Reverend "Iggy" A Felt Taxi Mid drive lunatic

[Velodrome]

Getting the motor mounted and locked down was a breeze once I figured it out. I bought the "Luna" wrench when I bought the kit and it provides just enough leverage for the steel nut and prob MORE than the aluminum could take. Go carefully with that one. The Eclipse chainring provides near perfect chain line on this cruiser and S/A 3 speed and the tooth engadgment is insane!

 

[Velodrome]

I REALLY wanted to use my old tymie glass bead pedels but they are 1/2 inch The mountain bike cranks the kit ships with are 9/16 and I didn't like em on this build. I had some shorter wide set chromies in 1/2" so on they went.

 

[Velodrome]

Next up was the chainguard. Had to fab ( beat ) a piece of aluminum to raise and step out the guard to clear the ring chain combo. I may adjust a bit more for better fitment as I live with it. At least its on. Not shown was the bit where after the fact I gave it a quick paint job in gloss black.

 

[Velodrome]

On both sides of the motor is a semi clear protective coating. It doesnt want to peel off by hand / picking at it. Wanted to ask here first. Might a heat gun make removal easier?

 

[Velodrome]

Last bit for the day was the battery install. I bought the Axia Alloy 1.5" clamps with female attachments. The allen bolts I bought in 6mm were too big for the battery base; so I reamed em out with a Dremel carbide burr and also had to grind down both the sides and the top of the bolts for no interference with the battery or mounting base once in place. stretching out the clamps a bit more prior to install is highly recomended! I did a little on the first one and ended garfing up the downtube paint. Stretched more on the next one and still mared the paint spred the third out real good and finally had it right. Need to do final adjustmets but at least its on.

 

[Velodrome]

As with the motor, the battery case has some stickers on it that seem reluctant to be evicted. Suggestions? I have "GOO GONE" on the shelf but I dont really have a safe place to test for color change of the plastic. Anybody doo this? Tomorrow WIRING!

 

[Velodrome]

Quickie update. Goo Gone got the battery stickers off with no discoloration and a little heat got the plastic coating off the motor sides. Moving on with wireing and mounting stuff.

 

[SilentRider]

Everything's looking good. It's nice that you're keeping the chain guard but I'd go ahead and invest the time fitting it better now. It looks like you could bend the front yellow mounting tab up 90 degrees to get the guard lower, and then use a 90 degree mount to connect that to the frame. Black and silver chain ring looks very nice. I wish Bafang would make nicer ones. The stock black BBSHD chain ring is hideous. I just noticed you have the 24" wheels and 3" tires, that should make for a smooth fun ride. I liked those when I had my Felt Chief.

 

[Velodrome]

Cleaned up the wiring and zip tied it all down. Fixed up the speedo and set up the color display and ROAD THE DANG THING!! WOW! This is awesome! Put about 4 miles on it playing with the throttle and various levels of pedal assist. Making sure both brake cuttoffs work correctly and testing the brakes. There was NO throwing of chains and NO NOISE! After checking everything out I took the dog "trotsing"! She loves to trot beside Daddy while he rides his bike but hasnt been able to for months because of my hip . She got some exersize tonight and couldnt be happier. After she cooled down we went out for !TACOS! She just loves tacos. Sat outside the shop and she gets her 3 meat and cheese and I had a burrito I'll be doing a bit of clean up on the bike tomorrow and taking pics.

 

[MotoMagz]

Another nice build out of the back of the taco stand! The taxi felt is the perfect bike for a ebike. I know they are quiet and smooth.. but I'm interested in top speed after acceleration. I know the torque is there but when I need speed to cross roads keep ahead of traffic for a few blocks will she do it? Also they are pricey to get going ..but I haven't heard much about replacing parts or batteries...I quest batteries would be the first to go? Just pickin your brain. Glad you the pooch and the hip are back in action!

 

[Velodrome]

Luna may or may not be long for this world. Spent $500 last week to find out shes in the early stages of renal failure... Only 6 years old. The bike on the other hand is a MONSTER! Torque a plenty! I have managed to miss adjust the S/A 3 speed so its locked in top gear. None the less its quick with pedaling assist across streets and is damn fast on the strates. I'll report more once I have the 3 speed tuned but I put about 15 miles on it today and COULD NOT BE HAPPIER! SILENT! Well. Except for the tire noise: And that's almost nothing. I now have the power to go where I will. I'm no longer limited to the dangerous streets and riding in the gutter. I can ( quietly and slowly ) ride the sidewalks where I previously took my life in my hands, riding in the street; bike lane or no. This my boys is the cats tits! OH! And after 15 miles I still have ~ 1/3 battery left. And I didnt spare the horses!

 

[Velodrome]

One last note: Hard tails hurt in the long haul. My ass hurts. One Thudbuster seatpost coming up. Bumps at 30 MPH and 5 miles riding are diffenent at 30 MPH and 15 miles of riding...

 

[culvercityclassic]

Nice clean build, i like it...

 

[Velodrome]

Thanks Bro! Still need to clean it up with your safety wire trick. But its coming.

 

[SilentRider]

One last note: Hard tails hurt in the long haul. My ass hurts. One Thudbuster seatpost coming up. Bumps at 30 MPH and 5 miles riding are diffenent at 30 MPH and 15 miles of riding...

I hear ya, the Thudbuster will help but I also suggest this Cloud 9 plush foam and coil spring seat. I got one after Scotto endorsed it.
This is the one I bought > https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AO9VJM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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[Velodrome]

Thanks for the link for the seat! I forgot about those things. Thudbuster ST should be here today. Took the bike to a pro at a LBS and just learned they managed to get the thing out of top gear, so now I'll have to give it another shakedown; this time with all gears available. I'm gonna see how the Thudbuster works before I go buying more saddles but that sure looks like a good un. I like the vent idea too.

 

[SilentRider]

It is a vent but the cutout also relives pressure on your vital area that causes numbness and can affect your function if you know what I mean.

 

[Velodrome]

( whispers ) He's talking about your wiener

 

[Velodrome]

Well Well. My Thudbuster ST finally showed up! Now I cant ride my bike. Front Kenda downhill tube ( one fine tube by the way ) has a flaw in it next to the valve stem. Not repairable. Apparently all the miles I put on it at high speed made the thing go south. I have 2 19" motorcycle tubes on the way that I might try and a pair of new Kenda DH 24" tubes coming too. I'll be set for 24" tubes till Rapture. I put Super Motard 19" MC tubes in the Chief build and they worked great; but now having a hard time finding the size. Either way I go Kenda or the MC tubes I'll be way ahead of the paper thin POS stock tubes. Never seen a flaw like this one. Tiny little spot in the extra material next to the valve stem that reinforces it. Apparently poor or incomplete vulcanization in a spot small as a pin. Been riding on these tubes since I got the bike and no problems till I put the power to it. Im gonna hold off on the fancy ballroom saddle till I see what difference the Thudbuster makes.

 

[Velodrome]

I couldn't stand it! Wanted to ride so I stuffed the crappy old stock tube in the front tire and took it for a ride to ACE hardware. Firstly: the 3 speed works flawlessly! First is great! It shoots off like a scalded cat and then, shifting up through the gears settles at ~31 MPH with a ~90% charge on the batt. I have the Thudbuster in with the stiffest elastomer and I think it may be too stiff. I'll swap in the next softer and see how that goes next week. I'm stuck working the next 4 nights in a row.