Solo Electric Bike

(click on images to enlarge)

According to reports, the "Solo Electric Motor Scooter", an electric bicycle(ebike), was made in the 1970's in Australia. It has a 24 volt electric motor with centrifugal clutch, and working pedals. It is is the design of a scooter.

the motor and power train are very similar to the Cyclone in that it is connected to the crank. But perhaps more closely similar to the StokeMonkey electric bicycle kit design, in that the motor is place behind the seat post bar in the triangle spad where the rear wheel is bolted in addition to being directly connected to the pedal crank. As in those two designs, the electric motor can use existing gearing to increase torque up hills by down shifting and speed on leval ground by shifting the higher gears.

Here is what I found in the report with picture.

An electric motor scooter

These are the before shots of my Solo Electric motor scooter. My father was given it by his uncle who won it on a television quiz show in the 1970s. My father rode it for several years as he went visiting his parish. I overhauled it in the 1980s after it had fallen into disuse and disrepair. One of the magnets in the motor had come unstuck and the batteries were dead.

I rode the scooter to school until the charging plug shorted out. I couldn't afford to fix the damage at the time so once again the scooter was forgotten about.

Discovering the community of the Electric Vehicle Discussion List has given me the inspiration to get the old cycle running again. It will serve good purpose as a run-about in the city for the company I work at.

I have included some photos which can best be described as 'before'. I will upload pictures as I go.

There is a smart red cover not shown here with the words SoloElectra printed on the side.

Note the centrifugal clutch and the motor speed controller, i.e. the big cable operated switch. This cable died in the short circuit.

These are not the original batteries. These batteries are designed to fit a Porche motor car and have a slightly lower capacity than the originals. I hope that almost 30 years after the cycle was made I can find batteries of similar capacity to the originals. The charred cable in front is what is left of the throttle cable. The cut cable between the packs is what stopped the electrical fire after the charging cables shorted and caught fire. You can see the 'big switch' clearly here to the left.

The horn and brake light were added in Australia to make the cycle street legal. I am going to find out this week what 'street legal' means in 2001 compare to 1974 when the cycle was first registered.

Vital stats
Location: - - - - - - - - - - Adelaide Australia
Motor: - - - - - - - - - - - - 24 volt PM
Drivetrain: - - - - - - - - - Centrifugal clutch driving a V belt pulley to a chain
Controller: - - - - - - - - - The big switch - wrist driven PWM
Batteries: - - - - - - - - - - 2 x 12 volt latest model still to be decided
System Voltage: - - - - 24 volts
Charger: - - - - - - - - - - Very basic and to be replaced
Heater: - - - - - - - - - - - RM Williams DryAsABone
DC/DC Convertor: - - - nil 12 volt system run from one pack
Instrumentation: - - - - Expanded scale volt meter
Top Speed: - - - - - - - - - 25 KMH
Range: - - - - - - - - - - - - 25 KM
Seating Capacity: - - - 1
Curb weight: - - - - - - - 125KG