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Old 06-06-2012, 05:18 PM   #50 (permalink)
Ryland
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
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honda cb125 - '74 Honda CB 125 S1
90 day: 79.71 mpg (US)

green wedge - '81 Commuter Vehicles Inc. Commuti-Car

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Quick update!
I have the battery box built, all of the tabs for bolting it to the frame are done, welded in place and drilled so it bolts to the frame in the same way as the stock gasoline engine did.

The battery box is designed to hold 6 6v Trojen T105 golf cart batteries, yesterday I spent the afternoon trying out routes for the battery cables, drilling holes and installing grommets to protect the cables from being cut on the steel of the battery box, I also found it to be a tight fit but that right under the electric motor there is just enough space for the Alltrax speed controller to live but that it was to tight of a fit to wire the speed controller to the closer set of lugs on the motor so I had to use 13" long 2/0 battery cables to connect the motor to the speed controller, I wanted to use the 9" battery cables but it would have been a mess to get fasteners on and the chance of something shifting slightly and shorting out increased.

One of the local parts stores sells 2/0 cables that are 9" 10" 13" and 15" longs, the type of cables that have a lug with a flat drilled end that gets bolted to a stud, because my battery rack is two layers of batteries the 15" cable was not long enough! so I ordered from McMaster Carr a 20" and a 30" cable, one to connect the upper bank to the lower bank and one cable to connect the upper bank to the speed controller.

I thought about ordering up bulk cable and crimp on ends then borrowing a crimper from a friend of mine but I wanted to see if I could do this with as many off the shelf parts as possible and while it's true that some auto part stores can make battery cables for you and most shops that service heavy trucks have crimping tools to make battery cables, I figure if I used parts that every auto part store would sell you along with some that you can easily order then I'd know it's possible to just put those battery cables on a shopping list with custom made cables being an alternative option.

Pretty much everything else looks like it will be able to be put on a shopping list as well! the battery box of course will have to be cut out of plate steel or aluminum and welded up, but once you have a pattern I think it could be done in a few hours or less!

As it is, because the speed controller is in the battery box next to the motor, I don't have to build any other brackets that bolt on to the frame of the motorcycle! this frame I've been using to test fit doesn't even have a title so I figure it will take about 3 hours for two people to swap everything over to a different motorcycle and have that motorcycle going down the road! I think there will even be space on the front of the battery box to bolt on the Noco charger (4 bank charger, good for 12, 24, 36 or 48v) so right now the only thing that is keeping this motorcycle off the road is the non working front brake, the flat rear tire and the battery cables that showed up on my door step 10 minutes ago! lucky for me my friends motorcycle shop is on the way to my parents house where this electric motorcycle project is taking place, so I'll pick up the rear tube and inquire about front brake parts!
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