Modern Vespa

Lol. That is hilarious. Probably a few dropped cups.

More bodywork. Ground down the POR15 sealer, then added more spot putty. Like I said, grind, sand, fill, repeat.

That’s a boatload of spot putty. You might consider using a finishing and blending putty instead, especially on the floorboards. Just a suggestion.

US-Bodge

Agreed. 95% will be sanded back off before epoxy primer is applied.

Got the battery today, thanks Raymond, and the charger, thanks Amazon, plus a fuse and the LED flasher.

Battery was 73.7 volts tested, popped it on the charger to make sure it would charge, looks OK!








These will be welded, carefully, into the swingarm for the pivot bolt.

Why such a low amperage charger? I thought you were going to get something like a 10 amp? That is going to take all night to charge.

I was talking with "experts" on esphere and they said a fast charger will prevent a full charge unless it has the ability to step down the amps as it nears full charge. Those were just too expensive for now. Maybe later.

I need to do a little massaging, and fit a platform, but it will fit fine.

I'm interested, to see how this works for you. With the extra room you have in there I'd like to see this setup with a 84 volt battery.

84volt doesn't gain much. I would like to have a 50 ah 72V though, but it would need to be wedge shaped.

I didn't know you could get a charger for lithium batteries that didn't use the technique of a higher output "bulk" charge first then stepping down to a lower current. So this charger starts out at a lower current until it is charged?


What exactly is the bms doing in this setup for charging? I saw there was a balance function in the software.

Do you think something like this would work later? It's an actual lithium battery charger with the constant current or bulk phase. Then it switches to constant voltage to finish up the charge?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32848536207.html

That is essentially the same as mine. But I was told that high amp chargers will not hit 100%. Yes, there are conditioning chargers that start high and step down. Mine is just 4 amps, and was $80. It was recommended by my battery builder to get the max charge.

I sent JVB a PM on this already, but this is the "gold standard" for lithium battery chargers. https://em3ev.com/shop/satiator/. As you can see, it's not a cheap set up, but you have many different battery "profiles" you can use to charge batteries to 80/90/100% and different charge rates for your battery. It is, hands down, the best charger I've used and I own 3 of them. You'll need the 72V version, as earlier iterations were for lower powered batteries.

I look forward to a future where batteries are a lot cheaper, but in the meantime, we have protect them to get the longest life and best performance out of them.

I use one of these, it has a lot of built in options and can charge many different battery styles. It can charge a 30ah 10S RC drone battery in about an hour. RC batteries use a 1C charge rate as normal use. Can charge up a battery in about an hour.

https://www.progressiverc.com/products/icharger-4010duo

I really should consider one of these top end chargers. I have two ebikes and the coming Vespa.

Drilled my mockup swingarm for my Vespa project, then pressed in the bushing with my HF vice.





More on the battery in a few.

The battery was a very tight fit, so to remedy that I notched the frame to allow for the battery to sit low enough. I used 1" angle, and welded it in. Then more in front welded in with a support. It fits now, though still tight. I will ensure a properly set-up suspension adding 1" height and stronger springs for my fat ass. :shog

Please realize the shape of the body, and the mismatched metal thicknesses mad pretty welds not so easy. I will be sealing up the gaps to make it water tight, but not until I am done with all fabrication.











I will also add a double layer of battery shrink wrap for protection. The gap is literally 1/8" all the way around. Tight fit. I will also add 1/8" nylon base plate, and a battery strap.

This long weekend should allow me to finish fabrication, prime the body and fab the swingarm. Fingers crossed.

You may want to treat the inside of the tunnel with something. There are tons of suggestions on the forum. Looks like there is little rust down there.

On it. I wanted to get the fab done first.

Finished the bodywork on the Vespa.


















Note the black is rust reformer, also in the tank area now.

Lots of work on the swingarm today. What a mess, and I ran out of MIG wire.

A few more hours in the garage and the swingarm is at 80%. I have to wat until I get the motor before mounting it and placing the shock mounts. Plus I need to relieve the drop=outs and add pinch bolts. But, overall it is near final form.

Ignore that crappy welds. They are not pretty, but they are very solid.









I didn't think the workshop could get more dirty, but I was wrong.

lol, that is dirty to you? DO NOT LOOK IN MY WORKSHOP!!!

I guess I am just picky! This is normal!

I couldn't take it anymore. I had to clean up to a minimum level. I couldn't find tools and I was tripping over everything.




Now back to getting it dirty again!

Because my battery is VERY tight, I added two layers of shrink wrap to the battery for a bit of extra protection. The base will get a 1/8" sheet of nylon for abrasion protection.

Sealed up the battery bracket and rust treated the inner fender. It will also get undercoating.





