As a datapoint, I've used a 1978 Honda Goldwing GL1000 (had a 1,000 cc 4 cylinder, water cooled gas engine). It originally weighed 500 lbs, and was 250 lbs after the engine, radiator, gas tank and transmission where removed. Because it's a touring bike, it is designed to carry an obscene amount of luggage, its GVW is rated as 1,010 lbs. So after adding a 50 lb electric motor, and about 25 lbs of cables and controller, and one 225 lb rider, it comes to 500 lbs. This leaves me up to 510 lbs for batteries, 50% the total vehicle weight if I don't want to leave any safety margin.
I've often read here that car conversions try to have 30% of the total vehicle weight in batteries. I'm not sure if that scales down to motorcycles, which have poor aerodynamics. Mike- On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 6:28 PM, Sri Subramanian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi everyone, > > I am a newbie in this vocation, and I am considering what bike to buy for > this project. > > I've read the 'El Ninja' book, listened in on your conversations and > checked out conversions on the Austin EV site, and it looks to me like I > need to pick a bike with these criteria: > > [I am assuming that the bike I convert won't be freeway capable, so about > 50 mph max and < 50 mile range max] > > 1. Light, light, light. Trim as much as possible. > 2. Minimal rolling resistance (and won't hurt to be aerodynamic as well). > 3. Have enough space under tank for batteries (I am thinking LiFePO4, so > not too much worry there). > 4. Modern (so decent suspension, brakes) and common make, model (so parts > easy to get). > > So, my first issue is: how does one estimate the weight of a bike when the > motor is out. E.g. how much heavier is say, a Ninja 500 rolling chassis over > a Ninja 250 one? Does it matter enough to be a consideration? > > If I want to take my first criterion seriously (and am not worried about > freeway speeds) would I not want to get an even smaller CC bike, 125cc say a > dual-sport bike? More generally, are there any gotchas with using an on-off > road chassis (presuming I can switch out the knobby tires)? Of course, these > bikes are less aerodynamic than the sport bikes, so that's a downside. > > I've also considered a Yamaha YSR 50 or Derbi GPR 50 chassis, but comfort > may be an issue on those bikes. > > Thanks for any feedback! > Sri Subramanian > -- Michael Shipway [EMAIL PROTECTED] Skype: mike.shipway AIM: catbusmike YIM: catbusmike
