Blog / First few road legal test runs

E-Streetquad First few road legal test runs

First few road legal test runs

Posted on 7 August 2015 at 08:56 pm (CET)
Category: Electric motor, Rides
Posted on 7 August 2015 at 08:56 pm (CET)
Category: Electric motor, Rides

This update is a little bit late but I needed some time to edit the video. Last weekend I finally had a lot of fun with the first few road legal runs. They were just still test runs though since the problem with the motor temperature is still present. In the beginning I could barely make 2 laps around town (1 small and 1 bigger lap) before the motor got to 85 degrees celsius. I'll keep doing these 2 laps for testing, that way it's easy to see if there's any improvements after making some changes. Only when I'm satisfied I'll go try a longer distance.

Here are some pictures before I rode off. You can also see something new, I placed daytime running lights right below the headlights. I'm still not sure if I'll keep it this way but for now I'm liking it.

E-Streetquad First few road legal test runs


For the parking lights, low beam and high beam I also have different lights, the light on these is a bit more white than the standard ones that were in there.

E-Streetquad First few road legal test runs


First I tried removing the protective cover from the motor, this way the heat of the carbon brushes can escape. Ofcourse it won't stay like this, there's voltage on all of it while riding. But for testing it's necessary for now.

E-Streetquad First few road legal test runs


In the evening I went for another 2 laps. The difference was definately noticeable, ended up with 75 degrees celsius, already 10 degrees less. So it's clear that most of the heat has to be removed from this area. Another few pictures before I rode off.

E-Streetquad First few road legal test runs


E-Streetquad First few road legal test runs


When I returned it was already getting a bit dark, nice picture for the lights. And again you can see something I added, a second brake light in the top case. I could barely fit a whole LED strip in there and it's quite well visible. I think it's also safer since the rear light is always on. It's sometimes hard to see the brake light then, but like this it's always clear to see when I'm braking.

E-Streetquad First few road legal test runs


After these runs one thing is pretty obvious, the motor will need active cooling one way or another. The bottom of the motor and swing arm is wide open so that would be a good place to pass air through.

E-Streetquad First few road legal test runs


There's also plenty of space below the swing arm.

E-Streetquad First few road legal test runs


What I've already tried is leading an air hose to the front so wind will be caught in it and blown through the motor.

E-Streetquad First few road legal test runs


This just didn't seem to make a lot of difference, I think the opening of the air hose is just too small for it. I have now added an in-line blower and filter which constantly blows air through the motor.

E-Streetquad First few road legal test runs


The motor does get a little bit less warm now while riding and it also cools down faster when standing still. But I'm still not satisfied. I now want to try placing 3 fans right below the swing arm and using the in-line blower to extract hot air from the brush area to the rear. Don't think I can do any more than that, so I hope it'll work like that. I'm just waiting for the parts now so I probably won't be able to continue with it untill next week.

All runs I did I have filmed again, I tried with the camera on the helmet now and not on the quad bike itself and also with 60 fps instead of 30. Not very exciting yet but these still are the first few road legal kilometers.


Soon hopefully some longer runs once the cooling for the motor is on there.