Last time it was seen on these forums, the front fender was the only piece of bodywork. Here it is with a dummy tank and some really nasty side panels. Just installed the tail cowling this afternoon and took a few pics. Whaddya think?

Why the extra weight of a Fairing, on something that every ounce steals power/milage???

How does it run?????

 

Why the extra weight of a Fairing, on something that every ounce steals power/milage???

The heaviest bit of the fairing was the nose/cowling/windscreen, and that got trimmed off. The side panels and tail weigh approximately nothing, ditto the tank, which is just the outer skin. Maybe added 5 lb. total, less than 1% of the bike with rider. Oh yeah, the battery charger had to be removed to fit the tail, so that deducts ~18 lb.! So did the big instrument panel, another coupla pounds gone (I just don't know how fast I'm going or how much juice I gots left anymore!).

How does it run?????

Getting mixed messages here, the rolleyes would seem to indicate that you couldn't care less!

 

if you can make big lego looking pieces it would be really awesome

 

Here it is without the bodywork, with battery boxes doing a fair impression of lego blocks

 

We need to see some videos!

 

Only vids I have at the moment suck, but here dey are (same as the ones I'd posted up previously):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkTcbaMjF9A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM33sk7rBI4

(try to ignore uber-squidly attire, we'd just gotten it running and I didn't leave the cul-de-sac, honest!)

 

I like it naked. How 'baout a ride report?

 

I might lose the side panels anyway. I like the tail, though! But it precludes fitment of the charger... So, it might be going back naked after all.

Ride report:
The bike has good off-the-line acceleration in 1st, as the electric motor's torque isn't all that much less than the 650's. But you have to shift RIDICULOUSLY early. In fact, way earlier than necessary. The software is limiting to 5050rpm when the motor is easily good for upwards of 6900. Back EMF kills the top end above about 5500, anyway, though. Which can be compensated for with MORE VOLTAGE!

Mainly what I need is lithium batteries. That would knock off about 100 lb! Bike weighs ~480 lb. at the moment.

Back to the ride report:
The main differencesbetween this and a normal SV are greater weight and less power. But it's very cool to never have to clutch, and just leaving in 4th gear around town works out great! It's a really cool around-town bike.

 

no i meant bodywork over the batteries, o seriously thunk it would look pimp

 

That's cool - sorry I missed your original posts about it. What gearbox are you using and how much runtime do you get?

 

The gearbox is the SV's 6-speed. In fact the SV crankcases are used, with a 28hp electric motor bolted up where the alternator used to be, driving the right-side stub end of the original SV crankshaft via an adapter.
Runtime is entirely dependent on SPEED. The faster you go, the further you don't go! I'm getting about 35 miles out of it during "normal" usage (around town, 25-50mph). At 65mph on the highway, probably about 20 miles.

 

I saw your first thread, and I'll say it again, that is awesome! It's because of creative folks like you that we get new and better technology.

To me it looks better naked so you can see the guts. Plus, it's home built electric; it's got so much personality it doesn't have to look pretty, lol! ;D

Do you have any close up pictures of how you coupled the motor?

Great job man!

 

I saw your first thread, and I'll say it again, that is awesome! It's because of creative folks like you that we get new and better technology.

To me it looks better naked so you can see the guts. Plus, it's home built electric; it's got so much personality it doesn't have to look pretty, lol! ;D

Might go back to nekkid soon. It's convenient to have the charger on board, as it also keeps up with battery state of charge in addition to allowing recharging away from the house.

Do you have any close up pictures of how you coupled the motor?

It was surprisingly easy. The alternator/generator went bye-bye, did some machining on the outside of the left-side engine casing to allow the motor to bolt up (from the inside) to it with a spacer. The SV's crank was sawed off, only the right side remaining to ride in the right-side bearing and to drive the clutch/trans. An adapter coupling was made to mate the electric motor's output shaft to the stub end of the SV's crank.

Don't have any close-up pictures of the coupling, but here's how the electric motor looks mated up to the SV's engine casing:

It was pretty close! Had to shave off cooling fins in two locations for clearance with the frame and the drive sprocket!

Great job man!

Thank you very much!

 

my honest opinion is that it is butt ugly and you should have used lithium batteries. I hope you get a lot of satisfaction riding that thing, because I would not want to compromise my range to 35 miles along with a huge performance hit.

But major props to you for building something interesting and experimental.

 

Badass commuter, for sure.

 

Any idea what it weighs?

 

Look up 5 posts. Here, I'll do it for you.

...

Mainly what I need is lithium batteries. That would knock off about 100 lb! Bike weighs ~480 lb. at the moment.

...

