Zen & pp/e bike

[deacon]

I got the second bike running now. I switched everything to a midget bike, my name for the twenty inch kids bike with a 26" front end on it. I was so tired after I finished I did only a short test ride. Actually only one mile. The 300 watt friction drive is a lot more people power intensive but still a lot better than pure people power.

The problem was the old power pack. It is just trash. I might keep one of the batteries that seems to be doing okay but the other is definitely trash.

As for the trip advice these bikes will only go about eight miles round trip max. That is pulling the trailer even. I have been thinking I might take up fishing...

 

[deacon]

Coming back from a test ride of the friction bike, a neighbor stopped me. She said she and her children had seen me a couple of miles from the house Sunday. I explained that I was on my way to the home depot at the time. she just laughed her butt off. I saw her glance at my perfectly good car in the drive. I suppose I seem nuts to her, but I enjoy the effect I have on people almost as much as I enjoy the bike ride.

Some of them have to look twice to understand that I'm going up hill and not pedaling. The bikes are super quiet. It almost got me in trouble yesterday. I pulled up to an intersection at the same time as a car. He had the stop sign but I slowed down a little anyway. He looked at me and I guess saw that I wasn't pedaling. He surged a couple of feet then realized I was still picking up speed.

Four wheeler drivers are dangerous to any bike. I have come to believe that.

 

[Michigan Mike]

Deacon,
Have you had any experience running your electric bikes with the big, deep cycle batteries that fishermen use to run their electric boat motors?
.

 

[deacon]

The only batteries I have used are the sla and the flooded cells used for lawn tractors. I think those are bout 8ah but that is just a guess. I towed them in a trailer and it worked pretty well. Just a lot of trouble to make a short trip.

 

[deacon]

My reasons for going the routes I have gone are purely practical the zen thing is just a side benefit. Today I was riding purely for exercise and getting in the last bit before the week long rain comes in. Also i tied to test bikes and batteries. The tests were canceled due to equipment failure.

I took two of the small friction bikes out and rode them a mile each. It wore me out, then I took the hub bike out for two miles. Now this is the interesting part.

as I started on my first half mile with the hub bike I saw a bike rider (no power) about a half block ahead. I ride the hub bike wide ope 90% of the time so it wasn't any different that any other time. I was running it wide open down hill as i always do.

Next to me the bike rider was pedaling furiously to gain enough speed for an assist with the hill that was coming. When we hit the hill that is where he fell behind. I had a good half block or three fourths of a block on him after the hill.

Since I was riding for fun, I turned around at the stop sign and headed back. I had gotten far enough ahead of him so that I pass him on the way back. He was riding an old coaster bike. If he had been on a ten speed I might not have managed to pass him even on the uphill side. Still it was an interesting experience to see the difference the small hub motor made.

Friction I think would be fine at 500 or more watts. At 300 its just not enough torque. The scooter motors all run at about the same rpms it's all about the mount of torque they put out.

 

[deacon]

The streets are wet and it looks like rain, so i made a little raincoat for my battery pack and took off. I got about half a mile when it noticed my face was wet. I turned around and came home but the bike did really well on the damp street. I like this hub motor a lot. Just wish they weren't so expensive.

 

[deacon]

Since even a hub motor bike, the most expensive kit of them all I expect, is still relatively inexpensive, it is easy to forget how much they mean to me. After I decided I was finished with gas bikes, it took me a month or so to get an ebike working. I finally managed to ride regularly again a month or so ago. Then only after I broke down and bought a hub motor kit. I never did get a friction drive DIY bike strong enough to ride regularly. I'm still working on it though.

Now the spring monsoon seems to have begun. I won't be able to ride for a few days. I am already getting cranky. Since I am not allowed to drive a car, that's a good thing by the way, I am at the mercy of my wife and house bound more or less.

Never has rain, rain go away seemed so much like a prayer. I know that the bike is a tool for me, as well as a hobby, but it is also an extension of my personality. It is my freedom and independence. My bikes are wacky looking but they are me all strange angles and twists.

 

[deacon]

Today I rode the hub bike on its third battery test. This isn't so much about the battery test as the attention and lack of attention of my bike. When I ride it with the batteries covered, it looks just like a ordinary bike with a luggage carrier on the back. There could be a gym bag or something tied there. So hardly anyone notices me. Which is a good thing when I ride without a helmet.

The bike itself looks a little strange, if you take a really good look at it. It does not seem to attract any real attention so no one is looking. But stick a trailer filled with batteries on the back of it and there is no longer any denying what it is. I probely could disguise those as well.

