You'll Never Guess How I Fixed the Home Made Electric Dirt Bike Project - Part 8 

Don't be afraid to share costs, I for one are very interested in doing this stuff for myself and knowing the true costs is important. It's great to see one so passionate about it and making wheels turn like myself. Like an upgraded tinkerer. Also kudos for hanging in there and figuring out the problem regardless of the frustration.

I can't believe you would throw all that dirt into your shop, what a mess, that must have taken a lot of time to clean up. Good EV project. 👍

heres a protip for bypassing bms': Use a contactor that is switched by the bms output, so that way in any bad situation (lvc, bad cell bank, high voltage etc) the output still gets cut, the only things ignored are the current supply and demand. This is usually done on higher power models with the dirt cheapest bms modules to save big $$$. Also if you're going custom battery, get ya boi to make a lipo for you, also look into QS8 connectors, even the electric scooter diy space is starting to use them, much, much smaller but way more effective. Also contact your seller, they should still look after you, especially if you went with the QS Motor store that sells these parts.

I'd suggest sending the bigger controller to an electronics RU-vidr to see if they can fix/upgrade it. AliExpress doesn't do well with returns or I'd suggest that as an option. They often just write off broken merchandise and send a new replacement. Some of which are plagued with the same issue as the broken item. That's why I suggested sending it to someone who repairs electronics on RU-vid. It would be great content and possibly a nice collaboration.

The cogging sound you kept experiencing was the controller and motor out of phase/sync and applying the pulse at the wrong time. a lot of times there is a maximum length of cable run from controller/ESC to motor. Longer runs can lead to this issue. Also - the flexible wires are probably silicone jacket vs. the PVC you're using which makes a big difference as well as the copper inside of the stiffer ones you have are probably fewer strands larger gauge vs. the high strand count finer gauge tin coated copper of the flexible wire. The flexible wire is actually better to resist vibration fatigue and carry more current.

Absolutely amazing build! The many obstacles that you encountered along the way, just not giving up even though I was the one feeling like 'when will the problems ENDDD' watching it on the screen, can't imagine how it must have been for you actually fixing them. Absolutely amazing content!!!

Drove a Zero Motorcycle for the first time yesterday. Most fun I ever had on a motorcycle. I love your project. You should do more EV stuff.

I've not followed you long but I'm glad to see your bike come to life and I loved the celebration of covering your workshop in ripped up earth and not caring as so happy 😁.

its pre tinned copper wire that is covered in silicone. Second note the pole pairs is definitely set wrong for the speed

Thank you for recently subscribing to our channel ! your our highest followed subscriber and we have watched hours of your videos and builds in the past. Great that your exploring into EV builds. Some quick advice, that battery looks like the same spec packs that comes out of Chinese 72v clones (usually 20s15p built from not very good cells) - You'd see much better performance and would be allot safer with a purpose built pack using Molicel p42a or similar high discharge cells. Great work none the less and really enjoying the videos

Always enjoy watching your videos when they come out. Great job on the project!!!

Bro how many times would you say you have had to clean dirt out of your building from pulling holeshots in the doorway 🤔 lol Glad ya figured it out 👍🏻

First off, good job on sorting out the problem... I'm sure that was incredibly frustrating !! Well done. The flexible wire is just more finely woven. If you look at the strands of it it will be more like hair, where the stuff that is hard to bend will be a bunch of 16 gauge wires wound together. Also has to do with how they wind them, but mainly the size of the individual strands in each wire. I'm sure others have mentioned it, but you want to be really careful with the wires coming out of that battery (that you added) as they are not fused and sitting on the bottom of the battery... if they chafe through you will have the full amps of the battey welding inside of your frame until the battery either goes dead or catches fire and burns... or if you are lucky, melts the solder joint and stops. Maybe you already knew this 👍

Be careful when bypassing the bms. If they used a cheap bms that could probably mean cheap cells too. Even though it may not get hot you can still damage the cells with high discharge current and low volt cutoff. Because since there are many cell groups in series it’s possible that one on the cells groups can go below 3v and get damaged. And then it snowballs until possible fire. Ask me how I know😅

Did you turn it off and back on again? lolol

Wire strand count also determines how flexible it will be. You can get more flexible copper with high strand counts but it's not cheap.

