7-speed shifting trike

OK, time for a long overdue trike topic update.

I got a paid customer for another electric trike build and went ahead and dropped the hammer for the specialty parts and ordered the minimum 10 cases to have them all custom laser cut, drilled and bent for me for less than $100 box but still a lot up front.

As mentioned Kent disconnected the Bayside trike, I had to scramble to get the last one available for $500 delivered but found a nice replacement for about the same delivered price, a Rakuten 24" Adult 6 Speed Trike.

http://www.rakuten.com/prod/24-adul...peed-trike/246750905.html?listingId=262644488



It has one less sprocket on the derailleur but that is good thing, it just doesn't need 7 gears and it has a little fatter drive chain. It also has a rear band brake and front V but it lacks a front shock. It makes up for that a bit with fenders for all 3 wheels, a little better seat back and a nice basket for the front as well.

As mentioned I scored the last Kent Bayside I could find and ordered the Rakuten 6-speed adult trike too, well the Rakuten arrived yesterday already and I was really surprised!

It arrived in 2 boxes opposed to the single gigantic box the Bayside came in.
The rear axle is not attached to the frame so it was just a regular 2-wheel size box, and the other box had the two baskets.
It is one extra assembly step but much easier to manage the boxes in the shop!

On another note I got my invoice for my two new custom batteries and their chargers but the price changed...
Note that the total in US dollars and HKD indicates total delivered price from Hong Kong....



Darn those pesky decimal places ;-}

Ever notice a decimal place is never misplaced the other way?
I would have loved $36 per battery and $4.25 per charger ;-}

Anyway I thought you'd get a laugh at that and it looks like first of the next 2 trike builds will be on the Rakuten trike and ahead of schedule.

The other change this time is the controllers, I am going with a programmable 24-48V Kelly controller and throttle that has more functions but the same Cyclone-E-Bikes 24-48V motor.
They even threw in the USB programming cable and upgraded one controller to 100A for free ;-}

One trike is a customer paid build, his choice, the other will be mine as a demo.
I am taking a huge finical cliff dive into the deep waters with this venture and will be sitting on eight expensive cases so I hope this takes off ya know?

I actually scored the last of the bayside trikes and have one of the new Flying Pigeon 6-speed trikes I am designing my trike boxes to.





The 2 motors and controllers are in, 2 batteries with chargers are on their way as is 2 more stock boxes. the order for 10 custom made boxes will have to wait until I get the specs for how it fits on a Pigeon.

Both will be done at the same time so we can do some head to head riding comparisons. Identical power so it will be all about the trikes. 6-speed vs 7-speed, and overall comfort.

Pablo said:

If anyone calls us about trikes we send them to KC!!!

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(smiles) Thanks Paul, I am diving in deep with electrics in general but trikes are fun ;-}

These are the shipping product stats on the new trike base from Pigeon for 10:
---
FRAME&FORK: steel φ50*2.0mm frame&fork
HANDLE BAR SETS: alloy handle bar &alloy stem& steel seat post
DRIVE SYSTEM: alloy crank& steel chain wheel.
with steel 9type chain cover
WHEEL SETS: alloy rim 24"*1.75
black tire(Wanda brand), A/V 24*1.75
13G spoke
BRAKE SETS: front caliper brake and rear band brake
saddle as picture
DERAILLEUR: Shimano outter 6speed or 1speed
FENDER&CHAIN COVER: steel with painting
COLOR&STICKER: to order
ACCESSORY: with front&rear basket
FOB TIANJIN: 151usd (shimano 6speed)
---

$151 a piece, Pffttt, Wally World Huffy bike price but they only take it to the dock, FOB means Free On Board (the ship or plane), what it costs to move it across the ocean to my front door is another payment matter all together.

I am playing with the new Kelly controllers today, I downloaded the programing software for them but I have 2 different ones as well as 2 different motors, speaking of which this is the new Cyclone-E motor.



1680W motor, 1KW+ battery and 1KW+ controller is way overkill for a 25MPH shifting trike but that is the beauty of it, you have the power to go up a hill at that speed, and on the flats you only use a fraction of the power so I am thinking 40 miles on the flats would be a breeze.

I got my second Kent trike out the door yesterday.

This doesn't look much different than my first electric trike but it is.
Besides the controller and battery charger being different, the motor is higher and back further and what happened to the motor wires?



This one also has a new added master power keylock switch.



The charger also sits flat on this model and the battery centered in the box thanks to the much smaller size controller.



And how can you not appreciate the motor mount color matching paint, acorn nuts and virtually invisible wire and cabling?

I also got to see first hand how the programmable Kelly controller works when you set it to balance torque and speed, if you try to lay on too much power the throttle limits you just enough to not pop a wheelie. I didn't have time to test in 1st gear as 3rd is the preferred start gear even with my over gearing but it does a great job of keeping the front wheel on the ground which you can hear in this short video of me trying to make it pop one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjnBWsYIqMU&feature=youtu.be

If you listen careful you can here the motor cut out briefly and ya, it has a great front light and she stops in a hurry ;-}

That is it for the Kent trikes, they are discontinued and that trike is out door so now it is finally on to the new model with even more performance and some more design surprises.

