El Gixxer Project

One Last Ride

2011-10-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

Due to public demand (OK, only two people asked), a quick riding video. This sequence shows the start-up and take off procedure. Turn the volume up if you want to hear the sound effects (or lack of it).

It's probably the last ride of the year, with the weather getting cold. Since getting the bike licensed this summer, I put about 550 miles on it, and I've sure enjoyed being back in the saddle on a regular basis.

Not riding sure is going to make for a long winter, but hopefully I will be able to use the time to get some details finished on the bike.

First Day of School

2011-07-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

Time sure flies when you are getting old. Seems like only yesterday, I brought my little Gixxer home from the orphanage. After almost three years of bottle feeding and caring, he's ready to brave the world beyond his playpen in the garage.

Dressed in his new school clothes

Here he is playing with other moto-kids on the play ground. Seems to be fitting in with the others, but still I worry.

Assembling and Installing the New Pack

2011-07-11T06:56:00.000-07:00

Transferring the cells from the old holders to the new Cell Frame. The rubber mallet is to disassmbled the old holders. The batteries slipped right into the new holders without forcing them.

I decided to put all the cells in parallel and apply a very gradual charge to equalize the pack. They sat connected to a 1A charger for almost a week. Voltage rose by only a couple of hundredths (3.27 to 3.30), but now I know the cells are all balanced.

Cells assembled into the frame in a 2P25S arrangement. I used a stainless threaded rod (4 places), with Allen Nuts on either end to keep the frame tight against the cells.

Time to strart making busbars. I used 1/8" x 3/4" Aluminum flat stock. Cut, scribe, punch, pilot drill, drill, chamfer, file. Repeat 40 or so times.

Getting there - lots of fasteners to install

Pack is finally assembled. Entire thing weighs in at 62.74 lbs.

It was a very tight fit to get the pack installed into the bike. But it looks awesome.

3D Reality

2011-06-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

It turns out my Cell Frame was a little too big to fit in the 3D Printer. I tried a variety of configurations, and some were very functional but I wasn't happy with the look. So I ended up chopping a little material on the outer edges and decided that I could add a Lexan cover if needed. I think the effect with the cells in place will be pretty cool.

A little hard to see in this picture, but the print head looks like it came from an InkJet printer.

The process is time intensive as the display shows: 69.29 hours to do two copies.

Visions of Battery Holders

2011-02-14T12:40:00.000-08:00

I've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about how to hold my Headway batteries in place. The lego style holders I purchased with the batteries are fine for testing various configurations, but not super sturdy for long term use. Additionally they are a little ugly and yellow does not match my color scheme.

My first though was to machine a thick plate of Plexiglass. Unfortunately, with each additional feature I machine, the odds of botching it go up exponentionally. 50 holes, 50 counterbores, multiple slots.... do the math. Not great odds of success.

Enter in Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), more commonly referred to as "3D Printing". Essentially slicing a model into very thin layers and printing the plastic one layer at a time. The great thing about FDM is that the part is very functional, yielding almost full strength compared to a molded part. The downside to the process is that surface finish can be a little rough, but that is not critical for my application. The other stumbling block is that you need to have access to a fairly expensive FDM machine, or know somebody who does.

The design phase of this model is almost complete. The front side has the counter-bores for the battery diameter, but the back side is the tricky part. I've made it thick enough to give some protection from accidental contact with terminal plates and electrically live fasteners. The horizontal bars almost give the visual effect of a radiator, which I kinda like. The real thing will be black PC-ABS, so should look like sweet pieces of hardware.

Headway Pack 2.0

2011-01-17T20:05:00.000-08:00

Upon receipt of my second set of 25 Headway 40160s cells, I immediately began to conjure up way to configure them in the bike. My first plan was for two sub-blocks of cells (5x5) and have the batteries sit length-wise across the width of the tray. In theory the cells would fit, but I failed to account for the screws & washers on the ends of the batteries. The two sub-packs would be 1/2" too wide. Oops, back to the drawing board.

After a some playing around I came up with this arrangement. It's not ideal, but it's unique looking, fits the alloted space and there are some advantages to the layout.

There is just enough room on front/back of the pack to allow my hand in for taking voltage readings. I also have enough room to add a cover/shield to prevent curious fingers from getting shocked. This is probably not the final pack hardware, but will definitely work for the short term.

Holiday Inn

2010-12-29T20:24:00.000-08:00

Time seems to be a rare commodity lately. I had to cover up El Gixxer for the winter to keep the other garage projects from contaminating the old boy. A sad state of affairs. Prior to my Winter break I had the 25 Headway cells installed and did a series of test rides to see how they faired. To say I'm impressed is a gross understatement. 25 of these 16AH batteries are 50 lbs. lighter than the 17AH lead units they replaced, but put out way more juice.

Not wanting to damage the cells, I needed to keep my current draw under 10C (160 Amps). I borrowed a clamp meter and did some riding to calibrate my wrist. Turns out 150 Amps accelerates the bike pretty well, and maintaining the top speed of 48mph only takes about 50-60 Amps. I started out at 5.0 miles, and worked my way up 10.2 miles on the last trip, which happens to be 0.2 miles longer than my round trip commute. With the average voltage of the cells starting at 3.40 I finished at at average voltage of 3.24. Plenty of juice to get to work and back. But having spent all funding on batteries, I was out of cash to finish up the 12V wiring.

Bummed I couldn't be legally on the road, I turned my attention to charging and monitoring voltages. My plan was to use the Headway 72V charger (which charges to 86V) on the 25 cells without BMS. By using 25 cells instead of the usual 24 cells, they are less likely to be overcharged. With 25 cells in the pack, the average charged cell is 3.42V, which is just about right, since there is very little capacity above 3.45V. Some of the cells were noticeably higher, between 3.50 and 3.8V, and some were lower at 3.32 to 3.34. I made some attempt to top balance, by draining a few of the highest ones with a small light bulb. But every time I ran them through a discharge/charge cycle, they were out of balance again. I kinda see the need for a BMS, but still think the safest route is to under-charge and under-discharge.

The only thing I wanted for Christmas was another set of Headway 40160S cells and Santa sure delivered.

Next step is to build up my 2P25S pack of 50 cells and turn up the Amps.

From the Ashes...

2010-09-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

With a bunch of burned out chargers and smoked battery, things were not looking so good. I contemplated buying replacement chargers or more of the Battery Tenders, but that would mean buying a battery or two. Unfortunately, I could not justify $2000+ for Thundersky or CALB units, and even if I could, what would I charge them with?

