[govman6159]

Here is an image of my latest revision to my ebike. For those who don't already know, it is a vintage Bianchi Main Street hybrid bike with a 24vdc/500 watt Currie motor/controller and a 24V/30ah LiFePO4 battery pack (16 Headway 40152S cells). I made the ebike this way (vice hub moter) because I wanted to still be able to shift gears. I've been riding it for about 3 months. Here are the pros (that I want to keep) and the cons (that I would like your help fixing)

Pros:
1) All gears are available which allows me to shift to whatever gear is required for the situation.
2) Great for commuting due to the hybrid tires (no flat tire or uneven terrain worries)

Cons:
1) Looks homemade (aka frankenbike)
2) despite the availability of all gears, it frequently shuts of when going up long slow hills (common around here (KY)) due to torque rqmts placed on the motor
3) On a flat road, 22 mph appears to be the max speed due to wind resistance. I would definitely like at least 35mph.
4) Exposed batteries invite theft

What I would like to do is keep the pros and eliminate the cons. My thoughts on this are:
1) Create a fairing of coroplast similiar to a crotch rocket motorcycle (enclosing or routing air past the legs)
2) Mount a handlebar extension to improve the aerodynamics of the riding position (this creates a problem for where to mount the throttle)
3) Switch to a mountain bike gearing (22/32/42t up front and 13-36t cassette in back, current setup is 28/38/48t front and 11-30t rear)
4) Upgrade to 48V/1200W motor (the ones I see look cheap and appear to be too wide to clear the pedal. This would require a high/forward motor mounting and limit the room to mount my batteries/controller).

What do you guys think. Any and all ideas/suggestions are welcome.