Turbo charged scooter?

[elhigh]

I read about a guy on Jalopnik who rode a Grom from Portland to Anchorage, I don't know if that's a greater condemnation of his decision-making skills or a higher endorsement of the Grom's capability. It's a nice little bike, operative word being little. I think it'll get you anywhere eventually, your greatest consideration being that you shouldn't be in a hurry.

RE: potential top speed with 125cc, that's a tough call but this guy: 214 mpg with DIY aerodynamic fairings on a Honda 125cc motorbike got a 125cc PCX to boost from 56mph to nearly 70mph before he even got around to adding slick bodywork or taller gears. All he did was convert it to a feet-forward seating profile for radical frontal area reduction.

[Isaac Zackary]

Ok. So here's what I'm thinking. Most of my driving is around town (35mph tops). I have to take in consideration something my wife would like too. That points to a scooter, even a 50cc scooter. But occasionally I'd like to go out of town on it, down to the city. So that would point to a bigger bike. The PCX 150 seems to be middle ground. Once I make it over the mountain as long as it does 60mph on the flats I'm fine with it. If it seems a bit under powered then instead of a turbo I'm thinking more along the lines of an electric pusher trailer with about a 5kW motor and light weight 20Ah lifepo4 batteries.

[Grant-53]

The idea of a boost motor or engine may be the ticket for the mountains. It works for trains adding engines to match the mass and incline needs. An electric motor and battery pack will likely weigh twice what a second engine would. The other question is how effective will the batteries be in cooler weather. The hitch would need to be twin spars attached to both sides of the rear axle or frame to prevent a jack knife. A trailer would be handy on longer trips. A series hybrid trailer would be a great range extender as well as a portable generator. Another option is to mount a second small engine on the front wheel. Throttle controls might take a bit of engineering.

[Isaac Zackary]

I've also considered putting the second motor on the bike, perhaps on the front wheel.

The 5kW BLDC motor from Golden Motors looks about right. Along with A123 20AH cells in a 96V configuration perhaps? I'd only need like 10 or 15 minutes of juice. An electric could recharge and help brake on the way back down too.

[Isaac Zackary]

Originally Posted by Grant-53

An electric motor and battery pack will likely weigh twice what a second engine would.

So a 5kW Golden Motor (11kg) + 30 x A123 20Ah pouch cells (.5kg or 15kg total) + the 2.5kg controller = 28.5kg or 63lbs.

6.5 212cc engine from Harbor Freight weighs 38lbs or 17kg.

So yes, the electric will weigh about twice or not quite twice as much.

[93hatchDX]

Oh, you were saying that you don't feel a scooter can manage the altitude/inclines in CO ?

All I know of it is "CDwise" on the ADV forum. She owns 3 different scooters. 1. sportcity250 2. vespa 250 3. genuine buddy(iirc) She doesn't mention any issues cruising around. I'd say just grab a nice quality 150cc and start riding.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Even if you're ultimately going to follow the hybrid approach with a front wheel-mounted hub-motor, I still believe fitting some forced induction setup to the internal-combustion engine is not a bad idea at all.

[Grant-53]

Got a gas powered leaf blower handy?

[Isaac Zackary]

Originally Posted by Grant-53

Got a gas powered leaf blower handy?

No. Why?

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

He's probably suggesting you to work around a leaf blower, and repurpose it to work as a supercharger...

Anyway, some folks in my country have managed to turbocharge 125cc motorcycles successfully.

This setup was installed in a Yamaha YBR 125.