slebo3213

Anybody have experience with their kits? Searches aren't getting me much, which gives me some concern.

I'm looking for hub drive, long range, throttle control and these seem to fit the bill.

Doc_Wui

EBO goods look pretty expensive, in my opinion. They do feature waterproof Julet connectors, not common on many kits. Makes it easier for the user to install, but that's only a one time bonus.

Still, $1200 for batter/wheel/motor? How much is a complete ebike from Rad, Voltbike, or Juiced these days?

I recently bought an ebikeling geared rear hub on ebay for $209 + sales tax. I've bought his motors before and been happy with them,. but I'm a low power ebiker. Ride slow and use pedal assist rather than throttle.

WilliamT

I agree those prices are a bit high in general. For now I stick to Luna for mid-drives and Dillenger for hub drives. I'm been tempted to look at em3ev for batteries but not sure if I want to wait a month to get it.

slebo3213

I'm comfortable with ebay for everything except batteries. Not a risk I'm willing to take.

I'll take a look at Dillenger and I've looked at the kits from em3ev and they seem comparable in cost to EBO.

I definitely want rear hub motor and the option of pedal assist or throttle.

2old

Agree with above that EBO seems too pricey. You might convey your requirements as they relate to speed, distance weight and any other parameters of interest. I built a 52V, 1000w system with an ebay kit and Luna battery very inexpensively and it goes 33+ mph, but it's heavy, so other solutions are better for me except when I'm doing errands, then it's superb.

slebo3213

Commuting to work on side roads and paved trails, 12 miles each way with some hills, can recharge in office, speed - as fast as possible, I want pedal assist and throttle, and I weigh 175 pounds.

Not too keen on mid drives. Prefer hub motors.

Appreciate all of the help!

2old

I've only had two rear hub conversions, but have ridden a plethora of OEM systems for as long as a month. Of those, the Stromer STX1 was outstanding, but at a cost of $5,000. I've built two rear "hubbies", an MXUS geared 350w that was a nice light 20 mph system and a YESCOM (other names on ebay) 1000w, direct drive 52V that was heavy, but quick, and fine for commuting. Posters on endless sphere report up to 20,000 miles with this system. A lot depends on your budget, but if it's fast you want, you might consider the Leaf 1500.
Also, depending which state you reside in, certain bikes might be considered mopeds and require license and insurance.

Doc_Wui

Is a one hour commute OK, or do you need to make it in 30 minutes (super fast)?

car knocker

Check out Leeds ,based in Utah. I have both 500 Watt kits,on a Mt bike and a tandem.No problems after 2 years and 3k on the single.70 mile range on pas1,plenty of torque for the hills on the tandem.

slebo3213

Thanks. Is it safe to assume that all the popular batteries are plug and play with the ebay and yescom kits?

slebo3213

I do it pedaling in 50. So no, 1 hour wouldn't cut it. Seems like the price difference between fast and superfast is 200-300, probably worth the initial investment.

2old

Unless you can specify the connectors you want on your battery or procure the kit and battery from one vendor, there's a good chance that you'll need to change the connectors on the controller or battery, but that's easy. Some of the other kits mentioned like Leeds and New Republic have good reputations but it sounds like you're interested in 28-30 mph. Look at the simulator at ebikesca for the performance of a specific motor. A MAC (em3ev or Luna Cycle) may be a good consideration. Chas58, a strong rider (AFAICT), gets good performance from smaller lighter systems; look up his builds. Also, depending on your budget, I've ridden several pretty fast bikes from Stromer, Trek, EG, Juiced and other smaller companies that were superb.

Doc_Wui

Today, I saw another ebike for the first time on my local bike path. The guy was flying, probably close to 30 mph thru the trees. No bike etiquette at all. OK for the street, but a few minutes earlier, I had stopped my ebike to let a little tot on a push scooter catch up to her mom, and had more than a few joggers with headphones not hear my bell. Speed is fun, but people gotta be smart about it.

Yescomm kit for $200. At 30 mph, probably 35-40 wh/mile. Multiply your battery AH by its nominal voltage to get the watt-hours (wh). Derate by 10% because they all lie. So you might need a 48V 14AH battery to get 750 wh in theory, maybe 600 wh in practice, which will pretty much cover that 12 mile commute with wind, cold weather, and hills. Recharge at work. Make sure it can deliver 30A. I'd say about $700-800 and you got your electric motorcycle. I've thought about buying one of these kits to try out, but I'd only ride it once.

2old

Agree with DW that you need to be extremely careful with speed which is what I do when people are on the trail. Fortunately, that's not very often. I purchased the YES kit just to see if they could make one that inexpensive and "useful". I was surprised at its quality and utility, but it's HEAVY. It's somewhat of a challenge to coordinate your needs, DIY ability/interest and budget.

slebo3213

I fully intend to slow down when others are in sight and I grew up riding dirt bikes. I'm not worried about 30 mph on a paved surface. I'll ease into.

Just working on a good steel donor bike and trying to figure out the right kit/battery combo. Ideally it could handle throttle only averaging 20+ mph for 15 miles. That gives me some cushion since I likely wouldn't able to average that speed and would be doing some pedaling. I'm thinking that 48v/13ah with 1000w motor would cut it but I'm trying to figure out that calculator!