Eyck, taste buds and all go sour I had it back in Dec. . lingers on a long time , hoe you get better fast............Curt
Old Guys Simplex moto-peddle bike
- Thread starter indian22
- Start date
Thanks Curt I'm hoping for the best in His will.
Rick C.
Rick C.
Rode to get groceries yesterday. Beautiful and cool, first time out in a week and it lifted my spirits!
Rick C.
Rick C.
So true, he is in charge, glad you got out, always perks one up............Curt
Great weather here, perfect for working and riding and I'm doing a little of each as I feel stronger.
I pulled the tank and battery from the Ol' Crow yesterday to weld a connector plate to the bottom of the fuel filler bung. The battery charge port is bolted to this plate. Very secure now. It took about an hour to pull the tank, make the mod and reinstall the tank. Small detail which will improve the reliability of the charging process and which should have been done during the original setup of the battery and tank or at least during one of many battery changes between 72v and 48v power swaps.
As the controller, battery and motor are now configured. Max output is around 3kw and with gear reduction used it's really torquey, maybe more than I intended, but as I've ridden now quite a bit and become used to it; I find myself really liking the torque and the speed is still quite good. Fortyish and with clincher tires I ride under 30mph 95% of the time so more speed to me is pointless in my real world use, so a bit more torque is preferable to more speed day in and day out.
I really don't have a feel for range yet with this 48v 20 amp hr setup. I've not attempted anything past 25 miles at this point at about 15mph average speed. I have a volt/watt meter which I need to connect for testing voltage sag on longer rides. This would boost my confidence in using up more of my battery on longer rides at varying speeds. I don't want to push this bike home with a dead battery!
I have copper tubing on order to add fake fuel and oil lines to the V twin as local Ace was out of stock. Getting the cosmetic finishing touches for the engine is next, including side plates and a magneto. The actualrunning gear on this bike is complete and well tested to my satisfaction.
Rick C.
I pulled the tank and battery from the Ol' Crow yesterday to weld a connector plate to the bottom of the fuel filler bung. The battery charge port is bolted to this plate. Very secure now. It took about an hour to pull the tank, make the mod and reinstall the tank. Small detail which will improve the reliability of the charging process and which should have been done during the original setup of the battery and tank or at least during one of many battery changes between 72v and 48v power swaps.
As the controller, battery and motor are now configured. Max output is around 3kw and with gear reduction used it's really torquey, maybe more than I intended, but as I've ridden now quite a bit and become used to it; I find myself really liking the torque and the speed is still quite good. Fortyish and with clincher tires I ride under 30mph 95% of the time so more speed to me is pointless in my real world use, so a bit more torque is preferable to more speed day in and day out.
I really don't have a feel for range yet with this 48v 20 amp hr setup. I've not attempted anything past 25 miles at this point at about 15mph average speed. I have a volt/watt meter which I need to connect for testing voltage sag on longer rides. This would boost my confidence in using up more of my battery on longer rides at varying speeds. I don't want to push this bike home with a dead battery!
I have copper tubing on order to add fake fuel and oil lines to the V twin as local Ace was out of stock. Getting the cosmetic finishing touches for the engine is next, including side plates and a magneto. The actualrunning gear on this bike is complete and well tested to my satisfaction.
Rick C.
I brought this up before but these gearless motors don't like slow rpm. You can burn one out riding at lugging speed. They are happy at say 50% rpm up to 90% motor shaft rpm. One is less likely to damage a motor at 90% of continuous rated rpm than say at 20%. This is my reason for using the reduction gear drive to aid in upping the motor shaft rpm at bicycle pedal speed which I think of as 12 mph or so. My reduction drive ratio requires the motor to spin more than twice as fast at any given bike speed, thus operating in a range of high motor efficiency and low motor temps.
The other benefits of reduction gearing resulting in more torque are of course obvious.
Rick C.
The other benefits of reduction gearing resulting in more torque are of course obvious.
Rick C.
I swear I'll take some photos to backup the verbage at some point. I'm not good with the camera and bad about leaving it at home when I go for rides. No phone, no camera.
Schwinn Excelsior electric V twin is progressing well, but like the Ol' Crow it's power train has gone through several iterations and component wise is now almost a mirror image of the Ol' Crow power setup but at half the weight and 7" shorter wheelbase. I think riding it at more than thirty mph might be dicey on a bumpy roadway. It could surprise me but I doubt it. This frame would be a good candidate to stretch a half foot like I did the Grubee hybrid. That mod made the bike really stable at higher cruising speeds and I consider 30 mph a high cruising speed for a stock frame motorbike gas or electric. In my riding longer ranges I try to average 15mph to 20mph and keep even down hill speeds under 25mph. That's how I roll and my tires, hubs and brakes thank me for keeping them cool. Motors or engines are just loafing at 20 mph so no problems there either. I have one hub motor e bike that can barely reach 25mph top speed but it cruises cool at 20mph. Range with electrics really suffers with cruising at over 20 mph. Even if the bike can more than double that number top speed wise. Don't think the manufacturers range estimates are based on high speed cruising or not pedal assisting continually. I think 12mph speed is what they use in tests to get their range estimates and if your a big boy that lowers range as well.
Though I like the electrics after several years of building and riding them I see range as the most misleading spec they feed us. Also cold weather really reduces range, just like car batteries lithiums struggle much harder to start/run a vehicle in colder weather.
I keep my Grubee hybrid fueled up and ready all Winter and just use the battery to fire her up on really cold days. Really takes the pressure off the pure ebikes. For a daily rider year round the hybrid is still top of the class mostly for real range and Winter dependability. Electrics aren't that great when it get's really cold here in Indian Territory, let alone International Falls!