Epiphany: If I use a cylindrical cells, I can put together a modular pack that will handle my daily commute with a lower initial cost. I may need to charge at work, and watch my Amps carefully, but at least I will be on the road. As funds allow, I can add more batteries. Sure, the $/AH will be higher, but if my goal is decent acceleration and a 10.0 mile round trip, this really makes sense.

Big Break #1: One of the guys on ElMoto.Net was selling a 72V charger made for Headway batteries. It was a bargain so I jumped at it, thinking it could be used for any LiFePO4, and even temporarily for SLA's, if I stay that route a little longer.

Big Break #2: Headway comes out with a new bigger cells (40160S). These 16AH cylindrical cells will do 5C continuously and 10C for 30 seconds.

Big Break #3: Manzanita Micro starts carrying Headway cells. A reputable US based supplier is critical. They are a long time player in the EV industry and have a terrific reputation for service.

So I dropped a small fortune on 25 cells, bus bars and holders. Only problem now is all the empty space that is left.

Up In Smoke

2010-09-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

Last month, after a test run on a fairly hot day, I plugged in my bank of ACI chargers and left them to do their job. I returned a few hours later and noticed flashing red LEDs. As I got closer I could see some severe distortion of the charger cases.

Crud!

All of the chargers had blown thier fuses, and three of the six had significant heat damage. I tried replacing the fuses but the damaged ones still did not function. A quick disection reveals the transistors smoked themselves - note the burn marks on the heat sink.

I'm no longer a fan of the ACI chargers. In fact I was pretty upset at ACI for building such a crummy product, for a while. But you get what you pay for and they are cheap.

The bigger question was what am I supposed to charge my SLA's with? I proceeded to plug in Ole' Reliable: my Deltran Battery Tender Plus. The Battery Tender only charges at 1.25A, so it's slow and I could only charge one battery at a time.

The other question, is are the batteries still any good? After two days on the charger, the 17AH batteries seemed to be holdin a charge OK and voltages looked almost normal, but two were slightly lower than the others. Suspect cells were at 12.7V and 12.9V vs. 13.1-13.3V for the others.

A trip down the street and back, the bike seemed to run fine. Then I took El Gixxer around the block a few times and the batteries started to feel sluggish - so I gave the throttle a little more wrist. Oops! A high pitched squeal pierced the air - I thought it was a controller alarm, so I let off the throttle and the sound went away. Then I heard a sound like a pressure cooker belching steam and looked down to see the #5 cell spewing gas only inches from my knee. The controller went into Limp mode and I barely made it back to the garage.

Double-Crud!!

Back in Black

2010-07-02T10:24:00.000-07:00

I've been risking life and limb with every test ride, due the fact that my rear tire is beyond bald. There was significant amount of cord showing (check out the cross section). So for Father's day my lovely wife gave me a new rear skin (OK I did the shopping). In addition to the useless rubber, the rear rim is blessed with fluouresent green and purple showing through the two layers of poorly applied flat black Might as well pull the tire and clean up the rim. Check out the edge of the rim for the previous color samples.

It was a total pain to clean and sand, thanks to massive amounts of chain lube and globs of paint. I think the last coat of black was rolled on. I also had to clean up the gouged edges of the rim where somebody had ridden the bike on it's side. Honestly it's still not that great, but is a whole lot better.

Here it is with the new tire, a sport-touring dual compound that will last a little longer with my mild riding habits. Nice to have some tread to use.

DIY tail

2010-06-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

I really would like to put an AirTech fiberglass tailsection on the bike, but the budget continues to be tight, so we continue with the "use what ya got" theme. I dug up some acrylic sheet, and glued a paper version of the sheetmetal pattern I've been working on for the tailsection. I used a 3/4" bar and a small torch to form the bends on the rough blank. I then took the dremel tool to finish cutting the pattern.

A quick shot of primer, wentsand, a layer of Rustoleum. Viola, a tail is born. Just don't look too close.

No longer Flying Blind (sort of...)

2010-06-07T13:57:00.000-07:00

For some reason, after putting a guard on the left side of the Upper Battery Tray, I felt the compelled to make an identical piece for the right sided of the bike, even though it serves no functional purpose. Still looks better, and more importantly is more symmetrical (OCD issues).

Up until this point, a test ride was an excercise in guesswork. My speedo didn't work and I had no way to measure anything except with my multimeter. The speedo cable I got with the bike was the wrong one, so I reluctantly ordered one from an eBay retailer. 13.95+shipping and now I can see my speed tops out at 43mph (very close to what I geared for).

I also wanted to know Voltage at any given instant, so I can see how much the batteries are sagging under load. One of my ELMOTO.NET brothers was selling a cheap voltage panel menter, so I went for it. Unfortunately, I may have it hooked up wrong, because as soon as I use any juice, the voltage display varies wildly, and shows negative values often. Seems to work fine at static readings. I will hold off making a permanent bracket until I figure it out.

I'm still shopping eBay for an analog current gage that will fit in my Tach location. The hard part is finding one that looks right with a black face and white graphics.

Earth Day

2010-04-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

I spent Earth Day at the local Community College displaying El Gixxer along with some other EV's. Although I'm not a terribly social person, it was cool to hang out with the other local EVer's. When we weren't answering questions from the casual observer, we were busy comparing notes on our projects.
This video doesn't have much of the EV's in it, but I neglected to take any pictures (doh!), so I can only blame myself.
Earth Day Video

The Earth Day experience has inspired met get this thing road-worthy. I need to start securing the batteries in the racks so they don't shift around. First on the list is a Guard for the left side of the Upper Battery Tray - to keep the batteries from falling out.

The removable Guard is necessary for battery maintenance. A simple piece made from 3/16 sheet aluminum, and of course cut with the plasma cutter. The Guard mimics the geometry of the tray, but extends the left side of the tray high enough to prevent shifting of the power pack.

Performance Corrections & Wiring Cleanup

2010-04-04T03:51:00.000-07:00

I was so enamored by the fact that my creation actually worked, it completely escaped me that it wasn't working as planned. The acceleration and range were on par with a toy. I initially suspected the batteries weren't capable of generating the amps needed. A quick visit to the B-B Battery site shows these 17AH units can do 299A for up to 5 seconds. Pack voltage seemed plenty high after charging: 78.2V

I knew that any one of the components with temporary connections could be suspect. First on the list to correct was the main battery disconnect. Gone is the 30A breaker zip-tied to the wiring panel. In its place is a real battery disconnect switch, mounted in a new aluminum bracket behind the battery tray. Since I don't need access to the wiring panel to flip the power on, I could now ride with the tank on.