I rode it to the senior center which is my new test ride. That ride is 3.25 miles round trip which is a good test. While I was turning around in the parking lot an older man commented as I rode by. "Bet that gets great gas milage." I replied yes it does.

That led me to thinking about how much more convenient this bike is than the china 2 stroke bike. I know it has less power and less range but I just walk out and unplug the charger and roll it out. When I take off from a stop sigh the pedals are to get it up to speed not to get it moving before I can drop a clutch.

There are good things and bad things about the ebike just as there are about most things. Best of all we are adaptable to it.

 

[deacon]

I had a great ride today with the battery trailer. The bike did well and I really enjoyed the weather. It is getting warmer maybe that is why I enjoyed it so much.

It might have been the envious look of an old man my age walking around the senior center. Also I got a lot of looks from four wheel drivers. Yes I know it's ego and there is no place for ego in the zen thing.

I think I need to put a sign on the trailer. You know eat at joe's or will ride for food.. If I get this thing down to where it is easy enough for seniors to ride I might build a couple of them.


....BUT BEST OF ALL WE ARE CREATING INTEREST IN THE EBIKE....

 

[deacon]

My wife, the computer hater, is about to retire. So to keep in touch with her friends and of course to surf the net, she had me order her a computer. I bought her one on the dell refurb auction site. A pretty nice reconditioned laptop. I have no idea what it has on it, but I know for sure I am going to need a wireless router. My network is hardwire and the number of computers on it has shrunk to just one. The old desktop I am typing on now.

I have a very small backup computer in the shop that may or may not work these days. I honestly haven't checked. Once I put her laptop on line I won't need it. It's purpose was to be there in case this one went down. Mostly so I could order another one...

What has all this to do with bikes you ask. Well it's my first real world errand. I am going to saddle up the bike and ride to office depot to check out a router. I am going to do that in about five minutes. This kind of thing is why I built the bike in the first place. Okay it why I told my wife I needed to build it.

So I'm off on the first real world test of the bike.

 

[Michigan Mike]

Cool ... give us a report when you get back.
.

 

[deacon]

I rode to the office depot to check out the wireless routers but decided not to buy one there. It was cold on the bike. It seems I didn't wait long enough to leave the coat at home.

I had some hecklers, forgive them Lord they know not what they do, in a hydrocarbon fume spewing minivan. Too bad the bike doesn't run faster I could have caught them at a light and explained that the sidewalk they wanted me to be on is not for bikes.

My new found inner peace prevented me from making a hand gesture, That and I needed both hands on the bars since the traffic was heavy at that point.

 

[deacon]

I ran a small errand for my wife this afternoon on the bike and now I realize a trip on the bike has three components. Each is as important as either of the others. It is even more important on my underpowered exercise oriented 250watt hub motor bike.

First of all is planning. The shortest route in almost never the best route. One needs to know the distance, grade, traffic conditions.

Then there is the best use of the bike's motor. Sometimes barely a boost is best, sometimes wot is best, almost always coasting whenever possible is good.

When to pedal is important. If you pedal too soon you are not going to catch the freewheel or at least it will not be effective. No sense wearing yourself out so that you are beat before you have to pump the bike.

So let's call it the trilogy or shamrock of e-motor biking.

This is good for my feeble brain by the way.

Sometimes you just have to go to know what the roads are like. For instance i had three choices today to get where I needed to go.

The most direct would require me to make a left turn across a very busy street. With the impatience of four wheelers I figured that was the least attractive. Then there were two that would allow me to make the turns with a traffic light, then bring the destination up on my right side.

One was longer but I knew it was pretty flat... The other was shorter and I had no idea what the road was like. I took the unknown since I wanted to know what it was like. Bad Bad choice.

The route had a short but very steep hill. I made it, but it took my breath away. Which is a good thing. I ride as much for exercise as anything but I still marked it off my list of future routes. I want to ride smart there are enough challenges to get a good workout.

 

[Michigan Mike]

Deacon,
Do you think this trike might be a good candidate for an electric motor?

YouTube - Schwinn Meridian Trike

Walmart.com: Schwinn Meridian Adult Tricycle: Bikes, Scooters & Skates

Seems like a trike might do about as well or better than a trailer for carrying extra battery power.? Would welcome your input.
.

 

[deacon]

I always wanted to do a trike. I think a front wheel hum motor of at least 500 watts would work pretty darn well. The advantages are cool ones. Put your battery pack or even two of them in the basket. Cut a piece of plywood to lay on top and you still have a storage space.

