[TechSavvy]

Presenting EDROIT one of its kind custom Electric Bike



Prologue:

I’ve had the mind to create my own Electric bike for my dad for the longest time been about 3 years now. Initially, the concern to source a good quality battery stopped me from taking the plunge, later was the cost but this summer back from college I didn’t think twice and dipped straight in gave myself two weeks and ordered the main components the battery and hub motor.
After arrival of the parts I was damn excited wanted to just begin the build but I was faced with many complications one also being my summer class which ended a month after I got the parts. I’ve built the bike on the RX100 chassis at least as much of what was left of it in the final version. This scrap condition bike was of my dad lying around in storage for 20 years and to take that out itself took a long time. If someone was to ask me how much time did this build take I would said maybe lots not because building the bike itself took time, procuring parts doing the custom fitting on frame welding cutting then changing components which didn’t fit itself maybe took 1 month.

Diving into the spec sheet:

This bike runs on 3000 watt hub motor used it for its “easier” installation and cause this hub motor was of a better quality than the standard belt driven BLDC motor I was finding. Although I wanted to initially put a belt driven system so I could mess with the gearing ratio and do wheelies but a higher quality component hub motor outweighed that requirement. In the battery department it runs on 72V lithium phosphate battery with 42aH capacity. I chose phosphate over lithium ion because of charge cycle life which is almost double than that of lithium ion. This battery is definitely lot chunkier and heavier (approx. 5kgs heavier) than the same lithium ion counterpart would’ve been but the main advantage of it is that its way more abuse friendly cause all I care about is giving it full throttle all the time and that would’ve messed up the lithium ion battery way way faster. The bike has a load carrying capacity of 300kgs. Tops out at 80kmph(tested) and has a range of 70kms, the range has yet to be tested but with even just pulling all the time it is still giving me 40kms and has still some voltage left. Although, I’m not really happy with my battery selection cause the after sales support from the company is horrible. A 72V battery charges upto 82V but my charger stops it at 80.5V and I only ride it till 73V although it can be discharged more for some range which I’ve actually experienced and it once dropped down to 64V where the max current was very low so there was basically no pull in the motor.





What’s custom on this?




Basically everything. Let’s go one by one. Swing-arm yes it’s a local RX100 swing arm but its cut an extended cause I’ve put wide 120/80 R17 apollo radial tyres in the rear(my bike looks sexy only cause of these meaty tires) so accommodating that was a challenge.
Frame. Yes. The battery would not fit in basically the dozen frames I tried so I went with the RX100 frame cut that cause essentially it would keep the kerb weight light. Look at the pictures and try understanding the difference yourself cause there’s a lot which went wrong behind the scenes which I can’t type cause I don’t want to type and make this blog long but also I don’t want to demotivate anyone if they are trying to build something like this.
Lighting department? Yes. Put two fog lights in front looks gorgeous basic KTM indicators and a slick tail-light. Pretty simple but more than gets the job done I actually find it classy, don’t know about you.
Rear suspension? Yes. Got dual gas shocks from the pulsar 220.
Front fork? Yes. From pulsar 150.
Tyres? Like I mentioned rear tyres are apollo aplha s1 radials 120/80 and front our nylon 100/80 both r17 great tyres and wider than recommended.
Brakes? The trouble I had to go through to make this bike haha. Essentially the brakes operates like that in a scooter or any other electric bike both with use of levers in hand. Since I’ve dual discs both in front and rear this was a challenge. I had to source a left hand master cylinder and brake pipe which was long enough to run from the front handlebar to the rear brake calliper. Braking performance is solid cause I’m running pulsar 220 front discs and classic 350 rear discs so these brakes were designed to stop bikes of more than 150kgs from speeds higher than 100kmph but since this bike tops out at 80kmph and doesn’t even weigh 100kgs(that’s what I reckon from my quick math) you get the point…



Talking about the riding feel- I’ve personally ridden the ather 450x in Delhi and that scooter could be faster accelerating but is no way close to the comfort and rawness which this bike gives. Same said for Revolt RV400, a week after riding this bike everywhere I took my dad to test ride that bike to compare with my bike and EDROIT is faster to 60 and the riding posture is so much more comfortable and practical.
This bike handles like a dream no complains there. It has amazing torque not enough to lift the front wheels off but is a master in closing bumper to bumper gaps. Essentially it is as fast as my Burgman 125 but the way in complete silence it delivers that power and when you let off the throttle it feels like you’re gliding through air. Let me elaborate and try to paint the picture as much as possible. You let off the throttle you’re at 60 there’s no traffic in front it’s a pleasant cloudy day, tire noise doesn’t bother you, there’s no vibration on the bike so you feel disconnected from the traffic so the honking doesn’t bother you, you don’t feel the rush and hastiness of work on your mind, the wide tires grip so well that the bike feels weightless. You’ve a wide handlebar upright seating posture, don’t have the hassle of shifting gears or using the clutch everything comes easy, everything is supple and then add the cherry on the top the novelty factor which never dies cause everyone and I mean everyone is looking at you. Try to put yourself in these beautiful shoes and maybe you’ll understand what this bikes all about.




