Hi all,
I've been working on the electric conversion of a dirt bike (Honda CRF450) for the last couple of years and have just returned from a really encouraging test trip in the Sahara where the bike performed well with good range and more than enough power (around 60kW) to tackle the big dunes.
After some further modifications (check out the
blog for details), I'm planning to take the bike on a new challenge to trace the 6,000km Dakar rally route in Argentina and Chile with the help of my brothers. We'll be recharging from a portable solar array packed on the bike so that the ride itself is essentially emission-free and more importantly not constrained to the next fuel stop!
Having proved out the bike itself, the next step is the tough part. The project has been self-funded so far (which I don't regret for a minute. It’s been a blast!) but the project's getting more serious now so we've kicked off a
crowd-funding campaign (check out the vids for a laugh
) as we need help so that we can make it to the starting line. This will fund the purchase of the 1.5kW solar array and a much-needed battery upgrade and then hopefully we'll be all set to start our expedition early next year (we're planning to set off in Feb/March).
My hope, if we're successful, is to give the EV's reputation a bit of a boost, and the expedition will also be a great opportunity to raise money for environmental charities (we've chosen Friends of the Earth and WWF). Any money that can be recouped from the bike and the kit purchased for the trip will also be donated.
It would be great to hear people's feedback and comments on the whole thing - there's certainly a lot of inspiring EV stories on this forum...
Also wanted to say a massive thanks to Darin (MetroMPG), one of the admins who’s kindly granted his permission for me to post on here.