BiggKidd's bike rides

[BiggKidd]

Made a fast trip in to town after dumping the bike in the mud / ice / water disaster my road currently is. Did a number on my left calf the pedal tried to go between the muscle and bone. Now there's a nerf football size lump on top of my calf muscle. lol

Anyway I flew into town at WOT 33.6mph fastest trip I've made on the bike so far. It was a little funny in the 25mph zone I passed 7 cars. lol

The bike made the trip very well even though I ended up face down in the logging road mess 4 times. That was my fault for being in a hurry! A lot of the logging road consists of 2 inch thick slabs of ice mixed in the mud and water. Not sure any other kind of bike other than a dual motor 26x4 fat tire bike could have made that trip with such a lousy rider like me! Once I hit pavement it was all gravy!

Not sure I'll be able to walk by tonight as my leg is getting pretty sore...

 

[BiggKidd]

Is there really a good reason to speed my bike up any? I keep finding myself wanting to make it faster but I'm not sure there is any good reason to do so. First off I very seldom ride more than 18mph and more often than not when riding just for fun I'm at 13mph. Then there are the times like today when I was pushing for all I could get to beat the clock. Now don't get me wrong I am a true lover of two things on this old earth. Number 1 is SUNSHINE the other is SPEED / ACCELERTAION. To me speed is worse than any drug or alcohol as I always want to go faster. The thing is this bike does great just as it is and if I go fooling with it I may cut the reliability which I do NOT want to happen!

This bike has 2) 1,000W motors 2) 48 volt 28 amp max 12A nominal controllers. How much larger could I go WITHOUT any added issues at all? Maybe speeding this one up just a bit to say 45mph wouldn't hurt?

I am also toying with the idea of building a bike from scratch frame and all. I will be putting about the largest most powerful motors I can find on it if anyone has any suggestions. What I'm thinking here would be styled like an extra large modified version of an OCC Schwinn Stingray with fat tires, maybe a 24x4 rear and 26x4 front or a 26x4-5 rear and 29x wide as I can find up front. Opinions please...

 

[BiggKidd]

After more than a month without a bike ride I managed to get a few miles in today, maybe 15. It was a beautiful day for it the weather was perfect high 60's and sunny! Everything worked as it should without any drama at all. My poor bike is one muddy mess though. It needs a real good wash and wax, might have to use a little rubbing compound where I tend to drag my right foot across the top bar.

One thing I noticed today after getting groceries on the way home the battery was getting down close to half power and I could tell it was straining with the hills more. Then again I did have an extra thirty plus pounds of cargo.

Once the weather gets decent and stays I need to spend a day working on it and adding all the stuff I've been stacking away.

 

[Smaug]

Is there really a good reason to speed my bike up any? I keep finding myself wanting to make it faster but I'm not sure there is any good reason to do so. First off I very seldom ride more than 18mph and more often than not when riding just for fun I'm at 13mph. Then there are the times like today when I was pushing for all I could get to beat the clock. Now don't get me wrong I am a true lover of two things on this old earth. Number 1 is SUNSHINE the other is SPEED / ACCELERTAION. To me speed is worse than any drug or alcohol as I always want to go faster. The thing is this bike does great just as it is and if I go fooling with it I may cut the reliability which I do NOT want to happen!

I don't think there's a reason. It'll already go over 30, and I doubt your brakes, suspension and lights are good for more than that.

This bike has 2) 1,000W motors 2) 48 volt 28 amp max 12A nominal controllers. How much larger could I go WITHOUT any added issues at all? Maybe speeding this one up just a bit to say 45mph wouldn't hurt?

It's hard to tell and would depend on the design philosophy. Maybe it was designed so that the 28 A max controllers would be the limiting factor the motors would see? (that's a lot of juice, by the way) If you go up in controller ampacity, it might allow the motors to draw more than they should and cook them.

Or maybe the power wiring would all have to be upgraded to handle more current.

I wouldn't do it. Just enjoy that bike and start saving for something faster, not necessarily an eBike.

A project I've always wanted to do, but never have, is to build a gBike with one of those retrofit 2-stroke engines. They'll go 45 mph no problem. I feel like it's something that the law will close the loophole on some day soon and it will become a missed opportunity. Loud as hell and with a trail of blue smoke behind you. Good dirty fun. ;-) Just use a sturdy old steel MTB and make sure the brakes are in good condition.

