PDXevgrin 007: DIY Electric Bike Commute (28 miles) 48V 1000W

This is a video I recorded on 7/30/15. The full ride is edited down from 1hr30min to 45min. I traveled from my old house in North Portland to the top of Washington Park to the top of Mt. Tabor and back. 28 miles in total. Barely made it ;)

[@conversationswithme8601]

Best thing is.... You don't have to listen to a gas motor. Priceless.

[@Tomanart]

Another great video, I enjoyed viewing it, well done

[@sparkiekosten5902]

Looks like a beautiful town for bike riding.

[@sharkmentality9717]

When we are young and learn to ride we seek faster. Ideally we could maintain the speed we sought. Years of careers, children and love we still seek speed in retirement....and a speed we can maintain! Hooray!

[@tetsuclaw]

@10:11 A cyclist that respects pedestrian traffic, that is rare.

[@Patrick94GSR]

Holy smokes 30 mph in a door zone bike lane, one door opens and you're dead. The trains are awesome tho! 👍

[@Pushyhog]

Patrick94GSR : one leg pedal ‘er. Yep, haf ta go full electric.

[@noonehere4332]

At such a high speed it is better to take the lane.

[@dennisyoung4631]

I was/am scared to go *half* that speed! After taking the Coast Starlight to LA and back, (visiting relatives, by their request) I doubt I’ll ever hear a train horn in quite the same way.

[@TheTracemann]

Great video, I watched in 3 parts. Portland Oregon is one of the best cities in America!

[@pdxevgrin1688]

+Trace Mann thanks for watching. Yes, PDX is pretty great, however it is becoming so popular that traffic "rush hour" starts around 2-3p and goes through 6-7p.....one of the main reasons I built my ebike. Turned two of my least favorite hours of the day into my two most enjoyable.

[@maxpower001]

Beautiful area u got...I always wanted to live out there... I'm in West Palm beach

[@crackerjack4833]

I got my 48v 1000w kit from eBay a couple months ago and just Friday I ordered a 4 pack of 12v 20ah SLA batteries. So this Friday (8-19-2017) I should be doin the "Low - Ri - Der" groove on my way to work and back ;) I got a few vids already of my bike, but will start filming more once the electric kit is installed. I installed some car horns on it too finally and these will be much needed around Fort Walton Beach. Already have had to use them a number of times with some folks who are just completely oblivious or just plan ignorant. I have a concept design goal for this bike. I am hoping in the end to have it look exactly like a sports motorcycle, all the fairings, lights, etc... but still be a bicycle. This will involve a bit of work with the fairings to still have pedal-ability. But in the end I think this will be a fantastic piece of work.

[@plumetheum7017]

Unless you intend to register it and all that junk, I would highly advise against making it look like a sports motorcycle. Unless the region you live in allows up to 1000W motors, I'd recommend keeping it looking like a regular bike. So therefore your chances of getting pulled over will be dramatically lowered.

[@guy_with_no_name]

about how much of this were you pedaling? and how hard?

[@TechieVenkateshh]

WOW, the ride was great!

[@PiefacePete46]

Choo! Choo!... if that train kept tooting at you, why didn't you pull over and let it pass? ;o) What a really enjoyable insight, and your city looks to be progressive enough to make serious provision for cyclists. I live in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand where, along with many other regions, serious efforts are being made to encourage cycling and cycle-based tourism. Some of the most scenic discontinued rail lines are being converted into "Rail-Trails", creating a great experience. Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm.

[@lloydgayle5922]

That was a bit rude

[@lloydgayle5922]

That's a very nice bike

[@mikex8254]

i reccomend using a heavy duty ebike frame with dropouts designed for hub motors like the enduro frame. the enduro frame is 11kg

[@jcarter8765]

Great video! Hope you get the mic figured out for future videos. Would have like to hear what you were saying.

[@francismadden8561]

Any mishaps and you could do some serious damage at those speeds. Yes you definitely need some protective wear. fkg crazy.

[@stevesplace3290]

Good video except I couldn't hear you. Maybe add text to your video would help. Looks like Portland is a good city for bike routes and not just shared with cars but actual separate bike routes. That Bike Computer Pro looks like a pretty good app that you have added to the video. I use a Contour camera which automatically adds the values onto the video with their software

[@pdxevgrin1688]

Thanks. Yeah, I was using a GoPro from work for this video. I recently bought a Sony AS200V which has way better audio and also has GPS. The editor can add overlay as well. I haven't been able to do any chesties with it yet due to being incredibly busy. But soon! Yes, BikeComputer Pro is amazing. The only app I found with nav built in. I had also bought a Garmin Virb XE. SUch a shit camera for how cool it could have been. The worst part is the sensors. I mean, that's what Garmin does best right? Not this time. So inaccurate and horrible video quality I couldn't bring myself to use it. The Sony however is incredible. It's too bad it looks like a penis sticking out of my chest when I ride. LOL.

