Why pedal indeed... today's adventure.

Ypedal

Ypedal

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Dec 27, 2006
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Location
Moncton NB, Canada
Well, in all honesty, my DIY bikes have been very reliable over the years, only a couple times have i had to pedal home without power.. over 1000's or rides..

Today, a nice and sunny, blue skies kinda day.. I found a post on FB about fresh honey crisp apples on sale from Nova Scotia, 10$ a bag .. Figured it's a perfect day to take the trike and Sandy for a ride... so i load up and head out.

8km from home i get to the apple guy, grab a bag, and decide it's such a nice day i may as well keep on rolling.. when suddenly.. pouf.. no more throttle response.. uh oh... i try a few more times just in case.. but nope.. she's dead.. i look down at the CA and it's lit, showing 96v - 7.85 km - 1.2 ah .. so lots of battery left.. damit..

Well, i'm always telling people I DO PEDAL .. all the time.. and i do.. but with the motor helping :wink: I turn around and start pedaling the old fashion way :shock: ..son-of-a-bitch ....... cranking a heavy trike with an X5 on the back, and trailer with 40 Lb dog in it + gear and a big bag of apples.... without power....= NO FUN

Actually not too terrible on the flats but the way home is a steady incline. and against the wind.. so bonus challenge points added.. argh.

So about 3 km of this and my legs are on FIRE ... desperation is the mother of all inventions as they say.. i decide to pull over and have another look at this problem.. all connections solid, no smoke or bad smells, battery is good, pulled the ebrake and 3 speed switch wires in case.. no luck..

This leaves the damn throttle, i've kicked it a few times getting into the seat and the top of the shell was broken, but it's been fine like this for months now... so why not.. i ripped the wires out of the throttle assembly.. stripped the casing back with my teeth and tried shorting them out.. and voila .. we have POWER !!!!...

So there i am, sketchy throttle on a 100v 100 amp X5 ... with no regulation.. all or nothing .. :twisted: .. and i much prefer the all vs nothing at this point !

Now comes a decision, the shortest way home is thru a dirt trail, and it's been raining for 7 days straight, but with this throttle thing going on i rather stay away from rush hour traffic, specially with sandy in the trailer... ..

I'm pedaling at times, then resting my legs i boost the throttle a few times.. and repeat, getting home much faster now.. woot.... but i'm steering with one hand and pinching wires with the other making this a difficult multi-task.. still . i'm getting home.. until.. i reach a spot in the trail with a big sign " Trail Closed.. under construction " .. wtf... like.. really ?... of all days for this to happen.. sonofabitch.......

Figured i could get around it, usually can, but 200 meters later i'm sinking out of sight into soft sand, they are ripping up the trails, laying sand and have not packed it down yet.. so all 3 wheels of the trike sinking, back wheel spinning.. and the trailer dragging behind.. at this point i can smell the motor.. :p

And i reach the work crew, trail is really blocked and no getting around.. F^%$#.... so i turn it around and head back.. this leaves one way home, thru the muddiest trail in town.... a few kms of this :

muddy trike.jpg
 
The dog is very pretty. Nice trike too. Well sir, i'll make Forrest's words mine: "Shit happens". If life gives you apples, pedal your ass home! Nothing else to say hahaha.
 
ha! funny.

at least you had your best friend with ya!

She must have been wondering if you had completely gone mad....
 
As extra backup get Sandy started on some sled dog training. With a bit of work she should be able to at least overcome the motor drag leaving you only the work of regular pedaling. :mrgreen:
 
At this stage, I started giving my dog a baby aspirin, and glucosamine/chondroitin for joints. Wrapped in a treat when she was at her hungriest point of the day.
 
Ypedal said:
... i look down at the CA and it's lit
...i ripped the wires out of the throttle assembly.. stripped the casing back with my teeth and tried shorting them out.. and voila .. we have POWER !!!!...

