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http://web.mac.com/benhdvideoguy/iWeb/cycle/Welcome_files/DSC05222.png

Hi everyone!

My name is Ben and I hail from near Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Last summer, I converted a motorcycle to electric.
I made a basic web page about it HERE (http://web.mac.com/benhdvideoguy/iWeb/cycle/Welcome.html)

That was a fun project to learn on, but I need less wind-chill and more wheels on the ground most of the year in my area.

I started to think that an electric car conversion would be a great next project, but they are just so dang expensive.

The closest car conversion to what I wanted to do was the "Forkenswift".

So now I have an electric forklift sitting in my driveway, robbed of its motors. I have a 65 amp 36V charger sitting in the garage, and I am on the lookout for a compact car that rolls well.

I have started a build thread on Ecomodder, but don't go there because it's down right now. (I will post a link when it's back up)

For now, you can look at some photos I have been taking to start this project:
PHOTOS (http://web.mac.com/benhdvideoguy/iWeb/Home/forklift.html)

Let me know what you think!

-Ben

Welcome to cleanmpg.com
Nice mod on the bike, looks like a fun project. My first motorcycle was a KZ440 back about 1981 or 82, but is was a belt drive not chain.

THAT is cool.

PS - Are the brownies carbon-neutral?

Hello Ben. Good to see you on another good forum. :)

Welcome to CleanMPG, Ben! I like your motorcycle conversion. :)

I'll be doing an EV motorcycle conversion myself this April and May but it will be a bit bigger system. I need it to be able to traverse 4,500 vertical feet at 50 MPH over 20 miles without burning the controller out, as well as be able to get on a 65 MPH highway for distances up to 15 miles, so it'll be a 72V system that should be good for around 50 miles on flat ground.

Unfortunately this means it will cost more, too. I've priced it at about $5,000 from soup to nuts.

I'm curious... did you use the "El Ninja" guide or another source, or did you totally wing it?

Hi Ben:

___Welcome to CleanMPG!

___When I saw your pics, the first thing I noticed was the tell-tale yellow and gray packaged Optima Yellow tops (some of us here swear by them ;)) and wish you the best of luck with the E-bike!

___It must be great being able to pass every gas station forever :D

___Would you be interested in bringing your bike to the next Milwaukee Hybrid Group meet in another week? There are others there that would love to see it in person weather permitting of course.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Here is the link to the thread on Ecommoder about my cheap-o electric car project.
http://forum.ecomodder.com/showthread.php?t=848


Yes, I bought a copy of "Secrets of EL-NINJA". There is lots of great information in there. I would strongly suggest than anyone doing an electric cycle conversion get a copy of it.

I got "EL-NINJA" after I was already into the build. Most of what I did on the cycle was based on looking at all the cycles listed on AustinEV.

72 volts is great on a motorcycle. Make sure to buy a programmable controller, so you can adjust your throttle. The first time I pulled away from a stop sign, I smoked the tire. I adjusted that down with the Alltrax software.

The brownies are not carbon neutral, but are make with organic farm-fresh eggs and electric forklift motor grease while being snowed in for the day.

Make sure to check on insurance and registration BEFORE converting a cycle.

Bob Tregalis is in Nevada and has a few things to say about titling cycles there:
http://www.evalbum.com/971

His cycle is very similar to mine.

Use BIG batteries if you want range. My Yellow tops are 55Ah. I wish I had a little better range than I do. You might want to try something like 12V Trojans, but figure out a good way to keep them watered.

I e-mailed the author of "El-Ninja" and asked about maintenance on his with the flooded batteries. He basically said that filling the batteries on his is a pain in the @$$.

Here is a photo of a longer-range motorcycle built by a Canadian I met last summer at the MREA fair
http://web.mac.com/benhdvideoguy/iWeb/Home/other_cycles_files/DSC05680.jpg
That cycle has the same motor as mine (tucked just above the swing arm) but he is using some very large capacity batteries. you would need a helluva cycle to fit 6 of those batteries, but 4 looks like it works pretty well for this guy. His name is Jim Marin. His e-mail is hard to read, but I think it is Jmarti@rogers.com

I'd like to second the invite to the Milwaukee Hybrid Group meet. Its comming up on the 16th of this month in Oak Creek. Great time to get together, learn some stuff, and share your experiences with others, even if you don't bring the bike. :)

I would love to go to the meeting, but am going to be in Chicago that day.