I also needed to mount the 400A fuse, rather than suspend it off the contactor terminal. I know there are mounting blocks for these fuses, but why not take advantage of the acrylic wiring panel, and save myself $20. Looks cooler too.

Subsequent test rides still showed something not quite right. Three trips down the street and back later, the bike would barely limp up the driveway, but the pack voltage was still 74V. The best thing I could think of was to pull some data from the controller while riding. This would also give me a chance to tweak the controller settings. Upon connecting the controller to the software, my neglect was evident. The "Under Voltage" slider was was maxxed out, essentially cripling the controller immediately. By hitting the "Defaults" button, reasonable starting values were inserted, but I upped the top speed and Max Output Curent a little just to be safe.

Acceleration is much better and the controller logs show almost 180A. I will need to get some lights wired up ASAP so I can test the range.

Starting to feel like a real motorycyle.

Frankenstein Rides Again

2010-03-13T19:20:00.000-08:00

Technically, I've got dozens of things to finish up before El Gixxer is road worthy, but I just can't wait. In EV Motorcycle lingo the first ride has been coined "Frankenstein Mode". Components are are jury rigged and zip tied just good enough to get you down the block. It's not pretty but it works.

Acceleration with my 17AH battery pack is pathetic, and top speed seems to be about 20MPH. Nevertheless, it was just as thrilling as hitting triple digits on any other bike.

After four trips down my street and back (probably 1.5 miles total) the batteries were definately done, but it was enough to put that mile-wide EV grin on my face.

It's Alive

2010-03-12T11:01:00.000-08:00

An early morning wiring session got me to the point where I need to fire it up. I connected the negative side of the battery pack for the first time, and cautiously flipped the breaker: No smoke.

The Alltrax had the the LED indicating green, but when I twisted the throttle gently nothing happened. Fully opening the throttle turned the LED red. Panic!

I then realized I hadn't engaged the contactor. A flip of the switch and the contactor clicked closed. Now the rear wheel spins happily in response to my twisting wrist.

Cue Oingo Boingo's song "Weird Science"

Burn Notice

2010-03-04T22:13:00.000-08:00

Seems like every EV project has one of these episodes. I thought I was being real careful with my connections. But my grip on a connecting cable slipped and the end of it managed to contact the wrong spot. It immidiately lit up a bright-white arc and proceeded to burn anything close for a fraction of a second.

The damage to the terminal and the nearby finger were minor. But I think another helping of caution pie will do me some good.

Vanity and Power

2010-03-01T20:47:00.000-08:00

As is often the case with a well used bike, many pieces are not quite original or altogether missing. Such was the case for my mirrors: missing in action. Truth be told, I never liked the the Gixxer stock mirrors from the 80's and early 90's. I went searching for something a little more fashionable. I found this "blingin" set for a reasonable price at RoaringToyz.com. The chrome is a little over the top, but matches the fasteners I've been putting on the body work. I'm fairly sure my kids are horrified by my sense (or lack) of style.

I started playing with the battery layout. The six 17AH units fit with room to spare in the upper battery tray. The maze of wires is starting to hit home.

The "dedicated charger for each battery" scheme has one serious drawback - cable management. Where am I supposed to stuff these things?

A Place To Call Home

2010-02-28T12:47:00.000-08:00

My AllTrax controller got booted from its home when I mounted the upper battery tray. So it was high time to re-locate the controller, and a provide some mounting surfaces for the other electrical components.

I really liked the previous location under the tank. Because it was toward the rear of the steel tank, it shielded the rider from a meltdown. So my plan is basically put it in the same place, but a little higher to clear the battery tray fasteners.

I found a cool piece of 3/8" thick acrylic in a salvage pile. It had several holes cut into it, probably to hold or display something. Perfect for mounting the electrical components, however, not strong enough to hold the controller. But it was so cool looking, so I had to use it.

I trimmed the Acrylic to fit the front 3/4 of the frame opening. Conveniently a couple of threaded inserts were already located on the front edge (formerly for some rubber pads to support the tank). I drilled and tapped a few more spots on the frame rail to finish securing the piece.

I trimmed a scrap of 3/8" aluminum plate(leftover from my motor mounts) to span the frame rails and support the controller. Some creative filing and grinding was required to work around the welds. A few drilled and tapped holes later, the controller is mounted.

I even had a little time to mount the Contactor and do a little wiring. The precharge resistor and main fuse are mounted directly to the contactor. Color coding the high-current wires (#2 gauge welding cable), keeps me from getting my wires crossed.

NOTE: much of this wiring layout is only temporary to shakedown the powertrain.

Lost in the Electric Forest

2010-02-18T10:41:00.000-08:00

I've been stalled for a while, primarily because I'm not sure of my direction to take with the batteries and chargers. I follow the Yahoo Thundersky group, and it seems the more I read, the dumber I become. I know that Lithum Batteries are a must, but the lack of reliable chargers and management systems make me very nervous. It's bad enough the only way to get lithium batteries is from china, so I hate to source a charger the same way. I placed inquiries with Schumacher and Deltran and neither has a product for charging Lithium chemistry.

The old saying goes: "hard to see the forest for the trees" (or something like that). It's now clear to me that I'm getting bogged down in details but not making any progress. So, I'm going to focus on getting things running without wasting too much money. (wait have I said that before?)

I have these B&B 17AH SLA batteries sitting in my garage, salvaged from a Data Center UPS. From the start, I've wanted to use them to get educated and test things out, but hadn't figured out the charging method that would worlk for them and Lithum. Occasionally I hook them up to my Battery Tender Plus, to keep them in shape, but there is no way I'm putting six of those on the bike, just for short term use. Fortunately, one of my brethren on El Moto was selling six of the ACI SuperChargers at a reasonable price.

After getting the chargers, I plugged them all in to make sure they are charging properly. Now I'm taking turns connecting one of the Gixxer's headlamps to each battery for about 30 minutes, then connecting the charger and a volt meter to observe the charging cycle.

Tres Chic

2009-11-08T07:34:00.000-08:00

The rear support for the Upper Battery Tray is done. It joins the rear of the tray to a rectangular cross piece that ties the frame rails together. The piece required about 105 degrees of bend, which my tooling is not able to do, so I had to fudge the last 20 degrees. You can see where it doesn't sit flat along the cross piece, but through the miracle of modern coping techniques, I will live with it ( 1 deep breath and repeat "not everything can be perfect" 10 times).

The rear support piece requried four bolts thought the rectangular section, where I had previously mounted the controller. So I will need to figure out how else I mount the controller and ther rest of the electronics. Another goofy thing is that the whole tray seems to be skewed to the left side of the frame (look where the support joins the tray), but I can't see what is causing that, except that front frame rails are not exacly parallel. The good news is that there is plenty of material on the rear tab of the tray, and you need to allow for such variations in a kit.

