I am new so if I have done this wrong forgive me. I just recently built a small trailer to carry a second battery pack. after my test run I found that pulling it was so easy, I decided to test the bike on just the power pack on the trailer so I removed the pack from the bicycle and now I may never go back to the bike mounted power pack,
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Interesting...
I use a trailer for my grocery shopping and don't really notice the weight being hauled that way.
On the other hand a trailer prevents taking the bicycle on mass transit (busses, trains) which may or may not be an issue.
Can you say what is different about the bicycle w/ battery pack versus without it? And are you using lead acid batteries?
I've noticed that switching from SLA to LiFePO4 batteries made a huge difference in bicycling quality.
- David Herron, The Long Tail Pipe, davidherron.com, 7gen.com, What is Reiki
the bike is much lighter and easier to maneuver when I roll it around to shop and to the drive. It doesn't take any less effort to get up a hill but somehow it coasts much better. I think the sla battery weight helps with that since it is pushing on a direct line with the bike not bogging it down. that is just an impression though. It also seems to do better power consumption wise. I do a lot of pulse use of the motor.
I bought the bike to run very local errands. today for instance I did two errands a total of 5 miles. No public transportation needed.
I wanted to give an update on the trailer. I like it so well that I carry all my battery packs on it and nothing on the bike now.
Hi deacon, Sounds like maybe a good way to go. Can you possibly supply some pictures?
they are not good but maybe they will help...
let me give you a quick step by step building narrative.
1. get a piece of plywood the size of your battery pack, or two if you want.
2.. bolt a couple of angle braces onto the plywood. Those are the kind that are used for shelf material.
3. Get yourself two wheels. Small childs bike wheels will do or scooter wheels.
4. Get yourself a threaded rod the right diameter to fit the wheels. 3/8 to 1/2 usually one or the other will work.
5 run the rod through the braces with a nut on the inside for each wheel. Then a nut on the outside and tighten them down against the angle braces. This prevents the rod from moving and makes it a solid axle.
6. put a wheel on each side and run a nut to tighten it just slightly, then a second one to lock the wheel on. I welded mine in place but loctite would probably work as well.
for a tongue I used a pice of conduit and bolted it to one of the braces. I set mine on the right side but you can use either side of the bike I suppose. Besure to make the tongue long enough for the bike to clean when turning.
The hitch is a strong L bracket the kind used for shelves on the wall. I also add a brace to lock it in place kind of a triangle configuration.
That's pretty much it.
http://i41.tinypic.com/2941jbq.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/jkaq9g.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/9st3qa.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/2eutx5s.jpg
Thanks deacon. No problems with those instructions. Can you also show how you hitch
to your bike. Tks again.
I wont be able to hook up for a few days it's going to rain for a while and my bike is stored in my lawn shed and the trailer inside the shop charging. It's easier to get the trailer out the door than the bike. This is a top view drawing of the hitch.
http://i44.tinypic.com/9knm7m.jpg
The connection is made to a piece of metal with a hole (That is bolted to the axle) on one end and a hole with a bolt through it on the other that recieves the trailer hitch,
http://i42.tinypic.com/nqe7hu.jpg
Drawings are not to scale...
I use the center hole in the hitch to attach to the bike and the top hole for a safety chain just in case the trailer breaks loose.
This is a good idea, and appropriate for many applications. There was a discussion a while back on these. Lots of pics...
http://visforvoltage.org/forum/2082-what-about-trailer%3F
I have a garage filled with trailer experiments. I seldom use them for anything but power packs but I do love to figure things out and I personally can not do it without experiments.
I have built them with lawnmower wheels, fertilizer spreader wheels, bicycle wheels, and scooter wheels. I built them with the universal design of outriggers with pvc pipe as the frame and they all work some better than others.
This is about the move evolved design and it has no real flaws that I have found yet, but I have been using it only a couple of weeks. I do hitch and unhitch it about twice a day so I get a pretty good feel for it.
When everything is tight and lined up right, I absolute can NOT tell it is back there. There is no effect on the bike's handling power or steering. I have to remind myself it is there so I don't drag it over a curb.
It also seems to add stability to the bike, but I have no way to measure that. For sure it's a lot more stable than the bike was with the batteries over the back wheel. Even though I use a smaller rear wheel to get the center of gravity with the batteries lower,. Also I can carry more batteries with sla that is a good thing.
Hi deacon, Looks like you have had a lot of fun with trailer R and D. David just put this up, so in case you don't find it, take a look. Maybe get some new indeas to go along with yours.
http://www.wicycle.com/
I thought I might show you the latest trailer I built for my bike. it actually converts the bike to a robo tandem. The guy in the second seat is a 350 watt motor running through a scooter rear wheel. Works pretty well.
The battery tray is empty in the pic but it is a 24volt sla pack.
Nice picture upload more