It would be a a little heavier than a bike which will cut down on your performance and range I would think. But then again it is rolling weight and your batteries would be low on the frame in the basket.

You need to be very careful with right turns on a trike but otherwise they are pretty much like a bike I think. Four wheelers are your problem they still want to squeeze by you I suspect.

All in all I would give it a try If i had one. the buy in price is about ten times what I pay for a bike that I build. Still if I could afford it I would surely try it. One thing you might notice the price between a 600watt and 1000 watt engine is negligible these days. The big difference is the number of batteries you need. Its a combination of cost and weight for me.

I found the 24volt make the most sense for me but that does not mean it would for anyone else. I think it would be a good build for sure. Also probably one you could sell to at least recover your money.

 

[Michigan Mike]

Thanks Deacon ... some good points and I appreciate your input. BTW, sorry to go off topic on your thread. Looking forward to your next installment on the pp/e bike.
.

 

[deacon]

Oh i dont mind this is just a rambling thread anyway

 

[deacon]

no zen today...

I tried to fix it and of course it screwed up. The trailer that is. Worst of all I got a couple of blocks from home before I realized I would not be able to pedal the bike up the steep steep hills with it on. I managed to get the bike home then I fixed it. Like I welded the wheels on loose enough to turn but they are not going to fall off or tighten up on me again. The trailer is small enough that I can change the tire with the wheels still on it.

Next trailer I build I'm going to use lawn mower wheels and just trash it all when they go bad. Make it disposable.

 

[deacon]

When I rebuilt my trailer I had a moment of truth, I ripped off the rack over the rear wheel of my bubba bike. Yes it finally got a name... So I had to decide did I want to carry all my batteries all the time or did I want to set it so that I could switch out the packs. In the end I compromised. I rigged the trailer to carry either one of both packs.

I have never pulled both packs at one time. That is this afternoons test. Nope I haven't ridden today. Yesterday's fiasco really wore me out. I am going to go ride soon though.

Funny thing happened this morning. I was in a neighborhood store where we buy a few things now and then. I hear this voice behind me say, "You are the man with the bikes."

"Yes ma'am I am."

"I watched you when you first started to ride in the neighborhood. I see you about every day. I just have to ask,'How much weight have you lost?"

"About fifty pounds," I replied.

"I thought so, you have been an inspiration to us all. In the last year since you started I have seem lots of senior citizens out on their bikes or out walking."

I had no idea anybody thought anything except I was the nut with the motor bikes. I had no idea that more people my age were out moving around because they saw me out riding. It's kind of what I hoped to promote someday but I haven't done a thing to start it yet.

Well I didn't think I had.

 

[deacon]

I rode the bike with the double battery pack on the trailer. I was very very skeptical that I could pull it up the hills. I am pretty much still exhausted from yesterdays debacle, but it went well.

For one thing the amount of effort to pull two is no more than to pull one which probably is less than pulling the bike alone. The bike is very stable now that I have the trailer rebuilt.

Now for the mechanics of how I think it works. With all that battery range I didn't even think about conservation so I wot it down the hills as well as up them. Because of that and the extra twenty pounds pushing me I was reaching speeds right up there with the big boys, but only downhill.

However I learned from friction drive bikes that downhill speed is a good thing because it bleeds off on the next hill. I get farther up it before I can pedal. That makes the ride more enjoyable. I was pedaling less and it was even easier I think. I like the battery trailer and now that I know I might work on making it a permanent four battery trailer.

At the moment is it set so that I can easily convert it to one set of batteries. I did that in case two sets were to hard to handle. I will have to test it a few more times, but I think that is the future.

I think I can even get a wire basket on top of the trailer to carry things home from the store.

I had a heck of a problem with the trailer hitch. If anyone else tries to build one let me suggest that you use an L bracket as the hitch. It puts the trailer tongue away from the bike and gives you an easy place to bolt through. It does need to be braked but that's not a big deal.

However here is the trick. Take a heavy bit of steel three inches or so long and a over an inch wide. drill a 3/8" hole in each end. One end weld a bolt though the hole. The bolt should be long enough for the trailer hitch two nuts and a lock washer. Trust me you need them all.

I have had the trailer come loose a couple of times with just a single nut. Oh yeah a nice piece of chain as a safety measure is a good idea as well. That seems to work.

I love my welder lol. My welds look like crap and sometimes i have to do them three or four times but man I love that thing.