- Banshee ▄█▀ █▀ █ ▀█▀ e - Bafang BBSHD

Ideate

Senior Member
What: Banshee Spitfire + Bafang BBSHD ebike. Yes you read right. Is this the first ebike PYR???? Technically it's my same Banshee Spitfire but I think it deserves it's own place because it's a different monster now.

When: a while ago but I knew it wouldn't get much love around here so I've been waiting a while for Moorebagz to settle down from his uneducated old man disgust.

Price: $2k to convert.

Location: This isn't a sale thread.

Why: to annoy Moorebagz and because ᶠᶸᶜᵏ♥ᵧₒᵤ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) that's why


Firstly, lets get something straight. A lot of people don't like the idea of ebikes.. and I get it. The thing I don't get is the lack of perspective. Anyone ever heard of De Bono's 6 thinking hats? Ebikes will soon become the norm. You wait!

If you've been following.. I've been hinting here and there about a secret project involving my Banshee Spitfire. When Dazzlers sold his (newer, blacker!) Spitfire frame for CHEAP I thought it wasn't going to be worth me selling mine. Plus I've hacked at this frame already so I thought I'd donate it to the Spit-e project.


I'll start with the first dodgey item on the agenda... the shock. If you're unaware, that's my 8.75x2.75 RC4. I wasn't going to leave my CCDB Coil CS on there so I sold that and put the RC4 on while I wait for special mounting hardware for the shit air-can I have lying around. It's actually pretty nice.

It wasn't that hard to fit in there.. I used some physics (string) to compress the spring.


spitfire_frame_ready_for_tip.jpg

fitting_rc4.jpg

NEXT...

The conversion kit. I was actually looking into something more hacky like a DeWalt strapped to the rear stay (no joke). After some research, I went all out and bought a Bafang BBSHD conversion kit including a 52v 15Ah 30q backpack battery. All up it cost $1,954.50 but I could have saved $100 (I'll explain later).

I chose the Bafang BBSHD mid drive kit because I didn't want a heavy backend (with a hub motor). It was also readily available and other alternative mid drives were too expensive such as the Tangent 3kW etc.. The Spitty was also going to be a good donar because of the straight down tube from the bottom bracket. This would maximise the clearance of the motor.

straight-downtube-to-bb.jpg


To fit the motor I would have to hack at the frame a little bit. It's nothing new though as I shortened the seat tube a long time ago ;) .. I'll see if I can find pictures and insert them here later. So the angle grinder came out and part of the bb tab came off. Then the bottom cable guide tab came off.

1 bb-tab.jpg

2 no-bb-tab.jpg

3 cable-tab.jpg

4 no-cable-tab.jpg

I could then slide in the Bafang BBSHD snug against the downtube to maxmise clearance. I've hit it once so far but otherwise it's been fine. Views from a few angles.. From the top it does feel a little wider than usual but not noticable after a bit on the bike.

5 BBSHD_on.jpg

6 BBSHD_on-drive-side.jpg

7 BBSHD_cranks-on.jpg

8 BBSHD_width.jpg

The Bafang BBSHD kit comes with this steel behemoth 46t chain ring. It's the biggest heap of shit so I got a special Lekkie narrow wide ring which is also 36t making it easier on the motor for climbing. I also ordered these Lekkie buzz bar crank arms because I thought they'd be better than the stock.. but I was wrong. This is where I could have saved some money as they were $100 extra. Because the bottom bracket spindal is square tappered, cranks are limited and generally shit. These Lekkie buzz bars deformed and became permantly wobbly/loose. I don't think they imagined 100kegs slamming them down rock gardens and jumps. They also started rubbing on the motor as I torqued them down so I had to grind spots of the arms off.. Anyway, they look good but they're rubbish for anything serious.

9 BBSHD_Lekkie_Ring_Cranks.jpg

Lekkie_buzz-bar-rub.jpg

Lekkie_buz-bar_rubbish.jpg

Here's an indication of the bottom bracket / motor clearnance. The way I set it up was also considered "stealth" according to the Bafang community. It comes with this clunky screen that's nearly as big as your phone. I didn't want to clutter the bars so I found out I can go away with all the noob (important) features such as screen, speed sensor, brake sensor and gear shifting sensor.