Even when you want to talk about pulling you don’t mind going full throttle in this bike all the time like you would mind going in an ICE propulsion bike cause this one is vibration free and the annoying honing of some bikes at low revs in traffic is not there and hard acceleration and hard braking in city traffic is tiring in normal scooters and bikes and might be annoying too but that’s definitely not the case in this EDROIT.
I want to keep this blog short, if I have missed on some details please feel free to ask me cause answering questions would be more comprehensive than maybe putting it all in one big read.


Afternote: There are two reasons I made this bike, I’ve got a lot of hate while making this bike from local vendors who I was purchasing the parts from, people who saw me making the bike, RX100 die-hard fans, etc. First, I make a big quirky electrical project almost every year and this time I wanted to mess around with electric propulsion. Secondly, my dad is a big die hard fan of bikes in my earlier posts about my Elantra writeup I’ve kind of stressed that. He’s owned this RX100, an RD350 and would’ve went on to own more modern bikes but he got an injury 20 years ago which prevents him to understand the sensitivity of the rear brake on bikes which are mounted on the right side. This solution kind of takes care of that problem. He’s been riding scooters for the last 20 years and loves his Burgman more than my Elantra?! I find that kind of crazy to believe, although burgman is a great scooter I can’t believe how well it handles. Anyhow I’m happy to report I’ve done a good job in upgrading his ride.

Disclaimer: Mechanicals of this bike are sorted but beautification and some wiring is left which would be done later cause I had to leave for uni and funnily enough I worked till the last day but still a whole summer wasn’t enough to complete-complete this bike. What's next is to obviously get this painted, think about the fuel tank and put a better smaller seat cause this original RX100 seat is kind of chunky and is eating up the bike.


Bunch of video links-

https://youtube.com/watch?v=x7WOHOos3fM?feature=share

In this video below of cruising the battery cage was not welded in so there were a lot of rattles so I couldn't cruise at high speeds also I was only riding with the front brakes so kind of a boring ride but still you can assess the ride quality

https://youtu.be/SF4gSw9-qiM

https://youtube.com/watch?v=9UIizvtzdWg?feature=share

Video below is a small clip of me trying to learn spray painting the bike to save painting costs for the frame but also cause I didn't have the time to get it professionally done

https://youtube.com/watch?v=nk2yZxt9qbk?feature=share

https://youtube.com/watch?v=lxsXDr_gfT4?feature=share

https://youtube.com/watch?v=X4ZNkR1X3qw?feature=share

https://youtube.com/watch?v=YJD-M4-qAq8?feature=share

[boniver]

Great effort, I'm a big fan of building things myself at home! Coincidentally (and ironically), I restored my RX100 all by myself this summer too! Curious to know what happened to the RX engine that was there on your bike previously, if you don't want it anymore I'd be more than happy to take it off your hands

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by TechSavvy

Presenting EDROIT one of its kind custom Electric Bike

Wow!

2-wheelers are so much not my thing: I can barely balance on one. But I can still appreciate your project. Amazing work!

[RROD]

Very nice read.
I used to do quite a few bike trips a few years back, used to own a KTM and Ninja 300. Had to let them go after a crash, fortunately nothing major happened to me.

Quick basic question on your bike. Would you have to register the bike to take it out on the roads ? Basically are there any legal formalities you have to do to ensure you are on the right side when the cops pull you over ?

All the best, and thanks for sharing

[Anees_Offl]

Originally Posted by TechSavvy

Presenting EDROIT one of its kind custom Electric Bike

Well done. Can see the amount of passion you have for such things. Requires a lot of time, effort and dedication. Looks really nice. Kudos and best wishes to you with the bike.

Regards,
Anees

[navin]

Originally Posted by TechSavvy

Presenting EDROIT one of its kind custom Electric Bike

Fantastic work. In July this year, I was walking through one of the bylanes off Oxford Street in London and chanced upon an electric bike built entirely in the UK.

The person I spoke to claimed they are making about 500 bikes per month but have the capacity to build 2000-3000 should they find enough demand. The bike has two batteries which can be swapped out and charged at home.

They have a website too: https://maeving.com/

They expect to compete with this:
https://urbanebikes.com/collections/...ducts/zero-dsr

[AdityaDeane]

Fantastic work, but just be careful and wear a helmet always while riding. Not a good sign of being a BHP-ian and putting pics and videos without helmet on a 2 wheeler. Wishing you good luck for all the future projects.