Did I mention I was having a blast building and riding these?

fasteddy said:

KC
Looking forward to the new trike. Is it going to be the Flying Pigeon? Too bad they stopped selling the Kent trikes since you have them looking so good but on to the new.

Steve.

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Yes, I have already started on the Pigeon and it will be base I will be using from here on out or until of course a better trike is found ;-}

It is a pain in the butt to do all the cutting and drilling on the standard electronics box I use, especially the cuts and bends for the charger to fit through, so I need to make a blueprint of exactly where every cut, bend and drill hole should should be so when they make me 10 cases (minimum order) they make them for me.

In short they start with a flat piece of metal for both parts and do all the drilling and cutting before they do the bending.

This is how the parts will lay out.



I just mark mark everything, measure, and draft a layout.



I am using a different charger and controller this time so I could mount the battery in the center.
You can really appreciate just how huge that 36V 120 cell 960 KW/h LI battery is in comparison to the other parts but that is how the thing can go 25MPH for over 35 miles, maybe well over with occasional pedal help ;-}

I would be making more progress on it if it were a customer build and it weren't for all this pesky new gas bike business I have, so much I have a full time employee now, but this build is on my dime and it gets done when it gets done.

I already set up a new domain name for these new trikes, http://KCsTRIKES.com
I just have pictures of that first trike on it but the specs for the Pigeon and when done the Pigeon pics will replace them.

I'm just 'getting my Pigeons in a row' as it were hehehehe ;-}

No Steve, I get my motors and Kelly controllers from Cyclone-e-bikes for now but when Pablo and Jim at SBP start carrying them it would make sense to get them there as that is where I get my bottom bracket freewheel parts, which reminds me...

The Kent had 1 piece cranks so I had to remove them, put it 3-piece crank adapters, then buy a sealed bearing shaft and buy new pedals in addition to the freewheel stuff.
The pigeon has 3-cranks and since the motor is above and back from the pedals the stock BB and pedals works dandy, all I need is the 2 sprockets, freewheel bearing and special crank arms.

As for the cases, drilling the holes isn't bad if it was just a couple regular bit size ones but it has a couple bigger ones and the really big hole in the bottom for the wires to go in, and then there is the cutting and bending of the top cover for the charger to poke out as it is not cut flush, I bend it in with 1/2" tabs to secure the front of the charger and make it a clean rounded edge.

10 boxes at ~$90 each is a big gamble but when I figure it will save me a good 2 hours in build time and look much better than I do by hand it will pay off if I can sell them all.

Nothing ventured nothing gained right?
I keep trying to tell my wife that but she is getting a bit miffed with me... She knows I'm bringing money in but not seeing any of it hehehe ;-}

Re: 6-speed shifting trike




I don't have the front basket or wheel reflectors on yet but everything else is.
Rear basket, CREE 1200 Lumen front light, Mirror, Fenders, and a 'ting-ting' Bell ;-}

Here is a little closer shot of the drive train with the motor chain guard.



I used the flash for this rear shot, the lights on the basket and fenders are reflectors, the bottom 3 are my 12V running lights tied in series with the 36V battery.



I am not whatsoever happy with the rear fenders, I'll have to come up with something to keep them in place.

The handlebars came out nice and easy to operate.



The inner box is to my liking, I have everything where it needs to be and secured well.



The silver Kelly controller has heat sink grease between the mount so the case can help dissipate heat.

Wild Bill said:

Very nice build! You do very good work.

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Thanks Bill.
The trike got a workout all week, a good 20 1 mile parts runs and it really came in handy when I had to get a 26 and a 29" wheel and box with a new hub in it up to the bike shop and back again, I just stood them up in the basket and used a bungie cord.

It has not been charged since I started riding it a week and half ago and still feels like 100% power, gauge says about 1/2 a 'tank' left.

Pablo said:

I recognize that battery now. I'm really digging the new EM3ev batteries. Both the NCM and the Samsungs. Nice form for the 48V 20Amp. Not even nearly as huge as the 48V Ping.

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Ya, Paul over there did a great job for my custom trike box size and power requirements.
Great Scott!
How about that... I have two Great Paul's providing me crucial parts for my shifting trikes as I use your SBP BB system ;-}

I need to find a different charge though, the ones I got from EM3ev have a round side and the fan on the wrong end for fitting and operation in my box.

GearNut said:

Which end is the fan on?

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The opposite end of the power cord input, and the case has a rounded top so just not right for my case to fit over.

I'll just use this one, I have used them before and they fit nice.



The current charger has quit working anyway, at least I hope it's the charger, I need to put a load on it and test it today.

Re: 6-speed shifting Piegon trike

fasteddy said:

All your Pigeons in a row. Priceless.
Steve

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Like cats, pigeons don't seem to like lining up like baby ducks in a row behind mommy duck.

I finally had to just pull the rear fenders off, they are a catastrophic failure risk due to a mindlessly poor mounting design.

When a rear fender with a bumper around the wheel is only mounted with 2 bolts to a frame flange it moves so freely the bumper catches the wheel and spins the fender clear around to the front to the point of going under the front of that rear wheel and sending you into a skid.

They have 'regular' rear fenders to meaning they don't have that metal bumper that goes around the wheel that look like they will work much better so not that big of a deal but still, you just have to wonder what the engineer was thinking with these fenders design.