The vertical fruiting that occurs from amalgamation of elementals which build upon one another to form more complex structures through cyclic development – each of which buds with new opportunities, some directly related to parallel branches, others dependently entwined, overall becoming resilient and mature.
Thus we can compare the organic process of learning to that of a tree or climbing bine, following each branch and twig to its' conclusion as we comprehend more about the interaction, dependencies, and symbiosis of data with other branches. These would include withering from obsolescence or lack of interest, rabbit holes of lost causes and distractions, as well blossoming through pollination from like ideas or chance of transmutation from foreign sources.
The resulting cornucopia of a Garden Wall provides an opportunity for us to conveniently cherry-pick concisely the very best of research on from broad and diverse subjects of an ever-growing body of knowledge.
It is with pleasure that I present my personal Garden Wall on Electric Bikes.
This blog was started about 5 or 6 years ago, and though it doesn't seem like a long time, in terms of Internet Time it has been an epic journey. Since late 2009, I began working with modern Chinese motors and controllers which are far removed from the crude controllers available when I built my first ebike back in 1985. Parts were still arriving for my conversion as late as February 2010, a year of giant learning, and I thank Endless-Sphere for being the go-to place as a great EV forum. From New Years' in 2011, it was every spare moment working at fever pitch to prepare for an epic ride from Washington to California and back on my custom 2WD electric bike: I broke the world record without knowing it. Much was learned.
Over the winter I blew out my knee and spent 2012 as a year of reflection: Where do I want to go with this hobby? How can I improve upon what is available? For the next 2-3 years I worked on developing circuits and motor designs. The watershed event that really changed my life was hooking up with pals, creating Kinaye MotorSports, and began racing high-powered ebike on the drag strip. Much was learned.
Today (Nov 21, 2016) when I look at this blog and all that was written prior, I see another Alan a world away from where we are right now in terms of experience and technology. So much has changed and the individual goals are no longer relevant because of the company built around electric bikes. What we learned is that there is a wide gap between hobbyist products and quality consumer products. What we want - we can make ourselves and sell it. We're past the point where we know how to design and build an ebike; we want is to design and build high-powered electric commuter bikes (e-motos) which are stronger than bicycles but not quite ready for freeway: the 50-mph commuter with a 75 mile radius. The original goals were to:
We more or less did that at the drag strip and on field trials. We know 2WD is an awesome solution to putting more control and torque to the ground than any single-drive system out there. The cost and complexity of doing 2WD has been greatly mitigated and it's no longer considered a "weird" approach, especially when you have motor controllers commonly available for slaving now.
Basic issues still remain. However hardware is lacking because all current tech is built around the monolithic motor driving the rear wheel. In comparison, the work that we do at Kinaye is divergent; don't expect us to follow down the same tame road. We have a completely different approach on how we want to solve the electric system from instrumentation to charging to anti-slip traction control. Some of this I can talk about. Much though I will not. Therefore this blog will mature and cover the basics of what I ride now. Some content is dated and has been pulled. Some will remain for historical reference. Thanks for your interest.
To date, three elementary bikes have been converted into ebikes of some sort, each one becoming part of an evolutionary process (see Media Gallery for pictorial review). The first was a one-off challenge in protest against the college professor who vexed me lemons – although I managed to create lemonade. The next two are recent, and affected my outlook on where and how I want to spent my time going forward sans petrol with personal transportation.
October 2012
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2WD Commuter Specs
Horsepower: Programmable current, selectable on-the-fly > 4 hp all day.
Top Speed: @ 63V ~ 50 mph (unofficial), weather-dependant.
Range: 50 Seattle miles w/ modest throttle, & w/ Trailer > 175 miles/day.
Weight: Commuter ~ 100lbs., w/ Trailer ~ 300 lbs. when full-loaded for bear.
Battery Pack: Lithium Polymer, made of HobbyKing Zippy FlightMax 5S1P 15/2C
5000 mAh R/C batteries. Commuter: Qty-18 as 15S6P. Cross-Country w/ Trailer: Qty-78
as 15S26P.
Recharge Rate: Custom Meanwell assembly outputs 1kWh.
