Review : 1000 Watts on a Trek Hybrid

[diverdon]

       Everything went Perfect  

                 Ordered the Kit and it came from China to my door in 1"ONE" week ..

       Got the wheel on and everything done I could in 1 afternoon taking it easy and enjoying the work . As I enjoy piddleing around with things .. The parts look to be all good Quality and it was easy to install .. The Axel on the wheel was tight in the Dropouts . That is good , it was a little struggle to get it in but now its done and really tight and strong ...

      Had to wait for payday to go for the batteries .. Went to a commercial outlet I had friends at from my auto mechanic days .. They knew what I needed and hooked me up with a good deal .. Got home around 2 PM and fooled around with the bike and other chores .. Everything went perfect again .. I have 48 volts and when I went to test run it .. Holy Cow !!!  ... Some power

     OK Bottom line , Took it for a short test ride as I don't have a proper way to carry the batteries yet and it was dark outside ...

    EVERYTHING !! Works fine,  cruise control is way cool , Regen brakes are amazing . I don't think I even used the brake shoes at all ..

    Never even opened it up all the way either as it is dark and all . But I am now considering wether to get the 36 or 48 volt battery from Golden Motors now that I see how good it goes ..

     I am going to get some steel baskets tomorrow for the batteries... $29 at the local bike shop for the Wald 570 model ones . (I think  it's the 570)..

   I also have the "Watts Up" meter from my RC Airplane Hobby . I will use it to see whats going on with this setup ..

       I am 110 percent happy with the whole deal from the fast delivery to the quality parts to the fun ride and the help I have gotten from Golden Motors with my questions too ..

     Anyone has any questions I wiil happily try to help.. I am no expert at all thou ..  I would really recommend this product all day long ..

 OK sorry this is so long I just can't get over this . Expected something to go wrong .. Can't wait to get the baskets on and go for a real ride . I will get back with that when it happens for the long distance "watts up" meter review .

    THANK YOU , Golden Motors , Don Johnson    

[Leslie]

       Everything went Perfect  

              

     They knew what I needed and hooked me up with a good deal .. Got home around 2 PM and fooled around with the bike and other chores .. Everything went perfect again .. I have 48 volts and when I went to test run it .. Holy Cow !!!  ... Some power

    

    THANK YOU , Golden Motors , Don Johnson    

Very good to hear, mind if I ask you what batteries you got in the end?

[Leslie]

It may not be proper but this has proved reliable for me.



I used old bike and car inner tubes.   Used rubber bits to pad the frame and a hood from a car tube, then laid the bike down positioned the batteries to where I felt the balance was right.  I tied those suckers to the frame with rubber until they wouldn't budge with a half cross tie and 3 black plastic pull ties to hold the ends of each diy strap from slipping.  They wont slip.  


I added more of these before I was happy



Those are old pics of the 36v setup.



Even carpet underlay makes for good padding








It seems to be cheap and reliable to the point it has never failed me.

I used some octopus straps as a preliminary method to help guide the batteries as I tied them up.

Then I found an ugly retro cover for them. That was from some cats perched home that we never used.  It seemed to fit over the packs perfectly and all that made an excellent seat to double a friend.






This is where I manage to cargo 4X12v 24ah SLA's, 29kgs of lead on the frame.

[Bikemad]

I can only apologise to the poster of the post that I just removed by mistake!
I somehow managed to clicked the on the wrong "Remove" button and wiped out a legitimate post instead of the spam one below it.
I'm assuming it was this thread because of the mentioned photos.
It's a shame there isn't an undo button for the remove action, because I really want to use it.

I'm really sorry and I'll do my best not to let it happen again! 

Alan
 

[Leslie]

I can only apologise to the poster of the post that I just removed by mistake!
I somehow managed to clicked the on the wrong "Remove" button and wiped out a legitimate post instead of the spam one below it.
I'm assuming it was this thread because of the mentioned photos.
It's a shame there isn't an undo button for the remove action, because I really want to use it.

I'm really sorry and I'll do my best not to let it happen again! 

Alan
 

http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=907

[diverdon]

I can only apologise to the poster of the post that I just removed by mistake!
I somehow managed to clicked the on the wrong "Remove" button and wiped out a legitimate post instead of the spam one below it.
I'm assuming it was this thread because of the mentioned photos.
It's a shame there isn't an undo button for the remove action, because I really want to use it.

I'm really sorry and I'll do my best not to let it happen again! 

Alan
 

   
    Hi Alan , Yep it was me .. Ok I need more pratice typing .. I was replying to someones question about what size batteries did I end up with .. As I was debateing what to use and getting some flak about doing the SLA sealed lead acid batery ...

      Well The friends of mine at the battery outlet that I know from my auto mechanis days had supplied batteries for several people and told me it was getting more popular now .. They gave me some 12 AH Toyo batterys that I was told would work fine ..

      Had it all together yesterday (Monday) but no proper way to carry the battery .. Today I went for the rear baskets from the local bike shop and they worked out great .. I just finished getting it all together and went for a short test drive ..

