2017 Raleigh Kodiak 1 full suspension 27.5 plus bike with 750w TSDZ2 mid drive and rear rack dog carrier

[John and Cecil]

Hi, I figured I would make this thread in case anyone is interested in converting a Raleigh Kodiak 27.5 plus bike to mid drive. These bikes were apparently discontinued by Raleigh and can be bought fairly cheap if you can find one. It has a 73mm bb and the tsdz2 fits well. With the 42 tooth chain ring there is no need to resize the chain either. There is no place to mount the torque arm so I used a large heavy duty zip tie and so far it is working fine. So far I am into this project about $1000 including the new bike, motor, rack, and a mini 2ah battery and charger.

The motor does not like the 14s battery though and I can only charge it to a maximum of about 55.6v for it to work with my motor. We plan on upgrading the battery after we move anyway. The current battery is an ego 56v 2ah power tool battery and I added wires for the motor connection and it is stored in a handlebar mounted bag. There is not a lot of room inside the frame (size large) for a battery on this bike but a thin 12ah battery might be able to fit.

The rear rack is an M-Wave One-for-all rack and it is mounted to the frame using a pair of plastic bimini top mounts I had lying around. I had to purchase a pair of salsa extended rack stays for the front and they are currently mounted with custom made brackets. The rear aluminum adjustable rack mounts ended up bending after only 100 miles so I replaced them with some steel mounts I made from a pair of drawer sliders I had lying around. The rack appears to be capable of carrying about 50lbs of cargo.

Cecil's box is a motorcycle carrier I had already built and it was modified to be lighter, and it has a set of Scooter Logic insulated (cooler) saddle bags mounted to the side. His box with the saddle bags weighs about 10 lbs so I eventually plan on upgrading it to something lighter, but it is very strong and designed to withstand a fairly substantial impact.

I plan on installing a few more upgrades in the future including headlight(s), taillight, possible turn signals/flashing hazard lights, mirror, comfortable cruiser seat, lower gearing and a wider rear gear ratio, etc.

The bike rides nice and I really like the wide tires and the hydraulic brakes.

I took a few pictures, but it is a work in progress:

 

[Hershall]

Love the set up. Can you update with where you got the pannier rack and whether a shark pack battery fits.

 

[John and Cecil]

Love the set up. Can you update with where you got the pannier rack and whether a shark pack battery fits.

Thank you. I doubt the shark battery would fit inside the triangle. It does not look like any batteries inside plastic or metal cases will fit in there. Perhaps an xl frame will have more room inside than my large though. I was thinking about putting a battery underneath my lower bar too, however the way we carry our weight (40 lbs over rear half of rear wheel) I can easily carry a 12lb battery on my handlebars without negatively impacting handling.

I bought the rack on amazon. I have since bent the aluminum lower struts (I believe they are weaker due to being extended so far - I cannot carry my rack right behind my rear seat because Cecil needs his own space) and I replaced them with a pair of steel drawer sliders I cut down to fit. They are stronger and they are supporting the weight much better now. We also just yesterday snapped one of the upper struts at the bend point. They are the large salsa rack struts. I just ordered the 370mm straight salsa rack struts and I am going to buy 2 stainless steel tubes ( 10mm OD 8mm ID) and hopefully I can slide them over the 8mm upper struts for added strength. I am carrying 40lbs back there all the time including the rack, crate, saddle bags, and Cecil.

The bike handles well, even when flying down hills at up to 45mph. Here is a pic of the rack with the lower strut arms replaced with a pair of drawer sliders I had lying around.

 

[Hershall]

45 mph! And it handles well... That's amazing. I need a full suspension bike like that. Seat stays look great too. I would never have guessed they weren't part of the kit. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Ann M.]

Good creative setup John! And space for your buddy Cecil . Does he stay put in the box while you're riding? My little Italian Greyhound, Colin would be wanting to jump out and meet & greet.

 

[John and Cecil]

Good creative setup John! And space for your buddy Cecil . Does he stay put in the box while you're riding? My little Italian Greyhound, Colin would be wanting to jump out and meet & greet.

No he stays put. The setup is originally from our motorcycle but the height of the box was reduced to reduce the weight. The trick is that you need a good harness with a loop over the middle of his back. Then a strap goes from the middle of the box on one side, across his back and through the harness loop, and then attaches to the middle of the other side of the box. The strap needs to be snug while he is sitting so he cannot stand up and must remain seated. Perhaps this method will not work on short legged dogs but it works well for dogs with longer legs. Cecil has 80k miles on motorcycles and he remains seated the entire time. He just sticks his neck out to one side or the other to take in the sights and smells and to occasionally let out a bark

Here is a pic of him in his taller custom padded box showing the back strap as well as his goggles, helmet, and back protector. Everything but the goggles was fabricated

 

[John and Cecil]

Well the welds let go on the aluminum rack last week where the upper rack struts meet the rack, thankfully the emergency hd cable tie between the carrier and seat did it's job and kept the carrier upright until we could get home. I have since removed the rack and threw it away. We now have heavy duty aluminum L brackets bolted to the bottom of the hardwood carrier. I also replaced the 8mm aluminum upper rack struts with a pair of steel drawer sliders that I cut and drilled to fit. I think the steel will hold up better as steel will flex and bend rather than snapping like aluminum. It seems very sturdy and hopefully we can put a lot of miles on it. In the future I need to paint the new parts black and I also need to mount a tail light to his box and maybe make a convertible sun shade for Cecil. New pics: