Yeah, I need another project like another hole in my head at the moment, but this motor kit just showed up at my door, and I want to torture test it for a while before doing any of the planned upgrades to the kit.
The cheapest 1500W kit available on Ebay!
The point of this project is to make the most affordable ebike that blows the socks off of the weak big factory bikes. To accomplish this, the max voltage is 1500w. This motor can also be used in street legal 750w with pedal assist for long range rides. Some of the components will be changed for the full 1500w power and reliability. I just don't trust the factory controller to do that! By overvolting the motor, a 1500w can be impressive, but I think (at the moment) that a better motor such as a Leaf or Mxus would be better suited for high performance builds. The wires coming out of this motor are pretty small compared to the Mxus! I'll be changing them to 12ga from the motor to controller as well as from the controller to the battery after I'm done torture testing the kit in factory form for a few weeks. Then I'll torture the kit some more until I burn up the controller. I need to know it's limits!
I bought this kit to use on THIS bike, but will be using it on this bike instead (below photo). If it passes the torture test for a month or so, then I'll order another kit for the other bike, and change the kit's wheel and spokes to 700c. For the other bike I won't be using the ebrakes either since they are integrated into the click shifters. I'll use a break interrupt instead along with a Bafang thumb throttle.
I will have to use a different gear shifter on this bike with the kit's throttle. I think I have something that will work. If not, I'll just order something. I'm not a fan of Rev-o-Shifters anyway.
I still have one of the older models left. On the newer models I'll have to change wheels and breaks to make into ebike. The front wheel will need to be laced, but at least the rear wheel is taken care of by the motor kit. Same wheel as the older models came with. I'll probably get started on it tomorrow at work. I prefer shorter bars to the beach bars, but the boss likes his beach bars, so I may have to extend some wiring to reach the controller. The rear rack will also get changed to a model that will hide the controller underneath. Controllers don't belong in bags! The kit was missing the controller bag anyway.
I was immediately impressed by a couple things as soon as I opened the box.
1. The wires don't come out the end of a hollow axle! They actually come out of the thicker part of the axle next to the disk break mounting area! From 1-5 on the rating scale, that's a solid 5! For this price I just expected a hollow axle and the usual cheap way the wires are run.
2. The spokes look good in the wheel! If you look close to the photo's on Ebay, they look like shit! They are not set in the hub worth a damn, and look like they would start breaking the first ten miles.
Things that didn't impress me at all when I opened the box.
1. The tire and tube. They look like they would attract every flat tire imaginable! They are already in the garbage.
2. The controller. No surprise. I plan on changing it anyway to better handle the full 1500w motor and a LCD display. I have a feeling the factory controller won't last long with a 52V battery going full throttle for any real distance. It's probably just fine for the 750w mode. This motor needs to go 40mph for 5 miles to be a good commuter bike for my needs. Better yet would be to go 40mph for ten miles with a large enough battery.
3. The pedal assist was missing a magnet. It's sitting in the trash next to the tire and tube. I think it's worth replacing with a better unit for cursing the beach or bike path. Some people want it, and others don't. If you're going to use the 750W mode and want better mileage, you will want it, if you're planning on riding throttle down in 1500w mode, you couldn't care less about it.
4. The ebreaks are junk. Bad casting on one of them. I think it's better to use a break sensor anyway. It helps to cut down on bird nest of wiring on the bars. I hate bird nest wiring on bike bars! They should be as clean as possible or the bike looks like junk!
I know this motor will be a pig about sucking battery's empty, so I'll be abusing (testing) it with two different packs. A 48V 17.5Ah pack, and a 52V 25.5Ah pack. This motor won't be as efficient as a BBSO2 mid drive motor, but the 17.5Ah pack should work great when in the 750w mode for some pretty decent range figures. Using some pedal assist, that should get you from Redondo Beach to Santa Monica and back up and down the beach bike path. With the larger pack, I would still use the 750w mode for most of the ride, but haul ass where I can by Hyperion in the 1500w mode, and still have plenty of power to get home, and do some city riding at either end of the ride in either 750w or 1500w modes.
I'll be taking the motor apart after it passes my torture testing and adding FF with some sealant to make it water proof. I'll drill a hole to add the FF threw one of the disk break holes. That way the break disk bolt will act as the plug.
Expect to hear more about this project with some photos by this weekend.
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