SRowells Sinclair C5

[Eeyore]

Now for something entirely different... So what happened was... I had a drive of something a few months back and its so retro and "cool" i thought I had to get one myself... What then happened was I told an eccentric friend I wanted one and he said he had one at his work and he would bring it from the Isle of Texel in the Netherlands to the UK. Sadly that didnt happen but a few weeks ago I was in Medemblik in the Netherlands for a sailing world championships and it was only an hours drive each way to get to Texel. I arranged for my friend to get on the ferry and deliver it to me...

the ferry appeared on the horizon... 



then it got closer...



then it got closer...



then it was here!



then my friend appeared on the walkway...



and then it appeared in the back of my car... It didnt fit in the car upright so I had to put it sideways and put the passenger front seat forward. Balls... i thought remembering that I had to bring it back to the uk somehow. But anyway here it is in all its glory in a dinghy park. 



Its a sinclair C5 untested and has been sat on a pallet for god knows how many years. Important things are that it has the rear wheel caps, front wheel cover, handle bar foam which all together can add up to a few hundred in spares. Also despite being untested the wiring hasnt been hacked up. It is however missing a battery, keys, battery lid, battery strap, and a chain tensioner. £150 paid!

Before we get onto how i got it home... this is the pallet it sat on for at least the last 10 years... 



and this is how it got to the ferry! Where it was then taken on as a foot passenger! 

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Next up I had to find a way of getting it home. luckily what i had planned worked and didnt stretch the trampoline of the catamaran. Many many ropes later it was tied down in a vaguely secure manner. I was told how much the centre and front caps were worth by the C5 owners club so immediately pulled them off to save them falling off on the 80 mile drive back to the hook and then the remaining 40 miles in the UK.




made it to the ferry and our spot was right next to the motorbike and pedal bike section. lots of heads turning and "is that a c5?" along with lots of dads saying "wow look an actual c5!" along with kids not caring what it really was.

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Now that its back at my house I experimented with a few things to clean it up. Cillit bang is number one preference followed by gunk. tested a small patch but havent yet put in the real elbow grease to get it all done. First thing to do was get new inner tubes as one was punctured. Still on the original sinclair branded tyres! 16" on the back and 12" on the front. Front uses an angled valve as well. All pumped up! 35psi rear and 30 front!



Bearings looked good but need greasing. After a brief ride round i found that it missed a tooth every so often. Points to some seized chain links so will have to oil that up and get it sorted. Also the main reason for skipping is the lack of a chain tensioner. No ideas how im going to solve that yet but hopefully ill make my own.



Next up was shoving 12v onto the wiring to test whether I had a working dash and working motor. the dash working is pretty rare as the components like to blow and if you get the polarity of the battery the wrong way the whole lot instantly blows. All works here! Right displays battery life and left displays motor load. The outer amber leds are always on. Fun fact that as well as putting the battery on the wrong way... just pushing the c5 backwards generates the wrong polarity which is enough to blow the dash!



and we have the original sticker with serial. yes its a hoover motor not a washing machine motor as many people thought at the time.


To get it up and running ive purchased a 063 45AH motor to replace the original oldhams 36AH battery. Hopefully a bit more range there. Ive also bought a safety wiring loom which allows use of a car/leisure battery with quick connectors and also has a diode in order to prevent spiking the dash. Ive also bought enough vinyl and reflective tape to redo all the stickers myself with my vinyl cutter as i could buy the entire roll for the cost of one set of premade stickers. t10 LED bulbs are also on order as the original headlight bulb melts the plastic housing.

So yeh. C5 project is a go. It should do 15mph and have a range of 20 miles however ive heard that hills are an issue and also 6 miles is a more realistic range! There is the option to double up batteries to extend the range and also put 24V through the motor to achieve 27mph. EU restrictions on electric bikes are 15mph so need to be careful with that one.

To Do:
fit new battery
fit battery straps
fit safety wiring loom
clean everything
design cut and apply new stickers
fit new lights
test ride!

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I have now decoded the serial number...




The 5 indicates the year 1985
The following 2 digits are the month, 10,  October
And the final 5 digits indicate the number produced that month, so mine is the 1195th to come off the production line in October 1985.

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And this is great watching for anyone who loves it... or for people who have no idea what it is or what its about!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5N937V8ZOw

And then theres wikipedia for those who want to know more and also read about why they were such a failure.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_C5

[Dum-Dum]

Erm, wow. I think.