Beware the touts which live in Southern Cali and that only preach electric power. That's their Hollywood version of motor biking and "woke" reality.
Still just having fun!
Rick C.
Schwinn Excelsior electric V twin is progressing well, but like the Ol' Crow it's power train has gone through several iterations and component wise is now almost a mirror image of the Ol' Crow power setup but at half the weight and 7" shorter wheelbase. I think riding it at more than thirty mph might be dicey on a bumpy roadway. It could surprise me but I doubt it. This frame would be a good candidate to stretch a half foot like I did the Grubee hybrid. That mod made the bike really stable at higher cruising speeds and I consider 30 mph a high cruising speed for a stock frame motorbike gas or electric. In my riding longer ranges I try to average 15mph to 20mph and keep even down hill speeds under 25mph. That's how I roll and my tires, hubs and brakes thank me for keeping them cool. Motors or engines are just loafing at 20 mph so no problems there either. I have one hub motor e bike that can barely reach 25mph top speed but it cruises cool at 20mph. Range with electrics really suffers with cruising at over 20 mph. Even if the bike can more than double that number top speed wise. Don't think the manufacturers range estimates are based on high speed cruising or not pedal assisting continually. I think 12mph speed is what they use in tests to get their range estimates and if your a big boy that lowers range as well.
Though I like the electrics after several years of building and riding them I see range as the most misleading spec they feed us. Also cold weather really reduces range, just like car batteries lithiums struggle much harder to start/run a vehicle in colder weather.
I keep my Grubee hybrid fueled up and ready all Winter and just use the battery to fire her up on really cold days. Really takes the pressure off the pure ebikes. For a daily rider year round the hybrid is still top of the class mostly for real range and Winter dependability. Electrics aren't that great when it get's really cold here in Indian Territory, let alone International Falls!
Beware the touts which live in Southern Cali and that only preach electric power. That's their Hollywood version of motor biking and "woke" reality.
Still just having fun!
Rick C.
Rusky spam Rick, for sh!ts and giggles I hit the "rezka men".
Now I have to give my hard drive an enema.
Tom
Sorry Tom.Rusky spam Rick, for sh!ts and giggles I hit the "rezka men".
Now I have to give my hard drive an enema.
Tom
^^^ No Biggy Rick. Management ought to know though.
That dang rascal Putin messing with us ain't right.
May have to send Ukraine another $100.00 for more 7x39.
No Biggy Rick. Management ought to know though.That dang rascal Putin messing with us ain't right.
May have to send Ukraine another $100.00 for more 7x39.
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It was time to change my passwords on key accounts anyway.^^^
That dang rascal Putin messing with us ain't right.
May have to send Ukraine another $100.00 for more 7x39.
My children are descended from Ukranian blood on their moms side, they fled Russian Czars in the late 1800s for America. History repeats and teaches that despots can't be stopped with diplomacy, unfortunately, but accurately centered ordinance can really slow them down.
Rick C.
It has already be reported, bottom left corner of the post is a report button. Seems to be happening a lot lately............Curt
I've changed a lot of things by really tiny amounts, under 1/8" in most cases to allow running a physically much larger e motor in the V twin case and getting the resulting combination to both fit and securely mount to the Schwinn frame. Then to perfectly align all three chains and the six sprockets to clear the larger motor, frame and tire. It seemed so simple to change motors yet wasn't at all. I have it at the point of safe to ride and test, but certainly not finished, just functional.
Rick C.
Rick C.
I have actually ridden the Schwinn under power using the latest motor a few miles.I'm on the right track with it, lots of torque.
Rick C.
Rick C.
So glad it is going the way you wanted...............Curt
Thanks Curt. I'm glad I didn't understand how much I'd have to change to switch over to the larger motor. I might not have switched, but this will be an improvement I feel.
Rick C.
Rick C.
I like to put a few hundred miles on a build before putting on the final bits to flesh it out. The Ol' Crow has almost 300 miles of riding on the power train changes of switching motor, controller and battery to drive through the addition of reduction gear drive and new chains. Of course the bike had many more miles on it with two different power trains so the last 300 miles was just to satisfy my last changes. I'm satisfied that this is the bike I want to ride and I can now put on the motor side plates, magneto housing and copper oil and gas lines & brass fittings. Electrics don't vibrate enough to loosen nuts, bolts and spokes, so I never feel the need for thread locker on any of my electrics. I just torque 'em down and check them occassionally to this point they stay put.
To this point I haven't felt the need for a chain tensioner on either the final drive or pedal chain. The horizontal axle plate seems to have plenty of room for adjustment of initial chain stretch and wear to sprockets and chain. I do run a custom spring tensioner on the primary chain as adjustment with engine mounts is tedious and fairly limited in range of motion. The big V-twin case really fills up even the expanded loop frame space.
To say I'm happy with this electric build is an understatement.
We've enjoyed excellent Fall weather and I've ridden a lot. Next three day continues with more of the same, then Winter looks to be in Indian Territory and I'll get back to some shop work.
Rick C.
To this point I haven't felt the need for a chain tensioner on either the final drive or pedal chain. The horizontal axle plate seems to have plenty of room for adjustment of initial chain stretch and wear to sprockets and chain. I do run a custom spring tensioner on the primary chain as adjustment with engine mounts is tedious and fairly limited in range of motion. The big V-twin case really fills up even the expanded loop frame space.
To say I'm happy with this electric build is an understatement.
We've enjoyed excellent Fall weather and I've ridden a lot. Next three day continues with more of the same, then Winter looks to be in Indian Territory and I'll get back to some shop work.
Rick C.