Chopper E-Trike - PAS? Wider front forks for disk brake?

[OzGeeksGarage]

I think I'm fine with leaving the dual rear brakes because I need the locking park brake option, trikes tend to roll away from you I may change them to centre pull later, also planning on some wider BMX style grippier tyres as these skinny tyres seem a little light on load carrying capacity I suspect. I don't think I really needed the Disk brake on the front but it was probably easier for a chopper conversion than remounting the previous brakes. I had to extend all the wiring, I ended up running a 24 core control cable from the front terminal box to the Battery box, also ran 20 Amp 2.5mm house wiring for the battery to the motor, have to upgrade that later. I am then looking at adding indicators to the rear and front. The head lights are 2x12v LED lamps wired in series and seem bright enough, though want them for day use, I won't ride at night due to my eyesight issues. I'm hunting around to try find a small 24v air compressor so I can pump up my tyres the easy way

[OzGeeksGarage]

Some rear pics, glad I have at least 7 speed gears to use, most of the trikes have only 3 and 1 rear wheel drive, I haven't experienced any cornering issues without a rear differential, though most of the time I don't pedal while cornering. Plenty of room for another battery, in the box, had to move the basket back, but plan on extending the wheelbase another 8 inches to fix that and also widen the back wheels another 6 inches for more stability while lowering the bum a couple of inches too. Glad the PAS seems to be working it wasn't till after fitting I realised there's no way to get the crank off now without breaking the Sensor disc.

[OzGeeksGarage]

Took it for a 5 km run, got some interesting looks, mate reckons I need streamers on the hand grips
All went well though I had to pedal to keep up with my mates mountain bike. Ahh I did have the pedal assist wrong way around putting the trike up on stands I did some experimenting then found it only working when I pedaled backwards, I also found the crank loose and after flipping the sensor on the bracket round the other way discovered I only needed to turn the disc around, not the whole bracket, so all fixed

Took it for a run and found that high is too much pedal assist, plugged in the laptop and set it to medium, it seems medium is the go and backed the acceleration back to 40%, I also learnt that having a high rear sissybar looks cool, but doesn't allow you to swing your leg over the back to get off, so you look uncool stepping through the front instead, I'm buggered if I can remember how I used to get on and off a Dragster bike with a front bar
I'm going for another run this afternoon to a Dental appointment

[Bikemad]

I'm going for another run this afternoon to a Dental appointment

Just make sure you thoroughly enjoy the ride there, as the resultant big grin on your face should then allow easier access for your dentist.

Your trike seems to have finally come together very well, but if you are still looking for a bit more assistance on hills you should try increasing the current settings.
I now have my Smart Pie set on maximum current as I really enjoy the big difference in power over the lower default settings. It's a bit noisier under heavy load at low rpm, but I can cope with that.

What speed can you reach on the flat using the 20" wheel @ 24V without pedalling?

Alan
 

[OzGeeksGarage]

My motor is still set as factory 15Amps continuous & 45Amps max, it didn't seem to be hot after yesterdays run how much higher have you set yours?

I'll have to get a speedo to work out my speed, I guess it's 15-25kph, it's fast enough for me on the flat, I'd like more when crossing lanes, but pedaling fixes that, the trike doesn't take corners real well, too narrow in the track and too high in cetre of gravity for my liking. I am planning to work on that, the rear frame is separate to the front part, so I'll build a new rear section  a couple of inches lower with wider track & a couple of inches of suspension to allow leaning, center pull brakes and longer wheelbase with a lockable rear box.

[Bikemad]

Mine is set to 30 Amps continuous and 70 Amps max., but the highest current draw I have recorded so far on the wattmeter is only 33.75 Amps with my 29.6V LiPo pack.

The power consumption was initially around 545 Watts with the original factory settings, but setting the current to maximum has raised it to over 1000 Watts and the difference is really noticeable.

Regarding your proposal to fit rear suspension, I think it would make the trike even less stable on corners at speed, as it would just allow the trike to lean outwards more on bends while cornering (instead of leaning into them) because the centre of gravity is still going to be much higher than the roll axis on the rear suspension.

Alan
 

[OzGeeksGarage]

1000w? Hmm are yourse MP2 or 3? Mines only a Smart Pie so I didn't think the motors that high in capacity, I've seen 30 Amps on my Ammeter, unfortunately I can't read the digital voltmeter / ammeter in daylight, I need to reposition it

You may be right about the suspension, I got to have a good think about it, maybe just the lowering and widening will do the trick.

[Morgen 3Eman]

Hi Folks,

Building a leanable trike isn't the easiest thing to do, but I can attest that it can be done.  It certainly makes trikes better to ride.  Two front wheels is easier, because of the drive simplicity for a single fixed rear.   I finally came up with using allen keys as torsion bars to make them self uprighting, which makes them easier to ride from a stop. 

TTFN,
Dennis

[OzGeeksGarage]

Sounds interesting any photo's of what you've done. Yeah I'm finding it a bit freaky on off camber corners even at low speeds, maybe I'll get used to it more after some more usage too, or maybe I'll plan a quad next time

[Morgen 3Eman]

I found these...I might have more somewhere.

Dennis

[OzGeeksGarage]

The second one looks more like what I'm thinking can you get me a closer photo of the mechanicaql bits in the rear, I zoomed it as much as I could but it got too blurry for my crappy eyes to work out how it all works.

[Morgen 3Eman]

This help?

[OzGeeksGarage]

Yes that secon pic is pretty good.

[Bikemad]

1000w? Hmm are yourse MP2 or 3? Mines only a Smart Pie so I didn't think the motors that high in capacity, I've seen 30 Amps on my Ammeter, unfortunately I can't read the digital voltmeter / ammeter in daylight, I need to reposition it

Mine is a Smart Pie too:


I'm surprised you have managed to get a reading of 30 Amps with the lower settings as mine was drawing less than 18 Amps before I increased the current settings from the factory default of 15 Amps continuous 45 Amps max.

You might want to check out Google for more pictures of leaning trikes.

Alan
 

[OzGeeksGarage]

Well the 30 Amps was in the darker garage doing a poor impression of a burn out, so it was surge reading not continuous, from what I can tell it's not higher than 10 running, mines only 24v too