48V Electric Flat Tracker

where could i find a motor and controller like that for cheap

What would you say the pulling power is of a motor like this and what is the price of the controller you used? Me and a friend of mine are into large scale trains (1/8 scale) and want to put an e-tek into his train. He wants to do this because the 14 year old Briggs engine will not run because it went 10 years without use or maintenance before he bought the train. If it has enough power he would like to pull passengers or do switching in one of the yards at our local track. The locomotive weighs about 150-300 pounds and a small passenger train with about 3 cars is roughly 1500 pounds. The locomotive I run (an SW-1500) can pull up to 3 tons (not scale tons) but that is with a hydraulic drive system. He would also like to use a Sevcon controller but is unable to afford one.

I suggest you find a forklift.  For $500-1000 you can get motors & controllers, then sell the body for a couple hundred scrap.  You wouldn't necessarily need the drive motor to operate that train.  Lead-acid would probably be the easiest power source to come by (if the forklift battery is no good).

 you can actually get the 15HP forklift motors for about $150 these days... try a junkyard, a buddy of mine found one on eBay last year

If you're making 15hp with this conversion, that's the equivalent of a 100 to 200 cc ICE bike. You really ought to be using an actual motorcycle helmet  and not a bicycle helmet. Also other safety gear like gloves would be a good idea.

 when i say 9v batteries i mean those cheap duracell 9v batteries that you get at grocery stores
p.s. what is the mah of those

If you had a 36v motor could you use 4 9v batteries wired in a series?

Not enough amperage.

9v won't work

Sure, but it is more popular to use 12v batteries and their multiplication - it is cheaper and easier to find ones (at least in my place).

Where can i get a electric motor then if the one shown is discontinued?

hi

(this is my maiden posting!)

according to a site I just saw, in order to be street legal in the UK (without need for insurance, MOT, TAX and helmet), an electric cycle must be capable of being pedalled without the engine, have an output of no more than 250watts and a maximum speed of 15.5mph under power.

I love this project. It looks superb, but I presume that in the UK you would need to treat it as a motor vehicle and that it would then be subject to all the usual bureaucracy?

A little bit more on the legal issues...

As the builder of my own "homemade" cycle, I may be able to offer a little insight on making this bike legal. I once rebuilt a 1969 Triumph chopper that had obvious modifications, and no VIN number when I bought the rolling frame. Vintage, no title, missing VIN, and customized --- quite a hassle to register.

Radioactive has a bike that is obviously rated as a motorcycle at over 50 mph/15 amps. This can vary state by state, but for general purposes, it is considered a motorcycle.

With my "custom built" motorcycle, the important things that needed to be in order according to the DMV inspector was a working motorcycle headlight, working motorcycle taillight (that brightens when the brakes are applied), adequate and working brakes, an audible horn, and falling within emissions standards. A DOT-approved safety helmet must be worn in those states that require it.

The way I see it, if Radioactive sets up the lighting system, and can pass inspection at the nearest DMV certified for "customized" vehicles, they should issue him a VIN plate that he can affix to the frame of the bike, and certificate of registration that he will carry with him while riding. He will also have to mount a state license plate on the rear underneath the taillight. Now for the horn... In Florida, where I registered my cycle, a simple a-ooga horn for a bicycle was good enough. However, other states may require a small beepy horn like you may find on a moped.
He will then have to pass a motorcycle driver test to get a motorcycle suffix added to his driver's license, using the same bike. This test consists of additional starting and stopping elements to make sure he is able to handle the bike in traffic. If he passes this, and receives his license, he should be good to go.

I am not a lawyer, and this is not professional advice, but it is the routine that I had to undergo when I registered my motorcycle. Radioactive has a vehicle that will be considered "motorcycle class" when he is riding on the streets.

One thing you missed was needing DOT approved street tires. I've been looking for approved bicycle tires for a similar project and have thus far been unable to find them (If anyone knows where you can get them PLEASE post a link or any other information). We have some of the least restrictive laws regarding registering vehicles here in Arizona, but the tire thing is usually where people get hung up. Lights, horns and brakes you can do yourself, but you can't make approved tires.

try specialized armadillos, they have extra layers of kevlar on the tread that keep thorns away from the tubes, they may be the ticket for strength too. just a thought

This is awesome! I am seriously thinking of building this. But what is this talk about the tires blowing? Anybody know of another motor I can use that isn't several hundred dollars? Mine will be made out of used and some new hardware. I don't have cash to burn so.

