My first EV Present and fully accounted for

[carl2.0]

I have spent quite some time marveling at the creations of others and heeding the wise advice of many in this post.. quietly accumulating knowledge and
motivation to develop my own electric motorcycle. This is what I was able to create with some research and much wisdom from this forum
I build this electric motorcycle for my mechanical engineering individual final year project with guidance from my lecturers and much assistance from the
faculty technicans. The concept was the design and build a zero emissions vehicle which could be used for Caribbean suburban commuting. Though most
Caribbean islands are small the infrastructure in more rural areas is insufficient for a Zero emission vehicle so the suburbs was the target area.
Using much product n market research via surveys etc the following specs were attained


Geared top speed: 72KPH
Range: A min of 25miles (calculation based)

48V using four 40Ah SLA batteries,
using a MARS ME0708 motor with an Alltrax 4834 controller
Hall Effect throttle used with a 9AH 12V battery to produce signal voltage
Donor frame: Yamaha ZX600E (1993)
Gear ratio 1:5 (done in 2 stages)

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The electric drive was designed as an integrated system much like an ICE with a modular construction such that all components (motor, controller etc) could be
easily removed via bolts for repair or upgrade. The drive is mounted utillising the standard mounting points of the donor frame (ZX600) but the mounting

brackets can be changed for mounting on other 600cc motorcycle frames

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The subframe of the drive was fabricated using 1" mild steel RHS 1" square tube

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The drive uses a pulley - chain and sprocket power transmission with a triple groove pulley belt on the left to give a gear reduction of 1: 1.67 on one side running across a jack shaft to a chain and sprocket system using the original sprockets on the bike to give a total gear reduction of about 1:5 .... a larger rear wheel sprocket would have made this reduction much easier to achieve but funds and availability of such a part in the Caribbean led to the use of the current power transmission.

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A hall effect throttle was purchased for the ALLTRAX control because i didn’t know any better . As a result we ( my elect. technician and I) used a small 9V SLA battery to create a 5v signal for the throttle using an Amplifier circuit i think ( he made it ) The damn throttle unfortunately refuses to read 0v on start up as a result the wheel moves on start up. A cheap fix was a reset switch for the throttle, we used the on off switch from the donor frame since it was right next to the thumb. This switch allowed you to turn on the bike without moving, when u then flick the switch you then get the motion and throttle control.

To reduce the weight and give the bike its own identity I carved a seat and tank from carving foam which was layer with fiberglass and coated with body filler to provide a smooth finish. I was going for more classic Cafe racer look than the naked sport bike feel.

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Finished foam Carving

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Application of Fiberglass and resin

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Application of Body filler

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Finished seat and tank

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The tail of the bike was made large enough to hold a 48V 6A SLA charger(not yet implemented). Last time I charged the bike from really low it took 4 hours so I’m guessing 6hrs from dead ?

Rear view

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Side view charging

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All in all this project was a challenge, particularly since nobody but me seemed to know what I was doing or even why, many were skeptical and were certain it would barely work if at all ( an electric motorcyle) since the EV concept is still just a fairy tale in the Caribbean, but I think I did a good job of illustrating this tale

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0zzpjFCze8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQFzwURZ76Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktqgQHG0yZQ

Hope you enjoyed viewing the build as much as I enjoyed making it

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[kfong]

Excellent work, especially with the limited equipment and electronics. I really like how you made the motor section so it drops right in and kept the cost low.

[carl2.0]

Thanks, I really tried to create the lowest cost solution to most of my challenges.... it was not nearly easy but a great experience

[jonescg]

Yep very good build! I do really like the integrated motor-battery unit. I am jealous of your mould making and fibreglassing I gave up on that stuff.

Now, save your money and drop some lithium in there!

[carl2.0]

Thx, well before I went to engineering a=I was an Arts major so carve n stuff falls into my strengths. WRT the lithium batteries.. this was a university funded project which Ive submitted an been graded on it now exists as property of the University of The West Indies in short.... Its nolonger mine
I started to work on some bottom fairings in the early phases but ran out of time, still u can take a look at how far i reached, Ill include the concept sketch i did that the motorcycle is based upon

Final concept sketch of several

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Early Fairing carvings

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SInce I no longer own an EV (university property) I now have plans for an exciting new build for a "lite E bike", it should be an interesting hybrid of a board tracker and bobber based on a light lowcost platform using a HUB motor this time I have yet to name the project, sketches in progress