I am also toying with the idea of building a bike from scratch frame and all. I will be putting about the largest most powerful motors I can find on it if anyone has any suggestions. What I'm thinking here would be styled like an extra large modified version of an OCC Schwinn Stingray with fat tires, maybe a 24x4 rear and 26x4 front or a 26x4-5 rear and 29x wide as I can find up front. Opinions please...

I think it was @biknut who posted about someone releasing a chopper eBike. If you build it from a bike frame, it's DEFINITELY not going to be safe past 20 mph; it would be for cruising in style and looking cool.

 

[BiggKidd]

I don't think there's a reason. It'll already go over 30, and I doubt your brakes, suspension and lights are good for more than that.


It's hard to tell and would depend on the design philosophy. Maybe it was designed so that the 28 A max controllers would be the limiting factor the motors would see? (that's a lot of juice, by the way) If you go up in controller ampacity, it might allow the motors to draw more than they should and cook them.

Or maybe the power wiring would all have to be upgraded to handle more current.

I wouldn't do it. Just enjoy that bike and start saving for something faster, not necessarily an eBike.

A project I've always wanted to do, but never have, is to build a gBike with one of those retrofit 2-stroke engines. They'll go 45 mph no problem. I feel like it's something that the law will close the loophole on some day soon and it will become a missed opportunity. Loud as hell and with a trail of blue smoke behind you. Good dirty fun. ;-) Just use a sturdy old steel MTB and make sure the brakes are in good condition.


I think it was @biknut who posted about someone releasing a chopper eBike. If you build it from a bike frame, it's DEFINITELY not going to be safe past 20 mph; it would be for cruising in style and looking cool.

I came to the same conclusion about putting a larger controller in.

I've custom built a lot of stuff including a 8 second quarter mile ride so I[m not worried about the safety aspect of building my own bike frame and all.

 

[BiggKidd]

Just back from a chilly 14 mile round trip to Nutbush store to get my monthly smokes. It was 48-50f with semi sunshine and a little more breeze than is comfortable at these temps. I should have added another layer before leaving the house. Other than the mud it was a great ride with very little traffic. LOVE MY BIKE!!!!!!!!!!

BTW: Got back with about 65-70% of charge left.

 

[BiggKidd]

Just found this and ordered one. My first ever order from Ali Express. I ordered the 4 amp version. This will hopefully give me a back up charging option for the bike when I'm out and about and give me a way to charge my 48 volt battery from a 12 volt battery on the fly. I had already gotten a 12 to 48 volt converter but it was literally 48 volts which is okay but with the 54 volt option I can get full power back in my bike battery and not just 48V. Those few volts between 48 and 54 do make quite a difference. Also with it being rated at 54 volts it should never over volt / over charge the bike battery...
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803620452349.html

Found something that should be better for charging my 48V Li-ion bike battery from a lower voltage battery. Some of you guys may want to check this out. I ordered the 9-50 volt step up to 54.6V 5 amp version.
I got one to be able to charge my E-bike battery from any battery from 9 to 50 volts. I have several battery options in hand I can now use to boost my E-bike's range.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807991488034.html?
P.S. @m@Robertson thought you night be interested.

 

[BiggKidd]

Got a nice little 15ish mile ride in today and picked up groceries. It was a nice day for it even if slightly chilly without a coat. Bike ran flawless as usual flipped past 600 miles since I got it in October. Why oh why didn't I buy an E-bike sooner?

 

[BiggKidd]

Got a nice little 25 mile ride in today. It was great but my leg with cellulitis is not happy. Bike worked flawlessly as usual. Still had about 40% of the battery left and I hardly did any pedaling. I was trying not to pedal to save on mt leg but I caught myself pedaling a few times no more than maybe 5 miles total.

As I was riding I was thinking of all the differences from this bike to the one I want to build. This bike is more upright that one will be more cruiser style. Hopefully more comfortable!

 

[Smaug]

Got a nice little 25 mile ride in today. It was great but my leg with cellulitis is not happy. Bike worked flawlessly as usual. Still had about 40% of the battery left and I hardly did any pedaling. I was trying not to pedal to save on mt leg but I caught myself pedaling a few times no more than maybe 5 miles total.

As I was riding I was thinking of all the differences from this bike to the one I want to build. This bike is more upright that one will be more cruiser style. Hopefully more comfortable!

Cruiser style will transfer the weight distribution from your hands & wrists to you butt. So if you're having neck, wrist or hand issues, it will help. However, you may start to have lower back issues instead...

