Fellow Clown, Butch Y, decided it was time to join the E-trike crowd and electrify his 2006 Catrike Road. He decided he wanted the latest and greatest, the Tongsheng TDSZ-TOO drive kit produced by ECO Cycles in Nashville, TN. The kit provides everything, except battery, display support, battery support, and a few accessories (all ordered separately) needed to install the drive on a trike. What makes the kit stand out is the Bafang 860C color display with opensource firmware (OSF) that permits broad customization of drive settings and display presentation. The rider's preferences are stated on the electronic order form and ECO accomplishes the drive settings, so the kit is plug and play when received. In Butch's case, he wanted max performance, so the drive's programmed for 750 watts and 52 volts. Because of the Road's small rear wheel (406 mm) a large chainring (69T) is needed to achieve high speeds on the smooth asphalt of WRL's West Lawther.
 
I took on the installation project and accomplished it in the Mosquito Works just after the skeeters came out of hibernation, following the big rainstorms. I've previously installed 6 Tongsheng kits, all of which went together with no problems. Not the case with this drive. The bottom bracket receiver shell of the 2006 Road that the drive's bottom bracket fits into has different dimensions than the 68mm shells on all the other trikes I've worked on. Had to hog out the I.D. of the shell to get the drive's BB to fit it. Also, had to custom machine a couple of aluminum spacers, because the kit's spacers were too short. Converted the trike's 9-speed driveline to 10-speed to match the chainrings (10-speed 69T and 52T). No front derailleur - chain is switched manually. The 52T ring is part of "get me home" gearing, should the battery run down or the drive fail. Installation progressed fine, after the above, until completion. When I turned on the display, error codes appeared, and the drive was not functioning. After contacting ECO and receiving advice and links to an online guide and OSF manual, was able to bring the drive to life by simply unplugging and re-plugging 2 connectors. Test rode the trike on the Santa Fe Trail and was able to achieve a top speed 7 mph in excess of the speed limit on WRL's West Lawther. Butch test rode the trike today (8/30/22), then took it home. More than likely, it will make an appearance at Thursday's Clown ride.
 
 
 
 
Drive ready to install in BB shell                                                                                                                           Custom machined aluminum spacers
 
 
 
 
Bafang 860C display, control buttons, and throttle mounted on custom-fabricated carbon fiber T-mount                              Installation complete
 
 

 
Installation complete. Note giant chainring.

Quote from TonyWard on Aug 31^st, 2022, 5:27pm:

 
Thanks, Tony. Some of the Clowns have managed to roll their trikes, so maybe a motorcycle helmet and leathers would be appropriate for someone riding a 750-watt mini–Can Am.  

Well into Butch's first WRL ride on 9/3/22, the drive failed at Glencoe Park. He put the chain on the small "Get Me Home" ring, and he and I slow rolled back to Sunset Bay. I played around with the display at Sunset and got the drive going again. We decided to do another lake lap, and as we were approaching the Bath House, Butch hit a bump that took out the drive. After we left the lake, Butch followed me back to my house and left his trike so I could find out what was wrong with the drive. Traced the problem to a defective display connector. Thought the connector was part of the wiring harness, so ordered another harness. Also, ordered a replacement display, just in case. Discovered yesterday (9/9/22) that the defective connector was actually on a 12" display wiring extension. This morning replaced it with a spare extension I had. Pushed the display "On" button and the drive came back to life. Test rode the trike from the Mosquito Works to WRL's Sunset Bay and back (about 12 miles). Drive worked fine. Butch picked the trike up late this morning and will probably ride it on Tuesday's Clown Ride.