I bought this bicycle originally in 2001, but have since converted it to electric with the materials listed above.

This guide will describe step-by-step the process I followed.

I recorded this video recently to show the bike in action. As this bicycle can reach around 40 km/h at top speeds, it's best to have all the possible safety equipment. In the video, I show the speedometer, LED light, and bell that I attached to the handlebars.

Electric Bicycles Conversion Kit:
The primary components used are the throttle, Hub Wheel DC motor 48V 500Watt, a LiFePO4 - lithium iron phosphate rechargeable battery 48V 16A/h, and a controller unit to link them all together.

Here is the hub motor and wheel rim laid out on the table. This model of motor comes attached to its own wheel rim, which entirely replaces the rear wheel of the bike. While it is not necessary to open the motor casing to perform the conversion, I will show you what this motor looks like on the inside to give you some idea of how it works.

In this design the cog set for the rear hub gears is screwed on to the right lid of the hub wheel motor. To open the motor casing, these gears need to be unscrewed after the bolt is removed. (Bolt shown here removed.)

This is a side view of the motor casing with the gear hub still attached. I used a 10mm ratchet to loosen the bolts on the motor casing.

Here I've removed the gear cog set and the bolts from the outside of the motor casing lid. This is a five-gear cog set provided with the hub motor.

After the gears have been removed the motor casing lid can be lifted away, revealing the internal components.

This is the interior of the hub motor, after the right casing lid was removed. Here you can see the right bearing at the bottom of the hub shaft. Around the outside of the motor are 51 copper coils and 46 magnets comprising the motor.

This hall sensor is the controller's link to the motor itself. The controller can measure how fast the motor counting how many magnets have passed by the sensor as the motor turns..

This is a close-up shot of the right bearing against the wheel hub. These bearings are 2032 in size. These bearings allow the hub to remain in place while the motor casing, wheel rim and tire spin.

This is the left side of the motor casing. On this side, you can see the power line running from the controller to the interior of the motor.

A close-up of the controller unit shows the various connectors to link the battery to the motor, and to the throttle.

In this picture, the wheel has been bolted into place on the frame. I have wrapped some yellow tape around the power cable here to keep out moisture.

This control unit has been added to the upper 'racing-style' handlebars. It is similar in appearance and style to a gear shift on an ordinary bicycle, and is operated in the same manner. However, the speed derived from the motor is only used to augment the already existing speed generated by the pedaling. This means that if the lever is pressed for power while the bicycle is stationary, the control unit will cut out the battery. This is because PHENOMENAL SPEEDS can be reached when the lever is pressed.

The lights on top of the control unit indicate battery life. The red switch can be used to manually cut the power.

The control unit's location on the upper handlebars leaves the lower handlebars for braking and tighter maneuvering.

Good Luck!

A final note to people planning to use this conversion kit. I changed the tire from the one that shipped with the motor to higher quality Kenda nylon tires, maximum recommended inflation pressure 40 P.S.I., 2.8 kgf/cm2, 280 KPa. I would recommend doing this to anyone using this conversion kit.