E-Bike Racing: 2011 World Challenge

dogman said:
Yep, 70 pounds is a hard target. Mine makes it, but not by much.


Congrats my friend! You made it! :) :) :)
 
Today was a slow day, so I was reading this thread from start to finish. Luke's location sounds prime for a first time, go it alone start for the eMotion World Challenge.

The last couple of days I have been re-reading about Craig Vetter. He was mentioned here a few months ago with his streamliner cycles/scooters and how he was trying to crack 100 real mpg with a practical, fun vehicle. Now Craig used to sponsor mileage challenges from 1980 to 1984 see: http://www.craigvetter.com/pages/470MPG/Vetter%20Fuel%20Economy%20Contests.html

Now Craig sure has connections and knows how to organize. Note he was in Ohio for the gathering of Sreamliners at the AMA Vintage days: http://www.craigvetter.com/pages/470MPG/Gathering%20of%20Streamliners.html

Now it looked like they had track time, and had a ball with gassers and eVehicles intermixing freely.
Interest is growing in the possibilities of streamlining and fuel economy. The Hall of Fame tent was filled. I invited electric pioneers Kraig Schultz, Matthew Childress, Randy Reisinger, Bryan Wilcox and Wolfgang Moeschei of Germany (fresh from X Prize prelims) to interact with traditional motorcyclists. We learned... they learned. The AMA provided display room for their machines. Additionally, they were able to take a lap around the Mid Ohio Raceway. It was a great weekend for all.

Note Craigs comment below:

My goal is to allow real streamlining on the race tracks so that less energy will be required. Azhar Hussain, rt, founder of the TTXGP, Jeremy Burnes and I discuss ways to incorporate real streamlining into the new electric motorcycle racing. With real streamlining, electric bikes will go farther on a charge

A lap around Mid Ohio... nice course. Note the number of electrics on the page I linked above!!! I think Craig would support efforts in electric's!

Perhaps Luke, or one of you other knowledgeable, revved up guys should contact Craig with your ideas and see what he might offer up? He has an interest in high mileage and loves cycles. If he gets behind this, it would "light up!" All motorcycle guys know we came from the era of "motor bikes"... Indians, Whizzers, etc. that just "grew up" It might work to connect eMotion World Challenge with Motorcycles and the AMA? What do you all think?

Perhaps Luke could even take a road trip to Craig's shop to talk to him? He seems like a really nice, semi-retired good guy from reading his web site, and his life's activities. I think he would have a lot of advice to freely offer, and ideas for speed! :twisted:

I've kept looking and Craig Vetter says he is 50 miles from Hollister CA (Further digging shows: Vetter Design Works, Inc. P.O. box 223820 Carmel, CA 93922), which is south of San Francisco say 80 miles. Luke is south of Seattle WA 30 or 40 miles I think... that makes oh... 800 ish miles +120 -50 or so... guess that is not "next door..." :(

For those of you that might not know, Craig Vetter was the creator of the Windjammer universal fairing for us touring motorcyclists in the 80''s. It made for a much more enjoyable ride for those of us that toured cross country. We used to gas up, set it at 100 mph and burn a tank across the great plains, then rinse and repeat...
 
Definitely a good idea Bigmoose..:wink: Without this sort of support this race i feel will be one run between member's of this forum and a handful of others that heard about it from aforementioned members of this a forum, which is fine don't get me wrong would still be a ball tearer of a day and i am pissed i wont be able to go myself, but it is a 'world challenge' Promotion is the key to making it a big event, the more people you get involved the better for the 'hobby' Go big promote the shit out of it, advertise in local papers, get radio announcements made if possible let everyone in and around the area know about it, if your going make sure everyone in your immediate area knows that your going and maybe some of them will also get keen on the idea..?! maybe we could get some fliers organized? post them at other racing events around the country/world... so people can see them...? More the merrier, needs a lil more organization first, well more than "this is where its at be there then" definitive outline of the rules, regs, time of event duration of event etc etc ...doesn't it? People need to know what to build where to bring, where, where is and for how long one will be 'where' :lol: What events will be run, times, duration of events...needz us some organization i think :?:

KiM
 
After a bit of soul searching, thought about just bypassing the e-bike race stuff; yet seems lots of folks commonly run 48V batts and 30A controllers. As a side to the main events that most of you are preparing for, I'd like to include a little stock heat if others are game to. Soo.. why not 1500W keep it simple 48V batt and 30A controller? It'll be a bit faster yet still will fill the role of "stock commuter e-bike."

