how hard is it to convert a scooter to ebike?
Posted by Great-Distribution33@reddit | ebikes | View on Reddit | 27 comments
i just got this xiaomi something something electric scooter for about $50, it is pretty much brand new, the guy drove it like 5 times before the front tire got punctured or something, and it’s been sitting since. that means the battery and motor still have a lot left in them. but i have no use for an electric scooter. i don’t go on public roads, just dirt and gravel. how hard would it be to get the motor on a bike? i rode it before the front tire got punctured and it pulled pretty good, it is limited to 25kmh tho. i’m sure it’s pretty hard to integrate the motor on a bike wheel, but i got it for cheap and 29” bicycle rims with motors are exensive. i didn’t see a single person online doing such thing, only some did it with hoverboard motors.
iSellNuds4RedditGold@reddit
A spanish guy did it in here: https://youtu.be/8_nWR6bJw7E
Disclaimer: it's in Spanish but the guide is quite detailed.
Fit-Resort9775@reddit
Great
Great-Distribution33@reddit (OP)
honestly, this is exactly what i had in mind. i’m just a little worried about mounting the motor to the rim. i might get another rim just so i don’t somehow destroy mine.
chrispark70@reddit
Next to impossible. It is a scooter. The motor is likely integrated into the wheel, which is a scooter wheel and not a bicycle wheel. Even if you could buy a larger rim and lace it to the hub, the hub spacing would be incompatible.
Also, understand that even if you could get it onto a bicycle, the pull would be much worse. A bicycle rim goes much further than a small scooter rim and so it is much more work per revolution. A 6" rim is about 18 inches in circumference. So a single turn of the motor is only moving it 18 inches. A 29" bicycle tire has a circumference of 91 inches. It is much more "work" to move a load 91 inches vs 18 inches.
Great-Distribution33@reddit (OP)
right. but what if i just reuse the battery, controller, display and throttle and just get a 29” rim with a hub motor already installed? i guess it’ll still save me a lot of money, especially with the battery. i have no idea yet what voltage it runs and, how many ah it has and all those things. i’ll take a look tomorrow. i guess the most logical thing to do here would be to replace the front busted tire, sell it and buy a proper kit as i’ll most likely make some profit but it’s not the main thing i have in mind right now.
chrispark70@reddit
You can likely re-use the battery, but not the controller and hub. These are not universal. It's not like you can buy a hub you like and then use any old controller with it.
Most kits won't come with a battery, so a kit is definitely the way to go if you want to go this route. Buy a bicycle that is compatible with the kit (or a kit compatible with the existing bicycle if you already have one) and then move the battery over.
If you have the charger, it should give the voltage. 42v for a 36v system around 54 for a 48v battery (the charging voltage is always higher than the nominal voltage).
Great-Distribution33@reddit (OP)
yeah, honestly too many things that could go wrong trying to reuse the parts. best if they all go together as they were intended. i still think i could turn it into a hub motor. i know about that thing where it would put a lot more stress and load on the motor, but it should still give a good help with pedaling. a quick math gave me a speed of about 90kmh with the 29” wheel, as the scooter wheel ran at 25kmh, and i think it is a 8” wheel. most likely doesn’t have the power to push me at 90kmh, i think the motor has nominal 250w with peaks of 500w.
EvilPencil@reddit
From a practical standpoint think about this: can it be done? Ehh kinda.
Would it cost as much as just buying a bike (and then you’d still have the scooter)? Almost definitely.
Great-Distribution33@reddit (OP)
what would make the cost so high? at most, if i don’t want to do it on my current front rim, i’ll have to buy another 29” rim which is around $20. the rest is already on the scooter
EvilPencil@reddit
Maybe you have a very different meaning for scooter than everyone here has mentally pictured. For example, in the USA this is what people picture as an E-scooter (no experience with this brand, just referencing the form factor). Trying to convert something like that to an e bike with much larger wheels is practically impossible.
chrispark70@reddit
Don't be confused by these ratios. Watts do work. Watts is the limiting factor. 25kph is probably doable by the 250 watt motor so long as you are doing some of the work by pedaling., Gearing and wheel size match the motor characteristics to the anticipated load, but will have little effect on fast you can go.
Imagine you had a 26" hub wheel and the RPM wasn't what was capping your speed, but rather not enough power. Re-lacing that hub motor to a 29" wheel would not make you go faster, though it would accelerate slower. It takes X watts to move you and your vehicle Y speed.. Changing gearing will not solve this problem and is likely to make you go slower.