It's basically bare bones motor and throttle. Yes throttle.. I hear you say " But that's a MOTORBIKE!".. well technically yes but I don't use it that way (Darrel does though lol!). I only plug in when I'm climbing and hold the throttle down according to my pedalling needs. So it's a pedal assist in my eyes but if someone wanted to NOT pedal.. you could.

So.. there's a bit of cable excess because of all the other sensor plug-ins but I just tucked them under the shock mount and also under the bottom bracket.

10 BBSHD_bb_clearance.jpg

11 BBSHD_cables.jpg

12 BBSHD_almost_finished.jpg

13 BBSHD_chain-on.jpg


There's the finished build. The setup is highly illegal as there's no speed limiter and the power peaks at about 1500 watts which is about 15 times what I probably put out and about 1300 watts over the legal limit.

I haven't weighed it yet but the kit is approximately 5kg and the battery is about 3.5kg? So plus that to the Spitty which would have been about 13kg? In the realms of a regular ebike (20kg-ish+). I'll take some pics of the battery and backpack later (dinner is calling). It climbs like a goat and descents like a Zerode G1 with 140mm travel lol..

spit-e.jpg

spit-e_top_boulder.jpg


Let the flaming begin.
 
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Miguel75

Likes Dirt
haha, that's rad. I tried an ebike the other day at the Youies and it was so much fun... I'd love to ride this up Mystic and down Hero:)
 

Logic

Likes Dirt
Inb4 I cop it from everyone else.
But I quite like it! It doesn't look as hideous as all of the other e-bikes on the market, and the motor is nicely tucked away!
I find it quite funny how reckless you are with the all glorified Banshee frame but hey, at least you haven't completely broken it (yet)!
Keen to see some GoPro clips of it soon, Hopefully you don't get arrested!
 

Beej1

Senior Member
You have to imagine these motors will get smaller and more powerful with time. Same with batteries.

Might be a life for my raw alloy Nomad after it (eventually) gets upgraded after all. Though I'd feel better if the motor was nestled in the triangle somehow.
 

moorey

call me Mia
These bloody oldies hate change ay. :laugh:
I hate seeing a banshee go this way....he'd already told me a giant would have also worked well.

But more power to him. At my age, I need the uphills to keep the extra pounds at bay. Ebikes may become the norm...so have accountants on Harley's....but that doesn't make it ok.
 
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Logic

Likes Dirt
I hate seeing a banshee go this way....he'd already told me a giant would have also worked well.

But more power to him. At my age, I need the uphills to pounds at bay. Ebikes may become the norm...so have accountants on Harley's....but that doesn't make it ok.
Yeah, I totally get your point man it's a damn sexy bike to have a motor attached to it.
But at the same time there a shredded blokes out there that are into 250kg women. Just depends on which one of them you are :pound:
Personally, for me i'm definitely gonna stick to pedal power till the day I turn into a cripple but i'm still interested in seeing how this technology is going to develope.
 

slowmick

38-39"
that is serious dedication to getting a laugh. looks like it will be quite the ongoing project - not for the faint hearted.

Love the Lekkie name - made me smile a lot. will you have a go at commuting on it?
 

moorey

call me Mia
that is serious dedication to getting a laugh. looks like it will be quite the ongoing project - not for the faint hearted.

Love the Lekkie name - made me smile a lot. will you have a go at commuting on it?
Sure. He wands the Jacks seeing that :behindsofa:
 

aanon

Likes Dirt
Spit E, i like it.
Looking pretty tidy there, something a bit different and interesting. Have seen enough billion dollar carbon bikes so this is a nice change, got any vid of it in action?
 

