C5ALIVE Forum
C5Alive General Category => Welcome To The Forum => Topic started by: theo on 31, May, 2012 - 21:34:02
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Hi everyone,
my name is Theo and I live in south-west Germany (Black Forest) near Freiburg. I bought my C5 three years ago.
Apart from a few scatches, it was in a very good condition. I painted it yellow and recently a installed a gearbox
to make it useful. Last winter I got a used "Baby-Jogger" and converted it into a trailer. My plan was to make a trip
with my sinclair and trailer around the Lake Constance (approx. 250 km). I did the trip last week, surprisingly
without any breakdown. It was great fun and I have never seen such a large number of smiling people. I used
a 60Ah lead battery, which was quite heavy, however I could do the longest daily section of 50 km without charging.
The only bad experience I made during the trip were the (useless) breaks. Several times, especially steep downhill, I had to use my legs to support the breaks. It looked funny, like a swan landing on water. Now I know where the
expession breakshoes comes from.
With kind regards,
Theo
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Wow that is a long trip! Well done.
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Ha! I can just imagine the look of terror as you skid with your feet over the side down the hill ;D
Think we've all looked a bit daft on a Sinclair one time or other.
Welcome to the form 8)
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An amazing trip Theo , if you have any pictures please add them to the forum. I imagine the scenery must have been incredible.
Very inspiring to hear that a c5 can be used for touring 8)
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I have thought of putting a two man tent in the boot, and then sharing the tent with my C5 so its safe at night while I'm sleeping :D
Retro Andy.
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Sounds like a pretty amazing trip, have you got any photos?
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Hi and it sounds like a great trip, photos are a must...........
Lance
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Great range your getting - as has been said love to see some photos if you have any :) :)
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Hi,
It was great fun and I have never seen such a large number of smiling people. I used
a 60Ah lead battery, which was quite heavy, however I could do the longest daily section of 50 km without charging.
The only bad experience I made during the trip were the (useless) breaks.
do you had any problems with the police as the sinclair is not street legal in germany?
Alex
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Hi Alex,
I am not worried to get problems with the police regarding street legality of the Sinclair. It was put on the
market in 1985 and the pedelec-regulation came into force much later. (November 9, 2003) The regulation
is valid in all european countries, not only in Germany. If you google "EU-Regulation Pedelec" you will get
detailed information. By the way, a friend of mine designed a pedelec-conversion-kit for the Sinclair. I got
it one year ago and it is waiting for installation.
Theo
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Hi Alex,
I am not worried to get problems with the police regarding street legality of the Sinclair. It was put on the
market in 1985 and the pedelec-regulation came into force much later. (November 9, 2003) The regulation
is valid in all european countries, not only in Germany. If you google "EU-Regulation Pedelec" you will get
detailed information. By the way, a friend of mine designed a pedelec-conversion-kit for the Sinclair. I got
it one year ago and it is waiting for installation.
Theo
hi theo. the friend of yours who designed the pedlec kit, was he the one who made the replacement ULA module ? thanks M
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Good morning Marra,
Yes, that´s him.
Theo
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Do you think he could do some more, I could do with a few. just ULA module replacement not the pedlec attachment . How long did it take you to round the lake, what a holiday and good views. :)
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Second that - could do with some too
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Perhaps with enough folk and numbers he may do some. me , 2 or 3 . end up being 3.
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PUT ME DOWN FOR 4 ....Thanks Chas
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The ULA + board he made he open sourced everything so anybody with a bit of electronic knowledge can build themselves - with the only hard part (if you call it hard) being programming the HEX file onto the mcu.
My own version of the replacement ULA is taking longer than I wanted :(
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Great to hear that the C5 did not cause any trouble during this rather long joyride, Theo! I'm pleased to could help you fixing the electronics.
I think, when I repaired the axis of my C5 I will make a tour as yours around the lake too.
But concerning the ULA replacement I'm sorry to say, that I don't plan to make more units. It was fun at the time but now I prefer to busy myself with other projects. I always seek for new challenges ;)
However, as Mike just said, the replacement unit is completely open source and everybody is free to rebuild it. I'd like to see that someone actually goes about it and builds his very own module. With some electronic skills it's really a breeze.
Best regards,
Phil
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hi. I dont have one to copy. Does anyone have one that could do it ? :-\
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Hi there Dave check out his site ...http://www.cypax.net/projects/c5/blog/index?language=en
bye Chas
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Do you think he could do some more, I could do with a few. just ULA module replacement not the pedlec attachment . How long did it take you to round the lake, what a holiday and good views. :)
Hi Marra,
it took us 6 days, 2 sections about 50 km/each and 4 sections 30-40 km/each. Four years ago I did the Lake Con-
stance Cycle Tour by bike. And I will do it again with my C5. I can really recommend the trip around the lake. If anybody is thinking of doing the tour, it would be a pleasure to give some tips.
Theo
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Perhaps we could hold a long weekend run sometime in the uk covering a longer distance than a normal run and camping out a couple of nights along the route ?
Retro Andy.
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Perhaps we could hold a long weekend run sometime in the uk covering a longer distance than a normal run and camping out a couple of nights along the route ?
Retro Andy.
Quite keen on that idea myself , maybe something for next year ?
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Perhaps we could hold a long weekend run sometime in the uk covering a longer distance than a normal run and camping out a couple of nights along the route ?
Retro Andy.
Quite keen on that idea myself , maybe something for next year ?
I'd be up for that!
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Grusstie Theo,
with regards to post #1, I think the term is 'twin leading shoe brakes'. ;)
Have you made any changes to the C5 before putting on the road?
I was once controlled by the police, luckily on a private car park, he was just curious about the C5, BUT he did say "Nice, but don't let me catch you on the road, as it stands it's not road legal". I did some checking in the IN and came up with the following:
For Mofa registation, a twist grip or thumb lever speed control is mandatory, motor cut-off swiches fitted to all braking systems (so you don't power drive against the brakes), turn indicators, horn, brake lights, 25 kmh cut-off if driven without a licence, crash helmet. I also found under under electric vehiles that a speed control is mandatory. The C5 may have been produced in 85, but still comes under the regulations that were in force at that time. Because of this I decided on a pedelec conversion.
I know of a lot of people driving standard C5s on the roads here and have never had any problems. But, Ottobrunn is not large and with one warning I'm not going to take any chances, if impounded there is a good change that I will loose the C5.
Servus.
KarlG.
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Better add a pedelec sensor and a 25km/h motor cut off. Then it is a bicycle. No need for paper, TÜV and so on.
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The software for Phil's ULA replacement unit incorporates a programmable motor shut down.
Cheers.
KarlG.