[@SycamoreFarmMI]

Nice vid. I'm surprised the city allows throttle eBikes on the paths. Pretty much everywhere else only allows pedal assist, even maybe only class 1.

[@dennisyoung4631]

Helps a lot when your knees give out.

[@SyntaxScout]

awesome video ,thanks for sharing it

[@barriewylde5915]

what app are you using.

[@Pinesal]

30 mph? Cool video.

[@schawk8709]

How pleased are you with the conversion kit? I'm curious on how well that the pedal assist works.

[@chillywilly7299]

Nice video you get pretty good range.

[@rdkuless]

Hey PDX'er... It was nice to see a new route to Washington park. That is really good range. Can you tell me what kind of battery/cells and how many Amp Hours it has?

[@pdxevgrin1688]

Check out my 4000 mile update video. It shows my current bike, battery setup, gear, tips and tricks etc.

[@russellm7530]

Can you pedal without power on that kind of motor kit? I know they supposedly have magnetic drag but could you still pedal it home if your battery died or some other malfunction caused it to loose power?

[@pdxevgrin1688]

Yeah, if you drop down to a low gear it's possible. They say it's like pedaling into a 10mph wind. Luckily both times its happened to me I only had a few miles to go. That being said, some of the newer dd motors have thinner laminations for less resistance. But still consider that your bike is going to be 60-75 lbs so pedaling is still extremely hard at normal speeds. I just keep some emergency screw on connectors and electrical tape and have always been able to fix things in a pinch. Which is hardly ever. I've melted phase wires together being stupid and not down shifting on a large hill. I've had soldered connections break on my first bike with Lipos and just made a smaller battery to limp me home. I recently melted an andersen connector because I bought a more powerful controller and the phase wires of my motor are too small and causing too much resistance under heavy load and now that it's getting warmer. These are just few and far between things, I'm at 21,000 miles. But be prepared and you won't have to pedal home often.

[@russellm7530]

@@pdxevgrin1688 Wow. Thanks. I just received my first ebike kit from eBay. Unfortunately its a front wheel kit, not the rear wheel kit I ordered. But I'm thinking maybe a geared wheel may be better as they can freewheel if power was lost for whatever reason and lighter. Either way I wanted to be rear wheel kit. Hopefully they'll refund it. Thanks.

[@pdxevgrin1688]

So at this point there is still time to convince you to spend a couple hundred extra to get a solid kit. Grin Technologies (ebikes.ca) sells the most current and solid kits. Yes, an eBay motor kit will take you many miles. But if you want a future proof bike and support the innovative community, get a kit from them. All parts easily replaceable, newest tech...

[@kelvin170671]

CHOO CHOO!!!

[@qray7873]

Beautiful city.

[@danz409]

choo! choo!

[@I_Am_Michael]

he is the choo choo man.

[@user-re8yy8zm5w]

Вау! Прикольные дорожки для велосипедистов!Нам бы в Россию такие!

[@garybarker9139]

Shortage of water for the grass?

[@oliveirasr1]

Jeeze in what state ! Calif.has given me a pain that would Make you cringe ! All my bikes are gas I'm 71 and lisensed it all right down to plates on all 3 but now to lisense me the bike is all wrong it is already leagal . so I have to ride a big bike a honda or a harley, so far I,ve passed all they need but Not on a motorized bike , so are you in louisianna or Calif. or Oregon ?

[@dennisyoung4631]

Oregon. I live in the area, and most of his route is *very* familiar. Have ridden a fair portion under power, though I tended/tend to go slower. I get passed regularly by non-electrified riders, which is fine. I have bad knees, so being able to ride real distances at normal bicycle speeds is a huge improvement over the short distances I can ride (slowly!) without assistance.

[@ore0880]

what kind of bicycle and tires are you using? what's your setup?

[@mayaandjohn]

Thanks for posting the video. I just subscribed to you channel. What is the name of the map app you used? Thanks.