My lithium pack models fit fine on the tray. The cardboard models simulate 12 Thundersky 60 AH batteries in the upper tray and 8 in the lower tray, giving an approximate 60volt setup. I designed the trays to have enough room for Lithium Modules made of 5 units. The model batteries were originally made to simulate modules of 4 batteries, but ended up too long by almost 1/2". There should be enough room to squeeze in 24 cells, for an effective 72v system, but it's going to be tight in the back of the tray. I can worry about that more when I can afford the lithium batteries.

Tres Magnifique (almost)

2009-11-02T08:51:00.000-08:00

I got the upper battery tray cut and bent, but ran into a few hiccups in the bending process

After bending the front and rear tabs, the part will no longer fit into my bending brake, so I ended up finishing the bends in a vise. The bends forming the side tabs are not uniform and the flat area where the batteries are supposed to sit is distorted. The good news is that this piece is functional. I will need to make a few changes to my tooling in order to accomodate future versions.

I've also come to the conclusion that 3/16" stock is just too thick. On version 2.0 all pieces will be made from 1/8" material. This will help reduce the raw material costs and will be a lot easier to work with. It also will save a little weight.

Fun with Paper & Glue - Upper Tray Begins

2009-10-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

(Editorial note: this entry is for the absolute beginner and my documentation. Experienced EV builders can skip this one)

In working with the sheet metal pieces, I've developed a system of modeling and checking fit without having to cut metal. It's pretty common in the EV world to do Cardboard Mockups, but here's my take on it for sheet metal.
Model the sheet metal part

Print a full scale version of the flattened 3D model. In this view the flattened model has the bend lines and some additional construction lines to indicate where the curved surfaces will start, since I'm creating sharp creases, rather than gradual bends like the the actual part.

Use spray adhesive to adhere the Print to some Posterboard and and trim the outer shape. It's important to let the glue dry overnight while laying flat. When dry, use a straightedge to make straight creases along the fold lines.

Using the Posterboard model, I can get a feel for how things look and fit. Obviously, it's a lot easier to make adjustments in paper. This is the 4th verision of this particular paper part, and I'm finally ready to cut the real thing in 3/16 Aluminum sheet (5052 alloy).

Mounting the Shield

2009-10-18T18:40:00.000-07:00

Finally got around to mounting the Shield. I had planned to use the original motor mounts and have the bolts thread from the outside to the threaded bosses on the interior of the frame. Problem is that the threads are lined up horizontally, and the surface I'm fastening is about 12 degrees offset.

I had to make a decisions to backtrack on the purely "bolt in" philosophy, but I figure anyone converting thier bike should have a drill and a grinder. I ground the motor mount bosses down close to the frame, but not too close as to remove all the welded material. Then I clamped the shield into place and drilled holes slightly bigger than the existing threads (5/16"). The holes are perpendicular to the frame surface, positioned so the drill reamed out the threads at the new angle.

I then clamped the Tray to the Shield, drilled four holes, and threw in some 1/4" grade 8 bolts. Eventually, I will probably use some stainless button head screws but, for now I like the looks of the gold colored grade 8 hardware.

Lower Battery Shield

2009-10-07T10:47:00.000-07:00

My earlier misfortune with the plasma cutter turns out to be a blessing in disguise. I had second thoughs about having relief holes on the frontward facing piece of the battery tray, because I would like it to protect the batteries from road debris and water. This functionality prompted me dub the piece: "Shield". I decided that using 1/8" sheet instead of 3/16" was accepble for the Shield, beacuse it's not really expsosed to direct flexing loads like the Tray. Even the 3/16" might have been overkill on the Tray, it's overly stout.

The end result looks pretty decent, and even though it's 1/8" thick, seems plenty strong. In hind sight, I would have liked the mating tabs between the Shield and the Tray to overlap a little bit more, but it's certainly functional.

I had intended to bend the top tab over at 45º, but I kind of like how it fits between the old oil-cooler mounts. The two piece design of the lower battery support system allows me to remove the Shield in order to load the batteries or perform maintenaince. Now to drill some holes to mount it to the frame and the tray.

Beauty is Skin Deep

2009-09-28T06:59:00.000-07:00

I had a slight malfuntion of the Plasma Torch in cutting the second piece of the lower battery tray. The vertical axis was having problems lining up, but I decided to give it a shot. Wrong move. The torch made contact with the stock and drug it around on several moves. I could only watch in horror as my precious 5052 sheet was sliced into semi-random chunks.

Time to order more aluminum sheet.

In the meantime, back to the cosmetic pieces. The fairing is pretty trashed, but staying with my mantra of "use what ya got" for this phase, it had to be sanded and painted. The sanding was complicated by several sloppy repairs of cracks with some nylon material that didn't bond well to the ABS.

The upper fairing turned out pretty decent, so I may even keep it.

Progress At Last - Lower Battery Tray

2009-09-19T20:43:00.000-07:00

Buoyed by the completion of my new bending brake, it was time to tackle the big kahuna: the Lower Battery Tray.

Back to the plasma cutter I went

I crossed my fingers and held my breath as I loaded the swiss-cheese like sheet into the brake.

The first bend was one of the two longest ones - could the brake handle a 12 inch long bend?

It held up like a champ, but the leverage required for the bend almost flipped my work bench over.

The icing on the cake? The tray actually fits!

Of course this piece is only half of the lower tray. A vertical piece will join the front of this piece to the frame, but that should be a piece of cake. Right?

Bending Brake Redux

2009-09-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

Honestly, how long did I think a bending brake made of wood was going to last? It broke while making a bracket for the front fender on some 1/8" aluminum strip. So for the last two weeks, I've been making Brake v2.0 using Aluminum Channels, Iron Pipe, and a heavy duty steel hinge. (design inspired by Dave Clay: http://www.ch601.org/tools/bendbrake/brakeplans.pdf)

Nuff said~!

Battery Tray Trials

2009-08-31T13:16:00.000-07:00

Given the capabilities of my bending jig, I decided to make the lower battery try in two pieces. The bends were too complex for my rudimentary tooling. Here's the redesign of the piece. I've added some notches along the edges to help align the part in the jig. I also added some relief holes, as a way of reducing effort needed to form the bends.

On the cosmetic end of things, I refinshed the front fender. In the sanding process, I discovered several layers of paint: Metallic blue, maroon, white, and royal blue at the bottom. Unfortunatley, the fender is not from this model of GSXR. Could possibly be from a '90 model like the fairing, but who knows. I guess some mounting brackets will be in the works next.

