Custom E-Cruiser Has Features For Disabled Rider

e-crusier

As [AussieJester] noted in the first page of his build log, most people’s idea of a “custom-made” electric bicycle involves strapping some electronics and a hub motor onto any off-the-shelf bike. He needed a bigger challenge, so he fabricated his own frame to build a stylish electric cruiser. This bike has a 2-speed transmission and a massive Turnigy 80-100 brushless outrunner motor, which pushes out a top speed of 45mph.

You may have noticed what look like training wheels in the picture above, and you’d be half-correct. [AussieJester] is a paraplegic, and needed to guarantee some stability both when transferring from his wheelchair and when coming to a stop. The best feature of this bike, however, is that these small wheels are retractable. A linear actuator lowers them for slower speeds and for mounting/dismounting, but picks them back off the ground once you are up to speed, maintaining a true 2-wheeled experience.

Stick around for a couple of videos after the break: a first-person POV showing just how quick this bike can move, and a demonstration of the actuators. Then check out another EV pioneer in the world of skateboarding.

[via shelbyelectro and electricbike.com]

[Thanks Ezra]

16 thoughts on “Custom E-Cruiser Has Features For Disabled Rider

  1. Can we get a rule against posting projects which don’t have a coherent built summary? I don’t care how cool your project is. If you haven’t invested some time in presentation, I’m not going to invest any time in reading about it.

    I am not going to read through eighty pages of half-English jibberish just to find out the basics, and our friend couldn’t find a proper English sentence with two hands and a flashlight.

    1. Ah, that’s a good point. I suppose anyone who is similarly disabled and riding a motorcycle would need something like that. He mentioned somewhere in his build log that riding a motorcycle was uncomfortable and he preferred this cruiser. I think his comment distracted me from considering this as anything other than an E-bicycle, but your comment has done the exact opposite: how close is this to being just an E-motorcycle, then? Top speed isn’t anything to write home about in that context, but it seems like he’s blurring the line at least.

  2. VERY nice build, it looks GREAT!

    I don’t get it; if he is a paraplegic, why did he bother mounting pedals and a drive chain? A set of regular footpegs would have made more sense, I’d think.

    I really hope he’s wearing some safety gear when he rides it, at the very least a decent motorcycling helmet, and preferable a jacket, gloves, boots, and pants designed specifically for motorcycling, to protect him in the event of an accident. Sliding on asphalt at 70+ km/h is no laughing matter.

    I’m a bit worried about the electronics; the ESC seems rather small, and the motor and ESC are sensorless units. This means there will be HUGE currents when the bike has to start from a standstill, because the ESC can’t determine the speed and position of the rotor until it’s gained enough speed. Also, driving the motor in block commutation mode is far less efficient than using a proper trapezoidal or sine-wave commutation mode, but regular ESCs usually can’t do that. In my opinion, a sensorless motor and ESC aren’t suitable for traction drives, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the ESC dies after a short while. Unfortunately, motors with Hall sensors and ESCs supporting them are a lot harder to find. Also, for traction you should really use current regulating motor controllers, and this ESC doesn’t seem to have this capability.

    1. Pedals are probably for legality. I know a lot of places require operational pedals to still fall under the classification of an electric bicycle instead of a motorcycle, which would have to pass more rigorous safety tests and be registered.

      I’m sure he realises the dangers and wears appropriate gear. If he doesn’t, what’s it to you?

      Don’t modern sensorless speed controllers have a way of using feedback from the motor coils themself as sensors when starting? The fact that they make such motors and speed controllers sensorless and this large leads me to believe that it’s probably fine.

  3. Use the stabilizers to lift the year tire off the pavement give er some throttle & drop it. Oh yea somewhere in the middle get a tight grip. More noise than I expected. At the electrothon rallys all you hear as a spectator are the tires and chain drive

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