decisions on motor bike configuration

depending where you are...get the moped. youre in for the same total cost, possibly even LESS after the third engine, and well...if youre asking these kinds of questions, i (personally, no offense) feel that you, like a lot of the general population, will just get ANNOYED with a motorised pushbike.

if you arent experimental, havent played around with these sorts of things before, and have extremely limited workshop facilities = completely stuffed when something, no matter how simple, goes wrong :( which it will. regularly. no matter what engine, supplier and or genius fabricator you have access to... its called murphys law. my engines dont DARE breakdown cus they know ill either fix em or melt em down for scrap... either way, they end up regretting it...


if you want a hobby, dont mind the occasional push home, or even ringing a mate at 2am when its packed it in... sure. pushy.

everyday use, get you to work on time every time, get you home in time for *insert fave show here*, doesnt need constant fiddling tweaking or TLC...moped. especially if you want to cover more than 30-40km each way.

it does depend on where you live and what the rules there are. you might have to get even the pushy registered. you might get away with a 50cc motorbike without rego! etc etc.


a brand new moped comes with at LEAST a years WARRANTY. any and ALL guarantees are void and null if you use a pushbike. frame, components, engine... purchase at users risk!
 
I just want a Nuvinci Hub that can do the job. From what i understand the Nuvinci Hub is about as useful as female mammary glands on a bull when it comes to coping with the extreme torque being sent to the rear wheel via a Sick Bike Parts shift kit.

I just "wished"; i just "so wished" that Nuvinci would build a proper hub capable of handling the extreme torque dished out by the highest levels of twisting force that can be produced when running the highest ratio gearing provided by the optional jackshaft sprockets in the Sick Bike Parts catalogue range.

I really, really want a Nuvinci Hub that doesn't spew grease for 50 yards in every direction as it blows itself to pieces; transforming into scrap metal under a motorised bicycle configuration.
It's so frustrating when all you want is a Nuvinci Hub but are unable to use it, because it's nowhere near as tough as what it could be, or should be.



i just had to throw this one in...

we had a dairy BUCK of particular good lineage that produced a litre a day... had two bags down below! only one came with dual spraybars, mind you ;)

still, not exactly practical. sort of like using a mini to tow a caravan... funny to watch but you sure look stupid to anyone watching :giggle:
 
A quick second to Fabian's advice, re Nuvinci hub. I have the beefier, 171 hub, with a developer's kit. Works for me.
I was all wow'ed and smitten with the NuVinci CVT so much between my shop mate and I bought like 8 Cadillac bikes that came with the N170S.

For those that remember back to mid 2011 the SBP jackshaft was still pretty new and had the 3-part back base, and ** introduced the Cadillac Fleetwood beach cruiser that came with a NuVinci hub and rear disc brake.

Amazon had them for $799 but we found them for $300 for most, $350 for a couple others which is was about just the back wheel cost so you got the killer unique bike for free.

Caddy3LeftRear.jpg


3 of those hubs failed before the motor was even broken in, that bike above failed within a dozen miles and no returns.

Fallbrook Technologies came out with the NuVinci Developers Kit with automatic computer controlled shift back then when I got my 1st Caddy for the older larger hub and I finessed my way into them giving me a free Developers Kit hub and remote control to test with gas power if I posted the results on their no longer existent developers forum.

I built Bad Mojo in February 2011 for Death Race in Tucson, AZ with that Dev Kit.

KCbike2-17-2011.jpg


Man I was in hog heaven plugging my bike into my PC and making all kinds of custom automatic shift tables for the hubs controller, creating a bike powered charging system for the my own on-board power system but I was sorely disappointed in the end.

I have a 10 page forum topic about the ordeal on my site but the point is I think the whole theory of a fluid 'briefly changing states from a liquid to a solid when compressed' would be great if such fluid existed that worked.

If you haven't seen the video of how the NuVinci works watch it here.
http://www.fallbrooktech.com/nuvinci-technology

Pay close attention to the part about how the fluid is suppose to 'stick' the rolling balls to the hub at 'microscopic tolerance'.

I think the fault lies in Fallbrook not making their NuVinci hub designed for frequent fluid changes and making that 'magic fluid' reasonably priced and easily available as none of my failures ever leaked, made grinding noises or spewed parts, the fluid just quit holding.

Anyway I wander again...

