Juicer 48, the Etek build

Okay, Juicer needs a fuel-guage so I can see how much, uh, juice she has left. Now I am breaking my own rule of "no exotic parts I can't make." But when I saw this antique voltmeter on eBay with just the right range for sale cheap, well, I had to bite.

You know how when they list stuff on eBay and the seller says "I don't know if it works."? Well that means, "I know it doesn't work." Fortunately in this case it was just a disconnected wire, so the gamble payed off. But that underscores how delicate this instrument is. Besides protecting it from shocks, another challenge was to insulate the leads/contacts which carry the full pack voltage. To this end I decided to carve up a block eraser to insulate and absorb shock.

Cool, now I have a working, surface mounted gauge just like they had in the old days. It's not really meant for constant metering, and is fairly delicate, so I don't know how long it will last, but I'll keep it on there at least until I paint the whole bike.

The last thing I'm adding to Juicer 48 this year is a horn. Juicer 36 had a loudish motor, emitting a whine as it cruised by (Remember "Loud watts saves lives"?). This build, though faster and more powerful, is nearly silent. So if I'm going to be zipping around at 45mph on an invisible ride around LA boneheads, I think a horn is a necessary safety device.

Although I like the way this cheap, knock-off Deco-Era-Harley horn looks, I recognize that an old Klaxon would have been more period, but At 113 decibels, this sucker is LOUD, Jack. Plus it is well proportioned for the space that psychologically wants a headlight.

Juicer 48 VIDEO

We took the new Juicer downtown and rode her around. With my buddy, Abel as the cameraman driving alongside, we crossed the iconic sixth-street bridge at speed. The bridge is a deco masterpiece, but unfortunately it is crumbling away and is scheduled to be demolished. I'm glad we got this footage in time...

Juicer 48v emotorbicycle - YouTube

(couldn't figger out the embed code )

harry76 said:

The bike is looking great, i love the new guage!

Im definitely now interested in tackling an electric build....Just wondering what the blue cylinder battery packs you have? Are they lipo? Do you know a brand name or where you find them? Any help would be appreciated

Are you happy with your setup or is there anything you'd change?

Click to expand...

Harry76, by all means, make one of your own if you are so inclined. At one point I was looking at batteries from Lifetech Lithium which is in Australia, and they seem to have a superior product (at higher prices, but you'd at least save on shipping).

As for whether I am happy with my setup, yes I am; I think I proved that the free-coaster can make a robust jackshaft clutch, at least at this gearing and amperage. Would I change anything? Well, until I figure out how to use the coaster-brake as a regen-clutch there is little advantage to this approach over a centrifugal clutch. If you went that way you could dodge all the complication attendant to Left Hand Drive bike parts.

harry76 said:

I dont quite understand the need for the coaster brake? Does it ease in the power when applied? Is it necessary on electric bikes? I just planned on doing a jackshaft similar to the ones ive built on my previous builds with pillow bearings and key way shaft.

Click to expand...

Generally it is advisable to allow coasting without working against the motor (I think your gas engines have a clutch somewhere that allows this). There are several ways skin that cat. Juicer 36v had an overrunning clutch at the output shaft. As for your battery question, Juicer 48v has 16 batteries. Generally these larger cylindricals are 3v each, so you'd do 8 for 24v, 12 for 36v.... The best place to find this type of information is the board Matt/Recumpence mentioned; Endless Sphere.

Good luck!

Dudes, your humble boardmate is gettin' famous over this build! All kinda articles popping up. I put a partial list here.

Anyhoo, before it got too well known, I wanted to sneak it into a traditional bike-show and make some history. The timing was right for the Easyriders show in Anaheim. There were a couple of changes I wanted to make so it would blend better with the horde of Harleys that would surely be there. I thought I should disguise the batteries and wiring a bit better or there'd be a good chance they wouldn't let the bike in the door.

My first idea I had to change the color of the batteries was to wrap them with this aluminum-colored monoKote heat-shrink wrap I bought from a hobby-store that they use for RC model airplane skin. I thought better of it when I read that the glue melting temp was far higher than the safe temp of the Batteries. Harry76's suggestion of black paint was considered, but ultimately I found something at an art store that was both metallic looking and peel-off adhesive. So I bought a stack of copper-colored sheets of that and cut them down, and wrapped the outside cells one-by-one. Next to dress-up the wiring. I still had the braided expansion wrap variety pack from the Juicer 36 build. I went ahead and threaded the bigger red wires and BMS ribbon through that and used short sections of heat-shrink tubing to finish the ends.

Yeah. I always liked the way the contactor looks like a carb-bowl, and now the wires look like hoses. Funkin' all right! We might actually pull off the ruse long enough to get in the door. On Saturday, me and team Juicer (my buddy, Abel) arrived at the perfect time, about a half hour before setup closes. I rode Juicer partway up the ramp (because I'm lazy) and then pushed it the rest of the way so as not to arouse suspicion. When we got in line I got a little nervous. Other competitors were scrutinizing the bike but nobody said anything to us. Then I gave a lady my name and paperwork, she asked me to push the bike in front of a curtain for a photo (I gave a thumbs-up and my best yellow-toothed smile) and then we were in. Another fellah led us to my space where other bikes in the "People's Choice" competition were already set-up. He gave me an easel with our competitor number on it, but unlike everybody else's, it was absent of the details I'd provided...curious. Anyway, I figured the best thing now was to make myself scarce, until the doors opened to the public, in case they changed their minds.

Periodical recon missions told me that interest in the Juicer was high. Most folks figured out it was electric in under a minute, but only at close proximity. A few were really excited about it and let me know they would vote for it.

I stuck around to collect my trophy, but apparently it was mislabeled because they gave it to somebody else. The next day I emailed the lady in charge of the competition to find out how many votes I got. She got back to me today, saying they "don't keep that information." Well, it's probably conceited of me to assume it was a fixer, but I wonder if they'd nullify the peoples' will if I had won. I'm sure the e-revolution is not a friendly force to them. Anyway, I'm not cryin' over it because folks are emailing me wanting to know how they can get a Juicer of their own. If the orders start coming in I think I'm gonna have to break down and buy a drill-press.