[@pdxevgrin1688]

I really like BikeComputer Pro. You can use it to navigate as well. Available for both android and iOS. It's free with option to donate and I ended up donating since I use it everyday. The user interface is very robust so it takes a little time to figure out how to use all of the features and customization options.

[@davidwalsh49752]

@@pdxevgrin1688 u still on here please

[@pdxevgrin1688]

@@davidwalsh49752 Yepper. Posting a new ride video atm. Also should have my ebike tour to SF video up this week. Preparing for a short tour to the coast and up to Astoria and back now that the parks are open.

[@RedChicow]

Thanks for a great video on eBikes

[@freddiefarbod5850]

Fast EBike!

[@conradritchie2236]

Do you ever have trouble with the police? I mean isn't 500w the maximum wattage an ebike is allowed without being registered and insured. Also the speed limit is at 32kmph at least where I live; unless its different where you are?

[@plumetheum7017]

Cops generally have bigger fish to fry. The limit in the USA is 750 watts and 20mph w/o pedaling.(Witch doesn't make any sense since a 250W on a good day can go over 20mph.) I've been rocking a 48V 1500W for quite awhile here in Denver. I don't ride like a jerkass, so I don't get pulled over. It helps that my bike looks almost exactly like a normal bike. The guy in the video was riding pretty safely, so I don't think he has any issues. The Ebikes that do get pulled over are the ones that look like motorcycles, or ride like an idiot.(Usually its a combo of both)

[@pdxevgrin1688]

Conrad Ritchie yeah what plumetheum said. I chose to keep my bike looking fairly normal for that reason. And yes, wattage is a stupid way of regulating them. Just by switching to a 40amp controller I could have much better acceleration. But I choose to keep my current setup because it's enough for me. And the most important thing is to be polite to other riders and pedestrians. I've had police on bikes stop to talk to me when fixing flats and they always seem enthusiastic, not trying to "bust" me. A strong rider on a fast road bike can still go as fast as me down a hill due to gearing. I've even been passed once by a veteran cyclist! Of course I was just plinking around with fully loaded panniers ;) I smoked him at the next light though. But it was quite impressive to see him mostly keeping pace.

[@schawk8709]

Retired cop here! As long as you're not being a total moron, you won't get hassled.

[@PremiumFuelOnly]

wow, thats pretty fast. Dosent seem like it in a car.

[@mfuji02]

how big is the battery?

[@pdxevgrin1688]

30.5Ah. 1560Wh

[@ackack8752]

which app are you using for tracking?

[@pdxevgrin1688]

BikeComputer Pro for android for tracking miles and routes. And on my action camera I use the gps overlay in Sony Action Creator.

[@teejmskima]

what is u r topspeef

[@retromaticmike5388]

Cop shouted You got ID?

[@easternbushytail]

what do you use on your phone to record your trip?

[@rickbennetts11]

easternbushytail hiccups yycv hggggvmhhhhhhhhhhh Yygggvgvbhhhh Bcbcn bhbvx jfdnddhqqbbv. Tutu tutu niIiiuikq AaA Gyreftetfÿbbhgh

[@davidwalsh49752]

Did u find out how he gets the trip from his phone on screen pls I'd really like to know that too pls

[@waynethomas5303]

Good video

[@cliff43848]

what battery do you have

[@Timanator]

Can you take this of road?

[@pdxevgrin1688]

Slicefixer Padawan Yes, I do it all the time. Light trail stuff mostly. It's not set up for single track if that's what you mean. But this is my old bike. New bike same thing. A commuter/trail setup.

[@raymondjones8]

I’m sitting here watching someone cycle to work, just prior to me cycling to work... WTF! 🤨

[@markusgustafsson7690]

thats pretty good what´s the capacit on the battery?

[@markusgustafsson7690]

*capacity

[@corndogers564]

I got to ask, do you miss using a car for daily commuting?

[@pdxevgrin1688]

+corndogers564 i drive every once in a while. But it's always better on the bike. I find that I get way frustrated just sitting in traffic. Portland has bike lanes and routes everywhere so I'm rarely affected by traffic.

[@terryaqualad6779]

I commute fatbike I prefer the bike more even in the rain. I can just pull over relax eat snack as long as I'm still in city an urban areas.

[@thedoble]

Nice video, thanks for posting. Can I ask what did you do with the normal ebike control panel? You have your phone in the center of your handlebars where most would have the e-bike controller. Thanks!

