I’ve located the source of the bicycle motor and learned that a Windows search cannot find words embedded in html tags. Another “duh” for MicroSoft. Here is the Currie Technologies electric bicycle conversion kit that retails for between $400 and $500, you supply the bicycle and labor. I was correct about the battery mountings but not so lucky at what this will cost. The two items I am missing shown here are the battery pack ($120), the large black box with the handle, and the charger ($40).
The motor is brand new and was professionally converted by an expert, which is why I initially thought Schwinn was the manufacturer. Not shown are all the cables and controls for the handlebars, but they are straightforward. That battery is as big and heavy as it looks and the bike is designed to carry two of them. On a single battery, the range is 15 miles, 22 if you assist by pedaling. The bike is pretty hefty with just the motor. There is a Currie dealership just two miles from here.Therefore, this apparatus cannot be written off immediately. The scooter is costing me $45 per month in gasoline, and most of my trips are still less than four and a half miles. Look how fast that scooter paid for itself not even counting the convenience factor. The wheel shown here is the 26” adult bicycle size and is designed to fit into a “standard 7-speed freewheel”, which is exactly what I have on the famous Jamus.
With the scooter demanding $1.50 per day, we’ll keep an eye on this kit. All is not roses. The battery pack is rated for 200 recharges, at 15 miles per charge, that’s 4.0 cents per mile operating costs versus 5.6 cents with the scooter – and it is impossible to calculate the electricity costs. That second battery may not be so optional considering it is probably a wise idea to drain the first battery cold before using up a valuable recharge instance.
The thing not to worry much about was bingo tonight. New people make a significant difference. Saturdays have gone from the worst to the best night of the week, though not as wonderful for me. Like many gamblers, most of the winners need every cent they gain. I made a few bucks and I’m, for a change, going to spend it on myself. I find unless it is a perfect day, I’m not motivated to work outside. But if there is such a day, I want to go out and do something. Good thing I’m not married.
Here is the Coleman under repair. Don’t ever do this unless I tell you it is okay. It is not okay. I found the sputtering problem and it is the one thing I cannot fix. A bent generator needle. I don’t even know how it works and Coleman ain’t talking. The lantern works again, but the light never gets really bright.Another hour with the Arduino reveals there are dozens of aspects to the successful operation of the device that can only be learned the hard way. Right now, I cannot locate most of the wiring diagrams which match sketches I so carefully studied over the past year. I know the code and have already manipulated that far beyond the examples given in the texts, but I have ten or so well-studied sketches that I cannot find the schematics. The logical place to locate a cross-reference is in the comments in the computer code but that is far from a satisfactory solution. It is partially my fault for taking a year between studying the code and finally getting the brainboard.
On the other hand, where most electronics techs struggle with code, I’m the other way around. I’ve already some theories that need examination from the point of view of the computer, not the hardware. I know this approach to be unusual and will play it to the hilt. If only my poor head worked faster, I’d move ahead right now.
I sincerely put deep thought into the circuits today, and by the way, the factory-made jumper wires are worth the additional $5.00. I’ve designed a couple of tests to determine what whether it is voltage or current being controlled by the brainboard. That’s one of those things you are “supposed to know” that really need to be stuffed by the people who think so. That’s why I’m testing; I’ve been wrong about this type of thing more often than the rest of you put together.
ADDENDUM
Some people are so insipidly stupid they are beyond redemption. Because somebody got greedy, this beautiful place, bought at a market low at the finest price, will now end up costing them in the end. Unbelievable thick-headed morons of the first magnitude.
There was another eviction notice on the door today. That means people think it is okay to leave a place without electric power for five months and somebody else is going to pay top dollar to stay there. Duh. Will I ever trust Wallace again? Put another way: this is perhaps the only spot on American soil in this century where robotic study is being conducted by the light of a coal oil lamp.
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