending me 2 of their motors, and they still kept asking me what RPM specs i wanted from them ..that's why i asked..

 

[LightningRods]

have you considered asking the motor supplier to at least give the motor with the shaft you wanted , for your'e buying in bulk aren't in the right task for some modifications?

Doesn't work that way with Chinese suppliers. He's lucky he even got this large shipment of motors.

Wishes

It's true. My only options were cooling fan or no cooling fan. On the big block motors you don't even have that option.

 

[skyungjae]

Are you going to be selling the keyed motor shafts individually as well?

 

[LightningRods]

Are you going to be selling the keyed motor shafts individually as well?

Yessir. And we'll ship you a motor shaft or you can ship your motor to us and we'll swap the shaft out for you.

 

[emaayan]

although i'm not a party to this, but will you be offering "upgrading" services to folks who bought gng , or half-gng (other half modded) to align their kit to current offering?

 

[LightningRods]

although i'm not a party to this, but will you be offering "upgrading" services to folks who bought gng , or half-gng (other half modded) to align their kit to current offering?

I try to make new parts backward compatible as much as possible. In the case of my 219 driver sprocket I initially tried to make it fit the original GNG design jackshaft. I found that I needed to change the design of the 219 driver to make it as strong and true as I want it. So now the new driver requires a new jackshaft. But both will fit in my early tube jackshaft housings and the GNG housing.

If there is a problem with a part I've made I'll correct that problem and replace the part.

 

[nukezero]

Hi LR

Are you shipping the first 12 kits this week??

 

[LightningRods]

I'm assembling kits this week. I'm putting the sprocket and pulley guards together for the first time and have to get all of the spacers and hardware sorted out so that nothing rubs or sticks out too far. If everything fits properly and looks good on the bench test I'll start shipping. There will be seven kits in the first batch. All of the hand work in the machine shop is what takes time.

UPS showed up today with three more pulley stock bars. The manufacturer told me 4 weeks to produce my order but I guess I sounded pathetic enough on the phone that he took pity and sent 3 bars to tide me over. That's enough to make 21 pulleys.

 

[emaayan]

What check list tests are performing on the kits?

 

[LightningRods]

I just make sure they run without making odd noises, check the tightness of fasteners, tension the primary belt, check the alignment of the drives, look for anything not fitting or running properly.

It feels great to be moving parts forward and pulling the kits together. I can't wait to see videos of customers ripping around with my kits. I can't wait to make my own videos of ripping around with my kit!

I sold the prototype 100mm sheets and the extra big block motor I have. I'm going to be putting it together very soon and will post pictures. I'll make a big block kit for anyone who wants one. They'll be special order only and will take about 3 weeks to get the motor and the sheets in the shop.

 

[emaayan]

perhaps you should post pictures of "the first 12" kits, and little stickers of E-S username next to each one ... you know .. just to torture them....

personally i'm being tortured for thinking the regulatory committee in israel finalize it's conclusions, and suddenly everything is in lockdown, everyone's e-bike is being confiscated from the streets.., riots are forming... ok, maybe i'm being carried away here, so far i didn't see any less e-bikes on the streets, so maybe the masses know something i don't, but the press is flaming this crap, our main site, publish an "article" how an 11 year old kit ruptured his spleen, for putting his friend on the bike and falling over on the handlebars, and naturally everyone are crying foul.

sorry, had to vent..

 

[nukezero]

I took the advice here and decided to wire up the Mark II lyen controller with 5mm gold bullet connectors that i got off eBay for like $7 bucks for 5 pair. Good deal. I chopped off the andersons.

 

[emaayan]

make sure you those soldiered those tightly, i didn't and found myself with a loose yellow phase in a middle of a ride.

 

[nukezero]

make sure you those soldiered those tightly, i didn't and found myself with a loose yellow phase in a middle of a ride.

I filled it with a pool of solder literally. When I stuck the cable in, it overflowed and the flux dripped down to the connection. I ruined one that way. I used a wooden board and drilled a hole through it to hold it. Works well.

These are 5.5mm. But the hole in the connector was big, like for a 10 gauge cable or something. The 14 gauge cable from the controller is puny. I still wonder how a 14 gauge cable from the controller for the phase wires will deliver that much current and not overheat.

 

[emaayan]

perhaps you should post pictures of "the first 12" kits, and little stickers of E-S username next to each one ... you know .. just to torture them....

personally i'm being tortured for thinking the regulatory committee in israel finalize it's conclusions, and suddenly everything is in lockdown, everyone's e-bike is being confiscated from the streets.., riots are forming... ok, maybe i'm being carried away here, so far i didn't see any less e-bikes on the streets, so maybe the masses know something i don't, but the press is flaming this crap, our main site, publish an "article" how an 11 year old kit ruptured his spleen, for putting his friend on the bike and falling over on the handlebars, and naturally everyone are crying foul.

sorry, had to vent..

it may seem off topic, but if you are overseas (well their's "overseas' like me), ordering a kit for the first time (and reading this in a couple of years) , and living in a country (europe?) that has strict on e-bike regulations, you should be made aware of this, as i'm not sure what exactly what they do to kits that do not conform the regulations, arrange with LR for "proper" shipping.

 

[LightningRods]

A big question for on road use in areas like the EU where power assist is brutally limited, is whether the authorities will accept you riding an electric bike with the power capacity of 1,800 watts or even 4,000 watts with it's power limited by a control like a Cycle Analyst. You can limit both current and top speed in the Cycle Analyst which should satisfy the police, etc. What they may not like is that the CA gives you three power presets that you can access with the double click of a button. So you could be motoring along like an electric assist market cart one moment and then be smoking your rear tire and doing power wheelies the next.

