N1BPD

TL;DR –

Front –

• Sapim Leader 12G Spokes 16×223/16x224mm – $17.60
• DT Swiss Onyx 32H 20mm Thru Axle 6 Bolt Disc Front Hub – $36
• Moose Racing H 19×1.85 32H DOT (0210-0197) – $119
• Shinko 244 2.75-19 – $35.88

Rear –

• Sapim Leader 12G 36x206mm Spokes – $26.40
• Pirate Cycles Universal Hub (included a front, not used) – $250
• Moose Racing K 18×2.15 36H DOT (0210-0203) – $119
• Shinko 244 3.50-18 – $46.88

Misc –

• Washers (McMaster) – No. 8 Regular 0.188″ ID 0.500″ OD 92217A435 – $9.34×3 $28.03
• Sapim Leader 16mm Nipples – $24.00
• Misc Tube’s/Rim Strips – $25

I can’t link direct to the product on most of the above because I purchased on eBay, but here are the link’s to the seller’s I dealt with who had good prices and fast shipping

• Rim’s from perf-moto
• Spoke’s and Nipples were purchased from YoJimbo’s Garage (VERY good service)
• Tire’s from Chaparral Motosports

Total cost, if you use the Hub’s that came with your bike (why I didn’t is explained below) is –

• $441.79

And if you have some time on your hand’s and don’t mind poor quality writing –

DOT wheel’s on the Motoped

(Work in progress as I upload more photo’s and notice mistakes etc)

This is my Motoped right now. The bike, like this post is also somewhat a work in progress, but other than some small stuff I want to change I’m perfectly happy with it… Except the MTB tires.

Issue’s I have with them in order of importance (to me)

• Rapid wear (rear tire, front lasts just fine)
• Limited choice of 24″ tires
• Sinking into Sand
• Flats
• Concern about failure due to higher speed and weight of Motoped Vs MTB

First of all – I’m not a wheel builder. The rear wheel for this Motoped was the first and last wheel that I’ve ever built. I have an original pre-Kickstarter frame kit I bought from Cam in 2010. The kit came with a 48h hub (h=hole, number of spoke holes) and I laced it to a Sun-Ringle BFG BMX rim. I’ve never had an issue with it in the 5+ year’s I’ve had the Motoped, but I made mistake’s such as the spokes being a little too long and the drive side’s outer spokes weren’t trailing (I’ll post links later for what that actually means).

I have a 48 hole hub and inexpensive rim’s generally come in 32 or 36 hole. I’d rather not custom order a 48h rim or modify my probably unable to replace original hub. Motoped sell the current version hub’s for $139, but are out of stock. Luckily Pirate Cycles offer an aftermarket hub that as far as I can tell has the same dimension’s

Here it is after I drilled out the holes to 2.8mm and added a countersink.

I drilled because the spokes I’m using (12G Sapim Leader) went through from the outside fine, but getting them through from the inside was much too tight due to the insertion angle causing the threads to catch on the side, only removed 0.02mm. The countersink was because the shoulder width on my spokes required one to seat properly – the Hub’s Flange’s are probably much wider than what people would generally use 12G spokes with. Just used another larger drill bit for that as my countersink bit is pretty wide and the Disc rotor and sprocket mount’s got in the way.

I’d recommend just waiting till you order spokes before modifying any hub’s – You might not need to do what I did.

The rims I’m using are from Moose Racing, as far as I’m aware they are just generic Chinese rims with Moose Racing printed on the side. They cost $119.95 each on eBay, I’ve seen people on facebook using one’s for $39, but I couldn’t find any.

Spokes as mentioned above are Sapim Leader, 12G with 16mm long Brass Nipples.

Because the Rim’s are designed for much larger Nipple’s I had to use washer’s under the head of the nipple. To stop them sliding around you need to “cup” them. I used a block of Aluminum with a blind hole drilled with a 1/2″ drill bit (because I’m using 1/2″ washers).

I just place the washer in the hole, use a punch and hammer and give it a tap, the bottom of the hole gives me a stop so the washer’s are all consistent.

Some examples of a finished washer in the hole after being struck, a stock washer, bottom and top of a finished washer.

