The TOMOS 50cc moped, a small motorcycle produced in Yugoslavia and the Netherlands, has for decades been a common sight on European roads and provided the first taste of transport independence for countless youngsters. Unfortunately the company went bankrupt a few years ago, but there are still plenty of them about, and it’s one of these that [Doctor D.S.] gives an electric conversion in the video below the break.
The electronics are a standard 5 kW off-the-shelf Chinese kit, but in this they aren’t the star of the show so much as the work on the bike. As with any old moped it’s a bit ropey, and he strips it down and reconditions every part of it alongside his work fabricating brackets, a battery box, and a seat. It’s a long video, but it’s one of those workshop sequences that you can become engrossed in.
The result appears to be a very practical, powerful (for a moped) and rideable bike, and it’s one we’d have for buzzing around town any day. We’d like to take a look at that battery box and seat combo on the interests of safety, but otherwise it’s pretty spot-on. Sit back and enjoy a bit of quality workshop video!
If you’re hungry for more, this is by no means the first road bike electric conversion we’ve brought you.
The dead dinosaur version apparently has about 1.5 hp (about 1.1 kW), so should be pretty zippy with a 5 kW electric motor. Not road legal in the Netherlands though at 90 km/h, unless you can get it licensed as a motorcycle or add a limiter.
Whatever you add to it, it’s probably not street legal until it’s type certified (i.e. tested) for insurance.
That’s the most common reason why DIY electric bikes are technically illegal on the street anyhow. The police or the insurer have no official documentation that says what it is and what it’s supposed to be – unless such documentation exists with some sort of a conversion kit that was approved for import/sale in the country and is recognized by the authorities as such.
Many countries have a process to follow to get DIY motorbikes and mopeds registered. It’s not exactly cheap, but quite feasible – motorcycle building is a well-established hobby.
Registering is one thing. For DIY vehicles it often involves tricks and loopholes like getting a donor vehicle for the VIN so you don’t have to provide full welding drawings and structural integrity calculations etc. There are engineering companies that will do that for you.
Getting the vehicle insured is a whole other can of worms – and if you don’t have both registration and insurance, it’s illegal to drive.
“Einzelabnahme” in Germany starts at 160€, better have around 300€ calculated for that.
Not in the US, lol
Zippy, yes…range, not so much.
Video said “20A” battery by which I presume they mean 20Ah. That’s not going to get you far with a 5kW draw.
As noted in main story, that battery box is sketchy. The pack needs padding with closed cell foam, or even small movements over time will wear through the plastic shrink wrap on the pack and potentially break one or more cells….I hope that pack has per-cell fusing…
It’s not going to draw 5 kW continuously.
These things were originally built with pedals to get around tax and registration laws. That’s why they’re so light and flimsy, and consequently easy enough to get going with just couple hundred watts.
I believe they were sold in the US as well. With mods they could go decent.
I’m from the Netherlands. I had several of these. The alternative, the Puch Maxi, is a much better quality moped. The Tomos ones rust everywhere and the engines usually rot together. I had a cylinder failure on one and even with big torches, the cylinder was stuck on the engine. Just rotted together.
I should buy another one, they are just too much fun. It’s a tiny country and I can go everywhere with these and they are, except for the engine when it’s rotted together, very easy to repair.
Hi . My 92 targa with almost all original parts doesn’t have any issues. A35 motor that actually makes 4hp and I don’t go much faster than 60kph because it still has the original drum brakes. So far, 86538on the odometer.2 kicks when cold and 1 when warm. Still having fun.
So what is the consequences of plating and insuring as-is (gasoline moped), then doing the modification? Plates stay on it. Hard to stay under the radar if doing 90 km/h though. Insurance is only an issue if you hit someone else.