My kit will run forever at 36v 10 amps because it's built to handle at least 10x that power level. The motor manufacturer laser etches "500 watt" on the motor case, largely to confuse the duty tax man. Depending on where you live and how draconian the authorities are you will have to come up with different tactics to satisfy their need to keep you safe against your will.

 

[emaayan]

while i have no idea what police will handle (if handle) enforcement my country (or in the EU) i'm pretty sure they are oblivious or clueless about CA, as in they won't know what that is when they see it. additionally i understand there's min speed limit in regards doppler guns, so i have to cross my fingers and hope they'll focus their efforts on kids flying on sidewalk, and ignore us adults.

i'm currently in a dilemma, until my kit arrives, i don't want to attract unwanted attention by riding on the sidewalk, riding on the road, forces my to go full speed, which just caused me to add a new casualty to my part list, the plastic washers inside the planetary gear MELTED and fused into the back of the gear, fortunately as usual i had spare.

(can't complain that thing is specced to max 17 mph, while i go at 30).

but this brings me to another question, what is the most heat sensitive part in your kit? while it may handle the heat from the kit, i'm more worried climate changes (for example surface heat from my motor in the summer can reach up to 60 degrees Celsius, and half of it in winter, while the motor is still ok, the heat got bolted gear the melted the rings,pretty sure that wouldn't have happen in winter)

which leads me to another more generic wear and tear question, how can we identify wear and tear on parts and know that it needs to be replace? (could be misused, error in our installation even) with standard chains, you have chain tensioner checker, but i'm not sure if it will apply to 219. no to mention the belt which i never used before, same goes for the various pulleys and so on, i know everyone say it will be take a long time, for these parts to wear, but a long time DOES come, and i had way too many occasions where i put off checkups and ended up with various glitches in mid-ride which i didn't even know how to analyze. (for example strange noise which turned out to be the chain skipping on an almost completely worn out sprockets)

additionally, is there any standard inspection check list or routine maintenance you recommend on doing on a periodic basis? (how frequent) i'm asking this because usually when shops installed my kit, they asked for me to come back after 2 weeks for strengthening the bolts , and inspection after initial ride. an since currently your'e the only supplier, some of us (i.e me) will have to do self service.

and i was more talking about the tax and customs, warning that in some countries (i.e mine) they'll simply won't allow anything that looks it has anything to do with an e-bike and send it directly to regulatory establishment, maybe experience E-S members either don't have to deal with, or already dealt with it in the past, but newbies should take heed on labeling it.

 

[LightningRods]

The most heat sensitive parts in my kit are the motor's stock phase wires. At 20 amps they are fine. When users start pushing the limits they are the part that will give up. I have not heard about another part giving in to heat.

Motors with built in planetary reduction look very neat and tidy. My kit looks very early 20th Century industrial by comparison with an external belt drive. I use the belt drive because it is quieter and far easier to service than planetary gears. If you exceed it's power rating it doesn't melt or explode, it jumps teeth. It should not have problems at the maximum power that the small block motor can put out. The big block is an unknown. We'll see if my belt drive can handle 6kW.

Once I catch my breath from the initial roll out of the kit I will start offering options like 12 ga teflon phase wires with 5.5mm gold bullet connectors. Seriously, this process of fine tuning goes on forever. I've delayed the release of the kit by months redesigning parts to make them better. Time to start shipping kits and just keep making them better as I go. If I see the smarties here on E-S modding my kits in a way that I like I'll either integrate that into the design or offer it as an option.

 

[emaayan]

ah, but i'm assuming your guards will hide the belt drive would like to see a kit with those on, so far we only images of the kit guardless.
besides some folks say there's nothing wrong going 20th century retro -style..

 

[LightningRods]

ah, but i'm assuming your guards will hide the belt drive would like to see a kit with those on, so far we only images of the kit guardless.
besides some folks say there's nothing wrong going 20th century retro -style..

I am installing belt and pulley guards today. I should have photos this afternoon.

Yeah, I like the Jules Verne/Steampunk look myself.

 

[r3volved]

ah, but i'm assuming your guards will hide the belt drive would like to see a kit with those on, so far we only images of the kit guardless.
besides some folks say there's nothing wrong going 20th century retro -style..

A slipping belt will be very noticeable on the ride (whether it's exposed or enclosed in a guard). If you take the belt off to check for wear, you'll be able to see one side of the teeth starting to 'fuzz' up. When it starts to get bad, you'll probably be able to see stress marking along the side of the belt, on the tooth side that engages the load.

Once the belt starts to slip, it will just keep getting worse until it fails. When the belt does fail though, there isn't much warning. I've had some go before they showed any signs of wear, and some have seemed to last on their 'last legs' for an extra unexpected distance.

I've flipped the belt the last couple times when I notice wear on one side, but I haven't really seen any measurable increase in longevity from doing that.

 

[brixmitch]

A big question for on road use in areas like the EU where power assist is brutally limited, is whether the authorities will accept you riding an electric bike with the power capacity of 1,800 watts or even 4,000 watts with it's power limited by a control like a Cycle Analyst. You can limit both current and top speed in the Cycle Analyst which should satisfy the police, etc. What they may not like is that the CA gives you three power presets that you can access with the double click of a button. So you could be motoring along like an electric assist market cart one moment and then be smoking your rear tire and doing power wheelies the next.

My kit will run forever at 36v 10 amps because it's built to handle at least 10x that power level. The motor manufacturer laser etches "500 watt" on the motor case, largely to confuse the duty tax man. Depending on where you live and how draconian the authorities are you will have to come up with different tactics to satisfy their need to keep you safe against your will.

it's funny - europe has no problem with cars that have engines capable of hugely violating speed limits - only bikes.

glad that Cali - so far - isn't going too harshly down that path.