More Cosmetic Procedures

2009-08-22T22:32:00.000-07:00

I'm slowly working my way throught the boxes of parts that I pulled off bike. Funny, it sure seemed to come off a lot faster thant putting it back on.

I decided to recover the seat because it wouldn't cost much and makes a big difference cosmetically. Also visible in the pic is the latest mock up of the lower battery tray.

Weight Watchers

2009-08-17T06:16:00.000-07:00

My first attempt at a bending jig (can't really call it a brake), was barely able to bend a two inch wide strip of 3/16" aluminum. No way it is going to handle the nearly 12" required on the tray pattern. Granted the jig was only made of wood (oak I had laying around) and I was bending 6061-T6, but I was amazed and how much the clamping mechanism flexed during the bending process. The radius was pretty clean though, and there was only a minimal amount of micro-cracking, so I'm on the right track with the size of the bending radius.

In the absence of any real progress on the lower battery tray, I decided to start putting pieces back on the bike. While cleaning the rear Foot Peg Brackets, I noticed the large amount of material devoted to supporting the muffler and the seat lock. I really don't need the muffler mount and I never liked the seat lock setup. Time for a little weight losss surgery.

Like any good surgeon, I outline the sections to be removed with a sharpie. Armed with only a butter knife and ignoring the patient's requests for anethesia, I got to work reforming the brackets.

Ahhh... trim and sexy. Now about that butt lift Mr. Gixxer....

One step forward, Two steps back

2009-07-30T23:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought I was making progress on the lower battery tray. The concept is a single sheet of cleverly cut and bent aluminum to form a "belly pan" that actually is a tray for holding batteries. I've got an initial 3-d model designed and printed ready to mock up.

The issue comes down to bending radius. The recommended minimum radius for bending 5052 Aluminum is .5 to 1.5 times the material thickness. With my 3/16" sheet, I figure that a .25" radius is about as small as I want to go. In discussing bending capabilities with the premier bending shop in the area they only had small radius tooling on their Brake, admitting that some cracking will occur at the bend.

I'm not to0 wild about cracks in my battery tray, so I will be building a homemade Brake on my workbench. Another project within a project. Obsessive? Anal Retentive? Ridiculous? Sometimes it's a gift, most days a curse.

I bent a 2" strip of 3/16" aluminum (6061-T6) in a vise using vise grips and small aluminum plates with a rough .25" radius, just to get a feel for the force required, and judge the bracket layout better. It took a lot more force than I imagined but turned out pretty good. Even with the .25" radius tooling, there were lots of micro-cracks in the radius, but that shouldn't be a problem with 5052 since it's more pliable.

Controller Crazed

2009-07-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

My Alltrax 7245 controller and Magura throttle came in from Cloud Electric. I love blue anodized aluminum. Too bad the contoller will be tucked away under the tank.

I had initially thought of centering the contoller in the fuel tank area, but that would require an addtional cross member to support it. By using the existing cross member, a thick walled piece of rectangular tubing, the contoller is located toward the back of the fuel tank. That will free up the front of the tank for other electrical components and cables.

A little frame modification was required to have access to the inside of the rectangular section. There was already an opening on one side, I just needed to duplicate the opening on the left to allow room for a wrench and to get the bolt placed. The section of the tubing is almost 3/8" thick so I'm not too worried about affecting structural integrity when removing another piece.

Gettin' the Blues

2009-06-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

I'm still in the process of designing the lower battery tray. So far, I've gone through dozens of revisions in the solid modeling program, a tedius and frustrating process. Against all the recommendations of my fabrication advisors, I'm leaning toward a single piece of 3/16" Aluminum plate with strategically placed bends. It's a Gixxer - it's got to be aluminum.

Patience is a virtue, but no hands-on activitities on the bike were gettin' me down. I decided to paint the tank. I was going to fix it up right and have it shot with automotive paint, but the tank has had more work done than Joan Rivers. Multiple layers of body filler and primer were evident in several areas, so I decided to go cheap on this revision and save my money for some AirTech pieces.

Rustoleum's finest Blue is fairly close to the color of the motor and just what the doctor ordered. Careful observers will note the lack of stupid looking vent cap and tubing on top of the tank. A friend of my sons recommended I turn the vent assembly into a beverage dispenser! While entertaining, I thought some form of ventilation would be a good idea. A small mag-lev fan will do the trick, I hope.

Action Flick

2009-06-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

I just had to do a quick connect with 12V to see the rear wheel turn under battery power. Most triumphant!

The battery's I used are some burned out SLA's from a UPS. I've been placing them on a charger to see if they can be recovered, but they wont hold a charge over 13.2V. Good enough for the demo and testing phase though.

Holy Oversized Sprockets Batman!

2009-06-02T10:36:00.000-07:00

In order to maximize acceleration, I needed the biggest rear sprocket that would fit. I measured the clearance avialable on the swingarm and a 71 tooth sprocket would just barely fit. So to give myself a little extra room, I decided to go with a 68 tooth unit. Combined with a 12 tooth in front, the gear ratio of 5.66 is a little high, and will sacrifice top speed, but I'm not too interested in going on the freeway. If I decide freeway speed is needed later, I can always put in a 14 or 15 tooth front sprocket.

The front sprocket and chain arrived from Grainger a few days ago, but the rear sprocket from Sprocket Specialist was taking it's sweet time. After finally arriving, I nearly choked at how big the sprocket was. Had I made an error calcualting the sprocket size? I estimated the 68 tooth sprocket at 13.75" diameter, but it looked like 16" to me. You know that saying "measure twice, cut once"? Well I'm famous for cutting twice, and sometimes more.

A tape measure told the truth: 13.875" (whew!). Still looks pretty big to me.

After putting together the hub and sprocket, I threw the rear wheel in place and cut the chain to length. Sprocket has a least 1/4" clearance from the swingarm, the chain fits and lines up just fine. Even the mislocated bolt pattern for the motor is not going to be a problem.

At this point, I'm feeling a little lucky and may go buy a few lottery tickets.

Motor Mount v2.0

2009-05-31T21:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it's not completely bolted up yet, and there are still a few hiccups to iron out on the final design, but the motor mounts are on!
You might notice the extra hole near one of the bolts for the motor face. Oops, the dummy running the mill forgot to zero the x & y axis before moving to the position for the first hole. To cover my mistake, I ended up rotating the bolt pattern 14 degrees, so now the chain will have less clearance for the mounting bolt closest to the swing-arm.

