merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 477
Club RR Member Number: 9
|
Electric bike buildmerryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
|
|
|
Right, so since my motorbike accident a few years ago, I'm not allowed a motorbike. I also had my pushbike stolen a couple of months ago. I need a new pushbike, and I'd like it to be motorised. I've been looking around and I really like the look of these ugly things;   These are two different brands. Top one is a Super 73, a Kickstarter campaign creation, and the bottom one is a Unimoke. I really like the retro styling, but at about £2,500 they're well out of my price range. This is hopefully going to be the beginning of a build thread. My plan is to build the bike up as a pushbike, then once I'm happy with it I'll convert it to an electric bike with a hub motor and battery. I reckon it's going to cost something in the region of £400 for the conversion. I'd like to go 48v 1000w, then limit it to bring it within the rules of what is allowed on the road as an electric assisted pushbike. My only current issue is welding the frame. I'm only able to mig weld, and I know this risks affecting the strength of the thin walled tubes that are generally used for pushbikes. Would I be better off just using a thicker walled mild steel? I'm looking to buy the head tube and bottom bracket as making those is outside of my skill level, and I'm not sure I'd be able to weld to those. What do you guys reckon? I'm going to try and pick up some steel next week and begin bending a frame together. No point waiting around! |
| |
|
|
|
|
merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 477
Club RR Member Number: 9
|
Electric bike buildmerryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
|
|
|
|
I have just discovered Mig brazing. Apparently you can use a normal mig welder and put CuSi3 wire through with 100% Argon and use a mig welder for brazing.
This is an interesting development! Should be able to use the correct tubing and braze it myself. Does anyone have any experience with this?
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I have just discovered Mig brazing. Apparently you can use a normal mig welder and put CuSi3 wire through with 100% Argon and use a mig welder for brazing. This is an interesting development! Should be able to use the correct tubing and braze it myself. Does anyone have any experience with this? Nothing constructive to add, but I too would like to know more about MIG brazing. If you find anymore info or give it a try, let us know the results. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Most production & custom bike frames were originally brazed via a flame process - Mig brazing has been around a few years now - although I have not used it yet - it should be fairly straight forward - critical point will be ensuring that the faces are clean that you brazing
|
| |
|
|
merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 477
Club RR Member Number: 9
|
Electric bike buildmerryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
|
|
|
|
Yeah, I was looking at investing in an oxy acetylene setup but it's quite the outlay. As it is I can swap my current argon mix for pure argon and buy a reel of the right wire and for about £150 I can give brazing a go and see if it's something I'll be able to pull off.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You could always get the frame all fitted up how you want and held with few small tacks then get it Tig welded , although your fit up would have to be spot on .
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mig brazing would work. However,once you get a price on the wire,it would be cheaper to buy a ready made bike 😂😂😂
My kempii migwelder has a program for it. Not sure what the results would be like on say a Sealey or more hobby based kind of welder. Pop the question on Migwelding forum and. See ...😊
|
| |
Last Edit: Jul 7, 2018 17:12:31 GMT by Deleted
|
|
merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 477
Club RR Member Number: 9
|
Electric bike buildmerryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
|
|
|
You could always get the frame all fitted up how you want and held with few small tacks then get it Tig welded , although your fit up would have to be spot on . Had an offer for that, may take it up, I need to check how much Argon mix I've got as I need to trade it in for pure Argon so if it's half full then I don't want to waste the money. |
| |
|
|
merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 477
Club RR Member Number: 9
|
Electric bike buildmerryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
|
|
|
Mig brazing would work. However,once you get a price on the wire,it would be cheaper to buy a ready made bike 😂😂😂 Yeah, it was definitely a case of "Oh no, I don't need bulk! That's not bulk..." Still, I've always liked the idea of frame building so will be fun to give it a go, and worth the investment to learn a new skill. |
| |
|
|
🇿🇼Kingludba🇬🇧
Part of things
If in doubt... flat out !
Posts: 975
|
|
Jul 16, 2018 17:57:41 GMT
|
Right, so since my motorbike accident a few years ago, I'm not allowed a motorbike. I also had my pushbike stolen a couple of months ago. I need a new pushbike, and I'd like it to be motorised. I've been looking around and I really like the look of these ugly things; These are two different brands. Top one is a Super 73, a Kickstarter campaign creation, and the bottom one is a Unimoke. I really like the retro styling, but at about £2,500 they're well out of my price range. This is hopefully going to be the beginning of a build thread. My plan is to build the bike up as a pushbike, then once I'm happy with it I'll convert it to an electric bike with a hub motor and battery. I reckon it's going to cost something in the region of £400 for the conversion. I'd like to go 48v 1000w, then limit it to bring it within the rules of what is allowed on the road as an electric assisted pushbike. My only current issue is welding the frame. I'm only able to mig weld, and I know this risks affecting the strength of the thin walled tubes that are generally used for pushbikes. Would I be better off just using a thicker walled mild steel? I'm looking to buy the head tube and bottom bracket as making those is outside of my skill level, and I'm not sure I'd be able to weld to those. What do you guys reckon? I'm going to try and pick up some steel next week and begin bending a frame together. No point waiting around! How do they get away with ripping off people like that? 2.5 k??? |
| |
`99 BMW 528i auto - current `01 Merc C320 - Gone `01 Forester S-Turbo - Sold `89 BMW 320i Convertible - Sold(shoulda kept it  ) `88 Toyota MR2 T-Bar - Sold `89 BMW 325i touring - Sold `89 BMW 535i - Let her go too early `85 BMW 320i 2 door - Rust = character `00 Subaru Impreza Turbo wagon - Sold (engine failure) `93 BMW 325i - Sold |
|
merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 477
Club RR Member Number: 9
|
Electric bike buildmerryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
|
Jul 16, 2018 19:31:58 GMT
|
|
To be fair the motor and batteries aren't cheap to buy, I'll probably need to budget a good £500 minimum for something decent, but yeah, it's definitely not £2.5k worth of gear. The frame is quite simple, basic saddle, and from what I can see pretty average build quality. We'll see how much I end up in the hole before I judge though!!
|
| |
|
|
)