The next bike is a Firebikes frame with an Imperial springer running 34x3 blackwalls front + rear.  Stopping provided by Hayes 8" discs. no picture yet, but it is basically done as a bike and waiting on motor, battery, and paint job to be finished.

Thanks for the great webzine.  It has truly been an inspiration. Robert Prevatt

Stay away from "Toprun" and "Golden Island Machinery".   Look at "Crystalyte" and "Wilderness Energy" these two companies use the same motor(Crystalyte) but different controllers. The WE is cheaper, but have subtle quality issues compared with the X-lyte.   The two places to go for x-lyte  are
Largoscooters.com (he calls it the "go-hub" and
evsolutions.net  Largo can hook you up with an easy-to-install, well thought out kit that is "legal". 
evsolutions can get you a two-speed motor that is "off-road" (Faster)   Don't even think about buying
something under 400W.    
Unfortunately they were all anemic gutless eunuchs. Then one day someone tried to put more power through them.  Suddenly they got more efficient, and had better power and top speed.     24V  is a mistake, you need at least 36V or 48V.  A few people are now experimenting with 60V, 72V, and 94V.  The problem becomes battery storage.  At least two of the experimenters are using the xtracycle.  see www.power-assist.org for the ongoing saga.

There are still low grade Chinese motors to be avoided.  I have heard that others have heard bad
things.  I havn't tried them all, so I don't really know. 

Robert Prevatt: Electric Kustom Bikes
In addition to those cute little internal-combustion bike engines from China, another Chinese auxiliary bicycle power source is also becoming popular here- electric hub-motor wheels. This type of drive scheme has been around for a number of years, but only now are they available for fairly cheap prices.  After getting photos of his first electro-kustom, we asked Mr. Prevatt to give us extra information on this interesting and simple-to-install alternative to the I.C. engine.

The hub motor on the original bike is a Heinzmann from Germany.  It is one of the best and most expensive hub motors in the world. Like $1500 for the kit you see on my bike. I got lucky and found one on ebay already attached to a rather stupid looking bike for $450 after shipping.
Allow me to prattle on for a moment and educate you on hub motors.  For a long time there was just Heinzmann and a few crappy Chinese makers.  Heinzmann's motor is a geared motor, which means it is actually a small motor/transmission contained inside the hub.  The downside to this is these gears make noise.  This is cute for pedestrians, they all perk up like dogs when I approach, and smile when they realize I'm making the noise AND not pedaling.  It is slightly more annoying
to good riders as they have to hear it for a while as we pass each other.  It is most annoying to the rider, as you have to hear the sound the entire time you use the bike.

The Chinese hub makers had an advantage. their motors were direct drive .  As in the inside of the
hub is a bunch of wires  and the outer casing has the  magnets.  the power flows through the wires and the magnets move, taking the spokes and the tire and you with them.   The only moving parts are 3 bearings where the hub shell meets the axle.  Being brushless, they are also totally silent.

Unfortunately they were all anemic gutless eunuchs. Then one day someone tried to put more power through them.  Suddenly they got more efficient, and had better power and top speed.     24V  is a mistake, you need at least 36V or 48V.  A few people are now experimenting with 60V, 72V, and 94V.  The problem becomes battery storage.  At least two of the experimenters are using the xtracycle.  see www.power-assist.org for the ongoing saga.

There are still low grade Chinese motors to be avoided.  I have heard that others have heard bad
things.  I havn't tried them all, so I don't really know. 

Stay away from "Toprun" and "Golden Island Machinery".   Look at "Crystalyte" and "Wilderness Energy" these two companies use the same motor(Crystalyte) but different controllers. The WE is cheaper, but have subtle quality issues compared with the X-lyte.   The two places to go for x-lyte  are
Largoscooters.com (he calls it the "go-hub" and
evsolutions.net  Largo can hook you up with an easy-to-install, well thought out kit that is "legal". 
evsolutions can get you a two-speed motor that is "off-road" (Faster)   Don't even think about buying
something under 400W.    
Federal guidelines state that basically anything 20mph or less is legally a bicycle.  If it can go over 20 you have to license and tag it as a motorcycle.This is why all commercial electric bikes fall into the under 20mph category.  If you want something faster you have to build it yourself.

Right about a year after using the Heinzmann one of the internal gears broke.  About this time my two-speed crystalyte arrived so I threw all my energy and cash into getting it on the bike.  I finally got it together, and the controller fried on my first test ride.  I emailed Joshua at evsolutions and he informed me that my controller was part of an experimental batch of beefier controllers(which I had requested), and all of these controllers failed on the first run. He is sending me a replacement controller and I am pedaling to work in the meantime.  


I cannot accurately describe the joy of ebike riding.  It has truly changed my life.  It is like always riding downhill.   And I can tell you that pedaling an 80 pound e-bike up a hill is way easier and faster than pedaling a 25 pound road bike.   I am car-free and loving it.  Or at least loving it when the juice flows.  It has honestly sucked pedaling through the Texas summer.  I need the 20mph motor for my air conditioning.

I have a set of Nirve Fat-Asses and a set of Electra Fatty-O's I have a F-A on the front and a F-O on the rear.  I am trying to decide which one I like. the F-A has the whitewall in the middle of the tire, while the F-O has it starting at the rim.  What do you think?

So here is the reworked version of the roadster.  I went with 24x3s front and rear,  and disc brakes for
the extra speed.  I'm moving the seat back and down. I have s a set of Nirve street sweeper fenders and a
Schwinn blue-dot taillight with a custom LED board for a working brake light.  I changed to stronger forks because the springer forks failed on me much too often.  the weight of ebikes is too much to be
supported by one bolt.  The new motor is 48V, giving it a theoretical top speed of 35mph.
The next bike is a Firebikes frame with an Imperial springer running 34x3 blackwalls front + rear.  Stopping provided by Hayes 8" discs. no picture yet, but it is basically done as a bike and waiting on motor, battery, and paint job to be finished.

Thanks for the great webzine.  It has truly been an inspiration. Robert Prevatt

As for the batteries, I'm using gel cell lead now.  And boy are they heavy.  The NiCds are 13 pounds at 5 amp/hour and the lead is close to 40 pounds at 12 amp/hour  The lead is dirt cheap ($10-$30 each).  Nihm and Li-Ion are available in e-bike size, but they are expensive.  Plus the Li-Ions have some safety issues.  "Letting the smoke out" and "Venting with flame" are two expresions I've heard.   I plan to upgrade to NiMh when I can afford it, but it's a secret. Sorry, I'm full of bad jokes.