Possible Electric Bicycle ? [ trolling motor ]

I like the scrap heat sinks idea,and I have a lot of access to those ... pretty good idea Doc ... But I think what I'll try first is simply doing what I always did .. test the 40 pounder out by running it a full 2 hours or more and see how hot it gets ... can't sell it anyway the weight makes an EBAY sale too expensive .... would be a better test if I could load it up a little though instead of just no load spinning ...

hey WIZ,

howzit going? any progress?

I ran the motor from a fully charged Marine Battery until total discharge and heat was negligible probably because I never really noticed how thick the housing is on these trollers.

So I'm not too concerned about running the motor out of water. However, I didn't of course have any way to really 'load' the engine to simulate drag.

I feel that if I can first solve the battery placement problem, the intent to begin this build will be fully decided by that, and in that case I'll slip a rubber drag wheel on the motor and spin the front wheel of my Red Peril build with the handbrake screwed in for a reasonable amount of drag and again check the draw time plus heat buildup.

The absolutely bigger problem is that there is nothing thats going to allow the use of a full sized marine battery other than a "stretched frame' bike,and I've been looking at thier line up at 'Just Bikes" I think it's called.

I have no interest in an electric motor if I can't get the full 4 to 6 hours that trollers produce under load only with a Marine battery, so reverting to a smaller car battery will just be totally defeating my reason for building the bike.A basic stretch is running $239 or thereabout plus shipping and there is plenty of room for a tray and marine battery installation that would be supported all the way under the battery because of the straight frame run these stretches have.

I plan to remove the pedels and chain gear,and the battery would be enclosed in the final finishing phase by Fiberglas panels from Tap Plastics that I have talked about in other posts. A pair of fake pedesl(really static foot rests) on an inverted U bracket snapped over the battery will make for a faux pedel bike look.

So, running under a drag load is next before investing in a stretch frame.

After that, I need to get the average stretch measurements of that straight run of bike frame pipe that runs over the pedel gear that all these stretches have and I'd appreciate anyone with a stretch bike giving me some idea of the run length from the front downtube back to the rear downtube ... (but only if your stretch is the kind that doesn't have the seatpost that runs all the way down to the pedels ....) the ones I'm looking at have short seat tubes that stop nowhere near that bottom stretch tube run. ... in pics it looks like at least 16 inches or more which would be ideal, as these big marines are about 4 inches longer than a standard car battery.

have you considered a trike?

I put a large 24 volt 20Ah battery in my wifes trike and there is room for three more.

I guess some people just don't like trikes but after riding my wife's, I am searching for another one, for me. I haven't taken it on a long run yet but it seems real comfortable.

Yes, I certainly toyed with a trike in my head, but I just can't get into it ... too wide, and again I'd feel that same 'police watched' feeling that made me finally go fully plate, rig n' light up the Stallion build ... I just think nothing would feel more Spartan and clean than an electric fenderless, lightless, stripped to the gills bike with nearly the same speed and easily the same travel time I'm doing on the gas bike, about 2 -3 hours tops.

Wizard, I bought a stretch from just bikes a while back called a rebel. All steel construction, that's the bike on my avatar...haven't taken measurements but think there would be adequate room for a deep cell as the crank is mounted way forward from the seat post. I hope this idea of yours works with the troller.

They have a nice collection of stretches for sure .... I do envy the freedom a trike would provide spacewise, and I do agree with Dockspal about how much room there is for a huge marine ,but those stretches seem plenty long enough for a tray/battery room.

Still,I wish I had a nearby shop to actually go and see a stretch live but I don't recall ever seeing one of these in the 3 local shops I have in this area ....

Let me just say one word to you young man, trailer....

Yeh,that also crossed my mind but unlike the Stallion build I'm trying to get a really strict simplicity of stripped down design .... a small trailer starts in my mind to become a 'contraption' build .... boy, I wished I liked Trikes because that truly is the "end all/be all" of simplicity .... as it is, the next best way seems to be only the stretch frame bike with a fully shrouded marine battery ... I need to puzzle this build over a bit. Turns out the huge marines I have inthe boat are closer to 60 pounds so low to the frame is an absolute must ... I agree a trailer setup also answers the problem nicely but just too darn "Rube Goldburg" a build. I have to chuckle over the convenience of using a trike because,although I would never use my new 80 pound thrust Auto Pilot Minnkota for such a build, the 24 volts that troller needs would fit both batterys in a trike quite easily ... can you imagine an 80 pound thrusted trike ? Awesome I would think with at least 4 hours mininimum of full power.