EV motorcycles!

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

So, I have noticed an increasing frequency of electric motorcycle conversions online, and I must say that I am interested! These guys claim to have built their complete conversions for as little as $1000, and the cost to recharge them roughly correlates to getting 300 to 400 mpg . Top speeds have been reported upwards of 70mph, though range is deep in the low end of the spectrum (~25mi) for those using a few standard AGM batteries. If I had a spare frame and extra money I would definitely make one of these! (It would also pay for itself after driving only 7.74mi per dollar invested)

 

[drewpy]

I post an xs400 electric bike I found on t'internet.

 

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

Thanks, Drewpy! I don't know how I missed that, but if anyone else is interested the original article is definitely worth the read. It also gives me a few ideas...

 

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

So I was playing around with some numbers, trying to figure out how things would work from a mechanical perspective. I think I ended up with realistic figures for the two forces slowing the bike down (all figures are in SI units, since they are easiest to calculate):

I'm not really sure how accurate they are, since I don't know enough about fluid dynamics to estimate the bike's cross section or correct for it's shape. It probably doesn't make a lot of difference considering the speed of the motor has a larger limiting effect on the performance. I even made some awesome 3d plots to show the entire realm of possible operation! (They needed to be doctored a little to hide some of the rounding errors) I was not expecting the torque ratio to have such a big impact, and it seems like a conversion would require a fairly unique gearbox to accommodate a similar performance range. Maybe this could be a future project, I'm probably just greedy from getting to ride so many different bikes in my first year of riding

 

[corruptmind]

I've actually have had an electric bike planned for sometime, when I run into a cb for cheap that isn't rusted solid the projct will begin.

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