Ideate

Senior Member
Here's the battery. Pretty hefty compared to a GoPro but it fits well in my 3lt pack. I don't notice it after a while but I still haven't figured out a way to plug in without stopping for a reach around. I'll figure something out..

spit-e_pack.jpg

spit-e_battery.jpg
 

Ideate

Senior Member
..., got any vid of it in action?
I'll make some for ya.. except it'll just look like me riding a Spitfire so nothing out of the ordinary.. and I'm sure you don't want to watch a bunch of climbing videos. BORING.. but I actually look foward to the climbs now so not boring for me anymore.


I hope you do get arrested....
You would m8!

...Though I'd feel better if the motor was nestled in the triangle somehow.
You can get them but like I said.. expensive and hard to get. The one I wanted is called a Tangent Ascent. They're something stupid like $3k just for the motor (no battery). Heaps of people use them though because they've got heaps more power and are pretty light. Here's some pics of some nice bikes using the Tangent..

tangent_ascent_zerode.jpg

tangent_ascent_santacruz.jpg

tangent_ascent_intense.jpg

tangent_ascent_knolly.jpg

tangent_ascent_knolly_motor.jpg


....he'd already told me a giant would have also worked well.
You are so retarded. I said the OPPOSITE! You're fucking dangerous mate. Character assisnating compulsive nitpicking liar. You stay away from me m8!

Too speed?
Lets put it this way.. I got scared when I took it for it's first test ride. I felt like the brakes were from Kmart. So until I put some Hope 6 pots on there I'll never know but easily 60km's without trying.


.. will you have a go at commuting on it?
I actually built it with the missus in mind because she's always whinging about not being able to keep up so she never comes out for a ride. Now she just uses the cold weather as an excuse.. #%&#! So I'll have to jig up some sort of electric heater to the bars or something.. I'm too close to work to use it as a commuter. It'd literally take me 2 seconds on this thing but yes I would use it to commute if I was more than 10km from work. I'd definitely get caught though.. Next gen dero - Main difference would be no 2 stroke noise and I'd actually have a helmet on.
 

slowmick

38-39"
Sure. He wands the Jacks seeing that :behindsofa:
My locals wouldn't notice the low slung electric motor - they are more used to seeing guys in boiler suits or hi-vis ringing the neck of a bolt on 2 stroke converted bmx for their short notice, licence free, commute to work.

Edit. ahh - i see you have the same local celebrities i do. :thumb:
 
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moorey

call me Mia
You are so retarded. I said the OPPOSITE! You're fucking dangerous mate. Character assisnating compulsive nitpicking liar. You stay away from me m8!
I can screenshot the conversation if you'd like.... :kiss:
 

Calvin27

Eats Squid
Wow thats a monster bike. Here is mine. Tame in comparison. 250w tongsheng torque sensing. Made a ride i really struggled with into a sunday joy ride. Most people dont even know its a ebike if not for the battery. But no way im carrying a battery in a back pack. If i stack it wont be pretty!

If in vic lets go for a spin!

Screenshot_20170717-231725.jpg
 

Ideate

Senior Member
...If in vic lets go for a spin!
Cool forks! Even if they're backwards.. (where's Dazzles! lol). Have you seen the new ones with the Darth Vader capes?


darth-vader-cape.jpg


Where abouts do you ride? I've only flattened out the playing field as the boys I ride with often leave me for dead.. but now the tables have turned.

If you're ever out at the Youies and you see someone towing a big hairy bloke on a bright green Ragley up a hill then come say hi.. that'll be me (doing the towing!) :gossip:
 

wesdadude

ウェスド アドゥーデ
Lets put it this way.. I got scared when I took it for it's first test ride. I felt like the brakes were from Kmart. So until I put some Hope 6 pots on there I'll never know but easily 60km's without trying.
I once went for a fang on an e-bike. It had Saints on it, they felt puny.
 

wkkie

It's Not Easy Being Green
Sure. He wands the Jacks seeing that :behindsofa:
As long as he's pedalling, 90% of the jacks won't give a shit... Stop pedalling though and keep moving at 30+ km/h then you'll get some more attention, potentially......
 
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