Cooter electrifies a bike!

[Cooter]

A couple years ago I needed a parts runner for around town and the 10 trips a week I go to the hardware store, so I saved this from languishing in a dusty corner, tuned, lubed, and fixed everything but the kickstand (still):upset:

It came with a Nexus 8-speed hub and a front wheel with a 36V hub motor, and nothing else.

so I added some fairings...

JK.
It's been perfect for ripping around this little Mayberry (except for no kickstand), but it's real hilly here and I always wanted to get that little motor runnin' and head out on the highway.
I rummaged around the shop and found a throttle, a brain unit thingy from somewhere, but no battery or charger. I checked out e-bay but the $600 bill for a battery stopped me dead in my cheap-ass tracks.

 

[Cooter]

Fast forward to yesterday, I was tossing out a pair of 18v Rigid collated screw guns (that suck) and had an epiphany! Whats 18X2? Thats RIGHT Mo-Fo! I wonder if....

Yep:eagerness:

Re-wired it, fixed a mashed throttle harness, wired in a safety switch,

Even got a battery life indicator


Chopped off the 2 ends of the screw guns, JB welded them together face to face and temporarily zip tied the whole mess to the rear. Remember I don't even know if any of this dusty crap works...

 

[Cooter]

I'm mostly Milwaukee cordless at the shop, but have a bunch of Rigid around the house and such, so swapping batteries is no problem. It's EXACTLY what I wanted! Not fast, not complicated, and free!! It really helps up the steep hill with a bag full of bolts (beer) from the hardware (liquor) store and lasts a surprisingly long time!

A pair of 18V, 3Ah wired in series and can go a couple miles up the steep hills, they wouldn't go all day, even flat ground, but they charge up super fast, so I'm just in the habit of popping them on the charger when I go out the door at night. I have some 5Ah too

Just thought I'd share a two wheel tale:angel:

 

[lancruza]

Luvit!

 

[mike lowary]

Clever man! That’s awesome!

 

[34nineteen]

Those Nexus and Alfine hubs are not rated to accept above normal human torque output. When the Alfine was introduced, it was supposed to be MTB compatible, but yeah... that didnt work out, and you never see it mentioned in Shimano tech docs anymore. The Nexus hub is a "step down" from the Alfine.

There are no service parts available from Shimano for either of those hubs, however if you do roach it, you should be able to pull the entire guts out of the bad hub and replace with the guts from a new hub. I havent dealt with Alfine hubs in about 10 years, so my recollection may be foggy.

 

[34nineteen]

So, I just found this.... bear in mind this is from a 2017 Shimano tech book. However note this is for the 8 speed version. I looked up 7 speed and there is no mention of being rated for e-bike usage.

 

[Cooter]

Even though I do possess super-human torque

The electric motor is in the front wheel.

 

[34nineteen]

Well, that solves that!

 

[34nineteen]

This seems like more fun.

 

[rb70383]

Electric? That is so last decade.....:black_eyed::up: