Better Bike PEBL

[jjackstone]

I wondered about the center of gravity and how tippy it might be. As high as it sits, it looks like a good wind could tip it over too. Hopefully there is enough weight in it so that doesn't happen. I have to say that I have never heard such a noisy electric motor. Is that just from echoing inside the enclosure? Or, do you just have the sound on the phone turned way up?
JJ

[freebeard]

but when I have ridden my bicycle on those trails, you can announce yourself

My experience is when your say 'on your left' your average pedestrian will hop to the left and turn around. ....again today.

[NeilBlanchard]

Originally Posted by jjackstone

I wondered about the center of gravity and how tippy it might be. As high as it sits, it looks like a good wind could tip it over too. Hopefully there is enough weight in it so that doesn't happen. I have to say that I have never heard such a noisy electric motor. Is that just from echoing inside the enclosure? Or, do you just have the sound on the phone turned way up?
JJ

I have not had issues with the wind, yet. And backing up is more problematic than going forward, since the two wheels are in the front.

The noise is mostly the reduction gears on the motor, and yes some of it is resonance of the body / chassis. The video is otherwise very quiet, and when I am riding in the PEBL, there are lots of other noises that keep me from paying much attention to the motor. Bumps on the front wheels make noise, and roads around here are pretty damn bumpy. That rail trail is brand new this year, and it is still very smooth and flat.

I had the phone in the handlebar bracket, and I do think some noise is getting into the video that way. My son owns a GoPro, and I hope to use that to make a longer / more varied video.

[NeilBlanchard]

Originally Posted by freebeard

My experience is when your say 'on your left' your average pedestrian will hop to the left and turn around. ....again today.

I say "passing on your left", which is like how we drive, so I don't startle very many people. This is the one upside of the motor / gearbox noise.

[NeilBlanchard]

I rode my PEBL about 164 miles since I got it. Today was a perfect day.

[NeilBlanchard]

I have now ridden in my PEBL a bit over 300 miles, and getting a better understanding of it. I covered a slot in the right front inner fender, that was letting water and gravel get on some wiring connections. And the rear wheel also has an issue with wet leaves and schmutz building up around the swing arm pivot, which for some reason caused the motor to become intermittent.

I have not managed to get the speedometer I bought, to work consistently. The angle of the kingpin strut and the wheel camber are not allowing the clearance between the spoke magnet and the sensor to be close enough consistently. I may try to find another speedometer that has a better pickup design.

I have a nice cover now, that is made for a 2 seat golf cart that fits quite well. This keeps the inside dry, and it keeps frost off the windshield - which is hard to clear, because it is Lexan. The most common challenge I have in colder weather is fogging on the inside of the windows. The best solution I have found is a towel, and opening the side window zippers a bit.

I have found the motor drive chain has stopped stretching - I had to adjust it 4 times, and it is now staying snug.

I have ridden it over snow - the smooth tires don't have much grip, unless the snow is soft / shallow enough to let the tire tough the ground.

[wdb]

I got tired of announcing myself on multi-use trails and got a cute sounding bell for my bike. Does a fine job of letting folks know I'm coming, and saves my patience for things that really need it. Not sure how you'd do that with this rig but I recommend it -- or something like it -- nevertheless.

(We used to have a toy thingie on our tandem that made a siren sound. *That* was fun.)

[NeilBlanchard]

The PEBL's horn is a non-threatening "beep-beep" type. I just need to use it far enough away to not startle folks.

[NeilBlanchard]

My PEBL is working consistently, again. It had issues with splices on the motor cable getting wonky after riding in the rain. New PEBL's have a stock cable that is long enough without the splice. The controller also had to be replaced; possibly caused by yhe bad splices.

I don't yet have a odometer, so I can only estimate how far I have ridden it - I think it is more than 650 miles, and I hope to ride it at least 45 miles a week. It costs me less than 0.5¢/mile. And I get good exercise, which is great.

[NeilBlanchard]

Friday I rode my PEBL almost 57 miles, and then on Sunday I rode it about 36 miles. This was one trip - I needed to make a stop to buy things to bring with me, so that was why the trip out was longer.

I also had an issue with Google Maps for bicycles - one section of the route was along a power line right-of-way, that may or may not have been an official bike path. But it was not something I felt confident riding my PEBL on.
Google Maps indicated that the total elevation climb for the 36 mile leg was over 1700 feet, and the total elevation drop was about 110 feet.

On the 57 mile leg, I exclusively stayed in the standard power mode, and I started with 54.2V and ended with about 46.1V. It took about 4:45 to complete this leg, including the 10-15 minute to shop, and talk to someone very interested in the PEBL.

On the 36 mile leg, I used the high power mode all the time, except when I was on a bike trail. I started with over 54V and ended with a bit over 47V. The elevation net change was about a 520 foot drop, on my return trip. This leg only took a bit over 2 hours.

I weigh about 240 pounds, and I had about 40 pounds of stuff - sleeping bag, extra clothing and boots, food (for the weekend) and water.

It was raining most of the leg out, and part of the leg back. I spoke with at least 6 people about the PEBL along the way.

I have the largest available battery for the PEBL, which is 64Ah. At the nominal 48V, that is 3kWh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYjjVaI3r88