Commuter < 2 hours, w/ Trailer < 9 hours. Cost to Recharge: Calculated using the worst possible hourly rate = $0.12/kWh, Commuter < $0.25/day, Cross-Country ~ $1/day, however - this cost is rolled into room & board, so essentially - it's FREE! Motors: Nine Continent 2806 clones (modified), Disc F & R, w/ custom designed dual Torque Arms for each wheel. Controllers: LYEN Edition 12 x 4110 MOSFET Extreme Modder (modified). Unified Dashboard Controls: Modified for single Throttle, strong electric braking, Cruise Control, 3-Way selectable Current, & remote Keylock. Frame: 2009 Felt Compulsion-1 Full-Suspension/Downhill Fork: Marzocchi 44 RLO w/ Cane Creek 110 Ceramic Headset Saddle: Brooks B-17 Narrow Imperial - Black Crank/BB: Campagnolo 170mm 30-42-53 Triple w/ Phil Wood SS 68/73mm Brakes: Dual Regenerative EBraking + Avid BB7 MTB Mechanical 203mm Disc F & R, w/ SRAM Attack Trigger Shifters & Shimano XTR Levers Derailleur: Front Campagnolo w/ Braze-on, Rear Shimano XTR M971. Custom designed Braze-on mounting adapter. Freewheel: 9 Speed Freewheel 11-32T DNP (noisy!) Rims: Front - 26" Mavic EX729 Disc, Rear - 24" Kris Holm Competition Tires: Maxxis 2-Ply 2.5" wide Hookworms w/ DH tubes & triple-armored against flats; Euro Studs in winter. Computer: Grin Tech Direct Plug-in Cycle Analyst Aux Power: DC-DC Converter w/ 12V & 3V output, 60W Running Lights: Dual Cree Headlights & dual Blinkie safety lighting, 3V, w/ DOT-rated 12V indicators, Brake, and taillight More mods than you can shake a stick at: Custom Battery Bags, custom Fairings, custom wiring, dashboard unification, Class-A power cabling, & Trailer-ready - having several hard-points available for additional battery packs or charging. It's quite nimble & lots of fun all year around! |
June 29th, 2011. Day-0, On The Road in Spanaway, WA.
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2011 2WD Cross-Country Specs
Total Distance: 2515.7 miles over 28 days. A new unoffical World Record.
Farthest single distance in one day: 186.6 miles between Pioneer and Fresno.
Farthest distance on a single charge: 165.3 miles between San Rafael and
Fort Bragg
Top Speed: 44 mph heading downhill w/ trailer on Hwy 88 after Carson Pass.
Average Speed: About 26 mph.
Average operating voltage: Starting = 63.3; Ending = 56.1
Opportunity charges: Most per day tied at 2.
Highest Pass climbed: Tied at > 8600 feet; Hwy 89 over Mount Lassen National
Park going to Greenville & Hwy 88 over Kit Carson Pass going to Pioneer.
Longest day: About 13.5 hours between Pioneer and Fresno due to the flat
tire.
Departures: Earliest was 6 AM leaving Fort Bragg to Eureka, and the latest
was 4:50 PM to head across the Golden Gate to San Rafael. Average departure time
was 8:15 AM. Leaving early proved to be much safer and quicker.
Time in the Saddle: Depends how this is calculated. Average was about 5 hours.
Scariest moment: Probably coming into Portland on US-30 the last 10 miles.
Biggest arsehole: Too many to count when they use their vehicle as a weapon,
but there was about one/day.
Prettiest segment: Far too many to count! The ugliest though was where I
had the flat.
Nicest gal: "Marie" at the Union 76 Station in Truckee, who let me park and
charge for 2 hours whilst I had lunch at a nearby restaurant.
Nicest guy: Attendant at the Chevron Station in Angels Camp, who let me park
and charge for an hour whilst I had breakfast at a nearby restaurant.
Nicest strangers: The Hells Angels gathering for Sunday Brunch at Addison's
Timber Mountain Store on the Tionesta Road heading towards Medicine Lake. I stopped
for an hour and asked to charge (they let me), and then after learning that I wasn't
an FBI informant, but a simple engineer on an ebike - they wanted to make me a "brother".
Missed opportunity if there ever was.
Cheapest motel: Motel 6 in Centralia at $43.95, followed by the Cinderella
Motel in Hollister at $48.60, and in a close third – The Ferryman's Inn again
in Centralia for $49.44.
Most Expensive motel: The Lighthouse Inn at Florence for $103.40, followed
by the Fort Bragg Travelodge at $93.47, and in a close third, again Travelodge in
Eureka for $87.99.
Best and worst motel rooms: Cinderella Motel in Hollister had the best charm.
Least impressive was a tie between the spendy Charm Motel in Burney, both Travelodge's
in Fort Bragg and Eureka, and the Lighthouse Inn at Florence – all were not
worth the money and run down.
Best road surface: US-101 when it was freeway, with a runner-up as the Avenue
of the Giants for best 2-lane road (little to no traffic).
Worst Road Surface: Tied between Tionesta Road – the first 15 miles
heading up to Medicine Lake, Panoche Road between I-5 and Hwy 25, and the dirt road
leading into my folk's property.
Best Bombing Runs: Tied between Medicine Lake, from the summit to about 5
miles before Hwy 89 junction, Mount Lassen from the summit to the junction with
Hwy 36, and Hwy 88 about 10 miles west of Carson Spur Summit heading towards Pioneer.
Best Weather: Between Johnsville and Pioneer, heading around the west shore
of Lake Tahoe and over Carson Pass; the whole day was marvelous!
