NO NEED TO TURN THE PEDALS!

Having collected several gasoline homemade products, I decided to move with the times and turned my attention to electric vehicles. No stand-up type devices, simply put, scooters, which are now very popular, will do – I need ease of riding and a good range, at least 100 km. So, I will reinvent the wheel again!

A long mileage can be provided by a rechargeable battery of impressive capacity, and this means weight. Therefore, you will need strong wheels – bicycle wheels are too weak. An electric motor with a power of 500 W is connected to a motorcycle disk. The tire, of course, is also from a motorcycle. The battery is assembled from 16 3.7 V cells connected in series. The total voltage is 58 V, and the total battery capacity is 37 Ah.

A large and heavy battery requires a strong frame. It is spatial, welded from thin-walled steel pipes. The battery is a large parallelepiped; it determines the dimensions and design of the machine. The soft seat is comfortable for long trips, so I took it from a moped. I once drove 110 km at one time – and no fatigue! The seat is located as low as possible and is not adjustable in height, so you can just sit down and go, and if something happens, you can immediately put your feet on the ground. This position is not suitable for pedaling, but pedaling is not intended. They are needed only to ensure that the car remains truly a bicycle, and does not become an electric moped. Of course, sometimes you can turn the pedals – in a critical situation, if the battery runs out, for example, but it will be difficult and uncomfortable. Sometimes I start to twirl them a little on the sidewalk so that those around me understand that there really is a cyclist in front of them, or when passing traffic police posts – for the same purpose.

The absence of shock absorbers also makes the vehicle look like a bicycle! This is more important to me than a smooth ride, and driving over uneven surfaces was not the goal. Bicycle-type fork, curved from bottom to front.

My equipment is often used in the dark, so of course it has lighting. But there are no reflectors to still remain inconspicuous, if necessary. In general, in my opinion, it turned out to be an excellent replacement for a gasoline moped!

As often happens with me, having designed one copy, I immediately begin creating a second one, ideologically similar, but improved. It was the same this time – I decided to make the second electric bike all-wheel drive, with motors on the front and rear wheels. It’s not that I was preparing to drive off-road; I usually move exclusively on asphalt and compacted paths; it’s just that the car is more reliable with two engines. And its resource is higher, because each motor works at half capacity. They have the same power as in the first case – 500 W each. The battery produces the same 58 V, but the capacity is already 55 Ah. Thanks to all-wheel drive, the bike turned out to be very playful, and it is much more convenient to pass intersections on it than on a small one. It is heavier, of course, has a more powerful frame, and is equipped with a reel with an upper crossbar and a forward-mounted amplifier.

I also came up with and implemented an interesting, in my opinion, control system for two motors. From the motorcycle throttle, a cable goes to a dual trigger that controls two motor controllers. If necessary, one of them can be disabled, but I have never done this.

Of course, there are pedals here too, and I had to install a long chain with a tension roller for the lower branch in order to reach the rear wheel. The upper branch of the chain slides along the guide, slightly changing direction in the vertical plane. All this is quite complicated and is not technically flawless yet, but the pedals here, as in the previous case, are not supposed to be turned a lot. They are needed to emphasize the bicycle aesthetics, and although the pedal drive is functional, it is practically not used.

Since there are two motors, there are also two control displays, they are completely identical. They reflect speed, power consumption, mileage, operating time and battery voltage. During operation, to charge the battery there is no need to remove it; simply connect it to the charging connector. But it is, of course, also possible to remove it from the niche on the frame and charge it separately.

Mikhail LANDYSHEV, photo by Andrey FAROBIN