I 've started building something like this but using a '74 Jawa moped frame and Lithium Polymer batteries. How much did this cost because I'm looking at 15 hundred?

great job. congratulations!
one question: what kind of electric motor do you use? and what kind of batteries?
thanks and keep the good work

I might make this on a mountain board with 3.4ah sla 12v batteries

can you help

i am attempting a simular project but it is very hard to find a dual disc hud in ireland like the one you used, it looks much better quaility to what i could find.

How fast and how long.
Through all the numbers you want .
I want to know how fun and how long.
It looks like lots of fun.!
Great job

A few people I know are trying this. Question: What type (brand, size and supplier) batteries are you using? Thankx

Amazing ride there. I was wondering though, how far can you go with it on a full charge? like maybe how far doing 15, 30 and highest mph?

I'm a big mountain biker, and in my opinion the hydraulic brakes are much easier to adjust than the mechanical. They are lighter too. I have Avid Juicy 5 on my mt bike.

what wattage is the motor, im gonna build a less powerful version to make it road legal in the uk

R-Legos: What a spectacular job you did. The resultant "look" is absolutely outstanding. Who is the 'artist', you or your dad? Thanks for answering the questions with details, particularly the range and speed issues.

thanks,
dennis

you claim that this is 15 hp, which is 11,185 watts. you have 4*12V*21Ah batteries which is 1008 Watt-hours. (1008 Wh) / (11185 W) = .09 hours = 5 minutes. If your motor is actually drawing 15 hp, then you should only to be able to ride this for 5 minutes.....

hey does anybody (in the uk) know what the laws are for electric motor bikes?

YEAh i gone ask my dad maybe he wanne built this of the free bicycle we got from some 1 bechause that 1 is stil not done stil missing parts but i live in the neterlands where do i get power from? maybe a Engine of the scrapyard a small 1 bechause getting Volt engine in the neterlands gone be hard need to ask those smart schools dumbos with super big pockets for money if i want 1 engine

hey, what are the legal requirements to ride the bike, age, license or permit? please respond soon

also, how does the dmv classify your vehicle?

I have been thinking about doing something like this but when I look for motors all I come up with is wattage and voltage, I was wondering if there was any way to estimate the rpms and horsepower?

and that would be at 100% efficiency right?

hey guys, i am building a bike with differnt specs, than his, i need someone to help me calculate mph (roughly) for my bike,
tire spins 2750 rpm
tire circumference 62 inches
uhh i think thats all we need to calculate it.

Cheers

hey thanks for the help, my motor actually spins at 8000 rpm after dropping a couple gears it came to about 2750 lol 160 mph is a little unrealistic, but we'll see how it goes. Thanks for the help

Cheers

lol, 160 mph, good luck on the ride :)
(you will be safe, cause the motor won't have enough power)

its 5 hp ( aftrer gears) and 4 hp ( by itself) and 540 watts

Gearing can only decrease horsepower. Why, because horsepower is a function of torque and speed. If you increase torque through gearing, you also decrease speed; and, as a result of the gearing not being 100% efficient you have now decreased horsepower.

Also as was stated earlier 1 horsepower is 746 watts.

Actually, I have something that takes a 16hp input and has a 20hp output at the end.

idk i am only goingby teh specs on the motor, this is a corded drill motor ( already have the power issues worked out) anyway here is the link to the drill i bought for this project

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100485417&N=10000003+501461+90401&marketID=90401&locStoreNum=8125

btw 1 hp is not 746 watts lol electrical energy cannot ber converted to mechincal energy simbly by a generic formula, it is item specific.

It depends on what you are talking about when you mention watts. Watts are Watts. Sure the electrical watts used to run a motor won't generate the same number of watts in mechanical energy, because nothing is 100% efficient. However 1 horsepower will always equal 745.699872... Personally I wish we could do away with standard units of measurement, and finally embrace the metric system. But if the US was to actually use the official system of measurement it would inconvenience people.

1 horsepower will always equal 745.699872 watts that is.

Great Instructable and an awesome finished product. I love the vintage look of the bike and the V-Twin setup of the batteries. Props for the custom fabrication of the frame, it looks so much better than when someone just tries bolting everything on.
The dual front disk hub being used in the rear is a real stroke of genius, and I'm totally stealing it for my own e-bike project.
BTW - For anyone interested, the Perm-132 motor is being used by many others as a replacement for the discontinued ETec. It can be run at higher voltages and is considered to be a better motor; and is sold by several on-line vendors.

very nice instructable, as the other guys have said, looks very smooth and pro-looking. Do you know where you can find the motor in Europe, I've looked on Amazon here, but I can't seem to find anything for Mars Electric