Maybe I could come out for the next meeting.

I finally have a pickup truck, so I can transport the motorcycle beyond its limited electric range.

Very interesting-thanks!!
A question-roughly how many watt-hrs would it take to drive a mc for 1 mile at 35 mph?I see your cost per mile is 1 cent-so I'm guessing about 80 watt-hr per mile.Around here-NOLA-electricity is 12 cents 1000watt-hrs.

I have 3 SR500 rolling chassis that might be good donors for a project like this.They have lots of room-top to bottom-in the frame because the tall single(84mm stroke) requires a lot of height.The frame is also fairly heavy construction because the vibrations(no counterbalancer) are hard on frames.
Thanks,
Charlie
PS-A 12 mile range would be great for me-80% of my trips), but a 32 mile range would be perfect(school and back).

Ben,
Very cool toys you have there!

Wayne is right about the Optimas. Lots of good things to say about them.

Too bad you won't be at Milwaukee Hybrid Group meeting. I'm sure we would all have liked to see the bike in person. Maybe next time when it's a little warmer.

Also thanks for the ecomodder link. Looks like the people on that site are giving you some great input!

Welcome to CleanMPG! Haven't I seen your name somewhere else before?;) I would like to be the third person to invite you to the Milwaukee Hybrid Group meet but it looks like we may almost passing each other as I travel through Chicago on the way to Oak Creek. The meetings are usually 2 months apart which would put the next one sometime around the middle of April. Very nice work on the EV motorcycle!

I got my copy of El-Ninja yesterday. It looks like it will be a very good guide. I found a rolling frame I may buy this week-end. I'm going to check on frame engine cradle dimensions and battery dimensions. The 72v version is the one I want.

Hey Folks!

Yesterday, I upgraded my cycle from 36 to 48 volts.

I originally built it as only 36 volts because three YellowTops fit inside the frame so nice, without having to modify anything else.

Also, I had an electric bicycle kit, so I could just use the 36v charger that came with that.


I built a battery mount out of some scrap metal and some slotted c-channel. It was easy to cut with a hacksaw and bolt directly to the frame.

Two batteries, side-by-side, now take the place of the original top-front battery. They do stick outside the frame now, but are not in the way of my feet, knees, or legs.

Top cruising speed is now 45 MPH. I could go UP the big hill at 40 mph and went down it at 52! Maybe my next modification will be to build a windshield....

The difference between 36 and 48 volts is pretty impressive. It really felt more like a motorscooter before, and a motorcycle now. The acceleration is still the same, as that is controlled by the amp rating of the controller. Feels nice to be going 35 mph and still having another quarter of the throttle left to turn.

I went for a 21.5 mile ride with no problems. Top speed did start to go down a little bit at the end there. Checking the voltage when I got back, the batteries were drained more than half-way. 15 miles would be a little easier on the batteries. Also, I was going full speed much of the time. Mixed driving would drain less from the batteries.

In general, the cycle had taken about 100 watt-hours per mile. That was with the 35 mph top speed and 36V system.

Energy conversion calculations put the gasoline equivelant economy around 320 MPG for me riding by myself and 285 MPG riding with a passenger.

Most of my trips on the cycle are around 10 miles and don't run the batteries down too far at all. I had a 36V on-board charger and would just "top off" whenever I could.
I will have to order a new 48V charger I can mount on the cycle now.

Thanks for all the invites to the Milwaukee Hybrid Group.
I finally got out to the last meeting with my cycle and got to show it off. Since it's not gasoline powered, we actually got to roll it right into the meeting room at the public library!!!

If you haven't already taken a look at the web page I did for the cycle, please check it out at:
http://web.mac.com/benhdvideoguy/cycle/Welcome.html

Good to hear from you again, Ben! Sounds like you've done an excellent upgrade to that bike -- nice work. :thumbs_up:

Nice, Ben! Unfortunately I've had to put my own EV motorcycle project on hold. By the time my knee was healed up and ready to go on the project again I had established a car pool. Now that I no longer commute solo I have no need for the bike.

I still have the chassis and plastics so if things change in the future I'll be ready to go with it again.