Montague Paratrooper Cyclotricity conversion (pics)

[James Lambert]

Hi all,

First post so be gentle.

I am in the process of converting a paratrooper, well 99% finished.
I have a 1000w Cyclotricity conversion kit with 48v pannier battery.

Now its all built and will be taking it out for its first test drive once I have finished posting this but has anyone got any experience with these kits? I just cannot get the controller to fit in the pannier section, they have however supplied me with a power extension cable and a zip bag so I am assuming its a bigger controller than the other Watt versions and simply does not fit hence the bag?!?!?!

That's fine if thats the case just would have been nice to give you the heads up instead of me wasting about an hour trying to get the b******d to fit.

Any help is appreciated.

EDIT: Problem fixed, scroll down for completed pics.

 

[James Lambert]

Just got a reply from cyclotricity, controller too big for pannier section need to use the bag....didn't expect them to reply on weekend.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

With these things, you need to show us what you have, so that we can see what the problem is.

I hope you fitted torque arms to both sides of the motor.

 

[James Lambert]

Thanks for the reply, yeah I thought of that afterwards.

I will post some pics of the conversion in a moment.

 

[James Lambert]

The completed bike:


Original brake levers/shifters removed and independent shifters installed with the Cyclotricity brake levers & LCD, throttle:


I wanted to keep the original pannier rack as it just fit better, so took the angle grinder to the Cyclotricity one and put it on top of the original rack (being held in place by cable ties at the moment for testing, will tig weld and paint it later).


1000w motor:


You can see where I attacked it with the grinder, need to file these down and make them smooth then paint them:


You can see where I attacked it with the grinder, need to file these down and make them smooth then paint them:


Unfortunately the 1000w controller doesn't fit in the pannier pack so its in that zip bag, I will at some point fabricate something that makes the controller section bigger so it can go in there but was more interested in getting it all working so I could go out and play.


Oh yeah, she folds.


There were a few issues I had doing the conversion where I had to make slight tweaks to the bike so things fit and worked.

Took it out for a test and its brilliant just need a few more things then going to start using it as my way of getting to and from work.

Hope you like.

J

 

[LeighPing]

How far's work?

 

[James Lambert]

7 miles, the plan is to mainly rely on the power going in (so I don't stink when I get to work) then no power on the way home.

 

[LeighPing]

7 miles, the plan is to mainly rely on the power going in (so I don't stink when I get to work) then no power on the way home.

20-25 minutes then. Don't forget to pedal.

 

[James Lambert]

20-25 minutes then. Don't forget to pedal.

That's what I reckon as well.

The main reason for getting the bike was A) To save £900 a year on public transport and B) I can see my office in the skyline from my bedroom window but there is just one bus that goes there and it goes all around the houses which if there is no traffic takes 45mins, with traffic or road works can be an hour.!
Also for fitness, I love riding so will defo be using my legs and not just the power.

Most of the trip is either a off road cycle path or through a big park so I only have to touch main roads for about 5 mins.

 

[LeighPing]

And don't forget that you will need an appropriate helmet for your paratrooper bike.

 

[James Lambert]

And don't forget that you will need an appropriate helmet for your paratrooper bike.

View attachment 19676

I will have to get one custom made to accommodate my massive swede.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

We can see the problem now, but it ooks like you've solved it. It's quite tricky to convert those bikes, so you've done pretty well.

 

[James Lambert]

We can see the problem now, but it ooks like you've solved it. It's quite tricky to convert those bikes, so you've done pretty well.

Thanks, its wasn't straight forward but got there in the end.

 

[James Lambert]

Just a small update.

Started to use the bike last week for commuting and loving it.

First day I had a small accident with a tram tack which involved me slicing open my finger and grazing most of my left side but I put this down to me getting used to the additional weight at the rear of the bike (plus a 7kg chain which is now left at work), once the back started to go there was no stopping it.!

Second day, lost all power half way up the steepest hill I have to climb going to work, turned out to be Cyclotricity instead of fitting a 30a fuse only fitted a 20a fuse which popped. Replaced that at lunch all working great.

Third day, decided after getting a puncture to replace the tyres with these:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/schwalbe-marathon-plus-smartguard-mtb-tyre/?utm_source=order-placed-sg01-en&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=orders&utm_content=product

Changing the rear tyre is a pain in the a*** so want to try and avoid getting punctures by using the above tyres, also the standard tyres were off road tyre and pretty slow on the road, these are noticeably better.

On the road I have been using PAS on setting 1 so I have to put some effort in but two parts of the commute are through a very open park so in those I give it the full throttle (just to cut the commute time down) managed to get up to 31mph before my brain kicked in and said "This won't end well if you come off at this speed" plus it's not very nice for people walking dogs, jogging etc but being the first few days using it you sort of want to see what it is capable of, I won't being going through there at that pace again just out of respect for the others using the park.

Anyway apart from the few issues above loving it so far and have found myself using it more for small trips rather than the car so that's all good.

You do get some weird looks off car and scooter drivers though when you pull away at the lights and leave them behind.......One guy pulled up next to me at the next set of lights, put his window down and said "Jesus Christ mate, where did you get that, it's f***ing awesome" I took from that, that he liked it.

J