2wd Delta

[Hugh]

Its been pretty close to a year since my purchase of a Magic Pie with external controller so a report is in order. First an explanation of the trike the Pie motor is on. It's a homemade Delta trike that is 2wd. A cycle Analyst 3.1 was purchased along with the motor also a 12 magnet PAS for the crankset. I did not want just a throttle. First off I couldn't figure out how to wire it up to get it to work properly so the good folks at Golden Motor asked me to send the components back to them. A short while later it was returned to me and it all worked.
It was end of season here in Winnipeg and the frame was undergoing some extensive mods. I gave it a 1/2" EMT outside framework made to hold a coroplast body. The front and rear have expanded metal to promote airflow. This because previous enclosed builds have been way to hot and were uncomfortable to pedal. The rear wheels are 26" and the front is 24". Pedal power is routed to the left rear wheel vis a jackshaft and the right rear is the Magic Pie which is not connected to any chain. It spins via signals from the PAS and/or the twist throttle. Electric power is provided by 2 17.5AH 48 volt batteries. I can run one or both using a dual battery device bought online. I thought due to the rolling resistance of 3 tires and the weight of the trike it would be a real power hog but so far thats not the case.
Using the Cycle Analyst power is set to level 2 which works out to 221 watts. This provides enough speed and fairly good range. Speed runs around 17 to 24 kph and on battery number 1 so far it's logged 55 km's starting at 54.6 volts and going down to 48.7 so far. That indicates more distance is possible. So far I am loving the Magic Pie motor.

[Hugh]

One more update. Went for a ride with a friend last night (june 14 2022) who uses a GPS as a speedometer. Turns out when my cycle analyst is reading 20 kph we were actually going 18 kph. That tells me that odometer readings should also be adjusted. With that in mind just running one of my 2 17.5AH batteries down to an indicated voltage at rest of 44 volts gave 95 km's of range. Subtract roughly 10 from that and I still get 85km's per battery. So no range anxiety for me now.

[Hugh]

I've been using this trike a lot more lately around my home area. Even ventured further from home since my confidence level in it's reliability has gone way up. Response from people who see it has been overwhelmingly positive. And since this year seems to be rainier then usual the roof has really come in handy. I even got a chance to test ride it on a very windy day, enough so that  there were no other regular cyclists out. I could feel the effect of the wind but unlike my usual riding style of one hand on the bar it took both hands. The Magic Pie motor was simply magic going into the wind, the cycle analyst indicated a larger draw on the battery which was to be expected but I easily maintained my usual speed of 16 to 20 kph.

[Hugh]

After several hundred km's which included a few longer rides of up to 80 km's I had the first issue with the motor. The spokes actually, the motor did and does still work great. A couple weeks ago one spokes nipple had loosened and was rattling around inside the hub. The wheel was removed and the spoke was refastened and the rest checked. All was good till a ride Sat the 16th of July. On the way home after approx 25 km's I heard some weird noises and upon checking found almost half of the spokes on the motor had come loose. And every other spoke was loose. That's on me for not checking often enough I realize. However with the many thousands of km's on my other e bikes and trikes I've never experienced a loose spoke. I guess I get to learn how to true a wheel now.

[Hugh]

Well it's been a whole summer of riding and running the Magic Pie. After an opportunity to ride in a pretty good downpour the trike now has  a 2 piece windshield. Rain had been running down the roof and then water was blowing onto me, once a second clear screen was added to fill in the hole left in the top portion of the windshield frame that problem has been resolved. Riding in a light rain wearing a T shirt and shorts I stay completely dry.  The yellow bodywork gives great visability and cars for sure see me. I,m still mostly using level 2 on the cycle analyst and getting really good distance from each one of the 2  17.5 AH batteries. The external controller mounted in it's own coro box with the cooling fins in the air flow on the right rear fender never even gets warm. And with slightly over 1100 km's the motor is working great.

[Hugh]

Sad to say but at the moment I'm not feeling the love for the Magic Pie motor. On a ride the other day the motor died on me forcing a call to my wife to bring the truck for a rescue. I,ve been running a BBSHD on my fatbike for over 6 years summer and winter with zero issues and the Magic Pie has now lasted 1 season.