Ebike

40mph Electric utility bike I built a few years ago

This is an electric utility/cargo bike I built (and rebuilt) over the last several years.  What you see here is the final incarnation when I sold it.  While I enjoyed building it… I didn’t ride it nearly as much as the motorcycle I got in 2011.

It was originally based on a two piece kit from Xtracycle using a Townie bike with the Xtracycle extension and a 48v lead acid battery pack with a custom mount I made to attach in place of the rear deck and a Crystalyte hub motor. That worked.. but proved a bad location for the battery.. and didn’t perform as well as I wanted.  So the battery got replaced with a 48v 1kw LiFePO4 battery from Yesa that I fitted into that black bag and mounted in various places.  The next upgrade was a frame up build on a Big Dummy frame from Burley.  That rode much better as it was a one piece steel frame… but I didn’t find it as comfortable as the townie riding position.  I then added motorcycle style controls and lighting with LED headlights made from some plumbing parts.. and brake and turn signals all powered off the main battery.

It could sustain a top speed of 40mph which turned out to be more than I really wanted… but was great for keeping up with traffic on the busy city streets around here.  If you were a little more sane on the speed you could also get nearly a 60 miles range with no peddling which was nice.  My longest trips were typically under 12 miles.