Washer and Nipple

Washer on Nipple…

To measure the Hub I used caliper’s and just measured the dimensions needed. To measure the Effective Rim Diameter (ERD) I followed these directions which I will not bother repeating here.

http://miketechinfo.com/ERD-measuring.htm

That gave me the following measurement’s which I entered into “edd” to give me the following results

Rear –

Front –

I went with 206mm for the rear wheel and 224mm/225mm for the front (the wheel is “dished” so requires two different length’s of spoke).

All the part’s and tool’s I used –

• Blue Park Tool Spoke Wrench (0.156 in)
• Rock N Roll Nipple Cream
• Rim
• Power Screwdriver
• Washer’s
• Nipples
• Spokes
• Hub

I’m going to lace this so that the Trailing spoke’s are outer spokes on the drive side, inner spokes on the brake side. This is supposed to be stronger (the spoke’s undergoing tension during braking/power are on the outside on that side of the wheel).

I start by doing inner spokes on each side first because you won’t be able to pass the last 9 inner spoke’s through all the others if you did it that way (I learned hard way). You might be able to on a bicycle, but not with this.

This is what I mean by inner spokes, they go IN to the hub from the outside.

Just line them up with the hole in the rim that’s angled the right way (I don’t have to worry about lining up the hub’s label with the valve stem hole because my hub doesn’t have a label). Don’t tighten up the nipple’s yet, it makes it easier to lace if there’s some play.

Then when the other side is done it look’s like this – imagine trying to pass more inner spokes through that web, that’s why I did it this way, and why I had to rebuild this wheel a “couple” time’s.

The wheel uses a 3 cross “Over, Over, Under” pattern, (from the hub, the outer spokes pass over 1st, over the 2nd and then under the 3rd inner spoke)

When you’re lacing the first outer spokes it’s not too hard passing the spoke under the 3rd spoke.

One the other wide it’s a little tougher getting the spoke’s under that last cross, you’ll have to bend the spoke a little. Try to bend it over the full length of the spoke into a curve, that way it should spring back into shape. If you try to bend just the tip, it will probably want to stay that way.

I went around the rim tightening each nipple with the power screwdriver until the threads on the spoke were covered by the nipple. Then I marked one spoke with tape so I knew where I started and went around turning each nipple a 1/4 turn for a few rotation’s until they felt like they were nearly tight enough.

At that point I put it on a wheel stand.

This is a BikeMaster Balancing/Truing stand. The truing part wouldn’t fit the hub, so I just put it on the balancing part at the top to true it. Line up the pointer with the bottom corner of the rim and tighten each nipple a fraction of a turn.Some got a little more, some a little less depending on how close to the rim the pointer got until it was reasonably trued.

Hopefully if you sized the spokes properly they will be just at the base of the screwdriver slot

Lacing the front wheel was similar, just less spokes (36) and because there’s no drive side forces to worry about, both sides had the inner spokes as trailing spokes to account for forces when braking so it looked like this after all the inner spokes where done instead of being crossed over like the rear wheel.

My front hub, unlike the rear has a label and everyone say’s to be “pro” you have to lace it so the label is centered when you look through the valve stem hole. I just guessed where it might be once I rotated the hub and got lucky.

Everything else is the same as for the rear.

Mounting the MX tire’s is a little bit harder than mounting bicycle tires. I had the following tools handy from mounting tubeless tires on a Honda Z50.

• Core Tools CT122 Tire Iron/Spoon
• Core Tools CT106 Rim Protector
• Motion Pro 08-0471 Bead Buddy II
• Camel Tire 12095 Tire Mount Lubricant

The Lubricant and the Bead Buddy (I used 2) came in handy, I don’t really think the Tire Iron’s and therefore the Rim Protector were necessary.

Also need rim strip to protect the tube from the spokes/nipples, the tire, rim etc

Rim strip just wraps around rim

Then lather on the Mounting Lube (also know as tire soap if you want to try and source it locally) to the tire and rim where they are going to come into contact during mounting.

I put it on more liberally than it looks in the photo below, just bad contrast on black rim.

The first side of the tire went on easily just using my hands by pushing the rim into one side then down onto the tire.

