Repair diary Sinclair C5 - Page 14:

Wednesday, 06. of January 2010:

Front wheel rim made of steel


Table leg as column support

Table leg as column support

During the last weekend I took a table leg and built it into the C5 as a supporting column for the wind deflector.
This shall stop the rattling and chattering during driving at every ground unevennesses.

Today I assembled the chain and the chain tensioner again. As a joyful side effect from the do-it-yourself bevel the chain doesn't scratch the body anymore.

Front wheel

Front wheel rim made of steel

During the last test drive I noticed the smell of charred plastic when braking. This is due to the front wheel rim of the C5 made of plastic.
Since I had to adjust the front wheel brake anyway and there was a steely front wheel rim left over from the Puky childrens bike I replaced the old rim with this.





Saturday, 01. of May 2010:

Make it street legal


In original state the C5 simply has a button to activate the motor. No matter if you are pedaling or not and independent from speed.
In this condition it is liable to registration and insurance deductions (at least in Germany).
But with a few modifications you can turn it into a street legal electric bike.

The EU guide line 2002/24/EG mentions the equirements:
  • max. 250W permanent motor power
  • motor support only while pedaling
  • no motor support when driving faster than 25km/h (about 16mph)

And since the C5 is definetly quite exotic on todays roads it may not only attract pedestrians and drivers but also traffic policemen. Therefore you better should be on the safe side of legality.
So we need a device to meassure current speed and if you are pedaling and to disable the motor button if necessary.

Then it is not far to an complete tachometer:
tacho prototype

Prototype of my C5 tachometer

This is my tachometer prototype. At present it can:
  • meassure pedaling frequency
  • meassure current speed
  • disable/enable the motor switch
  • show overall distance
  • show trip distance
  • show average trip speed
  • show max. spped of trip
  • show environment temperature
  • radio controlled clock
  • show battery voltage, motor current and power

previous next

Repair diary: table of contents