Not Quite an Electric Bike

deacon said:

I had a suspension front end on my rhino and it was just not very stable. i was trying to solve a bumbing problem so i switched to a solid front end to see if that would help. It didn't but surprisingly enough the ride did get better without the suspension. I have no idea why but there is much better control when coming off a bump.

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None of the cruisers I used, originally, had front suspension. Albeit cool looking, they had lightweight, but flimsy frames. Going fast down long, steep hills was starting to get really spooky. When making rapid right and lift twists to the handlebars, you could feel the bike "lag" due to the flexing. Also, the brakes on both cruisers had much to be desired. Either the front or the rear worked better than the other. The brakes on the Ezip both work way better. Of course, most of this wouldn't be much of an issue if I dropped, oh, around 40 lbs.

deacon said:

I had a suspension front end on my rhino and it was just not very stable. i was trying to solve a bumbing problem so i switched to a solid front end to see if that would help. It didn't but surprisingly enough the ride did get better without the suspension. I have no idea why but there is much better control when coming off a bump.

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It finally dried up enough to go out for a round the block test run. Still hauls, but still has that "stumbling" problem. The stumbling starts if I hit the throttle too much off a slow start. If I keep the throttle open to say 1/2, the bike will steadily and smoothly pick up speed without the stumbling. If I goose it, it'll start to stumble. If the bike is just about at max speed, no problemo.
When I came back home, the chain was still tight. I picked up the proper eyebolt and can now keep a good tension on the chain. I also had to tighten the bearings on the rear wheel. Sheesh.
Would be nice if it were the rear wheel losing traction instead. Kinda like those old fuel altereds. Hopping and getting squirrely off the line. Just too much motor. Me thinks not. Speaking of which, think I'll spend part of this afternoon watching some Jackson Bros. videos on the old altereds.

BossCat said:

Im just curious as to how you mounted that motor on your bike, as its not to clear in the pic.
Regards
Tom

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Here's some pics. Seeing it might be easier than my explaining it.

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This one is a "rear" view so you can see the shape of the plate.

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Here's the upper left ear of the plate that mounts to the frame via an insulated conduit clamp.

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This is a shot of the axle mount with the chain tensioner. There's also a kiddy trailer hitch bolted on as well.

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This particular mounting plate is from their kit. They also make dedicated mounting plates for Ezips and the like. The frames of these bikes have accomodations for specific mounting plates for Curry geared motors. Hope these help.

BossCat said:

aaah all becomes clear
You have like a flip flop wheel with cogs/sprockets on both sides. Im looking out for one so I can mount my motor on my rear rack, that or a wheel with a disc brake, that way I can bolt a cog/sproket on instead of the disc. Thanks for uploading those pics grouchyolfart.

Regards
Tom

PS... Does the cog freewheel?

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Curry makes the wheel and I've seen them for sale online. The price seems high, but try pricing a bike shop to make one, it'll cost even more. Mainland might be different, but we can't get ready made 26" wheels like this here. They have to be custom made. They do use the flip flop hub that BMXers use, but the 21T freewheeling cog has to be special ordered. My local bike shop doesn't stock cogs larger than 16T. IIRC, online prices ran around $80 for a 26" wheel with the wrong side freewheeling, 21T cog. The other side is threaded to accomodate gears.

You're welcome. 8)

deacon said:

There's a guy on ebay that parted out a bunch of 20" currie bikes, but the only wheels are 20" which would be fine for me but not anyone else.

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If this guy's selling cheap, I'd jump on one, but I already have an extra wheel for backup.

One can always have the 20" rim replaced with a 26" rim at the local bike shop. It cost me $60 to have a bad rim replaced with a good one, which I provided. They even installed all new spokes instead of using the old ones, but that can be specified when having the work order drawn up. Reason they did that was the bad wheel had several bent spokes and most had some degree of oxidation. Safer to go with all new ones in this case. Reusing old spokes would cut down on the cost quite a bit.

I took the Ezip framed bike for a 2 mile ride and found it to be more spooky at top speeds than the "flexi" cruiser. Go figure. Also still had that stumbling problem.

Came home and stripped it down and threw the frame in the backyard. Put the motor on a Huffy Stonehaven. It actually feels better, but still has that stumbling. I finally took a risk and looked down between my legs at the motor and mount. I noticed the whole rear end oscillating during the stumbling episodes. I figure, just the fact that the motor is mounted at the end of a flat plate, then mounted to a light rear tube frame is not conducive to higher torque. The 24 volt rig is fine, but the 36 may be over powered for just about any bike with a "Y" rear end, which is virtually all bikes. A high torque system might be better as a center mount and run through the pedal gears, as a friction drive or a pusher trailer. Can't think of anything else to do but go back to a 24 volt system. That means having to order a couple of 24 volt controllers. Honey????.....................

Another option is to maybe mount the motor to a "softail" mountain bike. The one I have sitting around has an aluminum frame with a steel softail frame. Might be less prone to oscillation under
stress. Hmm...

Me thinks I'm going to take a break from this system for awhile and go play with that 24 volt 350 watt hub motor I have sitting against the wall. Bump it up to 36 volt and see what it can do. At least I'll have more space over and around the rear wheel to mount the extra battery. I'll also be able to use my original cruiser, which I like very much.

Back to the drawing board and strip this bike down and get ready to prep the next one.