supr ez friction drive

deacon

deacon

minor bike philosopher
npht09.jpg


this is the drive wheel sprocket and motor from a kids scooter, the box is made of wood and is secured with bolts to the wishbone and fender braces to the axle area. The motor is secured with hose clamps from home depot.

I had the controller and throttle but if you didn't they are on the kids scooter. If you see one at a yard sale and ever wanted an e bike, you have everything there to build a simple one.
 
Painters drop cloth. I left it there to make the drive easier to see since it is black and the room would be very dark and black as well behind it. I also blacked out all the chrome. Getting it ready for the final paint job.

I wonder what would happen if you substituted a small gas engine for that electric motor. Something with a centrifugal clutch. Maybe went with the even smaller rear wheel like on the razor scooters with the skateboard type wheels.

How about two of these on a trike, with the batteries in the basket. Or one on the front wheel. I am fascinated with this thing now. I don't have the contact just right I think I'm going to try springs, but it works pretty good as it is.
with a little more bite on the tire it should work even better.
 
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I haven't had a chance to do a real test but it isn't going to be any better than a drive wheel on my last motor. I think this motor is geared down somehow. that and the sprocket size is pretty large for a drive wheel.

I need to get the trailer issue taken care of, the pressure on the wheel set up right, and possibly deflate the drive wheel a lot to get maximum speed. To do that I have to get some good weather.

I hope I can get all that worked out this weekend.
 
That thing is so ghetto!! Ghetto sleeper electric friction.

I wonder if we can make a perfect knock off going. A bank of super light batteries and rare earth magnet motor. Maybe 10 mile+ range and be able haul Lenny the hit guy around.



(^)
 
I builds en to run man... I don't dress them up for the prom. roflmao...

serious though I might have to put a box over to protect myself from shirt being eaten. Fortunately it runs the other way so it's people standing behind who have to worry.

I think after I test it with sla batteries rather than the trailer I will have a better idea of what it will do. I think I am going to let more air out of the drive tire to give it a bigger foot print. That might make similar to a belt friction drive instead of a wheel friction drive..

and hey look for the senior bike to figure in the blog in a similar manner one day soon.
 
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Okay performance of the drive wheel made from a scooter rear wheel and axle is no better or worse than the drive wheel attached directly to the motor. At least none that I can tell.

Using sla batteries on the bike made no difference at all. The trailer with the flooded batteries seemed to pull as well or almost as well as the sla batteries on the frame.

the speed with the 250watt motor is about eight miles an hour I think with either power source. After a mile of mostly uphill riding the batteries had lost about half their useful voltage. Which means the range isn't too awfully good in uphill areas.

It is okay for exercise but it would never do as a transportation bike. I think I might try to find a cheap 350 watt motor and give it one more try before I trash the idea and move on to a new power source for the bike.

Also I doubt the value of the controller in a brushed motor, power assisted bike. Mostly it is wide open uphill and off downhill. I'm not sure a controller is much use since very seldom do I use it at a slower speed and it does not seem to save the battery at all. I think a push button on and off would work just as well for a pulse of power.
 
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Deacon, you ever thought about going with some larger tires and put squirrells in them and teach them to run? Now that would be alternate power..........rotflrotfl
 
Ilikeabikea said:
Deacon, you ever thought about going with some larger tires and put squirrells in them and teach them to run? Now that would be alternate power..........rotflrotfl
Click to expand...

I think somewhere I still have my daughter gerbil wheel. That might just work... I'm thinking fuel cell rofl..

the 250 watt engine and my fat butt plus the hills in "high point" where I live equal dragging around. It works for getting the breathing rate up but so would a bike with no engine. I used to think ebikes were the cats pjs.

I still like the concept just not practical to build your own. Maybe the hub motor kit but that is way to expensive for what you get.
 
I might just save my pennies so that when the china girl gives up on me, i can just replace it. Of course as little as I ride it, it might outlast me anyway.
 
I really want an ebike for my second bike so I continue to test this concept. First of all the friction wheel is very viable. It works well however I have come to believe the motor 250 is much to small. How did I come to that conclusion you ask?

I added a second friction drive motor to the front on the front wheel and the bike just sang along. That was five hundred watts of usable power. I often wondered if 140 watt motor wouldn't be enough and save battery power. Now I know don't waste your time with even 250 watt. It just won't do at all. What one needs probably is 450 to 600 watts for good power and use.

Now about battery consumption it is going to be high. That's the bad news, the good news is that the trailer idea adds very little drag to the bike. You can pack a trailer with sla batteries for the same weight as the flooded ones I have been using. You could get probably thirty hours worth at least.

The controller actually slows down the top speed of the motor. They run better as pulse motors. Both on the same switch seems to work as well as anything.

I am going to hold out for a 400 to 500 watt motor. I'm going to try it on the controller I have and if I burn it up, I'm going to just use the on off switch.
Just thought I would update you on what I have learned about building ebikes without a kit.
 
I have no idea what I have done. I made about five changes in the ebike last night and now it runs like crap. I removed the 20" front wheel and put the 26" back on it. I hung the motor from the brake hole in the forks instead of onto the forks like i did for the twenty. For some reason know only to god and he wont tell me it steers like a car with a bad steering box. Obviously I did something wrong on the front end. I'm going to string for a powerful motor in the rear and forget the two motor drive system.
 
If I can get a contest for the biggest dumbass I'm sure I will win hands down. I ordered a bigger engine for the rear drive. I decided it had to be something with the relocation of the front drive that caused the problem. Then wonder of wonders I decided to paint the bike while I was waiting for the new motor to come in. That is when I discovered the problem.

I had reinstalled the front wheel without the spacers that centered it in the over sized frame. The front wheel was rubbing the frame continually. That's why it wouldn't steer and probably why the performance was terrible. I have to wait for the new motor then test it by itself. If the performance isn't what I want, I am going to build a friction drive for the front as well. I have a sprocketed motor so I will just find another scooter drive wheel to use up front to add to the drive power.

I honestly don't think I will need to since I bought a bigger motor and I think the one I have has a reduction gear built in. It might be the controller doing it though. Either way I will know something soon.
 
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