I'm also not thrilled about the flanges I bolted on to provide a clamping action around the motor, as they look a little cheezy. I would have been better served by a couple of pieces of 3/4" x 1" aluminum stock.

Another lesson learned: plasma tends to cut features about .075" smaller that drawn, so I ended up doing a lot of handwork to enlarge the internal diameters on both brackets.

Plasmarrific Motor Mounts

2009-05-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

So it turns out that the tapered plasma cutting path was indicative of a worn electrode and nozzle. With a fresh electrode and nozzle, I gave the plasma cutter another shot.

Another lesson learned from the first go-around with plasma is to orientate the pattern so the more accurate side is facing up. In my case, the left bracket was cut with the side that faces the motor on top.

Motor Mount Mishap

2009-05-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

After countless paper and wooden templates to get the motor mount shapes and hole patterns just right, it was time to give it a shot on the real stuff. I ordered a chunk of 3/8" aluminum plate. Using the CAD drawings, one of the guys at work helped me cut the basic profiles on the CNC Plasma cutter. I was totally stoked looking at this complex geometry that took about 60 seconds to cut out.

Unfortunately, my elation was short lived. Several edges of the pattern were severely tapered, so even though the shape was perfect on one side, it was off by almost an 1/8" on the other side. I knew the shape cut by the plasma would be a little rough and had adjusted tolerances accordingly, but it hadn't occurred to me that the plasma would cut at an angle. It's possible something needs to be fine tuned. If that's the best plasma can do, I may need to rethink the manufacturing process.

Once the outer and inner profiles are cut correctly, I will use a mill to precisely drill the mounting holes for the motor and frame. Just for kicks on this piece though, I drilled the mouting holes using a paper pattern as a guide. Of course the holes for the motor didn't quite match up, so all I could do was bolt the bracket to the frame to see if it's close.

A little dissapointing, but not too bad for the first go round.

Re-assembly Begins

2009-05-04T06:38:00.000-07:00

I've been asked why bother to strip everything off the bike and go throught the tedious work of cleaning all the little pieces. First, I'm anal retentive and have to. Second, there's no other way to know what's missing, worn out or broken on a 20 year old bike.

I cleaned all the pieces of the rear suspension and put it back together. Initially I thought a spacer was missing on the linkage lever. Turns out it was assmbled incorrectly, and judging by the wear in mating aluminum pieces, been that way for a while. You can see how much more of the left spacer is exposed. While not catastrophic at this point, addtional wear could definately be a problem.

I have gone through several iterations on the wood patterns for the motor mounst and got the design close. I'm confident in the hole locations for the motor, but not too sure with the bracket locations on the frame. I needed a more accurate template to work with. The cheap solution was a piece of 3/8" x 1" aluminum bar with a printout of the only the frame hole pattern pasted on. After a couple of more tweaks, I should be ready to cut the actual 3/8" plate.

Spring Break

2009-02-26T06:59:00.000-08:00

Due to comittments with our local Little League Baseball program, I will not have much time to spend on El Gixxer until summer.

I've done several more wood patterns for the motor mounts, tweaking various features. The latest version uses slightly bigger hoop to go around the right end of the motor (actually closer to the middle). The loop will be cut and some angle sections added to make a clamping mechanism.

I did have the opportunity to read "Powering the Future" by Tom Koppel. It's the story of the Ballard Fuel cell, and at the time it was written (circa 1999) the Fuel Cell was hailed as a revolution in automotive power. Although still viable, the infrastructure for Hydrogen or Methane to power the fuel cells is lacking and killed the momentum behind it. It's a powerful lesson to those of us that think EV's are ready to take on the world.

Measure Twice, Cut Once

2009-01-29T20:40:00.000-08:00

I've been unable to focus on anything else but figuring out how to secure the right side of the motor. My preference is to use the same material that I use for the left mounting plate, 3/8" aluminum. The first trick is that bracket has to be two pieces or have notches for the pole screws so it can be slid on from the left. The other gotcha is there has to be some clamping mechanism to secure the motor.

I came up with this basic design a few days ago, but dismissed it because two 3/8" brackets will be fine to resist motor torque and vertical/hoizontal loading from the chain tension. But loads parallel to the shaft need something else. It came to me this morning, add an angle bracket and use the mounting holes in the case. (edit one year later: no additional pieces needed, the dual bracket arrangement is plenty strong with regards to axial loads.)

I was so jazzed at having a solution, I cranked out the template to make the wood prototype. I also tweaked the geometry on the left bracket, thinking I could cut them both and have the wood parts done. Haste makes waste...

I neglected to check if I had enough RotoZip bits
and busted my last one starting the new bracket. I did manage to cut out a sloppy version of the left bracket, so at least I could get it fitted. Wrong-O! In adjusting the bolt pattern location, I appearantly changed the bolt circle diameter, making that version completely worthless. The only bright side of these wasted efforts is that it's only wood, not the actual 3/8" Aluminum.

Motor Mounting v1.01

2009-01-28T05:47:00.000-08:00

When I actually positioned the motor inside the frame, I could see that my earlier ideas for mounting the motor were not feasible. The motor is offset much further to the right side of the frame than I had envisioned. I will have to go with a face mounted bracket on the left side, and some type of clamp or belly bracket on the right half of the case.

After some careful measurements, I came up with a couple of designs. I'm pretty sure of the general design of the face bracket, but still working on ideas for the right side. I printed out a full scale drawing of the face bracket and glued it to a piece of 3/8" plywood. Using a Roto-Zip, drill and sand paper I followed the lines on the drawing.

Looking at the wood bracket mounted to the motor and the frame, it almost looks ready to use. But a second look shows some flaws. The orientation of the face bolts is going to interfere with the chain, since there is only about 1-3/8" clearance between the face plate and the frame. I will need to rotate the bolt pattern so one of the bolt heads is between the loop of chain. The other probem is the verticle position of the motor shaft relative to the swingarm pivot. The motor needs to go about 1/4" higher so the chain can be vertically centered on the swing arm.

Another thing that is obvious is that wood is not the ideal choice for the actual bracket. The weight of the motor twists the wood like its made of rubber. Fortunately, the final version will be made from 3/8" aluminum plate.

While I was making a mess in the garage, I decided to to cut the bottom out of the gas tank. This frees up some space for mounting electric compents and saves some weight. After breaking a few bits on the RotoZip I switched to the Dremel using little cut-off discs. While effective, the Dremel was excruciatingly slow, but the end result was pretty clean. Cutting out the fuel tank was almost cathartic. It's like I was setting the bike free from slavery to big oil.

Run El Gixxer, be free!!