      Being dark I didn't go far but it works great .. Never totally opened it .. Afraid to... Gonna hook up my watts up meter I happen to have from the RC Airplane Hobby I'm into .. That way I can moniter how it going ... I also have a small handheld GPS I use for Scuba Diving .. I will get that going too so I can check My Cateye Speedo ...

     Thanks so very much to everyone for the help and especally to the Golden Motors People for putting out such a FUN Toy here the quality is great .. I have also gotten a bunch of help from the Golden Motor PEOPLE and really appreciate that ..

      OK Long enough .. Gonna try to put up 3 pictures here too .. Thanks again , Don J.

[diverdon]

    OK other 2 pics of the bike and the battery setup in the wire basket .. Don

[Leslie]

That looks pretty good.  

How is the balance on that?  Lots of weight in the rear now and it can dominate the steering though centre.

My bike as ugly as it is, still feels balanced and improved version of the  bike with motor and no batteries just a lot heavier. It leans good and I can take my hands off the handle bars when moving and free wheel with out it feeling uncertain.

I tried loading my batts on the rear but it introduced dangerous wobbles onto the front at higher speed hence the effort to get them into the triangle like I did. Also, when I lifted the front wheel it was a struggle to get it back down.

But yours are lower to the ground and my batts are somewhat larger.

[Bikemad]

Yep it was me

Sorry Don, and thanks for being so understanding.
 
It's frustrating enough when you spend time preparing a post and then delete all your work before posting it by pressing the wrong key or closing the wrong window by mistake, so I can imagine how it must feel to have your successful post removed by someone else for no reason.

Anyway, I've just been looking at your pictures of the batteries in the basket:

The foam underneath and along the sides looks fine, but if you haven't already done so, you'll need to put some at the ends of the batteries to prevent the wire rack from wearing into the battery casing during use. I would also put some padding between the two batteries in each basket to stop the ends from chaffing against each other.
(Or tape them together securely with duct tape so they can't chaff, and have two long batteries!)

And don't forget to also tie them down so they can't escape out of the baskets, as it's surprising just how much lifting force is generated when you hit a speed bump at 30mph.

Alan
 

[diverdon]

Yep it was me

Sorry Don, and thanks for being so understanding.
 
It's frustrating enough when you spend time preparing a post and then delete all your work before posting it by pressing the wrong key or closing the wrong window by mistake, so I can imagine how it must feel to have your successful post removed by someone else for no reason.

Anyway, I've just been looking at your pictures of the batteries in the basket:

The foam underneath and along the sides looks fine, but if you haven't already done so, you'll need to put some at the ends of the batteries to prevent the wire rack from wearing into the battery casing during use. I would also put some padding between the two batteries in each basket to stop the ends from chaffing against each other.
(Or tape them together securely with duct tape so they can't chaff, and have two long batteries!)

And don't forget to also tie them down so they can't escape out of the baskets, as it's surprising just how much lifting force is generated when you hit a speed bump at 30mph.

Alan
 

    Hello Everyone , Thankd Alan . for the helpfull tips ... On the first test ride wirh the basket it went well .. Was derk again when I tried it . Worked that day ... So it was wayyy better just too fast for me to get it up to full speed .. But no problems..   

     I think I was also begging to go to this party your talking about ... sounds really "Too Cool"

     uh Yea Scatterbrain here ...The batteries did jump up some with the bumps but I now have bungie cords houding them down ... uuuuuh 4AM wake up for tomorrow .. Gotta get some rest ... Thanks everyone for all of your help .. Couldn,t have done it without your help ..

                         Thanks Again Don, J.

[Leslie]

It would be interesting how the Pie performs on SLA's compared to the other hubs.  Seriously!

On my brushed bike their was nothing that stood out within reason why I couldn't use standard SLA's.  Its when I moved to a HBS LVC became my bitch along with massive voltage slumps. A trip down the shop for new batteries was becoming an embarrassing situation.  My problems subsided when I aimed for more capacity and a slightly different technology with SLA's.  

I even feel that some smaller Lifepo4 batteries and some regen controllers fell victim to the nature of the direct drive of these hubs too.

GM have come a long way since the HBS kits have been released with SLA's and the old GM batteries.

Ive been a member here for sometime now and in my earlier experience here many people experienced headaches regarding SLA's and the HBS hubs.

Trying to ascertain why we could get great efficiency with these hubs but the battery would die earlier than expected almost every time, I put it down to the direct drive and bumpy roads pulling current peaks out of the batteries finally destroying the integrity of the plate structure.  If anyone has any other ideas what it could be please elaborate.

There was always solutions so the dedicated enthusiasts seemed to always manage and be able to offer much advice here to other. The GM community has been an extremity rich and rewarding experience from the day I found this site.

With the pie being a different flavour, these above dynamics may have altered to a larger degree. Also I feel the controllers are designed different with software changes and  hardware is advancing all the time.

I did some research into Toyo and UPG  and the Toyo batteries on other Ebike sites are recommended as replacements for some scooters.