Worst Weather: Tied between leaving Redmond and coming back to Redmond. A
runner-up would be the last 18 miles to Gold Beach facing 35 mph head winds + gusts,
though up till then it was one of the finest days on the coast and I was making
great time!
Best Brewery: I thought the Park Chalet in San Francisco had the most memorable
beer cos I woz enjoying it with my ePals!
Worst moment: The Flat Tire, bar none. Second to that would be the pesky
rear fender & tire rubbing issues.
Closest I came to running out of power: Tied at 54.3V left on the pack; coming
into Fort Bragg and again two days later coming in to Gold beach after fighting
the fierce buffeting with the sag dropping as low as 52.7. LVC was set to 50V so
I had only a few minutes left – possibly ½ hour.
The best piece of equiment: People always ask about the ebike and want to
know how it works. However there was one piece of equipment that consistently brought
a smile to all, and was a great source of entertainment. Can you spot it?
It's the "Diametric Coriolis Inductive Regenerator" of course!
Life should be fun! ☺
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Pictorial galleries with brief descriptions. Full stories are linked above and go into greater detail.
Custom BuildsThe best way to shake out an assembly is through rigorous testing. It's fortunate that I live on a steep and challenging hill; most people walk their bikes up to the top. Within my neighborhood, a 5-mile test loop can mimic 97% of the worst possible inclination conditions, tight cornering, and braking, which is also coincident to a 2-mile long level straightaway between signals for speed testing. However there's nothing better than a long day after day slog to reveal flaws and benefits of good design. Not to mention that it's very scenic and enjoyable. Here are a few stories from the Hobbyist days.
Related Studies, Published Articles, Interviews, and References
We build high-performance ebikes. Got to test them someplace. If we're just doing a shakedown and testing basic functionality, sure - local roads work well enough. However, sometimes the public road is not the best for a speed run: We've looked and can't find a reasonable stretch of quiet road anywhere near Seattle Metro. Plus - road conditions change with the weather, and it always rains here. The obvious solution is The Drag Strip.
On The Track - Washington Silent Thunder Electric Nationals Sept 6, 2014
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Drag Results
Configuration: 15S10P 63.4V 50Ah
R/T: 0.827
60': 3.366
330: 9.388
1/8: 14.830
MPH: 43.37 1000: 20.044 1/4: 24.841 MPH: 45.45 Notes: First drag ever. Pedaled through the entire 1/4 mile. Previously had pedaled 3 laps of the circuit track to a max speed of 48 mph. |
Pacific Raceways in Auburn Washington does it for us. It's $40 for the day to race + $10 per person (excluding the driver). I think kids get in free. PR has high-current high-voltage outlets for EVs. We're ebikes, so we don't quite need the expensive EVJ46 plugs and their ilk; we get by with a NEMA 14-50 and are able to dual-charge up to 2 ebikes at the same time.
There are two tracks at PR: The Road loop, and the Drag Strip. We use the latter; it's two lanes and nicely sticky which for us being so light is great for when the cross-winds hit. It is a smooth track, nearly level in grade, and lots of down range for easy braking. About the only thing I don't like about the track is that it faces East to West, which means we're racing into the setting sun and that's a bit rough at times to avoid the glare. We can race as frequently as we want, but often times the track is laid up by debris or spotty rain. Management doesn't hesitate to close the track at the slightest risk to public safety. That's fine with us.
The Drag String is ¼ mile long, and racers get a nice printout of Reaction Time, 60', 330', 1/8 mile and mph, 1000', and the results in time and mph at the ¼ mile mark. If two are racing together, they also share those stats. It's a lot of fun!
The first year we went was 2014, and it was electric-only racing. They let us ebikers onto the track for $40 and we did 3 laps + a drag run. The next year we came back with a dedicated racebike + me in an all leather monkeysuit. It takes a team to pull this off, and Team Kinaye does a fine job. We've been out several times now, each having a marked improvement. Obviously the FIRST time they're laughing at us: Who are these people that pedal up to the starting line… but I got to tell you after we brought out RaceBike they are not laughing anymore. Our top speed in 2015 was 66 mph; the motor supplier sent us the wrong one, and we ended up using a stock hub motor. In 2016 we didn't quite have enough voltage to break 80 mph, got close though at 79.88 mph. Check with the Kinaye website to see when we plan to race again.
On The Track - Washington Silent Thunder Electric Nationals Sept 20, 2015; top-speed that day: 66mph on a customized ebike frame! YES - That is me on the drag strip! (See the ponytail?) After a lifetime, I finally become the official jockey
Two of the World's Fastest Ebikes Duel on the Drag Strip: |
This section lists a large body of laws appurtenant to EVs et al. It is well-worth the time to read these RCWs thoroughly and understand them completely for best compliance within the long arm of The Law.