Redneck dyno = 12 pounds dirt thrown in 10 seconds = ~60hp Congratulations, awesome job!

I love how quiet it is! A huge departure (from your neighbors standpoint) from your other gas powered builds, lol. 🤣 I love all of your builds, your fabrication skills are the stuff of legends are made from, really awesome stuff. Maybe you didn't realize how fast that the bike was going to be, but safety first, wear that helmet even for a spin around the block. Great work!

The problem with your other controller is that it is not configured for the motor you have. There are many things that must be configured beforehand, such as the number of poles, how many magnets it has, and several other things. The motors are different and need these configurations to work well, otherwise what happens what happened to you

You should check the Amp flow get a cheap Amp meter with a clamp thats rated for dc voltage to clip on battery lead and set it to max hold it should tell real quick how much power is flowing.

I still think it’s a setting involving the timing/sensors in that hub motor. The larger controller needs the settings of the small controller. Every last detail. Be careful with setting the current so high. Those batteries will discharge fast enough to damage themselves. Fire/explosion is a serious risk.

I love that as soon as you took it out with the smaller controller you couldn’t stop smiling, the torque most feel great! Can’t wait to see what you do! Great job

Congratulations for fixing the problem! I think you should tighten the rear axle to 120Nm or so, after fixing the plates. It should not be able to move like that!

Glad ya finally got it figured out at least a little. Now you can get it setup for road use and daily drive it during warm weather.

Life hack: If you ever find yourself in need of a ' hotter' soldering iron, find yourself a piece of 3/16-1/4 in. steel round stock, flux and tin it, heat it with propane/map and use that to transfer heat onto thick wires, like in your case. BTW , the EV bike is turning out sick! I vote for you to test it as it is right now before committing more money to it. Great vid series!

I'm so so so happy that it finally works! After so much struggling! The big controller behaviour remains a mystery...

This was so satisfying, finally you fixed all the problems you have struggling with. You have made a great bike...:)

If your not going to try and return the big speed controller you should take it apart and inspect the connections to make sure they didn’t miss a soldier or have a bad connection. Also if you can verify the kv rating of the controller and hub motor are the same. It sounds a lot like it’s clogging, although that’s normally a low speed issue. Sometimes the bigger speed controllers like lower kv motors. Just something to look into. Awesome build as always man. Love your work, your a fabrication artist for sure.

Awesome! Glad you spent the time to figure out the electronics more. Pretty sick! Curious what more you can get out of that thing.

so stoked you got it fixed! instant power with these electric motors haha cant wait to see you jump into a mid drive build like a QS138!

The wire is either CCA...copper clad aluminum or OFC.... oxygen free copper....the amount of flex or bending is because of the number of strands the more the strands the more flexible...that short of a run the CCA is probable fine...but for me OFC is only way to go

The wider the smile the bigger the torque! That things really packing it! 👍

Always wear a helmet when you re testing the bike, it s dangerous tho

One of the things I love most about electric bikes, that EV grin ;) good job!

I’ll never understand doing a burnout outside the shed but flicking the dirt into your own work shop wtf man lol 😂🎉

I love this guy's enthusiasm and his vids. For the masses watching this it is EXTREMELY important to put caveats on what he's doing. Bypassing any BMS is something that shouldn't be done. Plenty of examples here on YT showing fires as a result. When there are that many cells in a pack and no BMS to protect them as they are charged/discharged, it's playing russian roulette every time. Especially if the draw on the whole pack is drawing near or past the max discharge rate of each individual cell. Don't look at this guy's example and think it's an OK thing to do. The BMS is there for a reason. The max current of the BMS should be much higher than the max draw of the controller. If you don't know the exact make/model of the cells, config of the pack, and the BMS make/model/config, then you can't do the math of what the pack should/could do. Also, never assume the BMS is a protection device. BMS's are there to balance. Not act as a circuit breaker even though many claim to be able to do it. This is a perfect example. They don't do it well or sometimes don't do it at all.

Awesome man! So nice to see it perform! 😀👌👌 in all well meaning, please consider using a helmet 🙏 We want to continue to see your cool videos! 😀

Well done it has taken a lot of perseverance but you have got it sorted now and hopefully its going to get better

Glad to see you got this sorted out :D

Keep you're head up Chris! I look forward to your videos every time I see a new one. I personally really like the mini rock buggy you had built. I really like the independent rear suspension and chain drives on the one buggy you built. It's always amazing seeing what your working on. This bike has been really cool from the start.

