Vespa PX125 (Large Frame) Electric Conversion.

mannydantyla said:
I'm jealous of all the storage compartments you have for fitting the various EV gadgets. I just got the contactor in the mail and it's way larger and heavier than I imagined. Not sure where I will put it.
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Plus, I have room on the engine side (right) that can accommodate another 38ah battery. :D

 
JimVonBaden said:
Plus, I have room on the engine side (right) that can accommodate another 38ah battery. :D
Click to expand...

Unless you are planning it to be a cross country Vespa that room could be great storage place. If you can make the wheel/engine cover easily removable or hinged, it would make a nice hidden luggage compartment!
 
Not perfect, but pretty damn good.

I took it out for the first road test, with just the front drum brake. I have not bled the rear yet because I wasn't sure it is was going to be OK. So far it is, but I need to upgrade the front because it has no chance to stop in any safe way with this new set-up. It stutters and is poor at slowing the bike with no rear.

So, anyhow, with that in mind, I took it for two 3 mile loops. All back roads limited to 25mph. So, of course I gave it the "gas". All I can say is damn, this is at least twice as quick as the old two stroke. I got it up to an indicated 44mph, but ran out of road (due to the poor brakes) to keep going faster. I suspect, with some tuning of the controller, it will make 55mph indicated. I will put my GPS on it for the next ride to get real speeds. Nonetheless, this thing is way better (except for brakes) than the old motor, and a lot lighter too!




This week I add the safety (brakes) and do a bunch of little clean up items, but I can say it is a success for my limited skills.
 
That's so awesome and great to hear!

I can't wait to get mine going. This is good inspiration. I have a long ways to go though
 
Today was fun. I bled the rear brake, then added my GPS to the speedo with a suction mount, then went for a ride. The brakes are much improved since I have the rear disc, which got better and better as it bedded in. I took it on the main road and went as fast as I could. Keep in mine I am 275 pounds, and a big wind break. Still, I managed an impressive speed for not having to done any mods to the programming.

Here is the GPS mounted, upside down to get some video.



Here is the GPS speeds, which are slightly faster than the speedo.




52 mph is not bad at all. I am confident that I can get more speed out of it.

In 8 miles I used about 10% of the battery, but this was a lot of stops and starts, all at nearly full throttle. I think 50 miles is doable. The battery and the motor stayed cool.

Lots more to do, but I am quite happy so far!
 
Elektrosherpa said:
JimVonBaden said:
Not perfect, but pretty damn good.

Click to expand...

Looks really cool. :thumb:

The only thing which disturbs me ist the headlight.
I think it does not match such a classic vehicle.
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I agree. Unfortunately I broke the original one. I am considering a light tint to this to hide the look of it.
 
Lol, I do like the head light, gives a nice modern touch on this retro design.
Only thing I do not like is the giant boxy front fender, but I understand it would likely be a lot of work to change that.

Kudos on the build, that was some very clean and well done work! :bigthumb: :bigthumb:
 
Dui said:
Lol, I do like the head light, gives a nice modern touch on this retro design.
Only thing I do not like is the giant boxy front fender, but I understand it would likely be a lot of work to change that.

Kudos on the build, that was some very clean and well done work! :bigthumb: :bigthumb:
Click to expand...

Thanks! Funny on the fender. It looks large in the photos, but appropriate in real life.

I have some additional cosmetic work to do, but it is getting close. It certainly is fun to ride. I plan on a full charge and a long ride this coming weekend to test the durability. I will have the trailer hooked up to the car for my wife just in case! :lol:
 
For those interested, the weight of the scooter is now 212 pounds, around 100kg. Original weight of the p125X was 240 pounds. So I am lighter by 28 pounds. Top speed on the gas motor was 86kph, or 53mph, basically the same as mine. HP was 8, mine is around 15, but apples to oranges as the electric bike far out accelerates the gas bike.

In other news, I installed the LED signal bulbs, so they are good to go, and added some trim, and found a mirror for it. I will wait to post more photos until all the trim is on it.
 