[Maky]

Great job buddy!
In the first picture you kind of reminded me of Tom Holland the Spiderman actor : ()

[gopa99]

Good choice of battery, LFP are the safest and durable more so since you have customised the kit. Did the company who sold you the battery also got you the charger/bms?
Good input on riding with a helmet from fellow BHPians, your pics are so inspiring for others around!

[gypsygenes]

TechSavvy - your drive to build/create and see it through is commendable. Love it!

[TechSavvy]

Originally Posted by RROD

Would you have to register the bike to take it out on the roads ? Basically are there any legal formalities you have to do to ensure you are on the right side when the cops pull you over ?

The actual law I presume is anything electric that goes over 25kmph has to be registered. In a traffic light if a cop notices it he will hardly be able to tell. This is still a gray area for the cops cause they aren't any particular laws I guess. Anyhow, I can maybe get this registered from the RTO as this is a homologated motor but I still haven't looked into that.

Originally Posted by navin

They have a website too: https://maeving.com/

They expect to compete with this:
https://urbanebikes.com/collections/...ducts/zero-dsr

Yes, I have been following their page on Instagram for quite a while now, they have a strong marketing campaign I presume, got tons of banners on many websites. They sure do look beautiful, the specs on that bike from the website make it really close to mine at least for the single battery one.

Originally Posted by AdityaDeane

Fantastic work, but just be careful and wear a helmet always while riding. Not a good sign of being a BHP-ian and putting pics and videos without helmet on a 2 wheeler. Wishing you good luck for all the future projects.

I should have added this in the disclaimer, I don't promote not wearing helmets and riding at all. In most of these pictures, I have gotten clicked are in a secluded locality where I was trying to listen to all sounds (be it rattle or motor whine) to get a feel of the bike. Moreover, there is a video link where I have the bike on public motorable roads where I can be seen wearing a helmet. However, thank you for pointing it out and helping in maintaining the community standards.

Originally Posted by Maky

Great job buddy!
In the first picture you kind of reminded me of Tom Holland the Spiderman actor : ()

Haha, thanks bud that's a high compliment. I can't stop blushing now

Originally Posted by gopa99

Did the company who sold you the battery also got you the charger/bms?

Yes, the BMS is inside the battery housing itself, the charger was also bought from the same source. The charger itself is of really poor quality and couldn't feel less Chinese. It runs on a 16amp socket and outputs 10A continuous which takes about 4 hours to charge the battery. The fan inbuilt in the charger starts running in 30 seconds of starting to charge, the charger gets really hot its outer body acts like a heat sink and that is why I placed another table fan next to the charger to keep it cool and that hasn't given me any problem. Since the charger's inbuilt fan makes a weird noise makes me feel like it's broken and might short my charger. Just being safe than sorry.

Lastly, I really had fun reading all of your guy's replies and I appreciate them a lot.

[Vtach]

Has this "bike" been inspected/passed by competent authorities to be run on public roads? Are these modifications road legal?

[chakky]

Where did you get the battery from? Would be interested to know. Though I understand your concern on the after service was wondering if you faced any issues with it that you needed to contact them?

[karanddd]

Originally Posted by Vtach

Has this "bike" been inspected/passed by competent authorities to be run on public roads? Are these modifications road legal?

Almost no modifications in India are road legal. I also wouldn't so readily call our authorities competent. After all they approved the Ola scooter, which on several occasions has burst into flames and engaged reverse while on the move.

[TechSavvy]

Originally Posted by karanddd

Almost no modifications in India are road legal. I also wouldn't so readily call our authorities competent. After all they approved the Ola scooter, which on several occasions has burst into flames and engaged reverse while on the move.

Lol, my bike definitely doesn't go up in flames while putting it in reverse. It goes up to 5kmph in reverse so convenient.

Originally Posted by chakky

Where did you get the battery from? Would be interested to know. Though I understand your concern on the after service was wondering if you faced any issues with it that you needed to contact them?

I got the battery from a supplier in Delhi I could pm you the details but I don't have the liberty yet I think to pm. And the problem as I mentioned is I think this battery doesn't charge up to 100%(at 82V) but only charges up to 80.5V where the charger cuts off. In itself the battery does its job perfectly it delivers 50A in peak discharge so the motor gets all the acceleration it needs. Although that charger quality issue concerns me and I just want to talk it out with them but they are dodging my calls after I told them I have a charger issue. Also since the company is like this in the beginning I don't know how they are going to respond when an issue pops with the battery or I need to claim warranty.

This company I think basically buys the battery cell from FBtech(kind of generic chinese import) and assembles it up with adding a BMS. If you'd want to buy a battery I recommend looking up if the company has filed GSTR9(maybe 9C too) form meaning they have atleast some sales.