Converting my Dawes Sonoran to an E-Bike Part 4 - Battery, Controller, wiring and LCD Display

Now it's just a matter of fitting the battery, the controller, the display and connecting it all together.

It's a bottle battery so 2 screws and we're done - on the down tube rather than the seat tube. As I wrote in part 1, I sent back the original round bottle battery for the "upgraded" USB version. Although the USB port is of little use to me, this battery simply slots in and out where the "normal" version has a screw in plug which is significantly less useful. The upgraded battery is also 10Ah rather than 8Ah. 

The controller is another matter. The box fits neatly enough on the seat tube and the controller itself fits easily inside. However, Panda's wiring is generous in length so I tried to get as much of it inside the controller box as I could. This was a little fiddly and it then became difficult to hold it all in place before screwing the  two halves of the box together. The fit of the lid once it was crammed with controller and wires became a little less tight and I covered the seam with insulating tape - neat and hopefully weather proof.
  

The wiring from the battery to the controller does not have neat pugs but a pair of bullet connectors so I used heat-shrink tubing to protect the connection.  Unfortunately, Maplins colour code their heat-shrink by size so the most suitable tubing was bright blue - at some point I'll wrap that in insulating tape to neaten the job.

The other connections have (very) tight plugs but I've taped some of them as well - and combined with a selection of cable ties the overall installation is neat enough.

The LCD controller fits neatly on the handlebars and the rest of the wiring s just a matter of plugging it in.Unlike some, the LCD display can be configured to display in MPH and the instructions are not too "Chinglish" for an intelligent person to understand. 

I still need to find a neat solution to seal the ends of the three "spare wires" (thumb throttle and 2x brake cut-out) that you can see in the picture below.

Here's the complete installation - ready for the road. A quick test on a known and previously timed route of 6 and a half miles revealed that I was a full 5 minutes quicker than when I was 5 years younger, over a stone lighter and considerably fitter.

Converting my Dawes Sonoran to an E-bike. Part 1

With the box of bits ready to go, and the bike indoors to make work easier through the winter I started the conversion.

The first thing was to take the opportunity to replace the tyres with a set of new Continental Town Ride Reflexes with reflective sidewalls (to go nicely with my Provis Reflect 360+ Jacket !) and at the same time fit new rim tape and tubes.

With its new tyre fitted, the replacement front motor wheel drops neatly into the dropouts. The axle is flattened to ensure it cannot rotate (so that the hub motor "drives" the wheel) and there is a "tabbed" washer to support this. It is important that this "tab" goes into the dropout last as the wheel does not sit neatly in the dropout if it is inserted first.

The torque from the rotation of the hub motor means that the axle can spin out of the drop outs - or even "spread" the dropouts over time especially with aluminium forks. On way to prevent this is with the fitting of a torque arm but the supplied version did not suit my forks so I will need to order a different version to suit my aging RST Forks.

I have also decided to replace the standard "bottle" battery for an upgraded version. As well as a slightly higher capacity,  this battery has the advantage of a "clip in" fitment where the standard version has a screw in connector. Panda e-Bikes have continued to be highly responsive to email queries and the new battery should be with me in the week to allow me to continue the conversion next weekend.

In the meantime, here's the hub motor wheel loosely installed in the front forks awaiting the arrival of the new torque arm.

The Kawasaki's end is nigh - Time for a new mode of transport

For some time now I’ve known that the KLE500 cannot go on for ever – despite living up to Kawasaki’s reputation for bullet-proof engines, it’s beginning to get more and more rat-like as only a £400 24-year old bike can. After 3 years of all-weather commuting with almost total reliability it certainly doesn’t “owe me anything”.

I’ve long been considering an e-bike (or “Pedelec”) as a replacement. On the odd days I cycle to my office in Great Portland Street from Stanmore I can do it in around 50-55 minutes, but it does somewhat take it out of me, especially on the way home. 

With no tax or MOT to worry about and the ability to reduce the journey time to a more acceptable 40 minutes while maintaining or even improving my fitness (as an e-bike does not remove the need to pedal it just assists - up to 15.5mph).

I’ve been researching this plan for some time (check out www.Pedelecs.co.uk – a website with a lively if highly opinionated forum) – I nearly took the plunge a year ago but held off as the Kawasaki felt like it had one more year in it.

Thanks to John at www.Cyclezee.com  in Milton Keynes I’ve ridden Ansmann and Heinzmann examples and David at www.TheFlatEarth.co.uk has provided test rides of Orbea and Wisper models. I was torn between the Wisper 905 Torque (https://amps.bike/product/wisper-905-torque) and the Bosch powered Orbea Keram Comfort (http://theflatearth.co.uk/shop/electric-bike/electric-urban/orbea-keram-comfort-10/) when an alternative presented itself.

I had previously rejected the idea of converting my existing bicycle until I saw a post on the Pedelecs forum promoting a January sale by www.pandaebikes.com . Following an extensive email conversation with Maria at Panda we settled on a custom conversion kit for my ageing but well sorted Dawes Sonoran. Although I was almost ready to spend £1,700 on the Wisper, the £366 price for the conversion kit was welcome and will allow me to “test the waters” without breaking the bank. The nature of the kit means that if I do subsequently buy an e-bike it can be removed from my Sonoran and fitted to Corinne’s similarly spec’d Kalahari.

The speed and quality of response from Panda has been exemplary and, for a Chinese made kit, the quality looks fine. Packaging was also first rate.

The next few posts detail the actual build - read on......................