Then I passed the inner tube into the tire and lined up the valve, adding one of the nut’s (came with two, I read to leave the washer then a nut on the inside) to the outside to keep it in place.

Partially inflated the tube

Then the (slightly) more difficult part comes, getting the other side in. Once I got part of the bead inside the rim I put a Bead Buddy on there to 1, stop it jumping back out and 2, push the bead into the recess of the rim so I have more wiggle room when trying to get the opposite side on.

Then as I get more of the bead inside the rim add another bead buddy to keep things where they ought to be.

Moving the bead buddy as I get more of the tire mounted.

I didn’t need to use a tire iron, I just applied a little extra mounting lube and used my foot to set the tire.

And done.

I put the front tire on without the bead buddy’s, and it wouldn’t be too hard to do the rear with just the lube and some grunt work/feet. The lube is key though. I’ve used soapy water in the past and I find it run’s off or dries too fast and isn’t as thick and slippy – much prefer the lube. Off course, now I have several lifetimes supply of the stuff because it came in such a large container.

Both new wheels

26″ MTB with Synchros 2.35″ Point ‘N Chute 2 / Shinko 244 2.75-19

24″ Kenda 2.3″ K-RAD / Shinko 244 3.50-18

And on the bike (still need to change over Rotors and Sprocket, get new chain etc)

So the big downside is weight (which I think is worth it). These are a LOT heavier than MTB stuff.

Front MTB Wheel – 5 lbs

From DOT Wheel – 13 lbs 12 oz

Weight increase for the front of 8 lbs 12 oz

Rear MTB – 7 lbs 3.5 oz

Rear DOT – 19 lbs 9 oz

Weight increase at the rear of 12 lbs 5.5 oz

Overall the old MTB wheels weighed a total of 12 lbs 3.5 oz, the new DOT wheels weigh a total of 33 lbs 5 oz. An increase of 21 lbs 1.5 oz.

From memory my Motoped weighed around 119 lbs, so now its around 140 lbs.

I often ride my Motoped after the sun goes down (I work at night) so need lights. I had been using a Magicshine 808 bicycle light with its own battery pack for a headlight and a Planet Bike Super flash for the rear. I wanted something brighter and self contained so I didn’t run out of battery power if I forgot to charge or replace batteries. So to keep the wiring as simple as possible I started out with Halogen lights and just an AC Rectifier. The headlight is a Trail Tech X2 Universal Halogen and the Regulator is the Trail Tech AC Regulator with a Trail Tech 3 Position switch/harness which takes care of a lot of the wiring.

This doesn’t need a battery and has the simplest wiring. Just black power lead from the switch to the frame ground and the red to the lighting wire from a Ricks Motorsports Lighting Stator, then connect the regulator in parallel between red and the frame ground. Plug the light into the connector on the switch harness and all done. (I didn’t get into the two lights for the diagram, that’s taken care of by the switches harness which just needs the two connections which are shown)

Unfortunately the lighting coil on the stator is unable to provide the 70 watts needed when both bulbs in the X2 are turned on. Ricks stator is rated for 90 watts, but that’s at higher RPM’s and they say to keep lighting to around 55 watts. But even with just one bulb (35 watts) I wasn’t happy with the brightness of the Halogens.

This video shows all the parts, their installation and a quick ride at night showing the light in action.

Next plan was to go to HID’s which are brighter for the same current draw. I purchased the Ballasts and Bulbs from Trail Tech to fit the X2 housing and was just going to run them one at a time (30 Watts for small top bulb and 40 Watts for Bigger lower bulb). For this I’d need to convert over to a floated ground DC lighting circuit.

The ricks stator has one lighting lead, to float the ground/use DC you need to disconnect the grounded side of the lighting coil and attach it to another wire, running it outside the case along with the original wire. I’ve done that on other stators in the past, but instead of trying it with the Ricks stator I just purchased a Baja Designs CRF50 Stator which comes with the two lighting leads and is also rated for higher power (110 Watts).

You can see the difference in the wire thickness between Ricks and Baja stators (Baja on right mounted to motor).

