would you buy an Electric motorcycle kit.

[order99]

Wait-golf cart motors can reach 40-50 HP? I had heard a peak of 6HP or less but i'd love to be wrong...

Does this mean you could actually use one in a subcompact car with the appropriate cooling or is there still a torque issue? The only motors I can afford so far go for $10 at the salvage yards and are half the size of a soda can, so needless to say i'm interested in powerful cheap motors, the cheaper and stronger the better!

[Ryland]

The golf cart motor in my electric car is rated at 6hp continues and while watching the watt meter on my paktrakr gauge, I've seen the watt draw of the motor peek at over 37,000 watts, that was from a near dead stop and braking the tires loose on dry pavement, doing that kind of thing also is how I've melted battery posts, vaporized the leads coming off the brushes and broke the leaf springs on the rear axle, it is also a good way to get the motor to kick out some heat on a cold morning and this was done with a fan cooling the motor.

Originally Posted by order99

Wait-golf cart motors can reach 40-50 HP? I had heard a peak of 6HP or less but i'd love to be wrong...

Does this mean you could actually use one in a subcompact car with the appropriate cooling or is there still a torque issue? The only motors I can afford so far go for $10 at the salvage yards and are half the size of a soda can, so needless to say i'm interested in powerful cheap motors, the cheaper and stronger the better!

[Ryland]

Two weeks ago I picked up the bike this motorcycle is going to be based off, I haven't started taking it appart yet as it's still sitting out side down hill from the barn.
Today I called up a shop that is about 40 miles from me to ask what they have for 19 spline motors, as that is what I plan to use for this project, some older golf carts use 10 spline motors and Club car still uses them but there are fewer upgrade options, well it turns out they have 6 or so good used EZ-Go series wound motors for $200 (twice what I hoped they would cost based off looking on Ebay, but no shipping like Ebay!) each from 2004-2006 EZ-Go carts that were changed to hunting carts, they also have matching controllers, new and used for sale as well.
Found a YouTube video on making the 19 spline shaft for go-karts that use golf cart motors, my brother who is going to school to be a machinist said it should be easy to make.
So far I haven't found any reasons that this project will not work out perfectly.
Should I start a separate build thread?

[Ryland]

Yes, gas motorcycles tend to get 50+ mpg, I think the one I'm basing this bike off got 60 if I'm not mistaken, so better then the average car.
I buy wind sourced electricity and plan to put solar on my house, I charge my EV's with solar and wind at my parents house when I stop there, it's pretty easy to make electricity, it's hard to make gas, even alcohol is hard, expensive and takes alot of space and energy to make.
But that is getting off topic.
My plan is to use as many used parts as possible, that is why I nixed the idea of forklift motors, there are so many kinds of electric fork lifts out there that finding a standard would be hard, so a motorcycle would end up being one of a kind, my plan is pick a common older motorcycle that has common engine issues that I can buy cheap ($100), buy a common golf cart motor that is used that came off a golf cart that got an upgraded motor so it could go off road (hunting cart) start out with a used controller and charger, then I'm left with making the motor adapter, the battery rack and wiring it all together, batteries will be new as well, but those are made out of materials that are 99% recyclable.

[gonepch]

If you provide the exotic bits like the necessary end bell and bearings. Yes I am interested.

[Ryland]

Originally Posted by pchast

If you provide the exotic bits like the necessary end bell and bearings. Yes I am interested.

So I should be asking, how much you would be willing to pay? My goal is to have the whole motor set up be cheaper then just buying a Perm PMG 132 as those tend to cost $1,000 just for a motor, you still have to figure out how to make it fit the bike, I think I'm down to 4 parts to make it so you can bolt a golf cart motor to the motorcycle frame, with 4 bolts at this time that hold it to the frame and 4 bolts that hold the motor to the adapter, plus the battery rack, but that could be welded angle iron and is bulky, not something you want to ship.