More Motor Mania

2009-01-22T06:17:00.000-08:00

My wife says I'm "like a kid sometimes". I will not deny it. The motor arrived from D&D Motor Systems (http://www.ddmotorsystems.com ) and it was just like Christmas for me.

I threw the motor on the scale and it weighed in at a whopping 64.5 lbs. with the factory supplied mounting bracket.

I laid the motor inside the frame, just to get a feel for placement. It's going to stick out quite a ways on the right side of the frame. Fortunately it's a good looking piece of hardware.

Motor Madness

2009-01-19T06:15:00.000-08:00

I've finally comitted to a motor: D&D ES-15A-6. This motor is heavier (62lbs), a little more expensive and much larger (~12.5" long) than the Etek-RT that I was originally thinking of using. I'm sure the Etek would have done the job, but in the end D&D's reputation for quality & customer support was the deciding factor.

If you have done any browsing of EV projects, you know it's fairly common to have problems with ordering parts from the cheapest source. I've spent enough time in the manufacturing arena to know some of the pitfalls in supplier selection. Up front cost is only part of the equation.

With the motor specified (and on it's way!!) I'd better get serious and figure out how to mount it. I see a lot of guys use the NEMA face mount by welding a plate to the frame, but that is not going to work on El Gixxer. Welding is not an option for this project, so the trick for me is using the existing rear motor mounts on the frame.

One advantage the D&D has over cheaper motors is that it can be mounted using the case as a structural member. The motor even comes with case bracket for mounting on flat surfaces. My idea is to use some 1.5" x .75" aluminum stock to make a couple of mouting struts. Once the motor arrives, I will make a wood model to try it out.

Batteries & Babbling

2008-12-13T16:01:00.000-08:00

Up until recently, I've been fairly comitted to using LiFePO4 batteries. I was leaning toward ThunderSky 60AH, but the physical layout of the cells didn't look great in my mockup. Maybe one of the other suppliers would work better?

Therin lies the problem. Distribution channels for Lithium batteries are not established in the US. Sure there are dozens of people who will import them, but I'm not a big fan plopping down thousands of dollars for a product without support .

The only brands actually being sold in the US are from overseas based companies. The US based manufacturers won't even sell their batteries to a non-OEM manufacturer. Sure, they have a link on thier website to "tell us about your application", but what they really are looking for is someone ready to place a $500,000 order and wait a year for the product. I've exchanged emails with A123, Valence and EnerDel, just looking for more information, only to get the go-jump-in-a-lake reply. (In hindsite, I may have replied a little hastily to those emails.....)

The asian suppliers have thier issues too. ThunderSky doesn't have a decent BMS system, while LifeBatts are built-in and slick but very spendy. Interestingly enough, I have written to both and gotten prompt, informative replies.

So, I'm really stuck. Normally an EV conversion hinges on battery selection, and fitting the trays around them. What if my trays are more generic, allowing for multiple battery formats? It's easy to add spacers or mounting holes after the battery selection is made.

The key is still optimizing the use of space for batteries within the frame. So I still needed to grind a few thing off the lower frame rails. (For comparison, see the cardboard mockup, several posts back)

Diversion into detailing

2008-12-07T20:05:00.000-08:00

I know, I know..... I'm supposed to be mapping the frame geometry and working on the solid model. Unfortunately, other things (that pay the bills) have been dominating my time latley.

I did have a little time to sneak out to the garage and do some detailing on the frame, and experimenting with polishing various surfaces. I'm toying with the idea of turning this bike into a "street figher", because I can't bear covering up the frame.

The frame is an intricate combination of sand castings, die castings and extruded sections. Most of the less visible castings were not cleaned up very well, with rough parting lines, and even sprues still attached.

The steering head is a large sand casting and really needs some help. The sprue remnants were driving me crazy (have you picked up on the anal retentive tendancies), so I ground them off. I then used progressively finer sandpapers on the surrounding cast surface, and finished up with some 000 steel wool, and some Mother's aluminum polish.

The results aren't quite "mirror-finish", but pretty good for a rookie, IMHO. I may need to go one grade higher on the sandpaper and do "00" and then "0000" with the steel wool.

Hopefully, I will be able to get away for few hours sometime this week to get the dimensional layout done.

Stripped Naked

2008-11-06T21:16:00.000-08:00

I finished removing the front end tonight. Now it's just a frame and a welded sub-frame. The frame feels a lot lighter than it looks. I'm guessing around 30 lbs, but I will weigh it to be sure.

Why strip the frame completely? Isn't that overkill, just for an EV conversion?

Well, now the fun begins: reverse engineering the bike. The next few weeks will be spent measuring the frame geometry in order to build a 3D cad model.

GSXR 750 Swing Arm Removal

2008-11-05T06:37:00.000-08:00

Time to remove the rear end of the Gixxer. After some second class carpentry to create a stand, I was ready to remove the rear end.

The upper mount of the shock was attached to the frame by four socket head cap screws threaded into the strut between the frame rails. I've never seen so much lock-tite in my life. Aluminum threads are notorious for tearing, so I reluctantly used a 16" piece of pipe to extend the leverage on my allen wrench. Even after breaking them loose, it took a lot of force to back them out.

The swingarm pivot shaft came out easily, but the swing arm remained in place, because of a threaded spacer. I browsed some Gixxer forums, and learned my options were to buy a specialty tool ($$), use a hammer and screw driver (ouch), or make my own tool.

My tool consists of a 5/32 hex wrench, ground to fit between points in a 32mm socket. Note the angled ends of the hex wrench. Worked like a charm.

Battery and Motor Mock Up

2008-10-26T21:09:00.000-07:00

According to my research, every EV project has to do a cardboard mockup of the engine and battery placement. The point of the mockup is to get a good idea of what is going to fit, and what is just not going to work out.

Even though I'm planning on replicating the frame in a solid modeling program, I thought it was a worthwhile exercise, revealing a couple of potential problems. Note the can of Sherwin-Williams finest representing the motor (same diameter as a D&D or Advanced DC).

My first cardboard revelation was that it's a lot tighter fit than I thought it would be. I modeled the 60AH ThunderSky batteries, but they are a smidge too big to fit in some orientations. The second eye opener was that a few of the original mounting lugs will need to be ground off, to let the batteries sit higher. I hate to grind anything off, but there is just no way to utilize the space between the frame rails without doing it. I think the remaining lugs will be sufficient to hold the motor and battery frame.

The motor will fit decently, assuming I use an ADC or D&D type. The paint can is 6.75" in diameter, compared to 6.7" for the D&D. An Etek-RT will just make it, but it will be a tight squeeze at 8.07". There is no way a Perm132 will fit inside the rails (8.75"), and I'm not wild about mounting the motor outside the cage.