Either way this thread does have some interesting data to be revealed.

The SLA Diverdon chose were a nice inexpensive way to get the bike off the mark.

I am optimistic the larger MP hub having more torque over a 26" wheel diameter may not have the same effect upon the battery as the HBS series.

I feel even a geared motor could filter these out current spikes form hitting into the heart of the plates.      

Diverdon please keep me informed as to the performance of your batteries as I wasn't one for putting flack onto you, I guess I wanted you to know what you were getting yourself into and there is plenty of history to back the other doubters.

Some advice sometimes comes across as flaming but this angst is often easily misinterpreted, understandably.   Also GM reps in one hand have this site to help others with their products and the community will sometimes subliminally support this motion. In the other hand GM have to support their products when used with other products, these forums are unlike ES and not so open source.  Maybe if we used 100% GM products issues maybe more easy to define, I think GM may support this ideal at times.  Its a hard line to walk for all here at times but we seem to manage quite acceptably.

I do hope there is no regrets with your Ebike setup and you ride for many cycles problem free.

[diverdon]

   Hello Alan , Hello Everyone ....

          This is getting beyond the "Review" part of this forum ... almost... I just want to go for a decent ride and do the review on how it all goes .. Rained today and of course that four letter word (WORK)  ...

        I tried to install my Watts Up meter yesterday but somehow fouled up the wiring and it was causing the hot to go to ground ... Don't worry I did a "Test" hookup to find this without damageing anything .. So after that my patience was shot for the day ...

       Upon thinking about the whole Install I have not liked the Idea of hooking up the 2 pin Harness down by the motor each Time I wanted the system to go live .. So today at lunch I got a battery cutuff switch rated for 300 amps .. Also got an inline fuse for the batteries and am using a 40 amp fuse for now ..

      I did get to go for a couple of blocks in the light rain and got the bike up to 24mph by the cateye speedo on the bike .. It is still showing 51 volts even after that .. I am thinking tomorrow after work if it isn't raining to try for the longer 10 mile route I used to ride all of the time ..

    Thats it if I could get the Watts up meter on this thing I'd surely be done with the installation .. Also have today started an 8 day run of work days with several 5AM starts... UGH .. So all I really feel like is a nap after that ..

      In fact it's time to sleep now so I can get up at 4AM tomorrow .. ... I will have 1 more post in this review when I get a long ride out of it but cannot see anything but fun ahead for anyone who buys one of the Magic Pie Kits ... Don J...

[diverdon]

 
    Hello Everyone , Hopefully you won't have to put up with me any more after this post . Took the bike for a longer ride today 8.31 miles .. Started with 4 fully charged 12 vold 12 AH ones so there was 54volts to start with...

     The ride was real nice along the back side or our community. was likght when I started and turned dark while I was out . Mostly petaling and some motor power..
   Everything went perfect.... Untill ....  I tried to stop to readjust the headlight and I chose to try to lean on one of those mail/news boxes and it was too empy to hold me up ....It gave way and I went down on my right side . Think I sprained or bruised something there .. Anyhow it's not the Bike's fault..

      So for the specs I recorded ...Here we go ... Amps Peak 26.7  AMP HOURS  = 2.567  Whatts Peak ,1299.3 Whatt Hours 120.4  ... Volts Minimum 44.03 ending pack voltage 49.5 volts...Distance traveled 8.31 miles..............v     time out on the bike total 44.02 Minnutes

[Leslie]

I noticed big bag tires tend to bend when turning corners with the SLA weight where as slicks have a strong stiffness to any horizontal force.  Lessening the diameter of you wheel by GM specs shou;ld attain slightly higher speeds and make your wheel stronger.

From your pics your tires look to be smaller bag tires.

[diverdon]

I noticed big bag tires tend to bend when turning corners with the SLA weight where as slicks have a strong stiffness to any horizontal force.  Lessening the diameter of you wheel by GM specs shou;ld attain slightly higher speeds and make your wheel stronger.

From your pics your tires look to be smaller bag tires.

   Thanks for the suggestion ... 317537... I have tires that are "mostly" for the road not very wide .. They hold 80 lbs. max which is good for my fat a-- ... And one of the main things about them is that they are flat resistant ..

     So .. The Magic Pie ... A REAL Hit by me I think it's really cool.. The system does everything it should cruise control works perfect .. You can use your throttle to "suppliment" the petaling and go faste ..

      It did get me outside and petaling enough to burn some calories ..Well this is long enough .. Sorry I have a bad habit of (Talking) too long on here but I am excited about the Magic Pie setup and cannot wait to try it some more .. As soon as the cracked rib heals ...

         Yes I did have to go to the emergency room last nite at 1am . x-ray showed the crack . It's all my fault . Please be careful and if you choose Lead Acid be aware of the weight and the tipping danger . No big deal ..same as a motorcycle in that concern . Just keep it in mind .. I'm going with the Golden Motor one as soon as I can put together the $$$ and mount it on the front lower tube of the bike ..

    Allright , Happy Holiday ... BE SAFE .. Don J.