[gonepch]

Well, I think You need to quantify what you are supplying first... Do you include the motor and what level, The controller? How much support are you willing to provide for the testing. Or do you just want to provide the End bell and motor mount.... that's a wide range of value. Are they all used recovered parts or is there any warranty on some of them?

You have done a bunch of testing and engineering of parts and I would be willing to pay somewhat more for your work because of that.

I haven't done this before. Its been on my bucket list but I don't know if I should even attempt it.

I use my Motorcycle for short trips and would love to get away from gas and carbs. I would need 20 mile range and 50 - 55 mph capability for 5 miles of that as I live on a main highway. I would need to be able to complete a usable unit for under $2000 parts total to even consider the attempt it in my current financial position. I am capable of wiring and light welding.

I want to check with NYS motor vehicle this week on how to register something like this. So far its been all thought and planning/dreaming.

[Bicycle Bob]

I'm only interested in streamlined vehicles, and seldom drive for less than an hour or so at a time.

[Ryland]

The golf cart motor I'm using for my mock up is pretty standard and can be bought used for $100-200 from local golf cart shops, if you want you can also get the same type of motor off Ebay, but shipping tends to be around $100 on top of the $100-200 purchase price, that is why I want to do a kit that is based off common parts that anyone can pick up locally, why would you buy off the shelf parts from me? same with the batteries and controllers, they are all off the shelf parts that you can buy new or used from a golf cart shop, I plan to start out with my bike using the low priced good quality used parts to get an idea of what the performance would be on a budget build, but by removing 4 bolts and 4 wires you can swap the motor out, replace it with a 72 volt 15hp motor if you want, or a 3 phase brushless motor, with a design that is designed to use golf cart parts you have alot of options, but if you really want I can go to my local golf cart shop, buy a motor, mail it to you, charge you for my time, shipping cost and the cost of the motor, but what I would rather do is give you a long list of common motors that will work with the adapter plates I am trying to make.
If this works out like I hope it does, I want to make a motor end plate/end bell that bolts directly on to the motorcycle frame, with bearings and a shaft that fits between the motorcycle and the motor, it would have the 19 spline shaft on one end, that fits the electric motor in the same way that the golf cart axle did and the other end of the shaft is cut with 22 splines like the gas engine that was pulled out has, so to put this all together you just pull the engine (just over an hour with two people) fit the new 22 spline shaft in to where the gas engines splined shaft connected to the rear swing arm, reinstall the bolts that held the rear of the engine to the frame, then take the golf cart motor and slide that on to it's mating shaft, install 4 more bolts and the motor is bolted on without having done any cutting or welding and with a motor that is designed to move a vehicle, it also leaves the engine 100% intact, encase it's still good and you want to sell it or have other plans for it.
The electric motorcycle "kits" I've seen so far are mostly a motor and controller, they don't tell you what motorcycles it will fit or give you any of the other odd handmade parts you are going to need, they seem to figure "someone else figured this out so here, buy our parts and you can start from scratch just like they did!" I would rather someone say "this motor fits that motorcycle frame with this part" not that it might fit, or it could fit, but that it does and here's a shopping list just bolt it together.

Originally Posted by pchast

Well, I think You need to quantify what you are supplying first... Do you include the motor and what level, The controller? How much support are you willing to provide for the testing. Or do you just want to provide the End bell and motor mount.... that's a wide range of value. Are they all used recovered parts or is there any warranty on some of them?

[chaster]

If you're going to offer a kit to convert motorcycles, it needs to fit as many different motorcycles as possible and make the conversion as easy as possible. The best way to do that (IMHO) is to offer a hub motor, like enertrac does:

EnerTrac

Once you go with a hub motor, then most of the mechanical headaches of mounting a motor and matching the chain drive go away. It just becomes a question of where to put the batteries and the controller/bms. Perhaps you could look into doing a kit based off the enertrac? (buy them in quantity perhaps from the builder at a discount, and then package them up with the rest of the necessary components at a price around $2k... seems somewhat possible...)

Eric