This weekend I've made a few modifications so the quad bike will hopefully pass the approval test without any problems soon.

The brake system is completely original again. The footbrake brakes on all of the wheels now. Both brake lines are connected to the brake cylinder now.

The mechanical handbrake is back on it as well.

I've also made a system that gives a warning signal when you get off the quad bike while the drivetrain is still active. I've done this with a switch in the left foot peg.

The drive mode buttons will all 3 flash when you get off.

Since the flash relay I'm using doesn't work well with only LED's I wanted to hide a normal light bulb somewhere which also flashes together with the LED's. But it turned out I couldn't hide this, the light just shines right through the plastic fender. I actually like the effect it gives and it makes it even more clear that the drivetrain is still active.

Since I modified the brake system I wanted to test again. Because it was necessary ofcourse, not because I just wanted to or something like that. :) But in any case the brakes seem to be working just fine.

Made a quick video. Even our dog really likes the quad bike. ;)

Everything that had to be modified for the approval has been done now. There are still a few things where I'm waiting on a reply from the RDW. But hopefully I'll hear something about that this coming week. I'm also looking to make a new appointment already for the approval test.

Just a quick update before I go to the RDW tomorrow for the identity check of the frame.

Since the approval test I didn't really do much anymore. I did already start making a system that gives a warning signal when you get off the quad bike and it's still in drive mode. I placed a switch in the left foot peg, looked like the best place to me. With a flash relay I'll just let all of the LED's of the drive mode buttons flash. Should be good enough. But it's still not quite working, need a few more small parts for this.

For the rest I've been busy making the brake system original again since last friday. I had the handbrake attached and also all of the brake lines connected to the brake cylinder of the footbrake. I just couldn't get any brake pressure anymore after that. I've tried everything to bleed the brake system but no luck. So I inspected the brake cylinder but couldn't really notice anything strange.

It could be that the rubbers are just worn out a bit since I still remember when I bleeded the brake system the first time about 2 years ago black brake fluid came out of it. Already thought that was odd but it did still work just fine. Few months ago I bleeded the brake system again and already had a lot less brake pressure, now nothing at all anymore. So I quickly had to buy a new brake cylinder and chose for a better one right away. A Brembo that has once been on a KTM motorcycle. This one works perfectly, bleeding was quite easy again. I just still have the brake system seperated since I don't have a double banjo bolt with the right thread size, will look into this after the identity check of the frame. More important right now is that the brakes are working well again.

For tomorrow I'll just have to wait and see. Hope it'll all go well so I can quickly go back for the approval test again. I'll let you all know how it went tomorrow.

The day before yesterday I already said that today would be very fun. And indeed it was, I met some very nice people and was able to ride on an electric 4x4 ATV and also drive in an electric 4x4 UTV. ATV-Europe came to visit today. They're from Zeeland (Most south-west province of the Netherlands) and they sell these ATV's and UTV's throughout Europe. They were very interested in the quad bike I converted myself and were also very curious what I would say about their ATV and UTV. It was all really great, they both were very nice to ride and drive. Ofcourse the ATV was the most fun for me.

Now you might be wondering how they got these things here. Well, just with 2 Dodge RAM's. The ATV on the back and the UTV on a trailer. The whole terrain was suddenly full here. Was really great to see.

The cars were awesome already but I really liked the ATV and UTV very much as well. Just didn't really know where to actually test them so we just put them in the field together with our ponies. This was really fun, they weren't even afraid since these things didn't make any sound but once you'd get a bit close they all started running.

Ofcourse they also checked my own quad bike and thought it was really awesome. They even think that this might be able to sell if I were to put these kind of models on the market for a good price. So who knows, maybe something for in the future. But yeah, lets first see if I can get it approved so I can actually start testing it on the road.

It was all really fun, unfortunately the time just flew by very quickly as well and they had to return home again. But I will definately see them again some time.

And to close off the day even better I just got a response from the RDW that the EMC certification for the controller is okay after all. The directives for this turn out to be pretty much the same for a quad bike and car. This was more or less the only thing that had me worried so I again have full faith now that the rest of the approval will go fine as well. Just 2 more weeks to go, very exciting!

Not a lot of news anymore, right now I'm only busy with all of the documents and drawings that the RDW will need for the road approval test. Unfortunately I already have a few problems with this. The certification for EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility or in other words interference) of the controller is apparently only for the categories of personal and commercial vehicles. Quad bikes fall into a different category so the certification actually isn't valid. Thankfully the RDW is checking if there really is a difference in the directives and if the certification might still be good. If not I'll have to get a seperate EMC test done which will cost as much as 1500 euros. So I'm not really looking forward to that and hopefully it won't be needed. Will have to wait and see.

Meanwhile I did make some modifications to the motor. I cut out the rubber seal completely so this can't make any contact anymore with the copper wires of the carbon brushes.

I also advanced the brush holder by about 3 mm. The motor should run a bit more efficient now while going forward so hopefully less heat build up as well.

I've already noticed that the motor runs much smoother now, the sound is very different as well. I'm also planning to place an air duct on the side of the heelguards which will guide air from outside of the quad towards the motor. While riding there should always be sufficient cooling then. But this is something for after the approval since I want to be able to test this on the road.

Tomorrow and Thursday will be interesting as well. Tomorrow an appraiser will come here who will determine the value of the quad bike. The quad bike is ofcourse worth a lot more now than original so I want to have it insured properly.
On Thursday I'll get some other visitors. Since I really like this myself and I'm looking forward to it very much I'll wait to tell you exactly what it's about untill after Thursday. It's something American and English but still Dutch as well. :)

Since I was having problems again with the gauge that shows me voltage and current I replaced it. It's the same one again though (EV Display), just a newer version. I think I won't have any problems with this anymore, quality and build of the circuit board is much better than with the version I had before.

All wires already connected.

And placed in the enclosure. I did have to modify a few things to make it fit since this circuit board is a bit bigger.

The new gauge is nicely showing the voltage and current again, hopefully it stays like this now.

I did have a small problem where it kept showing 10 V while everything was turned off. The cause turned out to be a layer of rubber that I added between the circuit board and contactor as isolation. I found out that the rubber I used (EPDM) is slightly conductive. That's never a good thing so I removed it immediately.

Then there's still the problem with the motor that's getting too hot. Coincidentally there's also that same layer of rubber (EPDM) on the protective cover and a few copper wires of the carbon brushes actually touch this. It also looks like the rubber got pretty warm at those spots, it was kind of sticking to the copper. So this could already be a cause for the motor getting so hot.

I also checked the carbon brushes and you can see really good that they've been very hot on the inside.

This definately isn't good and I'll have to find a solution quickly before I can use the full power again.

I also have confirmation from the RDW that I can go there on April 30th at 8 in the morning for the road approval test. So I still have a few weeks to completely finish everything. It will definately be very exciting but I'm still very confident that it'll be okay.