You could dig a trench for that power lead you run for your welder with this thing! 😂

The "light, bendable wire" is usually silicone with tinned copper wire. What a bike! And what a mess you created! Enjoyed the vid bro, thank you!

Combine the 2 batteries. Move the controller to under the seat and fill the body with batteries. It is likely 18650 batteries and the wire is likely coper braided wire. Those connectors are the same as the 5000 pound Hi-Lo I used to drive. You need to fix that axel bolt. Now you just need to test speed and range. Just use a cell phone app to get your speed.

Great job on this project! I’ve enjoyed every moment.Take caution when charging! Do not leave unattended when charging ! Better safe than sorry

Must have been fun cleaning up the dirt after that.

When I saw the title that it was working I got so excited you’ve been working on it for so long and I’m glad you finally got what you wanted and cause of you I’ve wanted to make my own lol

Is it an electric dirt bike or the perfect trench digging machine to route your 220v cable from the garage lol

I’m getting old and forgetting things. But I come back to throw the old thumbs up 👍🏻 Great videos.

Best DYNO I've ever seen 👍 you should do that with all your builds to see which one will throw more dirt into the garage. Glad you solved the issue.

I really appreciate your laugh 😂 keep up the awesome work. Big fan!!

Upgrading the battery cables was a very good idea. I probably would have used 2 AWG (or bigger) of EPDM coated pure copper welding cable. 2-4 AWG is probably right for 150A continuous, but it's all highly dependant on the usage and insulation type.

I told u my friend !!!! Is FIX !! 😉👍🏻 am glad that you resolve the problem.🎉 🎉

I think the wrong speed might be due to the wrong pole pair number (if you have set the tire diameter that is) as this setting is used to get the rpm and position data.

I never waited for a RU-vid video like this before SUCCESS!!

Awesome series. Really helpful for DIY ebike enthusiasts. I recently got a similar setup as well but with 105ah lifepo4 cells and the nd96850. Hope I don't have issues with a big controller like you did. But my battery pack is considerably larger, let's see what happens

So happy you was able to figuring it out! I’m glad you stuck threw all the dark days!

the stuttering seems like a sync problem to me. the controller loses track of where the engine is rotating wise. the small controller autotuned to 4 poles, did you try 4 poles on the big one? i have had the same problems with smaller brushless motors when building quads. solved by correcting the settings of the esc with the right software.

I actually laughed out loud when you attached the Anderson connectors they are comically large lol

You have to put helmet man.. by the way that's awesome

I gotta admit it is super cool. This video is exactly what I have been looking for. Hopefully you will increase the power and torque, so you can make it do wheelies and also increase the speed to 60 or 70 mph. I like how you solve problems. Thank you for the technical details.

You know what will solve your problems? A good old 2 stroke engine installed where the battery sits connected to a generator to supply the electric motor with suficiente power. 🤣

I was just as stoked when he filled his garage with dirt , what a build!

Just a heads up. If a battery is rated for 150A and has a BMS set to 120A max then FOR THE LIFE OF GOD DO NOT!! I REPEAT DO NOT!!! BYPASS THE BMS TO SUCK 350 FUCKING AMPS OUT OF IT.

So glad you got it sorted, you are riding on the road, even fast gas dirtbikes dont feel quick on the road, take that thing on a fast single track and it will scare the sheet out of you

Maybe you put a lot energy into making the problem right; but you solved the problem, and that covers all the previous frustrations. Congratulations!

The smile says it all. 😄

So exciting to see it rip finally.

Do not lose hope that you can solve the problem, it is not an easy job but it is worth such a wonderful project👏👏👏💯

In rc trucks like my arrma kraton if I have a 6s capable esc and only run 3 s through it it will not perform great as well as cog the motor which is the system browning out momentarily due to the esc wanting more pull. Now you use the same 3s battery with a 3s system it will be faster and more responsive than the 6s and feel way better. This is exactly what you experienced. The prior esc was underwhelmed and the new one is at peak performance with the amount of juice given.