Test fit the swingarm, fits perfectly.

Started front end disassembly for cleaning, lubing and painting.







New shocks on the way.

I think I am going to fully box the swingarm, more to keep dirt out than anything.




Almost all parts are in, except the motor, controller and rear brake. I need them to move too much further on the electric side. Still a little bodywork and fab for the handlebars to do.

Making the clean shop messy again.

That's a fine job on Fabbing and welding JVB! This is pretty cool, what you're doing - thanks for the pics. And your shop on a dirty day is still cleaner than mine on a clean day!

Keep up the good work!

Jim - very creative / good solutions on the swing arm.
My $.02.
Largest stresses will be at the zig zag and cross member.
Since you went with a square tube at cross member - you got some good surface area to weld.
The zig zag area is probably the riskiest.
I might consider a little thicker gusset if you are at all concerned on strength.
It overlaps the other sections nicely - so you have added some nice strength.
Just something to consider - might be worth making either the top one or the bottom one about double its current thickness.
If you decide you want that, one way to execute is to just double the gusset with a second piece.
Before installing it - just drill some 1/4" holes all over it - and use those to spot weld through to the first layer.
Edges can be left a hair short to avoid sitting on top of existing welds.
-CM

Interesting ideas. I plan to box the opening front and rear. This will not only keep dirt out, and rust, but firm it up even more. I may also add another box section in front of the other one inside the flats. I can weld it on around the perimeter of the visible side, and drill holes in the plates to attach it to the top and bottom plate with plug welds. Personally I think it is pretty strong as is, but it can't hurt to make it stronger. We will see if adding another plate on top is needed. Looking at a few other conversions, I am probably going overkill, buy why not?

You overkill it so it doesn't overkill you when you're out on the road with it.

I'm loving this project, and am slightly in awe at your pace of progress.

Keep up the great work and the solid documentation.

Thanks, I tend to move pretty fast for an old fat man.

Yeah! My motor and controller came in. Not bad at all.

Boxes were heavy and protected the parts well.





Useless, to me key switch. Nice quality, but I am using my stock switch.


The throttle looks like it will work, despite the ding in one of them.


Brakes came all in one piece, prebled. I will have to take it apart to install them.




And, of course, the huge, but stout Kelly Controller. I am looking forward to setting this up:


Next the QS 205 4KW 10" hub motor. Well boxed, very well.


In perfect condition, brake rotor preinstalled.






I took a few minutes to see if the brake kit would work well, and it appears it will:




This guy struggles with it:
Lastly, a question: The torque arms are very loose, moving 1/4" at the tip. You can see the slot has a significant gap:


It is barely over half the thickness of my swingarm dropouts, and they are very snug, plus will be pinch bolted. Should I still use them?

If yes, is there any reason why I can't curve them to fit my swingarm, then drill and tap it for a bolt?




Anyhow, here is today's haul, plus many parts behind them. I will lay all my parts out and label them in a future post when the last remaining pieces come in.




I don't really do unboxing videos, but this guy did one. (Same guy who had trouble with the brakes.

I can't see the video links look to be broken? Maybe post the link also.


Are you going to use the regeneration function for slowing and braking also?

Wow I was not expecting a motor that was inside the hub. That's pretty cool and condensed. Curious what the total budget is at the end of this? Seems like a pretty cool build to try one day, although I could only convince myself to do it to a stella auto frame cause those engines suck, and the frames are nothing special!

For those of us who can't see embedded:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndclc4ZgXlA%3Den&fs=1

This forum is the only one that has this issue with videos. You have to choose a unique way, and I always forget which one. I will take a look later.

I do plan to use regeneration. Not only will it recharge the battery a bit, but it works like a brake. Good stuff when adjusted correctly.

Yeah, there are gear motors that you could use a chain or belt, but the hub motors are much simpler to use. You can get them up to 12KW, 3 times mine, but though they are fast, they require huge batteries, or get a very short range. This one I hope to peak at 45-50 mph and get 35-60 miles, depending on terrain, speed and load. I expect it will be on the low end, but I do have a decent sized battery capable of 150 amps, so theoretically, with a lighter rider, I could hit 60+, or riding at 30mph I could get 60+ miles.

The budget is about $2K. The battery was $1K, and the motor was $700 shipped with the controller, brake and throttle, plus some other smaller pieces. The swingarm would likely cost $4-500 to have made. It cost me about $75.

I added another internal crossbrace, drilled and plug welded, plus perimeter welded. Then I boxed in both ends. It weighs 28 pounds. If this isn't strong enough, nothing is.

Swing arm looks great.
Very nice job.
Remarkable how (relatively) affordable it all is.
Couldn’t quite follow the question on the part you are considering tapping.
How else would you use it if not that way?