Electric Motorcycle conversion

[coolfez]

so to know if a bike has a Double cradle frame which is best for a conversion in order to hold the battery, you can tell if it have two exhust pipes? One on each side?

Or am I wrong? Does anyone know a good motorcycle website where it list all the details of a bike, including older bikes ( in the late 1980's)


Thanks!!!

[bennelson]

I decided that I need to have some storage space available on the motorcycle.

The pizza rack is great for small, flat items, but what I really need to be able to carry is my laptop computer in briefcase, lunch, and usually a camera or other optical or electric things.

Things that I would rather not have in a small backpack or simply bungied down.

I stopped at a rummage sale today and saw a matching pair of old, hardtop suitcases. They are baby blue plastic with aluminum edging and keyed clasps. And they are just big enough for my computer bag.

I bought them ($4 each) with the idea of simply attaching them directly to the sides of the motorcycle for storage space.

Since they are just plastic, it would be easy to cut holes in the ends of the cases and add additional brake and turn signal lights.

I could maybe even set them up with a trailer plug to make it easy to do an electrical disconnect for taking the cases off.

Anybody know what type of paint will stick to old plastic baby-blue suitcases?

[bennelson]

Yesterday, I moved my rear turn signals.

They never were really in there right. When I got the cycle frame, the left turn signal was bent, and the right one was complety off.

I "fixed" the right one with some electrical tape and zip ties, but it was never as good as it should have been. The tab of the frame that it went into was bent as well.

I thought that if I could just have both turn signals stick into some sort of tube, where I could bolt them down, that would make it much nicer.

I also want to add cargo boxes to the cycle, and the turn signals would have gotten in the way of that.

I had a piece of scrap aluminum tube around. Didn't even cut it, close enough to the right size already. I drilled a hole in the side of it to run wiring through, and then drilled two holes with a #7 bit and tapped it with 1/4-20 threads, so I could run bolts through as big set-screws to pin the turn signals down - keep them from sliding or rotating in place. The 1/4-20 bolts I have are a little too long, but at least I didn't need an unneccesary ride to the hardware store!

I think the turn signals are much more visible now. When I flip the seat up, it exactly clears the left turn signal, and I haven't hit the turn signal bracket yet while throwing my leg over getting on or off the bike.

[MetroMPG]

I agree moving the signals further outboard makes them more visible. I never understood the Ninja 250 guys who deleted the signal stalks/pods and moved the bulbs inside the rear brake light assembly. (In Europe, the integral rear light assembly contained the both the center brake light and turn signals on each side of it. On my Ninja I did the opposite: retained the signal light stalks and added 2 more brake light bulbs in the empty center assembly signal sockets! They were red lenses.)

New question: mind me asking how much you pay for insurance and what your coverage is? I searched the thread & didn't find the answer.

[bennelson]

My insurance is $75 a year through Progressive.

It's all liability/medical - no money for replacing the bike if it gets wrecked.

I figure if that happens I would be happy just to walk away from it. If I can't walk away, I have bigger concerns than paying for the replacement cost of the cycle.

Even if the frame of the bike is wrecked, the motor and controller were half the cost of the whole thing, and both of those should both be prefectly fine even after a collision to reuse in another project.

[gunterhausfrau]

I've done quite a bit of digging, and likely I just missed this, but your bike was 36v right, then changed to 48? You said you have a generic 48v 4.5amp charger. I have been having trouble finding a 36v ~5amp charger, where did you find yours? My bike is getting done (very slowly) have 12-12v/14amp/hr batteries currently mounted (though that might drop to 9 depending on range) and don't like the idea of trying to charge all of them independently with a 12 volt charger. I've found lots of 30amp chargers, but they are overkill (not to mention way to big).
Thanks.

[bennelson]

Yep, the motorcycle started off as 36V and was then updated to 48V.

Electric scooter places will have 36V chargers. Do a web search for electric scooters and you should be able to find an on-line dealer that will sell them.

E-bay sellers have a lot of these too.

-Ben

[bennelson]

Here's a little article on the cycle over at Green By Day.


48 Volts of Happiness » Articles » GreenByDay.com

[gunterhausfrau]

what's the thinking about e-motorcycles in the rain? I'm in pacific northwest, and was thinking this would be a fair weather bike. But looking to see what others do/think on the subject. My electronics are more or less weather resistant, living under the seat, but batteries etc would be wide open. Thought about making some sort of case, but that brings up other questions. Just looking for thoughts/opinions.

[bennelson]

I am a wuss, and don't ride at night or in the rain.

I wouldn't leave the bike in the rain, more for protecting the seat, and preventing rust than anything.

An air-cooled motor spins, throwing water out the same way a lettuce centrifugal dryer does.

Most PWM controllers are epoxy sealed and batteries aren't too picky about rain. Rubber boots over the ends of the battery cables are always a good idea.



Here's my bike from the big energy fair this summer. Notice the ominous clouds in the background?

Ryland (guy with the solar shirt and green CommutaCar) went out for a ride on my cycle at the end of the day and got caught in a huge down-pour for 5 or ten minutes. No ill effects on the cycle, although Ryland seemed to enjoy the ride.