Electric bicycle with a vintage twist!

Hi all!

I'd like to show you my recent build, this time an electric one (I've built some gas engine powered bikes). It seems like an antique motorbike restored for your average vintage show, this home-built electric bicycle is brand new down to its minutest fixture.

Started as a winter project to tinker with, an old BCA mountain bike made in 1983 had the chance to live on as a turn-of-the century look-alike motorcycle your great-grandfather might have proudly own. The old MTB surely had heavy days but this was this bicycle were made for: at the dawn of mountain biking, traditional diamond frame road geometry made out of strengthened steel was used for offroad purposes. This thing and its totally horizontal top tube catched my attention, I've only made some minor changes (eg. welding some supporting parts on) for the sake of the project.

The GM Pro901 electric hub motor capable of forcing some 1500W out at top speed were put in the back wheel dressed with cream slick tires. A steel box holding the 10Ah 48V LiFePo4 battery were welded from scratch to imitate the boxy gas tank of early motorcycles with appropriate pinstrips. Even it has a glittering name on the sides -- the "Laurin&Klement" was a real Bohemian motorcycle manufacturer in Europe at the glory days of motorbikes.

Every accessory the bike has were made from various off-the-shelf materials and got the same attention to detail people kept in mind when everything was made by hand. Most of these items were either fabricated from scratch or a modification of some other object. Lights were made from tea cans, top part of silver chalice, jar of vanishing cream and so on. The handlebar is an exact replica of an NSU commuter bicycle handle from the 30's, the Velo Orange chainguard brings back the curvy beauty of early French city bikes, even the vintage-looking Brooks leather saddle and the wooden grips are adding up to the antique atmosphere.

Capable of cruising up to 40 mph on its 26" wheels (and it does it in a distinguished gentleman style) it can make the everyday commuting routine to work a great time!

Any comments are more than welcome!

Regards,
David

Wow, thank you for the kind word guys, I'm really glad you like it. So, it seems four months of hard work and constant webshopping for the parts finally paid off !!!!

snellemin said:

I just have one question, where is the torque arm for the motor? I couldn't see one.

Click to expand...

The torque arm is the only part missing, but I it's just a question of days to install it on. It will be made from a 0.2 inch cro-moly plate with a curved arm that can be fixed on the chain stays. As you can see on the picture, the plate will hold securely the axle on the dropout while the slightly bended arm (according to the curve of the chain stay tube) will handle the hard work with yokes.

Almost there... I live in Budapest, Hungary which is far way north from the Mediterraneum. Personally I don't think I have photographer abilities, all I did was found a spot in Budapest that wasn't full of glass 'n concrete offices and mansions -- it's a small downtown quarter that has some of the old houses preserved for displaying how the capital of Hungary looked like at the 1800s.

All these photos were made for a small photoshop work you can find attached (I'm a graphic designer so I had to give it a try) just to see how it looked in its heyday.

bluegoatwoods said:

Hey everyone; notice also the background of the OPs photos.

It's believable as somewhere in Europe, most likely near the Mediterranean Sea, about a hundred years or so ago. Fits the bike perfectly.

It seems that this guy has photographer's sensibilities as well.

Click to expand...

biknut said:

Your bike may start a trend among eBike builders, building theme bikes. It's common with china girls, but I haven't noticed it much with eBikes.

Click to expand...

Yeah, not that much because if you think a bicycle, engine and decide to go vintage it's inevitable to end up something like a board track racer. I think it's just mere history thinking:

Early motorsport in the States mostly started as a form of board track racing. Since the LA Motodrome was built in 1910 it was the de facto form of bike sport up to the end of the twenties (that time came dirt racing to unstuck wooden tracks). US motorbikes were meant for travelling long distances, hence the powerful motors and sturdy construction.

In Europe we didn't have that long distances to cover. Therefore this kind of small and primitive (mostly manufactured in small quantitites) motors were meant for commuting and its primal target was city or small-town dwellers.

Luckily there are some retro-styled bikes you can get (for a big buck):
Otocycles in Spain
Vintage60 electric cruisers
E-tracker by Vintage Electric
Liberator in Estonia
Lampociclo in Italy

But still they are just a few. I made it because I was desperately wanted to have a classy vintage motorbike but I don't have the skills to constantly keep it in running form.