Electric/Gas powered bicycle

[RandomFact314]

Anyone fiddled around with gas or electric bicycles? I have a brand new bike I've only put 56 miles on so far... Id like to put a little electric motor or little moped engine on so I can use my bike hybrid (1/2 human 1/2 motor) and that would keep me out of my gas guzzling CRX (lol, jk) and on the bike. Saw a guy online that says he has a engine for $200 but I need something cheaper... Wife wont let me spend that much I'm guessing I can build something electric (just for steep hills) for super cheap I just dont know what im doing yet.

[Frank Lee]

I've had versions of both. My Songi is an "electric bicycle" although it came complete and is not a bicycle converted to electric. I LOVE THAT THING!!! ...and it is my #1 choice whenever the task/trip falls within it's capabilities. I can go for weeks if not months without even starting my car.

I have a "BikeBug" engine assist which bolts to the front fork and drives the front tire via rubber roller. It's easy to install, doesn't slow the bike down when off except for the minimal added weight, and is good on gas. I come across similar units used once in a while.

Haven't done any home-brew bike motors yet...

[christofoo]

If smog is a concern electric is infinitely better than gas.

'MythBusters' asks: Are motorcycles greener than cars? - latimes.com

(I know you're not talking about a "motorcycle", but it's still in the small-ICE department; same thing.)

(If smog isn't a concern, sorry I didn't bring any practical input.)

[RandomFact314]

Originally Posted by window12

you can find ample news on internet about electric or gas bikes.

Not really looking at bicycles that are electric, they cost like $1300...
And not really looking for these kits that make your bike electric, they are like $300-$1500...

I'm looking at DIY type stuff.... I was looking everywhere tying to find out what electric motor would be appropriate for a bike... Only thing I found was someone said one out of an electric wheelchair would work well

[Ryland]

It really depends on how fast you want to go and how step of hills you want to climb as to what motor will work.
A nice size motor is the motor out of reel to reel tape storage from the '70's and '80's but they are getting harder to find, I looked on SurplusCenter.com and didn't see any motors that would work well for a bicycle but they sometimes get stuff like that.
Personally I'd look in the trash for electric bicycles and electric scooters and use one of those motors, people buy them and either never use them and kill the battery or they drain the battery down all the way over and over again and kill the battery then find that the replacement battery from the store they bought it from is nearly as expensive as the bike that they bought so it gets tossed in the corner.

[RandomFact314]

Just found this link... Guy used a washing machine motor to power his, seems like it goes pretty fast

Do-It-Yourself Gadgets: Electric Bycicle

This build looks pretty messy though, I'd be spending alot of time making sure I do the same thing but alot cleaner looking

[Smurf]

I have a couple Jazzy 1115 wheelchair motors laying around, and be aware, just one motor is approximately 16 pounds. Add in battery weight, thick gauge cables, controller, throttle, brake switch... It gets heavy quickly.

[RandomFact314]

Originally Posted by Smurf

I have a couple Jazzy 1115 wheelchair motors laying around, and be aware, just one motor is approximately 16 pounds. Add in battery weight, thick gauge cables, controller, throttle, brake switch... It gets heavy quickly.

Any way you can upload a picture just so I can see how its shaped? That would be cool

[Ryland]

EVAlbum: Search Results has 100's of electric bicycles, they also give specs for them and cost.

[Smurf]

RandomFact314, I've been trying to get a picture uploaded for a couple days now. First I had Blackberry issues, now I have Photobucket issues.

They are about 13" long, 3.5" deep, 3.5" wide, with a 2.5" long and 3/4" wide shaft coming off the top at a right-angle. The top 5.5" with the shaft is boxy, the bottom 7.5" is cylindrical. Off the bottom is a ~8" cord with red/black/white/white connector. They also have a lockout brake lever that attaches to the top side (think whammy bar on a guitar)

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(Worst PhotoChop ever?)

I'll keep working on getting the picture lol