 

Cool idea and I'm sure with some Lithium batteries you could save weight and add voltage. The extra voltage along with less weight would definitely add power and range. Honestly, it ain't the prettiest thing on 2 wheels but I'm sure you already knew that. It's not about looks, though. Gotta give you props for trying something different. With a few mods, I think it could be very street-worthy and fun bike to ride.

 

thats pretty heavy at almost 500...

did you change out any suspensoin?

i like it faired... just dont really like that headlight.. but thats just me. i think you could disguise it as a normal bike if you put on a different headlight



go rob the tesla dealership for the Li batteries


i am impressed sir, impressed indeed

 

Sweet, how long does it take to charge that 100+lbs. of batteries? How much did you have to invest in the bike to get where you are?

I honestly love the faired look you've got going in the initial pics. If the first gen faired SV's looked like that stock and were fuel injected I would probably have bought one of those rather than my faired second gen! I think the fairing gives it a nice "electric" bike look.

 

A little hard on the eyes in places, but 20-35 miles on a build like this is pretty respectable considering you're not using LiON cells. No doubt LiONs will afford you the ability to take the legos off it. All in all, very nice.

 

The faired pics look great, no particular part but as a whole reminds me of the Suzuki B-King??
Like some people already said, major respect for expanding the boundaries of what is possible with an SV!

 

Way cool. 8) Nice work :vroom:

 

That is an absolutely psychotic mod! Talk about "out of the box;" that's out of the realm of most SVers' imagination.

Very, very cool. Have you thought about swapping out the batteries for a low-power nuclear generator, like a satellite might use? Very long rides would then be possible.

 

That is an absolutely psychotic mod! Talk about "out of the box;" that's out of the realm of most SVers' imagination.

Very, very cool. Have you thought about swapping out the batteries for a low-power nuclear generator, like a satellite might use? Very long rides would then be possible.

I would think the main problem with that is that it is "low power" not to mention the radiation dangers. :nana:

 

i believe if he swaps to the nuke method, he'll become of great interest to the department of energy. Awesome work, it's a little rough in places, but building a motorcycle at home with an electric motor that's still good for 25-30 miles isn't bad at all. LiON batteries would probably do wonders for you on increasing your range, and finding a way to increase RPM would probably do wonders for your acceleration. Do you have any power recovery devices setup? I'm sure some manner of engine braking would be both awesome for performance and great for increasing range as well...keep us posted, overall, very cool !!!

 

I've seen Electric Katana in the making, too.. video is in the thread somewhere.

 

you got my vote for SV of the month even without body work.

Anyone thats interested in EV car and motorcycle conversions should check out www.evalbum.com

 

What price difference would it be to use LiON batteries vs. the ones currently on it.

haha. CURRENTly.

LOL

 

What price difference would it be to use LiON batteries vs. the ones currently on it.

Thousands of dollars. But they're cool.

 

A+ on your ingenuity and ability to make it happen!

New battery technology and better availability will make this type of project a lot easier and practical in the near future.

The capabilities of electric motors are amazing. We have electric RC trucks that out perform the nitro versions significantly. A small 4-wheel drive truck with a brushless motor and 2) 7.4V NiMH batteries in series will run an honest 50 mph. Use LiPo batteries and it adds another 10-15mph. The brushless motor has just a couple of parts to it and is more efficient than a regular brushed motor. Performance of electric vehicles will continue to improve.

When digital photography first came out I was a professional photographer with top-notch film equipment. Based on what I saw I thought that there was no way digital could out-perform film - boy was I wrong - it surpassed film and isn't stopping any time soon.

I'm not betting against electric power systems doing the same.


Jay

 

I didn't know the Li batteries were so much more expensive.

A+ on your ingenuity and ability to make it happen!

New battery technology and better availability will make this type of project a lot easier and practical in the near future.

The capabilities of electric motors are amazing. We have electric RC trucks that out perform the nitro versions significantly. A small 4-wheel drive truck with a brushless motor and 2) 7.4V NiMH batteries in series will run an honest 50 mph. Use LiPo batteries and it adds another 10-15mph. The brushless motor has just a couple of parts to it and is more efficient than a regular brushed motor. Performance of electric vehicles will continue to improve.

When digital photography first came out I was a professional photographer with top-notch film equipment. Based on what I saw I thought that there was no way digital could out-perform film - boy was I wrong - it surpassed film and isn't stopping any time soon.

I'm not betting against electric power systems doing the same.


Jay

Have you seen Hasselblad's new 60MP camera? lol

 

Good on you!

 

Any stats on this bike? Weight, speed, handeling.

 

Ummmm... Yeah, it's all in this thread, but the thing is, you gotta actually read it.

 

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