What battery should I get for a 5000w motor?

[addertooth]

your controller Amp Rating and settings will determine your battery needs.
For example, on the Goat Bikes Hulk, with a 5kw motor, it peaks at 10Kw, with a battery which is fused at 120 amps.

You must make sure your battery management system in your pack is rated to deliver you "peak amps" required by your controller.

Until you know this by reading the rating on your controller, you are just throwing darts while blindfolded.

 

[m@Robertson]

Luna does not sell Ludi controllers to the general public.

 

[HumanPerson]

Luna does not sell Ludi controllers to the general public.

yeah i forgot they asked me all kinds of questions when i bought mine even after i bought another BBSHD kit LOL

Wanted to know if i was a returning customer and what i had bought...

 

[m@Robertson]

yeah i forgot they asked me all kinds of questions when i bought mine even after i bought another BBSHD kit LOL

Wanted to know if i was a returning customer and what i had bought...

I'm surprised you got that far. I could have had one I am sure, if I had asked. But for me the 30a 52v BBSHD has been rock solid reliable across many builds, so I didn't want to screw with it. I did have a BAC800 conversion from ERT and it didn't end well. The vendor took it back to upgrade the programming and ended up disappearing on his customers, never returning it to me.

If I did to to say a 'modern' High Voltage Kits upgrade, It would also mean I should move away from my 52v standardization and that would cause me all sorts of issues. I have only one charger that can do a higher voltage (96v Satiator).

 

[HumanPerson]

I'm surprised you got that far. I could have had one I am sure, if I had asked. But for me the 30a 52v BBSHD has been rock solid reliable, so I didn't want to screw with it. I did have a BAC800 conversion from ERT and it didn't end well. The vendor took it back to upgrade the programming and ended up disappearing on his customers, never returning it to me.

I've got a stock BBSHD from them with the offroad tune and the BBSHD wit the ludi and really the way i have everything set up i see not much difference.
Probably would if i jack up the settings though and add more AH

 

[m@Robertson]

I've got a stock BBSHD from them with the offroad tune and the BBSHD wit the ludi and really the way i have everything set up i see not much difference.
Probably would if i jack up the settings though and add more AH

From what I understand 72v is the sweet spot as that will let you get the rpms up. v1 Ludi's were 50a. Not sure what the v2's were.

 

[Cybersnow]

After chatting with them, I have decided to buy a new BBSHD & 52v battery. My Current kit bike’s BBSHD is making noises that led me to believe I have some bearing issues but then the setup is over 7 years of hard use and too many miles ridden on Zero. I will prolly donate the bike to someone and start looking for a used downhill bike. The Luna Shop is only about a 15 minute drive from the LA house andI will go in and talk to them soon.

 

[m@Robertson]

After chatting with them, I have decided to buy a new BBSHD & 52v battery. My Current kit bike’s BBSHD is making noises that led me to believe I have some bearing issues but then the setup is over 7 years of hard use and too many miles ridden on Zero. I will prolly donate the bike to someone and start looking for a used downhill bike. The Luna Shop is only about a 15 minute drive from the LA house andI will go in and talk to them soon.

As far as I am concerned, the best place in the USA to buy a BBSHD is Luna. That assumes you are competent working on and installing the motor. Luna's strengths are they sell quality BBSHDs with not-jacked-up-firmware for $100 less than their nearest reliable competitor. Also the firmware they use is perfectly good at 52v, and it has none of the goofball quirks that Bafang has introduced over the years, like overvoltage issues with 52v, limiting 52v motors to 28a, the pedal assist shutdown thing that was an issue for awhile and I'm sure a few others I am forgetting.

The downside of Luna is that if you need handholding for a build you don't understand, they are not the vendor that provides that kind of service. California Ebike, in that case, is the one who advertises that kind of service.

 

[Cybersnow]

Not sure how to get this out of Bold. I have purchased and installed 6 BBS02 (750 watt) motor kits and one BBSHD kit. But they were purchased from an on line vendor in the South Bay area of CA. The kits installed very easily with the only issue being the very long cable lengths. My plan is to find a used downhill bike and modify it to an ebike. However I understand that there are some brands that require special parts or sleeves? in order to install the BBSHD. I am thinking that I need to get up on the Luna Forum and ask for advice on which bikes to be looking at.

 

[m@Robertson]

A Luna BBSHD is the same as all the rest. The only real difference to be seen is that a few HDs have a small power tap wire that come out of the motor for use running certain bike lights.

I just made this post yesterday on what to buy for a complete HD install. These items are all entirely generic.

Mid drives with throttle

Looking for a mid drive kit for my recumbent that has a throttle included. Nothing bigger than a 500 watt motor. I ride rail trails with a group, from 11-13 mph, rarely go over 15 mph on these mostly flat trails. Want the motor to do half the work due to health issues. Wondering how well a...

ebikesforum.com

Also, check this out. Its a BBSHD install described step by step within the context of choosing a frame and building up the whole bike, with extensive discussion of fitment techniques.