Great-Distribution33@reddit (OP)
i get it. i was just saying this as the electric scooter has a little display that shows the speed, and i’m worried that it might get confused when i’ll only be going “10kmh, when in reality i’m doing 30kmh or something. hopefully it won’t cut the power, like a overcurrent protection or something
chrispark70@reddit
On electric bikes, there is usually a wheel size setting in the head unit. This would ensure proper mph.
Traditional_Youth648@reddit
Hard enough to not be worth it, you could theoretically machine a drive sprocket to one and fabricate a mount to then run a sprocket to the back wheel, but you could also sell the current motor, and order a matching 36v e-bike hub motor and reuse the rest of the electronica for way less work and more functionaloty
Great-Distribution33@reddit (OP)
quite hard to find a 29” rim with a hub motor, and i’m not sure if the tire would fit as they are pretty beefy. and about using the electronics, at most i could reuse the battery, but i haven’t opened it yet to see if it can be used or not. the battery could be just as is, with no bms or anything, and connected to the controller which could also handle the charging and the battery protection system.
slacknsurf420@reddit
a slow scooter is already too slow to be installed on a heavier bike frame but would it work I mean sure it would move a person right
tob007@reddit
It's not easy but you could probably jury rig a mid drive kinda setup. Calculate your rpms and figure out what gearing you need. Do you want a torque helper or a crusing setup etc ..
Physical_Click9769@reddit
Plz don't lol
Own_Shine_5855@reddit
I'm theory you could rig a scooter up to a bike like a friction drive system. The scooter motor wheel making contact with the rear wheel to propel the bike.
That said if you even need to ask this question you're very unlikely to have the DIY skills to make that happen. Even if you had the skills there is much better ways to make a friction drive bike not involving a scooter.
Short answer.... Not a practical idea.
Great-Distribution33@reddit (OP)
i doubt it’ll do much if i just make it ride on the tire. it’ll put wear on it very fast. and with the amount of dirt and dust on the roads i’m going with my bike, i’d be surprised if it doesn’t lose grip. my first thought was to turn the scooter rim into a hub motor. but it is too complicated and i doubt i’ll get it centered. whatever, i might sell it, or try to use the battery and the controller and just get a 29” rim with a hub motor and prey that they go together.
Own_Shine_5855@reddit
The other option is fabricating a sprocket that can bolt to the rim of the scooter wheel. Use a dual chain setup like a gas bike conversion kits. You'd need welding skills to make a bracket of sorts to hold the scooter wheel Axel securely in the frame triangle of the bike.
Not an easy task either.
I've done gas motor setups as a kid (once got a 5 HP Briggs and Stratton in a ten speed frame.... scary fast).... This scooter idea seems like a more of a pita to design lol.
Great-Distribution33@reddit (OP)
my bike is in perfect shape, aluminium frame, not looking to make modifications to it. at most i’ll drill some holes, only if i don’t have any other way. i might try turning the e scooter wheel into a hub motor. but for that i’ll get a new 29” rim as i don’t want to risk breaking the one on the bike. a kind guy here sent me a youtube link of someone doing this, and i think it uses the exact same scooter that i have. a very good tutorial, seems doable. as someone mentioned here, it’ll put a big load on the motor, since it will have to spin a 29” wheel, not a 8” or whatever it initially was on the scooter, but i’m not looking for crazy acceleration. as long as it can keep a good speed, i’m happy. and with a little bit of math, i think it should now spin at about 90kmh. i doubt (pretty sure) it doesn’t have the power to do that, but it could still help a little.
Own_Shine_5855@reddit
They do make friction drive kits that work pretty well. You don't need to use rubber to rubber contact.
Could swap the scooter tire for hard rubber or something else. I have a Qiroll kit from ages ago that worked very well.
NurmalMan@reddit
If you put a seat on it and get some fake pedals you are basically already there.
Fair-Discipline-1005@reddit
My honest oppinion is, this is impossible... It's better take scooter in good shape,sell it,give some money more,and buy decent e bike...👍
Nova_Hunter@reddit
LMAO
geekroick@reddit
You don't see people doing it online because it can't be done.
This is like wanting a car but getting a free boat instead.
You could spend countless hours and infinite dollars trying to jerry-rig what you have to do what what you want... Or you could just put that time and money towards buying what you want instead.