Oregon commuter

[Electictracer]

Hi everyone. I’ve been a long time reader of the Ecomodder forums, but I just became a member and this is my first post. I’m starting a project which I think would interest the members of this forum.

I am a young electrician working on an electrical engineering degree. In about 2 years I’m going to be driving 80 miles round trip to a different university. My truck does not get good enough mileage for this long drive. My motorcycle is not much fun to drive in the dark, cold, and wet Oregon winters. My solution is to build a single seat, 250cc version of a Monotracer. I intend to have a heater, radio, comfortable seat, and storage area.



The Goal of the project is to build a vehicle that will achieve 100mpg, be under the gross vehicle weight of the donor bike with rider, and cost under $2000 to build.



I’m using a low millage 250cc Kawasaki Ninja for a donor. It had heavy body damage and needs some mechanical work, but has low mileage and only cost 500 dollars. The frame will be made from square steel tubing, and will be covered with aluminum sheet metal.



I would really like any input from you guys on my ideas, designs, and technical challenges. I intend on documenting my progress as regularly as I can.

[euromodder]

Good luck with the project !

[jkv357]

Just in case you haven't seen this -

Lit Motors' C-1 electric motorcycle will stand up for itself

Food for though...


Jay

[beatr911]

Electictracer, you seem to be chasing the holy grail of motorcycle mpg geeks. Actually it's not that far off to being accomplished. You are probably overthinking it a little with the full enclosure, not that that is bad, but simpler is better and probably cheaper.

Several people are getting near 100 mpg with ninja 250s with riding and gearing changes. Craig Vetter (craigvetter.com) is approaching his goals with the ninja now to see what can be accomplished with that bike. The CBR250R is better yet but not cheap - yet. Also, follow Low and Slow here and his build.

It looks like there is some fine tuning of the older Ninjas that really puts up good mileage numbers. Improving aerodynamics is the key to >100 mpg that also benefits rider comfort to a very high degree.

If you can find a way to easily and cheaply make a durable full enclosure we will honor you with heaps of praise and your patent infringement rights. Seems good, easy, slippery, DIY bodywork is a tough nut to crack. If you can demonstrate a better way, we (at least I) am all ears! There is surely a better way than what we've seen so far.

[Electictracer]

Originally Posted by beatr911

Electictracer, you seem to be chasing the holy grail of motorcycle mpg geeks. Actually it's not that far off to being accomplished. You are probably overthinking it a little with the full enclosure, not that that is bad, but simpler is better and probably cheaper.

Several people are getting near 100 mpg with ninja 250s with riding and gearing changes. Craig Vetter (craigvetter.com) is approaching his goals with the ninja now to see what can be accomplished with that bike. The CBR250R is better yet but not cheap - yet. Also, follow Low and Slow here and his build.

It looks like there is some fine tuning of the older Ninjas that really puts up good mileage numbers. Improving aerodynamics is the key to >100 mpg that also benefits rider comfort to a very high degree.

If you can find a way to easily and cheaply make a durable full enclosure we will honor you with heaps of praise and your patent infringement rights. Seems good, easy, slippery, DIY bodywork is a tough nut to crack. If you can demonstrate a better way, we (at least I) am all ears! There is surely a better way than what we've seen so far.

Thanks, I hope this project might in some way help peaple out with ideas, and they can help me with their ideas. I thought 100 mpg would be an attainable goal. The extra weight of the body will have a negative effect, but should offset these losses by reducing drag. Still I wonder how much I will be able to gear it up. Full enclosure is a decision I made for comfort over cost.

[redpoint5]

Commuting to OSU? - Traitor!

I'm just wondering how people deal with rain on a full enclosure. Cars have wipers that are fairly efficient at clearing the windshield, but I don't see how it can be accomplished very well on a full enclosure. I suppose the small swath the wiper clears in the picture above is sufficient?

100mpg seems like a sure thing to me. I'd be happy to see you progress!

[Grant-53]

There are plenty of good books on race car design that will be of use from Amazon.com and some sailplane ads will give you some good ideas.

[larrybuck]

Never discount the effectiveness of RainX, and anti fogging liquids meant for the inside of face shields.

We wish you well on your ambious project!

PS. Corvallis is a great town! Happy for the Rose Bowl, but prefer OSU because its
NOT known as a party school!

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by larrybuck

Corvallis is a great town! Happy for the Rose Bowl, but prefer OSU because its NOT known as a party school!

As a younger lad I've probably been to more parties in C-town than anyone that did not attend school there. I beg to contest the not a party school claim. Quite a well developed Greek row there.

[Electictracer]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Commuting to OSU? - Traitor!

Yea, a duck in the beaver den. At 26, and having a job I'm to old for the party scene, or at least to busy to concerned about it.

As for the windshield, I debated about this for awhile. I was thinking about just keeping a liberal amount of Rain-x on it but I think that would be a problem at town speeds. So one more electrical load on an already taxed electrical system. (windshield wipers)