I told you exactly the same before. Thanks for mentioning it.😮

And to think of you were on a normal 250 2 stroke the cops would have already been called. That thing is sooooo quiet. Gonna be awesome in another 10-15 years to see not just how much more power these e-bikes will have but the range they will have. I think that’s the only thing that is really holding these bikes back is the range. Unless you have two or theee other batteries on hand to swap out you can’t go a full day of riding. I can’t wait until I can try one for myself tho. You did an absolute amazing job and I appreciate you showing the snags you had along the way. Lots of channels just show alll the easy and success part. Seeing the smile when you finally got it figured out was awesome. Gotta be such a good feeling

Been watching since the beginning of this build and I’m super impressed with how it’s turned out! But dude… you gotta upgrade those brakes, they looked real squishy when you took it for a test ride!

Glad you got it working better.

Man im glad to see you smile!!! Finally good results for your amazing work👍🏻👊🏻

Subscribed for the wheelie machine. Don't let me down.

Finally, I'm glad that you figured it out. Wear a helmet when you ride this beast xd

The ' Shuddering" thing , usually means a couple things in my experience building them, The Phase wires from the more powerful Controller may be "messed up" because if you move phase wires around, when building from scratch, you will get A. Noisy motor with lots of power, B low speed and could be loud or quiet, C. Loud fast and shuddering or D. Slow and shuddering (its actually vibration just so you know) the other is I heard you mention the poles when you "auto tuned" the controller that came with it. If the settings you put in place on the larger controller do not match the motor, Magnets, poles, phases, hall sensors etc, it will cause shuddering or Vibration. Great Video and nice build!

Nothing like getting out of your comfort zone. You learned a ton on this project.

Great result! Thanks for trying.

Ufixed it bro much blessings Don't give up

Hey Chris, so happy that you figured it out, i think that you should enjoy i as it is, the battery is powerful enough for this power. I still thinks that the issue is a setting on the controller involving the timing of the hall effect sensors, looking at the axle it really looks like the motor is not just shutting off but trying to go in reverse. I'm sure this motor can have even more torque, it really depends if the controller can provide enough current. Well at least it's working now. (PS : did you do the "calibration procedure" with the big controller ?)

Good deal to see it working.... Seems like it would be a grunty beast with a larger sprocket in rear..!

That's a weapon mate, well done 👍

I dont usually comment but I do have some experience with stuff similar to this. Throughout the video, you are referring to continuous and max/burst currents for the battery and at around 13:31 you show the app and the settings you put to specify that. A very important thing to note is that motor current does not equal battery current. It's a little strange and would be difficult to explain through a youtube comment but in real basic terms, the motor current is the current on any one of the phase wires (the 3 wires going to the motor) at any given time. battery current is just the current going from the battery to the speed controller. In the app, it only refers to a max line current and a max phase current but no continuous ratings for either. My best guess is that it sets those as a continuous rating of sorts and doesn't have a burst at all. In regards to what each one does the phase current is responsible for motor torque. You can increase this without having to worry about your battery heating up. If this is set too high the controller and/or motor will heat up. So, mess around until you are at a comfortable temperature. you want it set high for maximum torque on startup. the battery current (or line current based on what they are calling it in the app) is linked to the phase current. it comes down to a concept known in electronics as PWM or pulse width modulation. Once again, in simple terms, this is referring to the motor controller turning on and off the phase wires with different duty cycles at a different motor rotation speed. at startup for example the duty cycle of the speed controller might be something like 1% (so its on 1% of the time and off 99% of the time) if your max phase current is set to 240A then the battery current will average out to 1% of that at 2.4A. Those are some wildly different numbers. as motor speed increases so does the duty cycle though so eventually at full speed your motor/phase current will equal you battery/line current. Make sure you set your battery/line current to whatever your pack can handle continuously without getting hot and you should be fine. Hope that clears up some things in terms of terminology. I know that its possible that this may bring up more questions too. this is a pretty deep rabbit hole but I hope I made this part clear. In regards to your inaccurate speedometer, I believe that it is likely due to the pole pairs in the speed controller not being set correctly. To my knowledge, an autodetect on any speed controller usually is inaccurate when determining pole pairs. This usually isn't an issue as it's not an important metric for how well the motor performs but it does determine ERPM (Electrical RPM) of the motor. This metric is usually used to determine wheel speed so if the pole pairs are off then anything plugged into the controller to determine speed will be wrong. If you can't find the pole pairs on the site you got the motor from you can try to trial and error it. By using a GPS on your phone you can see how fast you are going and then compare it to what the speedometer says. you can then adjust the values in the software to get them as close as possible. it's not perfect but should work for your application.

