E-bike Conversion

We were tasked to build an E-mobility bike. This bike would be an inexpensive and sustainable option. For instance being able to bike to and from school, work, or any other endeavor. 

In this instructable we explain our process from attaching the motor, to building housing for the system and adding extra functions.

Materials:

• A regular bike without a disc brake (We used a mountain bike with 26” tires”
• Two detachable Drill Batteries
• E-Bike Conversion Kit
• wood /cardboard
• half-link (Optional)
• Chain Link Remover
• Qibaok Heat Shrink Connectors
• Rings ¼
• 2 female quick Disc
• 2-4 Butt Connectors 
• Crimper 
• Heavy Duty Rocker Toggle
• Wire Stripper 
• 2 voltmeters
• 2 push buttons 
• Female drill battery connector
• 14 Gauge wire

 Required tools:

• Laser Printer
• 3D Printer
• Wire Cutters
• Phillips head screwdriver
• Scissors

For the beginning of this project, we referenced a video tutorial.

Step 1: Wheel

• To begin, take the wheel off the bike to make mounting easier. 
• Next, remove the quick release lever 
• Now, take the two rubber pads and place one around the hub (behind the spokes) and one above the hub (on top of the spokes)
• Next, take the large round gear and place it on top of the rubber pad above the spokes. 
• Take the two semi-circle metal pieces with holes through them, and put them together as a plate around the hub, (behind the spokes and below the rubber pad). 
• Now we will fasten the whole thing together. In order, it goes large metal gear, rubber pad. Now below the spokes, rubber pad, and both metal semi-circles. Use the screws from the kit to work your way around the spokes, getting as many screws through as possible. 
• If you cannot get screws through all the holes, get as many as you can, but make sure the gaps are even.
•  If done right, it should look like the image attached.

• Now, we will work on mounting the motor to the bike.
• The mount that came with the kit was not flush for the motor to line up with the large gear. 
• So we had to heat the metal with a blowtorch on the left and right hinged sides, then hammer them flat.
• Once this was done the motor was able to be mounted to the bike.
• Unfortunately even after flattening the mount piece the large sprocket and the motor sprocket still did not line up properly.
• The chain would buckle when the wheel started to move too fast. 
• To make it line up I created a bike bracket on fusion 360 that would fit under the mount and then I 3D printed them. Dimensions are not attached because it wont be the same for every bike. I recommend lining the motor up with the sprocket and measuring the distance between when they are aligned.

For this step we are measured all of our parts to see how they would fit in a box. Below is the file that we used to create the box. This was through Makercase.

First we lazer cut the pieces of the box out of cardboard. This helped with updated measurements and any additional revisions. Here is a photo of the cardboard box pyrotype.

Wooden Pieces:

 Then we printed the wooden pieces out of 1/4 inch plywood, images are attached.

First Thing we did was draw up a diagram about the wiring 

Here is the finished wiring and the components wired together

Please note that both batteries have to be fully charged to have the bike work safely (Both batteries must be the same voltage)

The photo of the box shows the voltmeters and buttons on the box. This is for safety precautions so the rider will always know when the batteries are low of charge. 

This was the last step of the process of creating this E-bike. We mounted the throttle to the front of the bike where the handle bars are. As for the bike we mounted an extra attachment to make a place to put the box on top of. As for connecting the box we used zip ties to secure the box. Below are the finished photos

As for the future there definitely are things we could have done differently like double checking how to do the wiring, or finding a chain that fit better. These were things that we had to overcome, but also learning opportunities. In the end this project was very enjoyable. For the future there are things we would like to add like a more permanent way of adding the box to the bike, adding different features to the bike like turning blinkers and stuff of that source.