 

[BiggKidd]

Cruiser style will transfer the weight distribution from your hands & wrists to you butt. So if you're having neck, wrist or hand issues, it will help. However, you may start to have lower back issues instead...

Lower back issues have been an issue since I had my third long fall back in 88. I've lived every day since with more pain than most will ever know.

I can not wait to get to building the new bike but it's going to be awhile since I can only move forward as money allows. Getting the motor ordered was a big step....

 

[BiggKidd]

Just back from several nice hours on the bike. Amazing how much faster the battery goes when you're pushing 35mph for 6-8 miles. Thank the lord I had just slowed down right before I passed a state trooper when running 28.5 and he gave me crap about that .5mph. Can you even imagine! Cocky little chit! This child was so fresh he still had the clear plastic covering over his name badge.
I was in hurry because My youngest daughter wanted me to meet them to look at a house they were thinking of buying. I hope I steered them in any other direction. This place was a total basket case from the rotten and broken foundation up!

Love my bike that thing is so awesome! It is however filthy with layer after layer of mud pasted on it. . Ah well maybe one day I'll manage to scrape it all off.

 

[BiggKidd]

Got a short quick ride in today. Had to run to town 15 miles round trip all at 28mph on the road and 13mph off road and got home with roughly 45-50% charge left. Had to go through some deep & long puddles. I also had to keep moving pretty good because the water would have been up on the hub motors if I had slowed down! Just got done hosing the bike down too, this time I had to soak the motors and battery pretty good to get all the mud & crud out and off. The chain and derailer were crammed full. I was surprised the chain could even stay on there was so much stuck in it. Red clay sticky nasty stuff!

 

[BiggKidd]

Got a nice leisurely 35-40 mile ride in today. Found another way home that cut off maybe 8 miles, kinda wish I had gone the long way around. I did however see a nice medium size black bear coming in that way. Stopped at a store before that thinking I'd treat myself to a ice cream sandwich or something but they don't carry ice cream, go figure. Still had 47.2V left in the battery so I certainly had plenty of battery to go the longer way but now I know a new way I didn't know before. I'll tell ya taking a chance on unmarked deep country dirt roads is a gamble but this time it worked out!

The May flies and ticks got their share of me today that's for sure!

 

[BiggKidd]

Had a nice little 34 mile ride today. Stopped at the grocery store on the way home and when I came back out after shopping my display was weird when I turned the bike back on. It was like all the different actions / options / levels were trying to display all at one time and it was also partly displaying over current which with the battery at 48.4 when I went inside isn't possible. No idea what's up with that! Anyone have any ideas? It did seem to clear partway up on the way home.

ETA: Crossed 700 miles today. Did more riding between Oct and Dec than I have since but still getting a few miles in.

 

[DieselTech]

Had a nice little 34 mile ride today. Stopped at the grocery store on the way home and when I came back out after shopping my display was weird when I turned the bike back on. It was like all the different actions / options / levels were trying to display all at one time and it was also partly displaying over current which with the battery at 48.4 when I went inside isn't possible. No idea what's up with that! Anyone have any ideas? It did seem to clear partway up on the way home.

Got too hot sitting in the sun while shopping.

 

[BiggKidd]

Got too hot sitting in the sun while shopping.

Good thought but I parked and locked it in the shade!

 

[BiggKidd]

I contacted the seller last night and they told me to video the display and email it in. By today the screen had cleared up, as I said last night it cleared partway on the way home. So I am guessing it was heat build up over the day long ride.

 

[HumanPerson]

heat and condensation somewhere in the display?

 

[BiggKidd]

Just got back from the park on the bike (Ridstar) the other bike will be quite awhile yet considering I haven't even ordered all the parts yet or started building. Today was Austin's 1st B-day party my youngest grandson so far, not his actual B-day date IIRC that's monday.

I was NOT ready to come home yet but there's a storm blowing in from the east / southeast and they can be pretty bad. I bet it misses us since I came on home but it wasn't worth the odds to go for a ride after the party ended which I was planning on. I really want to get another bigger battery for this bike too. It chews through the battery pretty quick when one is running 28mph which I did both ways. First I was late leaving and therefor in a hurry and then I wanted to make sure I got home before the storm it looks nasty east of here and may well be raining now where I was. It looks like it might just skirt by the house so I may have been safe going west but it wasn't worth the chance.

Anyone have a recommendation for a nice fat 48V L-ion battery? One that will last!

MAN I LOVE THESE E-BIKES! Nice and quiet clean peaceful ride. Everyone should have the opportunity on a daily basis.