I'm planning on mounting the controller and other electrical connections between the upper frame rails. The hollowed out gas tank will cover everything nicely, but may need some venting, or a fan to keep everything cool.

The prolific use of duct tape, although not permanent, would make Red Green proud.

Weighing in on a few things.

2008-10-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

Today I loaded up El Gixxer along with all his pieces and put him on a freight scale. The whole bundle weighed in at 230 pounds, a little more than I was hoping for. One of us may need to go on a diet. OK we both could stand to lose a few.

I've been struggling to commit to an engine and battery combination. A Permanent Magnet motor and 40AmpHour batteries, will give me a very light bike, but will sacrifice durability and range. On the other hand, a 6.7" Series Wound motor with 60 AH batteries will give me the durability and range, but the extra weight means less acceleration.

The bottom line for weight is staying true to the project goals. The end result has to be a "bolt-in" kit. The average gearhead/propellerhead should be able take his Gixxer and yank the ICE motor, put in my battery frame and motor mount, then attach the components of his choice. If the project is significantly heavier or lighter than the original factory weight, the suspension components will need reworking ($$$).

So here's the weights as measured or estimated (*) assuming the heavier motor and batteries:

Rolling Frame 160
Brackets & Fasteners 32
Body Work 38
Battery & Motor 188
Missing Cosmetics 10*
Motor & Batt. Mount 20*
Chain & Sprockets 15*
Electronics 10*
Charger (external) 0*
Total 473 ( Factory Dry Weight: 456 lbs )

The PM motors are about 20 lbs lighter, so that would allow the kitted EV bike to use either motor without being too far off base.

Look Ma! No brakes!

2008-10-15T21:11:00.000-07:00

It seems like I've done almost nothing since the last post. I did manage to get all the hydraulics off the bike over the last few days. Calipers, brake lines and master cylinders all gone. In each caliper I noticed one brake pad worn almost to the metal, and the other looked almost new.

I've also been attacking the various frame areas where black spray paint was applied (or mis-applied). After trying a few cleaning methods, the one I use the most is Orange GoJo hand cleaner. Rubbing gently with a rag or paper towel seems to dissolve the gunk and lightly abrades the aluminum, leaving a clean layer of metal.

It looks like the wheels were also painted a few times. Needless to say, none of the paint applications were well done. In fact, the wheels look like they were painted with a brush. It's hard to tell from the posted picture, but if you look close, there are some purple and white spots showing through on the edge of the rims.

Sometimes I think that all this attention to finish details is a waste. But I'm not a good enough mechanic to blaze through the disassembling and have everything committed to memory. Soo, I will continue to obsess and document.

Motor Decisons.

2008-10-07T23:30:00.000-07:00

You probably can't tell by the photos, but I've removed dozens of bracket from the bike. I've also cleaned most of the chain lube gunk off. I've taken almost everything off the rolling chassis but the brakes. I've been avoiding the brakes, because that mean draining the brake fluid.

I've had some interesting discussions on motor choices lately, but I am still not committed. My head (& project goals) tells me to stick with the Etek-RT, but my heart says go with something a little bigger, like the Advanced DC / SepEx. I suppose we could make sure the bolt patterns for both kinds are on the motor mount, that way I can quit worrying about it. Makes more sense for a kit to accommodate several different motor choices. The extra holes will save weight too.

Adios Mr. Chain.

2008-10-04T20:24:00.001-07:00

I couldn't stand looking at the chain or working around it. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a master link on the chain, and don't have a chain-breaker in my sparsely equipped toolbox. I ground the head off two of the pins, and then drove a screwdriver between adjacent plates. Crude, but effective.

I removed several brackets around the rear end, and stopped to take some pics. Hopefully, the pictures will prevent re-assembly brain glitches ("where the heck does this go"?). While taking the pictures, I noticed the lack of clearance between the face of the chain sprocket and the swing arm. Not a lot of room for a belt pulley.... hmm. I will be measuring this area very carefully.

I've been emailing questions to Phil at Supermax, to get some more details on their pulleys. The pulleys look awesome, but their website is pain to navigate, and no dimensional specs are listed anywhere. Fortunately, they respond to inquiries quickly and seem very nice.

Chain Lube Cleanup

2008-10-02T06:18:00.000-07:00

I started preliminary cleanup, focusing on the engine bay, so I can get a feel for motor layout. Unfortunately, the caked on chain lube is everywhere. The more time I spend trying to get that junk off, the more I realize a chain drive is just not going to happen on my bike.

Harley's and other cruisers have used belts for a long time. Years ago, I had a Kawasaki GPz305 with a belt drive. Ever since that bike, I couldn't understand why anyone would want a chain. No lube, no adjustment, no mess and super quiet.

The downside is that a belt drive limits how small the size of the front sprocket, because the belt can't bend around a small sprocket (pulley) without seriously affecting life span of the belt. So this means a jackshaft will be needed to reduce the speed of the final drive, adding some costs and complexity to the project.

Donor bike comes home - 1991 Suzuki GSXR 750

2008-09-28T16:06:00.000-07:00

I scanned Craig's List for a suitable bike, day after day, for almost two months. The goal was to get a decent rolling chassis, and have most of the bodywork in serviceable shape. I was really hoping to find an FZR600, since I used to have one and am familiar with them. Nothing even close to my price range came up within reasonable driving distance.

Finally, I put in my own ad, specifying a non-running, middle-weight sport bike, and listed the acceptable models. I had a few replies for stuff that wasn't going to work, and even heard from another guy looking for the same thing. I was getting very discouraged when a guy replied that had a GSXR and was close by. He didn't want to go any lower than my max price, but it was worth looking at.

After looking at the Gixxer, and visiting with seller I left with a good impression of both. The bike has a unique aluminum frame with lots of room for batteries and motor. It also has an adjustable suspension in the front and back. While I pondered the possibilities, I had a few hits on FZR's, but they turned out to be less than honest. I was convinced to move ahead with the Gixxer.

First Post to Blog

2008-09-23T14:12:00.000-07:00

This blog was created to document the progress of a motorcycle conversion to an Electric Vehicle (EV).

The goals / limitations for this project:

- Less weight than the original published dry-weight: 458 lbs.
- Decent acceleration. If it's not faster than a scooter, please shoot me.
- Theoretical top speed of 50 mph at 64 Volts. (Reality will be closer to 45)
- No frame modifications, utilize existing mount points.
- Design mounting brackets and plates to created a "bolt-in" kit
- Project Cost: less than $5,000 (I hope)