Get Cully to find you a big motor and a stack of batteries and screw the regulations.

[ginge191]

What the .. is it... i'm so confused....

[Eeyore]

Erm, wow. I think.



Get Cully to find you a big motor and a stack of batteries and screw the regulations.

its 250W @12v but can take 24v but gets hot quickly. It needs ventilation holes cutting and magnets sticking in stronger as the standard glue melts. Its got a thermal cut out and everything as stock so that would have to come out. Its staying original and 12v for now until i get a feel for it. then im hoping to go 24v and have some fun. People try to find upgraded motoros that fit but the original is geared down with a plastic gearbox which doesnt fit anything else. Whatever other motor you fit itll need custom brackets which i could probably 3d print in plastic or metal. Also a speedcontroller etc as the stock is simply on off via a relay!

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What the .. is it... i'm so confused....

watch the video!

[ginge191]

Erm, wow. I think.



Get Cully to find you a big motor and a stack of batteries and screw the regulations.

its 250W @12v but can take 24v but gets hot quickly. It needs ventilation holes cutting and magnets sticking in stronger as the standard glue melts. Its got a thermal cut out and everything as stock so that would have to come out. Its staying original and 12v for now until i get a feel for it. then im hoping to go 24v and have some fun. People try to find upgraded motoros that fit but the original is geared down with a plastic gearbox which doesnt fit anything else. Whatever other motor you fit itll need custom brackets which i could probably 3d print in plastic or metal. Also a speedcontroller etc as the stock is simply on off via a relay!

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What the .. is it... i'm so confused....

watch the video!

 

I did - that's what confused me the most!

[1616six]

Had one of these at sixth form back in the day, sat in the corner unloved for years. Worked though.

[Piggy]

24v?
Meh. 72 or go home.

[bashbarnard]

Love it. Now lets get it to do 80


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bigcheez2k3]

Amazing! Not what I was expecting when I opened the thread although I do remember seeing a pic of you in one.

[Eeyore]

The hill testing for the sinclair c5 was also done at prescott hill climb!

[tigerstyle]

Very coooooool!

[welshpug]

My Friends George and Bruce in bristol have a few of these each, I know three will go in the back of a volvo V70 so I know the boot is bugger than a 9-3 now

[Piggy]

Love it so much.

But needs 72v and a big motor.

[Eeyore]

Love it so much.

But needs 72v and a big motor.

yeh so at 24v youre at the limit of the gear box and unmodified motor. At 36v youre at the limit of the modified motor and the magnets are falling out as well as the limit of a metal gearbox. Custom motor and mount would be the way forwards i reckon. But with any powerful motor youre going to hit the limit of the axle and bearings.

[Dum-Dum]

You've got no ambition lad.

I can do over 30mph on the flat on a pedal cycle so if it won't even go that fast it's pointless.
It won't need a gearbox if you go for a 72v 1500w motor, just direct drive it.

[procta]

I am sure I have seen a write up on one of these, in practical classics. Not sure about the support or parts for it mind.

[cully]

Get Cully to find you a big motor and a stack of batteries and screw the regulations.

lol!

Sam has already talked to me

such a cool project to keep standard

but to think outside the BOX/Trike

go full 3 phase RC type direct drive motor and lipos
or servo type multipole motor direct drive do away with the plastic gears

i so much love this i would have it in a flash!

ideal project conversion for welshpug with his background too

[Eeyore]

You've got no ambition lad.

I can do over 30mph on the flat on a pedal cycle so if it won't even go that fast it's pointless.
It won't need a gearbox if you go for a 72v 1500w motor, just direct drive it.

but its not meant for that is it? its like saying a lambo does 200+ so your subaru must be pointless unless it can do that. 
I think your ealso forgetting that once you put in 72v worth of batteries a 1500W motor and then enough batteries to actually give it a decent range its actually become really heavy and then outside of regulations.

So its a classic, its not going to be completely original but its going to be pretty close to it. Right now the only non standard bit will be the motor/battery loom as it offers more protection from reverse polarity.

[Dum-Dum]

I can do over 30mph on the flat on a pedal cycle so if it won't even go that fast it's pointless.
It won't need a gearbox if you go for a 72v 1500w motor, just direct drive it.

its like saying a lambo does 200+ so your subaru must be pointless unless it can do that. 

