Category Archives: Transportation

Woody Bike Box

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After completing my eBike Build, I realized that I needed a bike box to carry items back from the store, farmer’s market, and oh – the brew pub!

I have always liked cars referred to as Woodies (autos that have wood on the sides), and knowing that I’ll never own one, I decided to make my bike box resemble a woody.

One of my favorite woodies is the Morris Minor Traveller, also known as the Morris Minor Woody.

Here is a picture of one that I took when donating a used bike. The man who refurbishes the bikes and then gives them away, restored this Morris Minor Woody in his garage – it’s beautiful!

First step was to come up with a design. I took a bit of artistic license and came up with this layout.

I decided to make the box out of pallet wood. It’s free and it’s recycled – two things I like. Here are the two side pieces. I glued and pinned the wood together using toothpicks. It works really well.

In this picture, I have the basic box made and am gluing it all together. I set it up with a level to ensure everything was square.

In the original design, I had a center wood post on each box side. After looking at the box, I decided that it did not resemble the back end of the Morris Minor Woody. Back to the drawing board. I made a cardboard arch to resemble the arch above the car tire. I really liked this concept and went with it.

With the wheel arch cut and glued in place, I made a template for the side panels. I used a recycled piece of thin oak veneer that was already stained. It looked pretty nice.

Here is the final version. I decided to paint one side of the panels blue to match the bike. I added tabs to make the sides reversible – wood or blue. Additionally, I bought a blue Morris Minor Woody metal pin and added it to the back of the box.

Adding the arch was the game changer. Now the box really captures the image that I wanted.

Here is the eBike with box attached and ready to go to the brew pub, I mean shopping.

eBike Build

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I’ve had a mountain bike for quite some time and have not ridden it in years. It just sits in the garage collecting dust.

eBikes (electric bikes) have become so popular, I thought that I might buy one. My thought was that the battery powered option would get me back on the road. Yes, I would pedal the bike sometimes.

Then I saw the prices. I’d have to spend about $1500.00 to get what I wanted – that’s the low end.

What about a kit to convert my old bike? I like kits. Well, I found some kits on eBay and purchased one. It cost $219.00. I have since seen the kits under $200.00, so look around if you plan to convert your bike.

This is the kit that I received. It contains everything needed except the battery

The first step was to get the tube and tire on the rim. This is not so easy if you do not have experience and a special tool to assist. I did get it on, put the air in, only to find out the next day it was flat. I likely pinched the tube during installation.

I decided to take it to a bike shop – new tube $12.00 and installation $8.00 = Worth doing it.

Next I put all the simple parts on: handle bar grips, throttle, and brake levers. Cables were dangling down the front of the bike. Make sure you know how to remove brake cables. Watch some videos first – then do the work – not the other way around.

Then I mounted the tire with hub motor to the front forks. You can purchase a rear hub motor kit, but that installation process is more involved. Again, watch videos before you purchase a kit so you know what is involved.

Following the instructions that came with the kit (they were okay, but not great), I began routing and wrapping the cables on the bike frame.

All the cables connect to the motor controller, which sits in a bike bag that hangs on the frame. The bag they provided is too small. I ordered a new one – cost: $11.00.

I connected everything I could, except the main power connectors to the battery. I still had not ordered one. More research, and where to place it on the bike also needed to be figured out.

I found a battery that I liked based on the kit providers recommendation for voltage and ampere hours – cost: $150.00. Batteries are not cheap but should last 6 years.

Now, how to mount it? I decided to use the water bottle bracket already on my bike. My solution was to mount the battery in 4″ diameter ABS pipe with hose clamps. I also added side blocks to prevent the battery from moving while on the road. Here is how it turned out.

I connected everything up and tested. Yes, we have power! I road tested the bike at about 20mph – that seemed pretty fast to me.

Here is the finished bike. I added a Flux Capacitor label to the battery tube and a “Bike to the Future” image in the bike bag pocket. – just for some fun!

It was not a simple project, so it may not be for you. There are people who will convert your bike or of course you can buy a new one.

I very much enjoyed this project and would do it again. Total cost: $410.00.

By the way, hills are a piece of cake now! The eBike is really a blast to ride!