“Dr Chopper”, building Hot Rod Street-Cruiser ebikes

Hot Rod cruisers are a style where most people have a clear divide over whether they love them of hate them. That being said, Doctor Chopper (in Philadelphia) has wrestled with customers over what works, versus what they want, and the result can be educational for anyone who wants hot-rod performance for their street ebike. If that interests you, then this article might be something you’d like.

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First of all, I hope to be a go-between, who informs the public with info developed by builders who are spending serious money and time on their hobby…and new enthusiasts who want accurate information before they commit to spending serious bucks.

A board-tracker frame, but no pedals on this one.

We all know that the entry-level crap might “work”, but the performance and longevity may be disappointing, and…at the other end of the spectrum, the guys with a “Ferrari wallet” will just throw money at every problem. What works for the guy in the middle who will pay just a little extra for something that get’s the job done?

The top-of-the-line off-roaders have a frame-mounted motor (to keep the wheels as light as possible) and expensive suspension components for big jumps. Also, off-roaders pay extra for extra-light components. And…that brings us to the contrast of custom street ebikes. If you haven’t seen our article on “40 custom ebikes” yet, click here.

One of Dr Chopper’s more common builds. A Vector Typhoon frame, with the parts listed below

Street hot-rod ebike builders often seem to be fine with having a heavy and powerful hubmotor in the rear wheel. Here is our article from 2015, listing the how and why of available hot-rod hubmotors.

If you are curious about the Vector Typhoon ebike frames posted above, we wrote about them back in 2014, click here. He has also built-up Mongoose Malus frames and EEB frames.

One of the differences between common ebikes and a street cruiser is how wide the rear tire is. You don’t need to hunt down all the choices about the various rim widths…just call Dr Chopper.

Of course, instead of wading through a lot of article fluff, I’m guessing that you have read this far because you want to know what components serious hot-rodders are using. so….

Motor: QS V3 205 50H 5T

QS = Quan Shun, Version-3 with cast aluminum core to absorb heat spikes, 205mm diameter stator, 50mm “Height” magnets on the rotor, 5T = five “Turns” of wire bundles around each stator-tooth, which affects the RPM’s per applied volt (Kv).

Controller: YKZ120150

YK= Yuyang King, style-Z, 60V to 120V, 150A, 24-FET’s

Battery is made from LiPo pouch cells, 134V (32S) 20-Ah, or…100V (24S) 32-Ah

24×3” bicycle tires, or….sometimes 90/90-18” moto tires

Fairdale 2.5”-rise handlebars

58-tooth chainring on the front, 16T on the rear freewheel, 3/32 chain

Vans cult grips

Half-twist throttle, with a thumb kill switch (better than Ebrake levers)

Rockshox forks are nice, but ZOOM works on a budget .

DNM rear shock

Shimano 410 quad-piston brakes, with 203mm rotors

12V DC stepdown converter for powering lights and accessories