I had two issues with the HID’s. First is that they take a while to reach full brightness so switching between high and low I’ll have a period without much light. Second is that because they are in the same housing they point in the same direction. This wasn’t a problem with the Halogen bulbs because the low wasn’t that powerful, but the HID’s are a LOT brighter so if I aim them up for off road I’ll be blinding oncoming drivers even with only the small bulb turned on. If I aim them down then I waste a lot of light for off road illuminating the ground.

While deciding what to do I started installing a DC lighting circuit (I knew I’d need DC whether I ran HID or LED).

First I made a new mounting plate for the CDI and Coil. The CDI is aftermarket from Trail Bikes which I got in a 88cc Big Bore Kit for the Honda CRF50 engine. The Coil and Harness are stock CRF50F.

This is the CAD drawing, the Coil is mounted sideways to keep the plate as short as possible to clear the battery mounting tabs on the Motoped frame.

Cut that out on my G0704 Mill

I’m using the Trail Tech Regulator/Rectifier which needs either a Capacitor or a Battery to function properly. I have a Puch Magnum which I just used a Capacitor (4700pF), but wanted a Battery for the Motoped to keep the lights working properly at idle and to allow lighting when the engine is off. I saw someone else on the Motoped Build/Ride Facebook page had used a Ballistic Evo2 4 cell and it seemed to be a good fit and a lot lighter than the 4Ah battery I had laying around.

I made a cradle for the Battery and the Regulator which attaches to the mounting lugs on the frame

Top section which attaches to frame and mounts the Regulator.

And the lower that keeps the Battery in place (has 3m double sided tape to keep it from moving).

The two plates are attached using four 0.309″ rods cut to length to take into account the battery and a layer of the 3m tape with each end threaded for 10-32 bolts.

It fits the space pretty well, closer to the engine than I would have liked – but after a few rides it didn’t get warm from the engine. Tank shrouds cover it up pretty well

While on the Baja Designs website I noticed two LED lights – the SII and the Squadron. Running two separate lights lets me aim each one where I want. Can have one as a Low beam pointed down for the road and the other relatively parallel with the ground as High for off road. Being LED they don’t have a warm up period like the HID. As a bonus they draw a little less current, are brighter and should last longer than HID.

I decided to get those along with a Motorcycle mounting bracket that Baja sells for their Fuego lights.

This is the plate, the middle three holes are to attach to the above bracket, the outer elongated holes are for the Fuego Lights.

Fuego lights are 4″, the SII and the Squadron are smaller so I had to cut the ends off the plate and drill a couple new holes to match the lights I’m using and countersink the two holes for attaching to the bracket so the bolts didn’t stick out.

The bracket sides had to be bent inwards because its designed for a Motorcycle and the forks I’m using are much narrower. Also had to make room for a 3/8″ bolt at one end for the Squadron base bolts.

You can see the curve in the sides where I bent the bracket in the photo below.

It uses hose clamps with silicone sleeves to attach to the forks.

For a rear light I’m using a Universal LED Tail/Brake Light. My Motoped is registered as a Moped, which in my state doesn’t need a brake light – Just rear facing red so I don’t have a brake light switch connected to the third wire.

Cushioned 5/8″ clamp’s  attach a 1/2 Diameter by 4.15″ rod (with 1/4-20 bolts) to the sub frame and then two holes (6mm) to attach the LED and a piece of aluminum bent at a slight angle for the registration sticker.

Because I plan on running the bike with either the SII or the Squadron and not both I replaced the Trail Tech 3 Position Switch/Wiring Harness which is Off, Low, Low & High with just the plain Trail Tech 3 Position Switch which is Off, Low (Green wire), High (Yellow wire). The Blue wire is on in any position other than off so that’s used for the tail light so anytime either front light is on, so is the rear.

Note the fuse in diagram, I used an MTC fuse holder zip tied to one of the rods on the battery cradle

The wires below will end up being wrapped in Techflex sheathing to keep it together and neater looking.

And here is the finished bike.

Lights Off

Low (SII)

High (Squadron)

Tail Light

Some night shots of the Low on

And a short ride, taken with a GoPro Hero 3 – They don’t do so well in low light, It’s a lot brighter than it appears in the video. If you compare this to the end of the video above showing the X2 Halogen you get a good idea of how much brighter it is.