That is one beautiful scooter. You could probably sell it to a rich Vespa enthusiast for $20k or more.
 
I'm building my swingarm right now (modifying the old one is more accurate) and I have two question:
  1. Are you using the included washers/spacers on the brake side of the hub? Where is the brake bracket located among them on the axle? I don't yet have the brake kit (I'm still waiting for them to ship it to me after they forgot to include it in the first box they sent me) and so I cannot tell myself, though I studied the many photos in the previous pages.
  2. How does the rear suspension feel with all the unsprung weight? The motor/wheel must be around 40 pounds, right? And IIRC your swingarm was no lightweight either :)
 
mannydantyla said:
I'm building my swingarm right now (modifying the old one is more accurate) and I have two question:
  1. Are you using the included washers/spacers on the brake side of the hub? Where is the brake bracket located among them on the axle? I don't yet have the brake kit (I'm still waiting for them to ship it to me after they forgot to include it in the first box they sent me) and so I cannot tell myself, though I studied the many photos in the previous pages.
  2. How does the rear suspension feel with all the unsprung weight? The motor/wheel must be around 40 pounds, right? And IIRC your swingarm was no lightweight either :)
Click to expand...

I am using the supplied brake parts, as well as the supplied washers and nuts. I made my dropout 205mm, but should have been 210mm, just to make the fitment easier. The brake parts fit in with no issues. The brake bracket is fit like the following photos show. Keep in mind the photos were upside down because I mocked the frame and swingarm that way.






Finished:




To flush the brakes I took loose the locking bolt through the swingarm and swung the caliper to be vertical on the rotor. It would be nice to run it like this, but no clearance from the body.

Since the Vespa is a swingarm/motor in one, with the motor and wheel at the end of the swingarm, the electric motor and swingarm feel pretty much the same. Unsprung weight is actually about 20 mounds less.
 
I reset a bunch of parameters on the controller. I will try it out tomorrow.

One issue I am having is that the battery goes to sleep after half an hour or so, and I have to plug the charger in for a few seconds to wake the BMS. Any ideas?

This is the BMS I am using: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001803913333.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.2ffc2114qfuLnF&algo_pvid=56749fa4-bd1f-467a-be1c-36e5911e1eb6&algo_expid=56749fa4-bd1f-467a-be1c-36e5911e1eb6-0&btsid=0bb0623c16159493965304618e3398&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_
 
Thank you so much Jim! That will help a lot with my swingarm build. And I didn't realize the old ICE motor was mounted to the swingarm, that is wild.

As for the BMS going to sleep... that is strange but not unheard of. I bought a very small 10amp BMS for a 12v pack, and when I wired it to the batteries, it was asleep like you described. Had to plug it into the charger to turn it on. Then it went to back to sleep about 12 hours later. I gave it a good charge and now it stays on until the battery is drained to the minimum voltage, like it should.

So what I'm saying is: hopefully the BMS stays awake after it's been charged a few times...??? Otherwise I don't know, might have to replace it. Hopefully somebody else can chime in with more knowledge than me because I too have a DALY bms and I wasn't aware of this problem with them.
 
mannydantyla said:
Thank you so much Jim! That will help a lot with my swingarm build. And I didn't realize the old ICE motor was mounted to the swingarm, that is wild.

As for the BMS going to sleep... that is strange but not unheard of. I bought a very small 10amp BMS for a 12v pack, and when I wired it to the batteries, it was asleep like you described. Had to plug it into the charger to turn it on. Then it went to back to sleep about 12 hours later. I gave it a good charge and now it stays on until the battery is drained to the minimum voltage, like it should.

So what I'm saying is: hopefully the BMS stays awake after it's been charged a few times...??? Otherwise I don't know, might have to replace it. Hopefully somebody else can chime in with more knowledge than me because I too have a DALY bms and I wasn't aware of this problem with them.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I set the sleep timer to 0 seconds, and it appears to be working, but time will tell. I have not fully charged the battery yet. It is sitting at 54% right now.
 
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