Gas bike #5 and e-bike #4.

I have moved about 18 miles from Erie to a small town. The 35 mile range of the e-bikes became a problem, as there are some places I like to go that are now(round trip) beyond the full charge range. I therefore changed the red e-bike to a staton friction drive/Honda 33.5cc engine. The motor controller on the green e-bike gave up the ghost over the Winter, when it wasn't even in use, so I converted the e-bike kits direct drive hub motor to a Bafang BB02 center drive unit of 36 volt, 500 watts. The Bafang unit seems to be of fairly good quality and the acceleration is brisk, much better than the 750 watt hub motor and even stronger than the gas bike. I am very impressed wit the Bafang, but there are two little things I wish I could change. The "throttle" is an on-off switch and the top speed is electrically limited to about 20 mph. I would prefer a graduated throttle and a top speed of about 25 mph. The motor is only 2/3 horse, but operating through the bike's seven speed derailleur, 25 would be well within it's capacity. There are 3 levels of 'assist', so that is the primary means of speed control. meh

I much prefer the Subaru Robin EHO35 engines I have used in the past to this Honda GX35. The Honda is physically much bigger, heavier, and a lot louder than the R-S. They have about the same power, but the R-S oil always came out clean, even the first oil change. The Honda oil is coming out dirty and gritty, even after 3 oil changes, and the Honda takes several pulls(as many as 5) to start and a while to warm up and run smoothly. The Subaru started first or second pull every time and ran smoothly and strongly, even cold. I am disappointed.

Installing the Bafang was easy. The geared motor, controller, and bottom bracket-crank set are in one unit. You remove the crank set, the bearings and shaft, clean up the old grease from the bottom bracket, then slide the Bafang unit in, attach the new cranks supplied, and re-attach your pedals. A bit of wiring, install the new brake levers, and away you go. The unit has no instructions, so you have to go to youtube for the very good video instructions. I have a NuVinci CVT hub being laced to a rim and will install it on the Bafang motored bike as soon as the wheel is complete.

 

[cpuaid]

motorbikemike45, thank you for the nice write-up on the bafang kit. i have been thinking about building a gas/electric hybrid and the bafang kit had decent reviews so was on my watch list. please keep us posted once you have the nuvinci installed and running. btw, there's another fellow having problems with his staton/honda gx35 friction drive kit. i'm not much help since i've never owned that particular engine but perhaps you might have some insight on his problems

 

[motorbikemike45]

Do you know where I can find that fellow who is having trouble with the GX35 Honda? I'd like to see what he is experiencing. I have always thought the Honda GX35 and Subaru Robin EHO35 were very similar and equivalent. Perhaps that was true in the past, but now that the GX35 is being built in Taiwan, there may be some significant differences. I would have sprung for the SR, but the price has gone through the roof. Staton charged $411.00 for the friction kit with the Honda engine. They are charging over $500.00 for the Subaru Robin EHO35 alone. sigh Old Bob will not be happy that I'm badmouthing the Honda, but It really does seem to be of lesser quality than the Japanese built versions used to be.

The Bafang BB02 does widen the bottom bracket by an inch or so, but I never noticed the difference from the saddle. I bought the Bafang through tnabattery-ebike.com in China, paying through paypal. The delivery was through DHL and took slightly under a month. In endless sphere they liked the Bafang, but were having trouble finding an outlet that sells them here in the US, Canada, and Australia. I was somewhat concerned dealing through the Chinese company, tnabattery, but the service was good. Some US company should set up a dealership for the Bafang units. The first units they made were the BB01, which was made in 250 watt versions only, for the European market. The BB02 can be had in 24V, 36V, and 48V from 350 to 750 watts.

 

[cpuaid]

The new Hondas being built in Thailand was a major concern for my never having bought one before. i may be biased but i would rather pay a bit more for a Japanese made product. the japanese really take pride in their workmanship. i know through first hand experience having lived in both countries. i own (3) RS EH035's, (4) Tanaka's, (2) Mitsubishi's, and (2) Zenoah Komatsu's. they are all Japanese engines which were built in Japan, and have been 100% reliable.

here is the thread for the person experiencing a noisy staton friction drive kit with the honda gx35

http://www.motoredbikes.com/showthread.php?43097-problem-with-clutch-noise

 

[wheelbender6]

Like the BMX bars on the gas bike.