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After three days of welding, cutting and grinding I finally got the new 16 tooth sprocket on the ebike.

The results seem to be as expected, I can climb hills and sustain about 28 mph in most places.

So it's "legal" for the place I'm going to...

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YouTube

YouTube

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Going Into Storage

This project was started way back in 2007.

It's great to have gotten it running, but I bought an undersized Kelly Controller that seems to be faltering already. The specification suggests a maximum of 40 amps continuous and I've been running 50 amps and on regen the voltage spikes above the controllers limits too. Now the controller cuts out all the time. What's worse is the PC to USB interface has failed completely. I no longer get any power in the USB and the RS232 cable was getting warm while I was trying to use it. (so something got fried). In a sense the controller is "bricked". The ebike only runs when the battery voltage is on the low side. A full battery almost instantly triggers overheating.

Ideally I need to upgrade to:

http://kellycontroller.com/kds72200200a24v-72v-mini-brushed-controller-p-288.html



KDS72200,200A,24V-72V, Mini Brushed Controller

Peak Current, 1 minute: 200A

Continuous current: 80A

$150

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Other options:

Complete the RC motor upgrade that I gave up on and then switch to a brushless controller.

Go back to the low tech chinese controllers that are durable, but lack programmability.

Search for other controllers.

Increase voltage to make the bike capable of higher speeds. (this becomes possible with the 72 volt upgraded controller)

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For now I'm satisfied with taking a break for a while.
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Good News...

After spending a little over a year in Nevada I've decided it's not for me and am in the process of moving back to the midwest to Wisconsin.

I have a friend out there already and he's helped me find a place to live that is affordable and has a workshop.

So the project will continue and if there are people in the upper midwest that might want to get involved in this sort of thing we should get together.

Wisconsin has Germanfests, Oktoberfests, and just about every festival a man could want and the people are (known by experience and scientific fact) extroverted and agreeable, but NOT necessarily very open. California is the state that is most open, but they score low in the sociable areas.

So let's get some "nice people" in the upper midwest for some track time some day.

Gemütlichkeit might actually be the key to getting the sport going.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gem%C3%BCtlichkeit

California prides itself in being "exceptional" and you might think that this would lead to a better place to begin this type of sport, but this isn't motorcycle racing where unlimited or excessive power seems to be a good idea. As a sport rooted in cycling the task is figuring out the right sort of restriction to make the sport make sense. For that you need "rule following" cheerful and agreeable people and you find that in the midwest.

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