Help with powering my quad build

the13bats

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May 7, 2012
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Location
Orlando
It's been several years since I was here life got in the way, covid killed my budget but now I have time to get my 4 wheeler going but as time passed I have more questions than answers.

I have a 2 person 4 wheeler, 17 inch moped wheels, I've only seen 2 others like it, but it is factory built, I would love to know what company built it.

My original plan was put a horror tool fright edger predator engine on a little trailer out the rear like an old briggs flyer idea.

Now I see electric has come a long way, and I see kits with motors some with some without gear reduction,
Those interest me but not the electric hubs as my quad has 4 moped wheels I like.

What I desire is to keep the pedal drive at least on the drivers side, both sides have 3 gears on the rear drive axle but only the drivers wheel is powered the passenger wheel is free.
After looking at some electrics the thought crossed my mind could I remove the crank pedals on passenger side and install an electric motor there, I mean I can do it but would it power the quad down the road and could the 3 speeds on the axle be used since driver and passenger had separate gear changers.
Same question about using the 3 speeds with a small weed gas bike engine,

whatever way I go to power it I don't care about it being fast,
if it could go faster than a healthy person can run I would be happy,

So hit me with some thoughts and opinions,
Many thanks,
Bats,


20250203_194740.jpg
 
Opinion #1. Harbor Freight's tools are better than most that you can get off a tool truck for a fraction of the cost, especially the Icon line.

Opinion #2. A mid drive electric kit would be cool. Then you could keep the pedals on both sides and still have electric power at the cranks.

Opinion #3. If you go for gas I suggest a 79cc predator with CVT. Looks to me like it would for just fone underneath the seat if you relocate the gas tank.
 
I would use a kit like this & go 72volt or 60volt.

Electric motor will be easy to mount down low, as well as the battery source to help with center of gravity.

BTW it would be a sweet ride when finished.
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Let me try to answer the questions and comments,
Let me say thanks for the replies,
I guess i got this quad about 10 years ago for 150.00 and back then I wanted that briggs flyer style ( gas ) but I see so many slick electrics around town ranging from one wheel to four , whisper past my house fast too.
I guess I should have stressed my hobbies are at the mercy of limited budget, all the covid stuff really hit my wife and I,
And I'm semi retired now.
The pics I posted are fresh I dragged it out of the carriage house where it hasn't been touched in about 8 years, I got the brakes stopping it and today going to get the drivers derailer working,
The tires hold air for testing but I wouldnt trust past going down the block and back,
The seat when I got it wasn't stock, way too high made trying to pedal it like one of those surrey style and I had one couldnt get it sold fast enough, the plastic boat seat is what I used for testing,
I just cant picture 2 average sized people sitting butt to butt pedaling this thing,

"Horror tool fright "
I've always renamed things for fun, like I call a Chevy powerglide a porkslide,
As far as your opinion htf has just as good of tools as what you referred to as "tool truck " tools I would say in some items yes and other items no.

I happen to have a 79 predator in my basement I'll measure but i don't think it will fit as you suggested, and if I use gas 4 stroke then I'll just do the pusher briggs flyer style to get the engine further from me.

The "mid" electric appeals to me the type a can mount at the crank set, and use the 3 speeds on the rear axle speaking of which,
Both driver and passenger have 3 speeds, but only the drivers wheel gets the power from the axle the passenger wheel is free spin to give a differential effect like they do on many adult trikes,

DT,
On a kit like you posted, out of my budget right now but let's just talk about it so I can learn,
What would you guess would be top speed from such a kit and distance I could get out of it?

Another question on electrics do they use banks of 18650 cells on much of these?

Again thanx all!
 
Let me try to answer the questions and comments,
Let me say thanks for the replies,
I guess i got this quad about 10 years ago for 150.00 and back then I wanted that briggs flyer style ( gas ) but I see so many slick electrics around town ranging from one wheel to four , whisper past my house fast too.
I guess I should have stressed my hobbies are at the mercy of limited budget, all the covid stuff really hit my wife and I,
And I'm semi retired now.
The pics I posted are fresh I dragged it out of the carriage house where it hasn't been touched in about 8 years, I got the brakes stopping it and today going to get the drivers derailer working,
The tires hold air for testing but I wouldnt trust past going down the block and back,
The seat when I got it wasn't stock, way too high made trying to pedal it like one of those surrey style and I had one couldnt get it sold fast enough, the plastic boat seat is what I used for testing,
I just cant picture 2 average sized people sitting butt to butt pedaling this thing,

"Horror tool fright "
I've always renamed things for fun, like I call a Chevy powerglide a porkslide,
As far as your opinion htf has just as good of tools as what you referred to as "tool truck " tools I would say in some items yes and other items no.

I happen to have a 79 predator in my basement I'll measure but i don't think it will fit as you suggested, and if I use gas 4 stroke then I'll just do the pusher briggs flyer style to get the engine further from me.

The "mid" electric appeals to me the type a can mount at the crank set, and use the 3 speeds on the rear axle speaking of which,
Both driver and passenger have 3 speeds, but only the drivers wheel gets the power from the axle the passenger wheel is free spin to give a differential effect like they do on many adult trikes,

DT,
On a kit like you posted, out of my budget right now but let's just talk about it so I can learn,
What would you guess would be top speed from such a kit and distance I could get out of it?

Another question on electrics do they use banks of 18650 cells on much of these?

Again thanx all!
I was being me & suggested that. Because it would be cool, especially if it drives both rear wheels. I imagine on that kit, depending your gearing choice you could easily see 40-50mph.

As far as battery I would use a 40-50ah 72 volt battery. Probably realistically get a easy 30-50 mile range.

As far as battery construction yes it would be built with 18650 or 21700 cells.

But you could also go with lifePO4 battery cells & not have to worry about a fire hazard.
 
Thanx DT,
That set up would be super cool, I had zero idea electric has come to far,
I am a lifelong rc person even worked in R&D, not my career, my thing with rc was nitro and large scale gas,
Electrics now are just amazing and i repurpose 18650 for things like flaslights,

I had no idea the run time or speed on this modern bike stuff no wonder I see so much of it around here, weed motors are going to find it hard to compete.
In my case 20mph top speed would be fine, in fact i would be concerned about stability at speed, I hope my quad handles better than a bar stool racer, it does have moped wheels with drum brakes up front but I guess I need to go into the hubs clean them etc as it doesnt stop as I would like, heck it's only sat 10 years, lol,

The motor kit you posted appears to have a built on gear box I'm guessing that's to get more torque like we did on rc electric planes.
I am liking the idea of an electric motor where the passenger crank set is,
I want to use this quad to run up to stores near me, everything is within 5 miles, if I run out of juice I pedal home.

The rear axle has no drive to the passenger side but I doubt it would be hard to lock that wheel live axle like go karts do, I cant imagine this quad would scrub much turning, note how close pedals are.
Rhoades bikes must be much wider.
20250204_202333_copy_1077x807.jpg


The previous owner had a high big heavy bench seat that made pedaling almost impossible and the area where the seat goes is a mess, I want to clean that up and perhaps put plywood over the full area and use that boat seat with a low end adjuster to move the seat forward or back, then add like a trike basket on the rear to carry junk,
 
Yea, you won't want a ton of speed with that chassis. If you eliminate the passenger side pedals, you can mount something like this on the division bar between the seats. It looks like it was put there for that purpose.
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