I still have the whole Dev kit setup but I have no interest in resurrecting it, I put a nice simple internal 3 on Bad Mojo and as far as I know still cruising alone today and I have never seen an internal 3 fail yet.

KCsuedeSoldR.jpg


Then again I don't build for doing steep rutted dirt roads to a ski slope lift top pulling a big trailer either ;-}
 
KC, 2 nitpic, the NV fluid really does what it says it does. Just not well enough 2 transmit enough useful torque 4 most MAB aps. And that's with the beefier 171 hub. God knows how puny the 360 hub is. But thanks lots 4 your larger points about MAB's 4 the rest of us. You helped me with my "odd" bike, and I'm sure many others as well.

FYI, I sent another poster, who also has a NVDK, your way. I would have been lost without your advice on strengthening my circuit board, and so will he, unless he checks out your relevant pix.
 
KC, thanks lots 4 your larger points about MAB's 4 the rest of us. You helped me with my "odd" bike, and I'm sure many others as well.

FYI, I sent another poster, who also has a NVDK, your way. I would have been lost without your advice on strengthening my circuit board, and so will he, unless he checks out your relevant pix.
Ya, the controller board left a lot to be desired but I think the whole problem with the automatic shifter, especially with trying to put in so many shift points is trying to get the fluid to start hard under power and trying to shift it under power too.

If you operate it manually and back off power when shifting the other hubs worked dandy, especially with an electric, but that being the case I found it just a cumbersome system to operate.
 
@KC, per some of my old, old, posts, I made the shifter shift up automatically under near full input torque, and have done so almost every warm day for the last 2 years. The secret is beaucoup 12+ volt power, with 5-6 amps always available. But this is faint praise, as "full input torque" is certainly (and understandably) less then most MAB builders want. Making U correct as usual on the larger point of it being a cumbersome system to operate in a "conventional " mode.
But all that being said, I think NV should have tamed the system for us by selling it as a jackshaft shifter, with a kit charging system for the controller. "Cumbersome", yes. High $, certainly. But worth it, in my view. I say this because (1) my shifter works just fine within permissible torque, and (2) if you run the numbers using max permissible torque (48 lb*ft.) and max permissible input and/or output r/m (1000), you could transmit over 4.5 hp starting out, and over 9 hp after input/output speed ratio rose above 1. These are theoretical and need to be cut back for a safety margin, but remain tantalizing.
 
In my case with auto-shifters it's a once bitten twice shy thing.

I wanted a video of the difference between the sound of that Giant Suede with Dev Kit automatic above at the muffler shop before I had the glass pack for the the X-pipe put on and this is what happened during the 'before' video in their parking lot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XsMrPmUQBGs

In short I nailed it from a dead stop and as I started to make a gentle turn it auto-shifted at full RPM with some loose gravel in the parking lot, the back wheel flew out and I went down hard to the left trapping me under the bike while the jackshaft gear on the right caught my pant leg and pulled my leg in and did a 'chain saw' treatment on it.

KCwreckSprocket.jpg


KCwreckLegClose.jpg


The whole gruesome story is here
http://kcsbikes.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=163

5 days in the hospital and well over $100,000 (that I am still paying on 3 years later) I was home with a nice pubic hair covered skin graft patch from my lower tummy on my calf and a 6" scar at my belt line, the surgeon told me to consider that part a free 'tummy tuck'.

That bike got the name Bad Mojo after the guy working for me at the time thought it would be cool to do a brodie in the back yard after coming in from a test ride and he went down hard the same way.

Call me a sissy or a scared old man but I don't want automatic anything on my MB, I want good easy to use manual brakes and manual shifting.
 
Actually, can't agree more. Manual shifting has SO many advantages. I was just trying to stay legal, but now I think I was overcautious.....
 
5 days in the hospital and well over $100,000 (that I am still paying on 3 years later) I was home with a nice pubic hair covered skin graft patch from my lower tummy on my calf and a 6" scar at my belt line, the surgeon told me to consider that part a free 'tummy tuck'.

That injury could have easily been prevented by a chain guard. Having said that, i hate chain guards because i like to see the mechanical parts whizzing around, hence my solution to design a chain guard that doesn't obscure the working parts, by drilling and tapping an M5 thread into the jackshaft and installing a transparent polycarbonate disk, as shown in the below photo and video.


20130831.jpg


 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top