The Battery vehicle society (www.batteryvehiclesociety.org.uk) had organised
a track day even for last weekend and I'd managed to screw my motorcycle
project together to a sufficient degree to take it down.
http://www.compton.vispa.com/Pictures/freccia1.jpg
http://www.compton.vispa.com/Pictures/freccia2.jpg
http://www.compton.vispa.com/Pictures/freccia3.jpg
These are BIG images, since I haven't edited or compressed them.
The Freccia was loaded onto my bike trailer (nice trick by yourself) and
strapped down and I began the 2 1/2 hour drive down to the Haynes Museum at
Sparkford. The weather was pretty good, but the traffic wasn't and the first
40 miles took the 2 1/2 hours. Still I arrived at the B&B at a reasonable
hour and got a fair nights kip. The next morning was showery, but after a
leisurely breakfast I set off to the Museum and rolled into the carpark and
down to the far end where the test track is situated. One or two other BVS
members were about and I got one of them to hold the front brake whilst I
undid the straps and then rolled the bike off the trailer. There were quite
a few admiring comments about the build quality and the BVS chairman took
the bike for a quick spin around the carpark. The primary drive belt was
jumping teeth a little, which it hadn't done before, but I'd had the
batteries on an extended charge (they were discarded Optimas from my
Scirocco EV and had been sitting for a LONG time) and had a little extra
pep.
Haynes had helpfully allowed us use of a garage around the back of the
museum and I transfered the bike and charging kit (variac) into the garage.
The BVS chairman and I took a look at the track
(www.haynesmotormuseum.com/commerical-services/images/circuitmap.gif) and
spent some time moving tyres to mark the layout we wanted. If run clockwise
there is a tricky off camber right hand bend at the end of the Duesey
stright with no run-off, just Armco and we didn't want any incidents. We ran
the track counter-clockwise and used the most twisty layout we could
(running around 'spring back' in both directions with a dividing line of
tyres) to keep top speed down.
Not that many people had turned up yet, but I donned my jacket and helmet
and took the bike out for a few sighting laps. The track was damp/wet and
there were some very slippery bits, particularly the big brown slugs! I only
did three or four laps and then rolled back into the garage and put the bike
on charge. At this point I really should have checked the motor temperature,
but I was busy getting the variac charger dialled in and connecting the
current clamp and voltmeter.
The rain took a break and with a brisk wind the track was drying rapidly, so
with the charge tapering off I climbed into full 'track day' gear; One piece
leathers, Scott Carbon/Kevlar armoured gloves, Sidi Vertebrae boots, and HJC
full face helmet. Once suitably caparisoned, I climb onto the bike and roll
it out to the track entrance. A timing marshal is selected and I set off for
ten timed laps. I take it easy through the off-camber right hander and then
accelerate up the hill into a left-right-left complex. I muscle the bike
into the 180 degree sweeper at the top of the hill and using all the track
at the exit, accelerate down the hill sweeping left then right before
entering a tight and slippery hairpin right. You seem to have to wait
forever before you can get the power on again and then almost immediately
you're into an equally tight right hand hairpin. You can treat the exit from
this bend as the entrance to the next and just let the bike run out to the
Armco before starting then next lap.
I'm starting to get a little heat into the Flintstone like 15 year old
Dunlop Arrowmaxes and getting used to the relatively heavy handling. The
front disc is clearly warped so I'm careful to avoid a lockup and subsequent
lowside. As the laps roll past I'm carrying more speed through corners and
using (I thought) less throttle. I get the two laps to go signal and then as
I finish the ninth lap there's a sudden loss of drive. It sounds as if the
chain might just have jumped off the front sprocket and I roll off the track
before inspecting the problem. The chain is still in place and lifting the
tank cover reveals flakes of solder. The bike was geared to do 60 and this
was clearly too high for the poor etek when subjected to so much full
current acceleration. I was only getting to 40 or so and the motor has
overheated and spat out the solder out from its peripheral connections. It's
only the morning of the first day and I've already broken the bike!
I put the bike back on charge, making sure the energy meter is reset as
energy consumption is part of the competition. My lap times were very
consistent, which is always a nice thing to see, but I'm still dissapointed.
I climb out of my leathers and back into 'civvies'. When the charge is done
the energy meter reads 0.86 Kw/hr which is around 130 Wh/mile.
Later in the day my luck improves. Trevor Lees of Lemco turns up with a
Mercedes Smart conversion and a US made 'Drift' motorcross bike. This has
been upgraded from an etek to a Lemco and Trevor generously donates the etek
to replace my dead one. The shaft is different from mine so sadly I can't
fix the bike on the spot.
Later on I ride the 24 volt Lemco powered Suzuki X7 conversion the chairman
has borrowed (we had to take the siezed front caliper off) and better his
times on it. I also ride the Drift, but the batteries are nearly flat after
10 laps. Nice bike, but off roaders are not my style.
All in all a great weekend. Not the best turnout, but we had 10 machines
from bicycles to cars on track and everybody enjoyed themselves.
Paul Compton
www.evguru.co.uk
www.sciroccoev.co.uk
www.bvs.org.uk
www.morini-mania.co.uk
www.compton.vispa.com/the_named
