moped

Here it goes!
I'm planning on converting my Puch "Free Spirit" from a 49cc gas powered bike to an EV with equal or greater power and a range of about 20 miles.

I'm going to contact a company about getting a custom build kit, (http://www.electricmotorsport.com/) and I'll probably use a hub motor. The good thing about this 'ped is that it has a ton of space for batteries. If anybody has a suggestion on battery types please let me know. I'm not looking to spend a ton of money so I'm basically going for the cheapest parts that can still preform. (It's a balancing act)

That's as far as I've gotten with researching specific parts. I don't know much about controllers, or other parts, but I'm in the process of researching. I'll keep posting as I build and learn. By the end of this project I hope this blog can serve as a guide for people who are starting out as clueless as I am.

Oh, also the puch has peddles and a magneto that I'm thinking about using to power lights, or use to help it charge. I'm not sure how practical that is, but I'm going to investigate.

A little about me: I'm a College Student in Iowa. I'm just learning about mopeds and scooters because I bought my Puch this winter as a project bike. I got it up and running quite well learning as I went. Now, I want to convert it to electric power.

You might wonder why I'm converting it right after I got it going. I recently purchased a cheap new moped, that goes faster. I needed it because I got a job on the outside of town. So, now I have two bikes and only need one. The Puch is pretty B.A. so I want to keep it around and what better tribute to a great bike than to bring it into the future as a custom built BEV. (Also, the carb. cable is a pain, and I want to get rid of it forever).

Thanks for checking out my page and I look foreword to learning from everybody here on the Forums!

At the current moment, I have the ICE engine out and the Razor motor in and wired up. Using a small hub on the 500 watt motor, I'm getting about 5-8mph and not nearly enough power to make it up hills. Fortunately, this was designed as a moped and I can pedal assist whenever I need to. Also, the centrifigual clutch means I can't stall out the motor.

The problem is that I don't have enough power, the motor is running very hot (70 C after 10 minutes runtime), and the rinky dink batteries I have now won't give me enough distance.

As mentioned above, I've ordered an HXT outrunner motor from Hong Kong (per Scott @ Endless-Sphere's experience) and will wire it in once it arrives. I'm hoping to be able to go 30 mph on straightaways if I can with larger SLA batteries on it.

This is my very high-tech throttle control. The Rocket controller is not speed adjustable, you just have to short two wires. I short one pair and turn on the bike using the mini-headphone jack on the left (aka: "the key") and then turn on the motor using the switch on the right. I avoided doing anything nicer as the HXT outrunner + ESC that I'm using in Phase 2 will be an entirely different control system.