Nope, your misinterpreting my analogy.
To put it in your terms it would be like saying that a pedal cart (or some other 4 wheeler without an engine) does XXXmph so my Subaru is pretty pointless unless it does that.

TBH anything with a motor is pretty pointless if it is slower than the equivalent motorless vehicle.

Oh and to get further off topic the Scooby is geared for 180mph, I'm not brave enough to try it but it would certainly worry a 2 tonne lambo if it had a bit more power.

Anyway, this thing is cool whatever you do with it.

[mr_fish]

Pretty interesting, though not sure bombing it down the streets of a big city would be my cup of tea in the traffic these days. For a laugh around villages and quieter areas would be alright.

What is is the law on them in recent times? Still no licence/road tax/etc needed?

[Eeyore]

Pretty interesting, though not sure bombing it down the streets of a big city would be my cup of tea in the traffic these days. For a laugh around villages and quieter areas would be alright.

What is is the law on them in recent times? Still no licence/road tax/etc needed?

still classed as an electric bicycle! Limit of speed, motor power, and weight.

[procta]

how many are still about do you know? I think they were might have been binned off early in their lives due to the electrics been unreliable.

[Eeyore]

how many are still about do you know? I think they were might have been binned off early in their lives due to the electrics been unreliable.

so the forum and online shops like c5alive are closed and all products are out of stock. Facebook has replaced all of it, people reply within minutes with the correct info and if you need any parts you post what you want and all of those old shop sellers are on facebook and sell direct to you via chat or ebay. Works really nicely... but only because theyre all the same thing and because there is a small group of active people who are passionate about something... it wouldnt work for 306oc lets say. Its genuinely annoying to not have project threads and guides to look through. the only way is to ask the same questions over and over again for each new member.

[procta]

how many are still about do you know? I think they were might have been binned off early in their lives due to the electrics been unreliable.

so the forum and online shops like c5alive are closed and all products are out of stock. Facebook has replaced all of it, people reply within minutes with the correct info and if you need any parts you post what you want and all of those old shop sellers are on facebook and sell direct to you via chat or ebay. Works really nicely... but only because theyre all the same thing and because there is a small group of active people who are passionate about something... it wouldnt work for 306oc lets say. Its genuinely annoying to not have project threads and guides to look through. the only way is to ask the same questions over and over again for each new member.

Practical classics might be able to help you with info or links to owners clubs.

[Eeyore]

ive definitely found the right groups to be in. got all the spare parts and people who make custom parts and looms and even hold original spares including all the bearings which i havent been able to find anywhere else.

[procta]

ive definitely found the right groups to be in. got all the spare parts and people who make custom parts and looms and even hold original spares including all the bearings which i havent been able to find anywhere else.

That's fantastic that! I think they are worth a bit mind if they are restored too, from what I remember. Be a right head turner when you are sorted. hopefully it wont take long to get back up and running again.

[Eeyore]

ive definitely found the right groups to be in. got all the spare parts and people who make custom parts and looms and even hold original spares including all the bearings which i havent been able to find anywhere else.

That's fantastic that! I think they are worth a bit mind if they are restored too, from what I remember. Be a right head turner when you are sorted. hopefully it wont take long to get back up and running again.

should be up and running this weekend! Itll be the cleaning that will take the longest! Otherwise ill be out and hitting Woodbridge in it. Lots of downhills but unfortunately the uphills have lots of pubs on then so feel i may need to avoid the opportunity for people to jeer!

[Eeyore]

New motor/battery loom, new battery, new reflective tape, reflective yellow vinyl has all arrived! Hopefully it will be working at some point this weekend!

[procta]

good stuff! I wouldn't worry about people in pubs, they will like to see a piece of history on the road, in fact a few people will say, what the hell is that? After all this is a piece of the 80s!

[Eeyore]

so everything has arrived and the battery and new loom is all fitted. Only 4 bolts and 10 screws so really very easy. Ive done about 30 meters on it before it stopped working. For those first 30 meters it was amazing though. Surprisingly quick acceleration and feels fast enough for now!

Not sure whats happened to it but currently investigating. Battery level drops from 100 to 0 in about two minutes and then it beeps to say low battery. then the battery spikes to full and repeats. Double checked the wiring and its so simple i cant see anything wrong unless its one of the hidden away components.