So there i am, sketchy throttle on a 100v 100 amp X5 ... with no regulation.. all or nothing .. :twisted: .. and i much prefer the all vs nothing at this point !
Click to expand...
With a CA, there are some options - there are more tricks available with a V3, but for a V2:

Go to the setup mode, then:

  • adjust Max Throttle to something like 2.0V-2.5V to limit the throttle from 1/3 to 1/2 or as appropriate. This will give softer acceleration.
  • adjust Max Amps down to something useful for your bike like 150W to assist you (might need more for muck) or
  • adjust Max Speed down to something useful like 12-15mph - optionally set Max Amps to give slow acceleration to speed
Set up like this, you can short the throttle and the bike will never see more than Max Throttle and will be limited in current and/or speed so it's more like assist. If you have ebrakes to your controller, you can leave the throttle wires shorted and modulate the assist by tapping the brakes.

Still a PITA, but...
 
So Neo, Is it the red wire the green wire or the yellow.
At times like that, you really need a black. Good to see your on the ball and didn't smoke the controller.

Those apples should of tasted great once you got home.
 
Great story, Makes you think about putting a doorbell button in your emergency kit. I actually do carry a spare throttle on long tour rides.

Couldn't you still have just limited amps to 5 or 10 or so?
 
silviasol said:
Your in canada? I am in MN and just finished a 20 minute ride, it is enough to call it quits for the year. How can you go so far in the cold?
Click to expand...

Gloves, Layers, and a Toque under my helmet !!.. and i am Canadian ! :wink:

Dogman, at one point last year i was playing with the CA settings trying to get a smooth full throttle launch without oscillations and the only way i could get it was to disconnect the CA ... so i opened up the 6 pin connector and snipped the throttle signal wire off ... so the CA can no longer impost limits no matter what the settings say lol..
 
My dad tells a story of driving a Ford Model A when the carburetor totally messed up miles from nowhere in hillbilly country. He removed the carburetor and laid the fuel line across the intake manifold basically creating a "drool" fuel injection. Trouble is/was he could only control RPM with the ignition switch. He said it was crazy driving home on narrow, gravel, hilly, curvy Ozark mountain roads with so little throttle control.

This is a good wake-up call to carry spare throttle, button and/or stuff to rewire on the road.

PS, give Sandy a pet from me!
 
spinningmagnets said:
At this stage, I started giving my dog a baby aspirin, and glucosamine/chondroitin for joints. Wrapped in a treat when she was at her hungriest point of the day.
Click to expand...
We've had to give Oliver human pills before recommended by the vet, but at 5lbs. 2oz. it is really hard to use a pill splitter on some of those tiny tablets. :x
 
Her problem is stomach related, the rest of her is in good shape, eyes, ears, joints.. but the digestive tract is in bad shape.. he stopped eating dog food a few months ago and crouching to pee or poop every 10 ft when trying to walk, went to canned food that she ate for a while with diarrhoea.. now on boiled ground beef and rice diet with treats..... went to the vet about a month ago and they can run a bunch of expensive and stressful tests to tell me what`s wrong.. but it wont change anything, surgery is not an option at this age.. i spoil her rotten, spend all day by her side and enjoy every hour one at a time.. up every night to let her out when she wakes me up.. will pee on the floor almost once a day even when i let her out constantly.. not her fault.. i dont scold her for it.. i am willing to do this for now.... its hard on the morale.. but i love her more than anything.. so its ok.
 
nice thread- knock on wood i've had nothing like this happen to me on my long joruneys... worst was wire issues and fuse issues which was partly my fault and fortunately something i could fix at a nearby gas station
if i do another long haul next summer i will carry spares of everything including a throttle- especially since these come from china
 
Nice story, the dog looks so comfey in the back there :)
Maybe you should consider a PAS sensor that way you don't need to carry a second thumb throttle and just have a second mode of getting power input.
 
It's not much help now, but if you wet your fingertips and pinch the throttle signal and 5V wire with the same pair of fingers but not touching the wires to each other, you can somewhat modulate the throttle voltage by skin resistance changes. :)

works better with resistive throttle inputs rather than hall, but it can work with either.



Wish I had as easy an advice for Sandy's troubles, but I don't. :(
 
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