How To Build An Ebike From Scratch

You want to build an ebike, but the project seems overwhelming. Lets de-mystify the entire process, including planning, parts and perfecting the end result.

talesontwowheels.com

And I did this one fairly recently to address a common bit of stupidity on BBSHD installs that keeps coming up. The same topic is addressed in the complete how-to but nowhere near as detailed or focused insofar as tools and alternatives are concerned.

How Do I Mount a BBSHD So It Never Moves?

A BBSHD or BBS02 needs a rock-solid install. The internet tells us this can go terribly, terribly wrong. Advice given to fix the problem is often just as bad.

talesontwowheels.com

 

[Cybersnow]

All great articles! Unfortunately my time to ride up in Idaho is quickly running out and I expect snow to fall in the next few weeks. While I really did like my SALSA Fargo at one time, it is a heavy bike ~45lbs and I would like to go to a full suspension bike frame. It might make a great winter project. Would you mind sharing more info on the frame and suspension parts? I wonder if the bike from Luna is worth it or if I am better off stripping parts off the Fargo as it was built using premium parts (but 7 years ago).

 

[m@Robertson]

Would you mind sharing more info on the frame and suspension parts?

I went into p[retty excruciating detail in that first article, if you start from the beginning. The first three installments talk about what you want to look for in a frame. As for suspension, whatever is quality for a bike is quality for an ebike, too. So stay away from $100 front forks that use springs, for example. On the Apostate build I describe (really its a 2000 Intense Tracer), I made a point of choosing a period-correct fork that was top quality (a 1999 Marzocchi Bomber) that I also happened to find a looks-like-new example of for IIRC about $100. I had to hunt down a new set of seals, which was quite a project by itself. The back Fox shock was beyond saving so I put in a modern Fox shock that matched the size and stroke of the original.

The only thing I regret is that shock. I prefer a high quality spring shock in part because you can upgrade the spring and it never needs an air refill. But a quality spring shock is expensive and so is the spring upgrade. And for the short throw on that shock in that frame, a spring shock was just not in the cards.

Luna makes good ebikes if you are savvy about what components are good and what are not. The other star in that show is, I think, Frey. You can get good bits on other ebikes but they will cost a small fortune vs. Luna or Frey.

Myself, I would always build from a frame. In part because I can and I enjoy the project, but more so because it lets me build a bike without having to cut corners to make a profit on what I am selling someone.

 

[Cybersnow]

I have been thinking that a trip to Luna is in order. The Fargo is a hardtail mountain bike that is made out of steel. It was a frame up build with really good parts and I replaced the front fork with a reasonably good Fox air shock and went to mountain handlebars. I have read a few things about stress on the rear portion on full suspension bikes, so maybe I will stick to the Fargo. I will be in LA next week and will make it a point to visit Luna.

 

[m@Robertson]

Cheapie rear suspension linkages can suffer, for sure. The solution is to buy quality on that front. My three rear-suspension bikes are an old StumpJumper, an even older Intense Tracer and a new-at-the-time Guerilla Gravity Smash. The GG is taking up near 4 kw, and I picked it specifically for its known strength with Tangent Ascent motors. The other two were high end bikes for their time.

Thats the trick... rather than spending a fortune on the latest tech, get a high end bike that is used. My Intense was a model year 2000 frame I bought on Ebay for $200. I had to replace the rear shock but that was expected.

 

[Cybersnow]

While my downhill days are long over, I remember that my downhill bike was pretty indestructible. What do you think about looking for a used downhill bike?

 

[m@Robertson]

What do you think about looking for a used downhill bike?

DH bikes are absolutely going to pass the strength test. My white whale was an alloy Specialized Demo. Those are several years old and if you look at the rear 'triangle' its actually three stays on each side, along with what is IIRC a Horst link. I had a chance to buy a new-condition Medium Demo 7 frame in clear-coated bare alloy for about $750. I hesitated and someone else grabbed it. I didn't fully realize how cheap that was at the time but I sure do now.

Where was I? downhill bikes... right. You will have some challenges on the geometry if you want to pedal. A DH bike is not set up to be pedaled so much. If you owned one, you already know this. I have always gravitated more to a solid enduro style which I have been able to set up to pedal well. But if you want to pedal on mixed ground and know what you are doing, maybe you can work it out. I think success vs. failure is going to come down to the position of the seatpost and the angle of the saddle. Unless you just want to throttle it and if thats the case your job is much easier.

 

[Cybersnow]

Thanks, sounds like I need to forget DH and start looking for Enduro. I typically use the throttle only to get started or to jump across a street. Prefer to pedal at about 15-17 mph and love multi day trips. We are looking at a South run on Highway 1 along the Oregon Coast.