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After a long, cold and unusually snowy winter in the Washington, D.C. area, the LaFree finally saw its service debut with the Maryland-National Capital Park Police this past weekend during Volunteer Bike Training. It's proven to be a steady and predictable mount, if a bit sluggish due to its...

Not yet...but soon. I'm finishing up repainting the motor covers. I'll probably take some pictures during its service trials.

Test rides are continuing and the bike continues to perform satisfactorily. I'm watching the battery voltage. Even though I'm only at 23 volts (from a start of 25.6) the bike does feel slower (and it's already a bit of a lead sled). How far down could I / should I let the batteries go in...

Second test ride this evening went much smoother. I put the bike up some of the steepest hills in our area (I live in a fairly undulating section of piedmont). The bike made it up the hills with pedal input, as a pedelec should. The pace was fairly slow on the hills, but the amount of human...

I use 3M sanding blocks. I try to get away with the least aggressive grit that will still take off the rust. On the seat tube, I was using 600 - 1000 grit. On the handlebars and stem, I had to use more aggressive 120 / 240 grit. The motor covers, which are the last thing that need to be...

I took the bike out for its first genuine test ride this evening. There are a few adjustments that I'm going to need to make, but overall a successful ride. The bike is definitely not as fast as I had thought it was going to be. In fact, over the same course that I rode tonight, I am faster...

Except for the motor covers, which were very rusty, the bike is now complete. I'm not sure why Giant made these parts from metal when plastic literally abounds on this bike. Even without the covers, the bike is ready to begin test rides. On a quick spin up and down the driveway, I found...

Saddle: DSC_2234 by onyxsax, on Flickr Close enough to finishing to put a bell and GPS mount on the handlebars: DSC_2237 by onyxsax, on Flickr Rear fender reattached: DSC_2238 by onyxsax, on Flickr Saddle, seatpost and pannier reinstalled and looking more and more like a LaFree again...

Motor fairing reinstalled: DSC_2222 by onyxsax, on Flickr Rear brakes set and adjusted: DSC_2228 by onyxsax, on Flickr Corrosion on seat tube: DSC_2233 by onyxsax, on Flickr After a bit of elbow grease applied: DSC_2235 by onyxsax, on Flickr

As promised...here are the latest pics: It looks like a maze of wires and cables, but it works! DSC_2202 by onyxsax, on Flickr Throttle unit installed and new location for "master kill" switch DSC_2211 by onyxsax, on Flickr Out of chaos, comes order, thanks to some wire ties DSC_2219 by...

10/17: With the electrical system down pat, the rest of the bike is now coming together very quickly and we are on the home stretch. I've put all the fairings back on, which took some doing as my wiring was considerably heavier gauge than what was originally run, but nothing a few wire ties...

I haven't done an update in a while: I hit a snag that I couldn't seem to get around: Once I disconnected the original potentiometer, I couldn't get the twist throttle to work. Heck, I couldn't get ANYTHING to work. I decided to take a step back from the project for a couple of weeks and...

Latest pics: I'm using a stool as a workstand to get the rear wheel up in the air: DSC_2004 by onyxsax, on Flickr I ended up going with a standard AC power switch to be my "master kill" switch. Not the prettiest way to go, but very effective. Since this pic was taken, I've moved it from...

I hooked in the Voltage Control Unit tonight. Worked like a champ! We're slowly, but surely working towards getting this bike back out on the road. Pics to follow soon!

Went back to the hardware store and picked up a "regular" light switch and box. Ran the wires, applied the power and it worked. It's a crude but effective solution for a master kill switch. I also have reattached the wheels, derailleur and chain. I don't have the derailleur cable hooked...

Settings have now been changed to public on the video. Yes, I am going to keep the simpler wiring harness. I just need to find a master switch that will accommodate the 10 gauge wire. I also was able to retain the original battery back/charger for the bike. Meanwhile, I can now finish the...

Video of the first run. Pardon the cheesy "Mad Scientist" impersonation. I was bouncing off the walls happy that this actually worked. http://youtu.be/kQRy4pv2Cjw

IT"S ALIVE!!!!!!! I took apart the battery pack and tightened up the terminals where they hook into the blade connector. When I put it all back together, it worked! So, now I'm wondering if I should go back and try the original wiring harness again and see what happens. OTOH, the simpler...

So I had my "moment of truth". I wired up the bike, put in the battery back and...nothing. So, I pulled out the battery pack and alligator-clipped a power supply to the battery terminals. This time it worked. Using a multimeter, I am still showing 25 volts off the terminals. My guess is...

Finally have all the parts together to start wiring things up. This could get very interesting. On a side note: I was back at the police station and noticed that the rest of the bikes that were in the abandoned property section were gone. When I asked my supervisor about them, she confirmed...