Rebuilding my EV Motorcycle

[Christ]

What is that fuel tank from?

[Nevyn]

Try some "Cameo" to clean up the rims and the rust on the chrome. It's a really, REALLY nice stainless/aluminum cleaner - for pots & pans! You'll find it (if you can get it) in a grocery store/supermarket with the dish soaps. It's a powder. Get the surface just a little wet, and tap some cameo onto it - you want it to be a paste. Rub with your choice of non-metallic abrasive pad (think the green scotch-brite ones or similar) and it'll shine up REAL fast.

[NHRABill]

For the wheels I would blast them and then either shoot a cheap enamel or send them to get powder coated. Bike parts are cheap and modding a new part gives ya that cool custom look I would definitely ditch the bars if I were you ...
But that is me I like the sporty look and run your wires through the bars to clean it up if you can...
A new seat is nice spend some time in choosing there are many stock seats you can have fro dirt cheap that can clean up your bike without having that 80's look

Last thing is Lights so many LED out there look through Motorcycle Parts & Accessories | J&P Cycles
for some cool options... Looking forward to seeing the end result

You have me so jealous right now I am finishing the house to sell and move so no more new projects for me just yet

[NHRABill]

forgot to mention a set of Air socks makes for a slick ride I have been looking to score a set soon and replace mine... If you go traditional and want shocks I will pass mine along only 5,000 miles on my ride....

Harley Bagger air shocks used most guys ditch and you can score a set for under $50 if you watch but you need to know the length you need

[bennelson]

More fun exciting news.

A couple of nights ago, I check out Craigslist in the MOTORCYCLES listing. The most recent post was for a 1981 KZ440. The same make, model, and year as my cycle!

I emailed the seller and made an appointment to come see it this afternoon.
Turns out it was the SAME guy as I bought my original frame from! He recognized me and said that he had gone to my web site a couple times to see what I did on my electric motorcycle.

I ended up buying the cycle for what I thought was a pretty good price. It works, but needs a little carb work.

My plan it to use it for reference for my upcoming BUILD YOUR OWN ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE instructional DVD. The fenders on my cycle are kinda rusty and some other parts are mis-matched. I want to swap out some parts for the video to make my electric motorcycle look as nice as possible.

After I am done with the electric motorcycle video, I'm not sure what I will do with the new gasser KZ440. I may keep it and use it as a commuter vehicle. I could also sell it easily for more than I bought it (especially once gas hits $5/gal.)

A friend of mine also pointed out that some guys in our local EV group have been interested in doing a motorcycle, so it might end up becoming EV motorcycle #2.

Anyways, here's that bike:


The other exciting thing is that I think FINALLY figured out the right way to mount the batteries in my EV cycle. Looking at the gas cycle got me thinking...

The components are kind of mounted in there like an "L", and on the EV cycle, that's what I need - a shape that gets around the space taken up by electric motor.

All that's required to do that IS TO STAND A BATTERY ON END! Why have I never thought of that before!?!?! It just dawned on me that these batteries can literally be mounted in any direction except upside down!



There's even a sticker on the one battery that the manufacturer intentionally puts on upside down! (And then there is fine print that says not to mount the batteries upside down, but they won't SPILL if they are upside down...)



I stacked the batteries in the new orientation. They take up less space side to side. They PERFECTLY clear the gas tank.
Here's a reverse angle, where the other pair of batteries will go, but you can see the first pair from the back.



And here's the best part: the batteries barely stick outside the frame at all!
Here's a front view.


It even leaves me a little bit more room to work with than I had before! This should work great for mounting the main contactor and controller - both were really cramped before!

Looks like the next step will be to take some measurements to design up a welded steel battery rack!!!

In the last couple of years, I have slowly been doing a little bit of welding and powder-coat painting. I think it's time for me to finally make something cool with it.

I'm planning on sandblasting and repainting the gas tank and powder-coating the battery rack. Should look awesome!