Bike Friday is a fold up bike that fits into a suit case and the suit case can
be used as a trailer. I bought the bike around 1996 but after one trip with it
I haven't used it much because it didn't fit me well and was uncomfortable
to ride, and expensive mistake. Those are 20 inch wheels.
I mounted a cheap volt/ohm meter on the controller. I tried the LED indicator
that came with the kit but I wanted better information and the voltage reading
gives me that. I only use the voltage reading of the meter.
The batteries are 18 aH and weigh about 42 pounds. I didn't want to add more
weight to the rear of the bike because of my fat butt and I would like to carry
other things in saddle bags. I think with the SLA batteries it might be a bit much to
transport in a suit case so the bikes flying days are over. I did take it with me on a
camping trip and it did just fine on gravel and dirt roads. I had the thermal protection
cut in after going up too many steep hills.
This picture is of the bike before mounting the batteries. I used the mounting
points of the water bottle holders to secure the battery holders. Since all of the
weight is on top of the main tube the screws only have to hold things in place.
Here are the aluminum battery holders that I made from flat aluminum I purchased
from a local metal scrap dealer, cost $14 US. I used a vise some angle iron and
hammers to bend the aluminum.
The battery holders mounted without the batteries
Wiring the batteries together. I used 10 guage wire with soldered connectors
that I covered with amalgamating tape. Amalgamating tape is great stuff, you
cut a piece off and remove the cover stretch it out and wrap it around the connection
after a few minutes it is like solid rubber that has to be cut off.
This picture shows my hammer marks on the aluminum and the connector I used to
connect the batteries to the controller. I used a 50 amp circuit breaker which can be
seen on the positive terminal of the lower battery.