[@pdxevgrin1688]

thedoble mine doesn't have a display or cycle analyst. I use a phone app to track my miles, track and elevation. My throttle has lights to show battery level (not accurate because I run 52v on a 48v setup and the top light is burned out so I only know when it's getting low) but it works for me. My charger stores and gives me all of my usage information. I also can plug in a voltmeter to check my Wh/m every so often. A super simple setup and looks more stealthy. I just finished another bike that has both the CA3 plus phone mount so you can see that soon too.

[@davidwalsh49752]

Hi pdx are u still on here pls

[@jeffreychen4495]

is this a front or rear hub motor?

[@GustSergeant]

+Trollinski Yolo think it's a mid-drive.

[@pdxevgrin1688]

+Trollinski Yolo rear hub.

[@jeffreychen4495]

do u ever accidentally wheelie?

[@agoogleuser1645]

Check out the video at 30:08 it is a rear drive hub.

[@stevepetttyjohn7900]

Portland. Cool. I hear they got some awesome tatoo and body piercing shops.

[@shanegrant8441]

I remember watching this video about two years ago now l have my own 2600wat ebike

[@MrSnorkel234]

damn that sounds scary you should post some videos of it

[@zephyr2278]

@@MrSnorkel234 Scary? I got a 15000w lol shit pulls hard as a motorcycle

[@timdouglass6491]

Nice video but your going way to fast on the esplanade.

[@exwhyz33]

Is this video about an electric bike or about a route - misleading to say the least.

[@alduarte4448]

You ride fast but in a safe manner forget car loving folks who cause most accidents and pollute Our air!

[@chonburi2511]

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[@andrewevanoff1192]

I was surprised to see that many bicycle lanes. I have never seen this here is SC. Bicycles are a huge nuisance over here because they seriously block traffic. The roads are narrow. Unless you can move at 45 MPH, you impede traffic. Some old lady may not see you and drive right over you. It's too dangerous for bicycles. Besides that, only a few people can ride in 97 degree weather and 90% humidity. It's best to drive a car with AC.

[@TeamCGS2005]

I noticed you don't even say hello to fellow riders or pedestrians. Very odd (at least to me).

[@GuitarWholesale]

Mainframe Even stranger that you think somebody driving at 30 mph should take his time to wave somebody, are you serious?, that's a recipe for disaster, or accident.

[@pdxevgrin1688]

Yeah, that's really it actually. I'm much more concerned with making sure I'm fully aware of my surroundings and in control than bobbling around waving at people. I smile and such though.

[@emilpokhylyuk4221]

Lol people actually do that?

[@peterjv8748]

Being cold and cunty is a big part of what living in the pacific NW is all about.

[@dmbfannh]

That's exactly what I thinking LOL. I live in Seattle and when your out on a walk or out riding the bike, if you say hi to fellow walkers and bikers a lot of people dont even know how to react and yes it is very strange !! This dude is going to fast to be socializing as such but to your point I dont know what the deal is with the people who live in the PNW and being COLD Especially in SEATTLE. Very honestly I find it to be rather disgusting, and I continue to say hello to people because i will not to down to the low level them snobs have lowered them selfs too. \ \

[@zacharylaputz5876]

Im 64 and taught my kids to pass on the left and alert others upon approach w a bell or a word so as to NOT startle people, Very unsafe, its rides like this that gets bikes like this banned!

[@Pushyhog]

Zachary Laputz : Ditto

[@Creepermoss]

I used to ride with a bell. Every time I rang it, the person I was trying to pass moved into my path, rather than holding their lane.

[@sergeant-d8714]

Zachary Laputz worry about your kids.

[@rcmodeltest390]

How big or a battery are u using, ah wise?

[@pdxevgrin1688]

+RcModelTest 15ah

[@rcmodeltest390]

+PDXevgrin Thank you! I have been looking for a battery for my ebike, for quite some time but can't really depict which one I need specifically. if you get 28 miles plus on a 15 ah that is really impressive, and that is all I need. So I would just like to ask where did you get this one specifically, because I really need a upgrade from my old 8ah pack. thanks!

[@pdxevgrin1688]

RcModelTest I just got my packs from HobbyKing. Their west location is only 20 miles away and they now offer pickup. I am overvolting the motor to 57V....so I have to charge my 6S packs separately from my 2S packs. But still only 1.5 hours total. 15ah is 28 miles true to life. If that's gonna push your range, build 20ah. I built a new bike and have redone my entire system. The weather has left me less than enthused to make an update video, but I'll do it soon. I still ride my bike all the time. At 4000 miles now :)