<$1k DIY Neighborhood Electric Motorcycle - Page 5 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

james1300 · 03-03-2009, 05:07 PM

Have you considered 'Street' tires, instead of the 'dual sport' tires?
Im thinking less weight and less rotating mass to get started.

This is a Great project!

nubie · 03-03-2009, 09:54 PM

Wow.

I like the lightweight approach (and the "electric bike" loophole

)

captainslug · 03-04-2009, 02:50 PM

Work started on the gas tank.

Quote:

Originally Posted by james1300

Have you considered 'Street' tires, instead of the 'dual sport' tires?

No, I need some off-road traction because I frequently have to ride over mud,
dirt, loose gravel, and creeks when needed.

MazdaMatt · 03-04-2009, 02:53 PM

have you considered 2wd? i can't imagine how that would feel to ride...

captainslug · 03-04-2009, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MazdaMatt

have you considered 2wd?

For 2 minutes. Then I realized the handling would be kind of weird above 15mph unless the front wheel was on a separate throttle.
It would improve acceleration, but it wouldn't extend my range as much as just doubling up the battery set would (20% increase versus an 80% increase).

MazdaMatt · 03-04-2009, 03:31 PM

nothing stopping you from doing both 2wd and battery upgrades... you could go to two slightly smaller motors instead of one in the back. I would expect that your ability to go through gravel and muddy hills would be greatly improved. There are definately 2wd electric bikes out there... google reveals many. Obviously up to you, but i don't think that there is anything other than workload, cost and complexity to stop you.

MazdaMatt · 03-05-2009, 09:23 AM

Motorcycles Gain Traction with New 2WD System : Industrial Market Trends

Link to a bike that was done with hydraulic 2wd. Apparently the front wheels power is only about 5% of rear wheel power, but they found a notable difference in laptimes around a wet or sandy course. They say there is increased corner exit traction and better stability at high speed. Come on... you know you waaaaaana

captainslug · 03-05-2009, 02:36 PM

I'll think about it later when I upgrade to a much larger battery pack. The front wheel could have a tiny 250w hub motor on a thumb throttle.

Modified some of my old junk heatsinks to be used with the DC-DC converters.

MazdaMatt · 03-05-2009, 03:42 PM

That's the beauty of hub motors, isn't it... you can always just slap another one on the bike and you're 2wd'ing. Can you wire two motors of different size in parallel? I'd think you'd want to control them with the same throttle... okay, nevermind the speculating, you've got enough work on your hands.

captainslug · 03-05-2009, 07:49 PM

CAD concept for the brake light and turn signals