Glad you got it working! It's like I said Before Chris, It was the motor sync. It seems either the larger controller isn't capable of the pole sync for that hub motor (it just doesn't have those settings) which is why it couldn't auto sync like the smaller one did or it's defective. I'm leaning more towards it's not for that motor design. Nothing wrong with the battery technically. Like Sultry Pineapple said, you can use the signal wire from the BMS to engage a high amp disconnect like a starter solenoid in a ford truck. That way you still get the functions of the disconnect but without the amp draw limitation of the BMS.

I love how diy you do things makes me believe with a little confidence I can do things also 😊

This vid just came up in me feed. I'm sure you must get lots of comments about riding without eye protection or helmet. I'm just gonna say consider that:I was visiting my friend recently who fell off a moped in 1987 (at a high school party) helmet-less. He's been blind and in assisted living in a group home since then. He seems happy though, so maybe he was the smart one all along. Otherwise: I was very entertained, so thumbs up and I'm subscribing.

msssm mssssmm, you smell that? It smells like VICTORY! GOOD FREGN JOB brotha man Im celebrating with you. I want one. ASAP.

I was just watching and noticed that at 12:56 you showed the settings for the fardriver. You said the controller was set to 150a continuous and 230 peak amps. I paused and see that the 150a is actually set into the max line amps and the 230a is set to max phase current. In case you didn't know, "line current" is power pulled from battery and "phase current" is power pulled from the controller. If you want a max battery draw of 230a set your MaxLineCurr to 230a. I generally set my MaxPhaseCurr to about 150% of the line current so about 340a is what I'd try for if you're gonna go for a 230a pull from the battery. BTW, your videos are great!

OMG I am so excited to see his reaction on the acceleration..... I got addicted instantly and I'm expecting the same reaction from Mr B Welding. 🤣

Did you check if there was a way to change wheel diameter for the speedometer issue, and if the other controller was thinking its a 3 phase it would work until it slipped out of phase which might have caused the shudder

So glad you kept at it !!! Sweet work sir !!

You're right, i did not expect you to cut up a battery apart. :)) Nice. Gotta start somewhere to learn.

It's worth seeing you your new smile! Way to go man

Keep on keeping on. Im about buy me a precision lathe.

I think your problem was what some people call Cogging, where the auto tune is firing the motor poles out of sync and not interpreting the Hall positioning signals correctly. Almost analogous to an engine with chronic timing issues and horrendous pre ignition at full throttle!! I had a small Ebike motor that did exactly to same on several new controllers I bought to solve the problem. I obviously went through the endless hall and phase wire combinations for each controller. Eventually, the only controller that overcame the issue was a Grin Phaserunner. Previously the motor and controllers were drawing excess current and getting hot, now they run almost cold. I've since used the redundant controllers on other motors without a problem. Months of frustration, my heart sank when I saw your first video with that issue, I said to my wife this poor Guy is in for a massive head ache. Well done cracking it!!

Parents were extra happy with the rutts in the back yard to shed 😅😂 jk. Super kool roost trails tho

The wire you were saying was aluminum is nickel plated copper. And it is fine stranded wire with silicone insulation which makes the wire very flexible. Now as far as the gauge of wire that could very well need to be up sized! You can prove that by taking a voltage drop measurement between the battery post and that gray connector. If you are loosing say 5 volts at full load you might decide that you want it to be 2 volts which in that case you would have to go down at least 2 gauge numbers (thicker wire). Like from 8 to 6 gauge. Lastly shortening your main power runs from the battery to the motor as short as practical and reliable is a good thing - it will drop your power loss in your wire!

I have experienced similar issues with a Sensored setup. It was always one of two things. #1. One of the motor wires doesn’t have a good connection. #2. The ESC isn’t setup correctly to work with the HAL effect system.

Dude that things huge 👍👍