all wheel drive Radwagon

[WilliamT]

Updated by Radwagon to use a 500 watt front geared hub.

Bafang 500 watt front geared hub:

I have several 48v and 52v batteries lying around so I got the kit without the battery. The kit came with 3 different PAS units. The standard ring with magnets and another one that was very tiny that slid on the spindle.
That's the one I installed this time. You can barely tell its there; no exposed magnets.

Auto Vox Backup Camera

(2) Grin Torque arms

(1) Grin DC-DC converter (handles up to 70v input to 12v output)

(1) ATV light bar clamp (used to hold the 2 lights in place since my forks no longer have holes for a light)

Both lights and backup camera run off the bike batteries. This camera I like because you can turn off the guide lines.

The DC-DC converter I connected between the battery and controller to run the camera. I learned to spliced the wires so both the motor and my camera got power.

On the first ride, I could hear a slight clicking sound so I took it back and tighten any spokes that may have been loose. On front assist (2), it feels like a regular bike; around 16-18 mph.

On assist(3), it really starts pulling hard. I didn't even bother with assist (4 or 5) because my gearing wouldn't keep up.

I still shift to smaller gears when climbing, but this should really help.

The ATV clamp worked great on the handle bars. I just added a bolt to secure both lights.

The backup camera is held by my phone holder. The controller sits in a bag under my seat

I have a 17ah in each frame bag and 14 piece ratchet set in the frame bag for removing wheels and fixing flats.

 

[pearlbeer]

Quite a rig.

What are the lights you have on there? I'm looking for a more powerful front light that can be hard wired.

 

[WilliamT]

Quite a rig.

What are the lights you have on there? I'm looking for a more powerful front light that can be hard wired.

The one on the right is the stock light by Spanninga. It's only good as a daytime running light

The light on the left came with the kit. Compared to my Niteriders and Cygolites its about 250-300 lumens.

I also have this light from ebikes.ca that works okay but I still prefer an 800-1000 lumens battery light over this.

ELight_12F

Grin Tech 1 Watt 12 LED Waterproof ElectroLight with Button and Handlebar Mount. 12-100V Input Range. Full Product Information Page

www.ebikes.ca

This is the light that I'm looking to get

36-96 volt Ultra 3200 LED E-Bike Light - Fisher Fabrication House

Our 3200 ultra high power ebike light. Designed to work off you bikes battery from 36 volt all the way up to 96 volt. Get it now!

fisherfabhouse.com

 

[Explorer-1]

The AWD Radwagon is a good idea, it should have come that way from the factory.

 

[WilliamT]

With my current setup (front/rear assist (2/3), getting up to speed is very easy. Once I reach about 17-18 mph using PAS, the front motor assist goes to zero and and I'm riding with just the rear motor. If I start slowing down, then the front motor engages to give me that addition assist. It's a lot of fun

Its a little different than other dual motor setups where its all or none.

 

[Antia]

Love it! Why did you choose that particular front motor? Did you consider other options? What was your selection criteria? I am very curious as I am considering a similar upgrade to my 2016 radwagon.

 

[WilliamT]

Love it! Why did you choose that particular front motor? Did you consider other options? What was your selection criteria? I am very curious as I am considering a similar upgrade to my 2016 radwagon.

I went with Bafang because its one of the larger players in the hub market and has been out there for some time. I considered the MAC motors but they don't come with a PAS sensor. I also wanted a kit that would accept a 48v or 52v battery as I have plenty of those batteries from other kits. I also like the light wiring which doesn't always come on other kits.

 

[WilliamT]

So far, I'm really impressed with that Bafang geared hub motor. The motor eases of as you pick up speed and kicks in when you need it as the hills get steeper so you can maintain the speed that is within that assist level. Most of the time I look down, its at zero watts. Its given me up to 800-900 watts of assist on the really steep hills.

With my BBSHD motors, the assist watts remains almost constant within an each level. If I'm going up a hill, I get the same watts so I have to upshift to help out or throttle. That could be the programming.

Yesterday I was trying a new trail and wasn't sure the distance to the destination. The path forked in many directions so I had to print out parts of the route that required turns. Anyways when I got there, the total distance was about 32 miles. Going home, I realized I didn't bring any food and just 32 oz of electrolite water.

I was getting hungry on the way back and by mile 50, I was completely tapped out and barely had any energy left to pedal. I was seriously thinking about calling in for a ride back. The problem is that the Radwagon is so long that even my hitched Thule T2 can't carry it. I usually have to throw it in an SUV with the front wheel removed.

Then I realized I could just throttle home. I usually never throttle. In fact, I don't even have throttle attached on my other kit bikes. This was one case where I really needed it. I throttled both motors for the last 10 miles going about 25 mph on roads.

Total distance was 60 miles on (2) 52v 17 ah batteries. At home, the front Bafang had 51.7 v remaining on the battery. The rear direct drive had 50.6 volts remaining. The Bafang was set to Level 5 assist for max speed when throttling. Before that I was on assist 2 for the front and rear motor.

With just one rear motor, I can usually get 60 miles/battery (17 ah) carrying the same weight. With 2 batteries running separate motors, I won't get that same range but hoping to get 75% of that.

 

[stanmiller]

So far, I'm really impressed with that Bafang geared hub motor...

That kit you have is by 'Bluenergy' resold by Junstar. Greenergia also offers Bluenergy kits through Amazon and Ebay.

I have three of them - the rear hub cassette variety - mated to an Electra Townie, Trek Pure, and Mongoose Envoy. These Bafang SWX02 motors are pretty good performers and cheap to replace or get parts for.

Also, your Radwagon is ridiculously awesome! Nice job getting all that wired up and working together.

 

[WilliamT]

So I did some testing on what kind of range I could get with a 17ah 52v battery for the front and rear motor. With the rear camera on all the time, connected to the rear battery, I was still able to get 73.6 miles on the rear hub drive. When the battery ran out in the rear, the front Bafang motor was still at 50v remaining.

I ran the rear at Level (2) which was initially around 208 watts and then eventually 178 watts as the battery drained. The front motor was also kept at Level (2) but above 16 mph it would turn off. That saved a lot of energy on my ride. If I slowed down, then the front would kick in and keep me going at speed.

When the rear died out, I turned off the rear motor and increased the front motor to Level (3) assist bringing me back up to speed; about 15-18 mph. What I noticed is that without the rear motor running the front motor isn't as smooth to engage because of the initial torque. With both motors running, you don't notice the front torque as it engages.

I can probably attach a third battery on the down tube frame. Right now it holding a 14 piece socket set for repairs. That may get me to the 100 mile mark.