ElectricMotorcycleForum.com

GeauxVegan
I have that same motor in my sons old school minibike and it is definitely fast.
It runs at 48 volts and uses an Alltrax 4834 controller, tops out at 50 mph.

Great feedback, Thanks, Ok now I get the AC/DC issue, so the Curtis controller offered with the AC-20 is a bottleneck, and now apparently the 20ah lead acid batteries are also a bottleneck. The 20ah batteries were going to weigh ~ 120 lbs and that was already more than I really wanted. So now it looks like the AC motor is overpowering my objective  hmmmm... maybe I was better off with the perm motor arrangement, but will it handle 96 volts with an Alltrax 7245 or should I tone it down to the recommended 72 volts, (or could I push it to 84?). because I already have Soneil chargers for lead acid batteries I would really like to stick with the 20ah lead acid setup for this effort and will allow me to spend more on the chassis fab. Someday a trick battery management system would be great.

Once again I really appreciate the forums input on these issues, I am a fabricator, not an Engineer, so if I know what the limitations of the drive system are I can move forward with my build, anyway thanks, and keep the information flowing.

7 ?? It is rated 48 hp at 108 volts / 550 amps (almost 80 hp peak)
I would think that at 96 volts I would expect at least 20 hp continuous.

Straighten me out if I'm wrong Travis.

Addressing power requirements for my new project, I plan to use 96 volts worth of lead acid batteries, (8 x 20ah)
My question is would it be better to run two 48 volt packs in series which would allow me to charge the packs simultaneously (2 x 48v using two separate chargers)
Or would it be better to make one 96 volt pack and use one charger.

Or does it make any difference.

This post is for the battery brainiacs out there,
check these out and provide input please.
http://www.coloradoadvancedbattery.com/

Thanks for the input MotoVolta, you are absolutely correct. I took my drawing to John (the Shop Engineer), I explained the shafts and chains arrangement to him and he immediately said that it wouldn’t work for the exact same reasons that you sited. John told me that Steve (another Shop Engineer) had been working on a shifter transmission and that I should get him to explain it to me, I told John that Steve was the one that I had originally talked to before even posting to the forum, John and I both went over to see Steve and after a brief glance at my drawing Steve said that I had misrepresented the concept and that there was much more to it than that. Then Steve asked me if I could peel a banana with my feet… He and John both laughed. 

I learned a lot today, like when you’re the fabrication guy, stick to being the fabrication guy, and leave the engineering to the Engineers.

Oh, and if you’re going to post to the forum make sure that you have all of your facts straight first.

Thanks again MotoVolta, and apologies to anyone on the forum that I may have mislead.

Keep an eye out for my project in the Home Brew Section 3/10. 

mKlRivPwner, sorry for the confusion, my fault, this thread was entitled "transmissions" and i kinda ran with it but essentually what i was proposing was more of a torque converter than a transmission. I totally agree with Frodus regarding his explanation of the use of transmissions on electric vehicles. That being said, i would like to add that i have had good results from incorporating a torque converter into my projects



The primitive picture above is based on a the application of a Perm motor running on 72 volts (producing around 3600 rpm max)
You can see the gear ratios displayed to the left and to the right is the max speed at the designated rpm.
This system was geared for a top speed of ~ 63 mph.
We know that the taller the gearing, the slower the acceleration (due to the torque band being stretched to thin over a wider spectrum)
We also know that lower gearing makes for quicker acceleration (at the expense of a lower top speed)

When i was using the term "magically", what i meant was that the transition of the torque load between gears is seamless and happens without you having to do anything other than twist the throttle. There is no clutch and the system is direct drive, just directed through channels (kinda like a automatic transmission but that is where the similarity ends).

Anyway, when you accelerate from a standing start the torque load is applied to the lowest point of resistance, which is the 1st gear sprockets at a ratio of 6.66:1 which should zip you up to ~ 35 mph or 2000 rpms pretty quickly before "magically transitioning the torque load to the 2nd gear with a ratio of 5:1, at this point the torque load is now being put entirely on the 2nd gear chain between the two 14 tooth sprockets (one on jackshaft 1 and the other on jackshaft 2), and now the chain connecting 1st gears 16 and 12 tooth sprockets are experiencing no real torque load and neither are the 3rd gear sprockets (that's why i said that the other gears are spinning freely, they are keyed to the shaft but they are experiencing no load).

Now you are zooming along in 2nd and then at ~ 2700 rpms the magic continues and the torque load makes its final transition to 3rd gear continuing to a top speed of ~ 63 mph at 3600 rpms.

It can be argued that the series of chains and gears present friction and drag that would nelegate any advantage  but i say no, it's way quicker 

I hope to have my final concept bike completed and displayed in the garage brew section of the forum by around March of next year. 

very nice, what is the target price for a production unit?
or is it too early to tell me that it will be over $10k