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[Bogan]

Project details as follows.

Status: Design phase (est completion by 2009)
Motor: Etek-R 8hp cont 15hp peak
Controller: Homebuilt with battery charge monitor and active stability management
Charger: Homebuilt Embedded Switchmode smartcharger
Batteries: undecided as of yet
Frame: Full fairing Kr1 with custom "fuel tank" (<100kg)

Currently everything is progressing well, i have the bike stripped down and modelled in SolidWorks and am in the process of designing the motor mounts and battery positions. Will most likely use some cheap deep cycle ones while im still testing and debugging, then hopefully put better ones in after its completed. If anyone else has done/ or is doing a similar project id appreciate any advice, especiall with regard to batteries, or if anyone needs technical advice ill probably be able to point you in the right direction!

[skadamo]

Thanks for sharing!  Looks great so far.  Please post up more pics as the project progresses.

Was wondering what the KR1 looked like to begin with so I dug up a pic..


Man, that is gonna be a sweet bike!

[Bogan]

yeh mine pretty much still looks like that, will be minus the exhausts when im finished (and maybe a powder coated frame too if budget allows) but otherwise ill be keeping it as similar as possible, will not cut the fairing for any reason, unlike most EB converts do, looks far too good as is

[skadamo]

Cool, that is good looking bike.  Will the finished product weigh more or less than stock?  Is this your first conversion?

[Bogan]

most likely more as this bike weighs around 130kg standard, with fuel is probably 145. without batteries mine is expected to weigh 110-115ish. and all the batteries im looking at now are bloody heavy. Yeh first conversion, first of many i hope

[skadamo]

I hope so too.  Do you have an engineering background or are you self taught with this kinda thing?

[Bogan]

bit of both, been working on bike since 16, now have an engineering degree in robotics, and am currently doing a PhD in machine vision, so the opertaing principals of electric bikes (essentially oversized cordless drills) are quite simple for me

[skadamo]

Wow, that must be a fun job.

Oversize cordless drill   Electric bikes do seem a lot more simple than internal combustion but I never thought of it that way.   

[sprale]

I may have stumbled across a good deal on a dead motorcycle, where would I begin on a conversion?

[Bogan]

first thing is to check your bank balance! expect to pay between $2000 and $3000 NZD for a cheap motor/controller/batteries.

On the bike side of it, check how much frame modification you will need to do to fit batteries and motor, and if you have the tools and knowhow to do them, ie if its an aluminium frame and you dont have a tig welder it may not be a good deal.

If the bike is suitable then find a motor/battery combination you are happy with, http://www.thunderstruck-ev.com/ is a good place for motors. Batteries im not too sure on, just make sure they can deliver the power required without getting damaged.

hope that helps, post a pic of the bike if you want my opinion on it

[Bogan]

Update on project, now have the motor mounted (on front end of swingarm), battery boxes should be in within a week.

Once i sort some sproket ill begin testing with a borrowed controller before i make my own

[skadamo]

Nice!  Thanks for the update.  Let us know how the first run goes...

[Bogan]

Took it for a first run yesterday, using some older batteries and a simple PWM controller which we had to keep checking for overheating (was designed for a lot smaller motor). Acceleration was not quick but current was less than a third of what it will be, top speed was around 35kmhr, and is expected to increase to 65 once i increase the battery voltage to 36. note that the lower fairing does easily fit on still, we just didnt bother putting it back on for testing, and the tank will eventually contain the new controller so that will look original as well

[skadamo]

Looking good Bogan!  Congrats on getting it rolling. 

[Bogan]

Back into it!

made up an e-stop to fit in the tank filler cap, so looking like the finished product now, still got electronics to do though, hoping its now a matter of weeks rather than months till she's going