Advice On Building a 2nd E-Bike

hulk

New Member
Region
USA
The first e-bike I build was a Yuba Mundo cargo bike. I put a Bafang 48V 500w front motor hub on it and love the 2WD aspect of it since I use my own feet to power the rear wheels. I have it paired up with a 52V 12ah battery, it can hit 25mph with lots of pedaling.

For my 2nd bike, I would like to put the same motor on the font wheel on a Sun Seeker EZ-Sport AX recumbent bike. The only problem is I can't find a Bafang 48V 500w motor that is laced into a 20" slim wheel (all they have is a fat 20" wheel).

Would this ebike motor kit be a good alternative? It's rather pricey but the only one I could find that is geared like my current motor.



I'm looking to purchase the 48V 500w version.

Also, since the EZ-Sport is the AX version, it means that it's aluminum. The bike also comes in a Chromoly steel version so I plan on buying the Chromoly steel fork and installing it as well as two torque arms.

For the battery I'm going to get a small 48V 10ah battery (only 5 pounds).

What do you guys think? I'd appreciate any feedback or tips. I'm a big fan of recumbent bikes for a lot of reasons.

Do you think the chrome fork will handle a 48V 500w motor? The fork that is on the Yuba Mundo is MUCH thicker, see photo below.
 

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Wow. $547 and you don;t get real torque washers?
torque_washer.jpg

But you are right, it's spendy, I can't help you there. The controller/display and associated brakes, throttle, PAS should run $100-120. However, it's hard to buy a wheel/motor for less than $260 from China, and with 20". some of those seller will give you an awful wheel with radial spokes. I've always just ordered the motor from CHina, and bought a good rim/spokes in the USA. STill costs about $250, but its a better made wheel becasue I did it myself.
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When you run a 20" wheel, you need a higher rpm motor. A motor for a 26" rim spins around 200 rpm at 36V. A motor for a 20" rim will spin 260-330 rpm. Becasue I wanted my 20" builds to reach 20 mph, I selected the higher rpm motors when I built my wheels. Hope your seller knows that,





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of all the stuff i have cobbled together,i liked the higher torque versions of of 36 volt frt wheels on steel frames (like an older trek) would a 3x20 fat tire work for you? not much trouble finding these,i do find there is some problems with uber wide tires,i converted a espin 26" fattie to 26x3" and my friend really liked it,i used to drive a dumptruck with the plus sized "floaters" on the front axle and that thing would beat you to pieces, there is always an optimum for a particular use,so think a bit more and experiment you will find something to your liking eventually.
 
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