If Safe really has the tech worked out for his 1000W rig, and him being such a young athletic buck, he and others like him should be able to join in. In fact, the guideline I prepose, is 1500W andor 50lb limit. If only 4 of us show, it could be a contest within a heat contest. The ?April Spooky Tooth sounds pretty flexie and should provide Luke with useful planning data.

Dogman, thanks for the encouragement for 1000W. If you think that's doable, then 1500W should surely be so. What raises my eyebrow is Doctorbass' 60mph X-5300. Think a 50mph X-5300 could contest the ICE bikes?
 
SoSauty said:
If Safe really has the tech worked out for his 1000W rig, and him being such a young athletic buck, he and others like him should be able to join in.

LOL Safe's nearing his 50s & often complains about arthritis in his hands, he ain't young.

KiM
 
I don't think the father of EbRR will support any racing event. His only goal is to bicker about his mythical 40+ mph 1000w racing bike. I called him out & he has shown his true colors. (& got banned from yet another forum)

He has Randy Draper in the same catagory as Jesus & Socrates. & I fear he has finaly lost his sanity playing all alone with his ebrr scale models & laughing at Jokes only he understands. its kind of frightening to look at.

look for your self, I wonder how long the owner of this site will let the madman ramble on telling poor folks to read the bible & get jobs so they can stop being poor....
http://www.motorizedbicycleracing.com/post?id=4775754&trail=45
 
OOOOohhh lordy! I just read that link. I will agree that it's scary.

I learned early on to skip over any posts made by safe here. I guess he's banned now? He certainly was entertaining, but despite its appearance of intelligence, not much that he says seems to actually have any value.

As to a 1000w limit, I would certainly find it an interesting category for ebike races. But it puts the efficiency on emphasis, and I prefer my emphasis on speed, power, and performance :D
 
dogman said:
Yep, 70 pounds is a hard target. Mine makes it, but not by much.

If you bring a 1000 watt bike to the death race, you'll be slow like I was last year. But still plenty fast enough to have a huge fun time on that kart track. Not having a curb or a parked car looming around that corner is really great! And you will still be faster than the more or less stock chinese motor kit bikes.


Congrats!! I just did the same with a stripped down basics kind of build 68 lbs on mine, and once I have LiPo on it, I will loose another 12 lbs! :twisted:

38376254012_large.jpg


http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/4/351/2509/38376254012_large.jpg

I'm really impressed with a 9 X 7 DD motor!! Great acceleration, great hill climbing AND top speed, with no noticeable cogging! :D

I'll get my Watt meter plugged in too soon, this I think is going to be my commuter / all weather bike. 8)
 
1500 watts 50 volts @ 30 amps ... just what I like

as far as randy .. I visited him and his bike in Maui and must say also ......"Credit where credit is due"

PS .... Josh Kerson is going to try the Pikes Peak climb
 
Did we ever get a distance for these races? Here's my bike at 49lbs along with my rider soon to start training, who probably won't be ready till the 2012 racing at Luke's place. The bike is missing some small parts in the pic, as well as the controller and battery pack, but there's some weight loss to come that will more than offset the missing odds and ends, like getting rid of the solid steel seatpost required for me to ride and cutting off the drum brake (regen braking on the rear). I just need to know range required to determine a pack.

I realize the little guy will be low on race experience, but that hubby pushes me to 60mph on 74V nominal, so even with a 50% weight gain by race day he'll still weigh considerably less than the bike. That will give him a tremendous power to weight ratio advantage over the rest of the field, and much lower total energy requirement. That means the race instructions can be just follow the leader and blow by him on the last straight away for the win. Max learns quick, so that will only be needed in the first heat, and he'll know his limits and can just say bye-bye from the start in subsequent races. :mrgreen:

edit- Not only will this be the quickest bike in the field, it will probably be the cheapest too at less than $250 all up plus battery with the only used part being the bike frame.

Race bike 1.JPG
 
Does the battery weight not count if you don't mount it to the frame? :twisted: :lol: :lol: Looks like you have lots of room in the weight limit to pack a nice battery.

Looks good, I've never been very comfy at high speed in corners with a small frame myself though. That's why I went with 26" wheel. If it scares me too much to ride I'll never corner it fast.
 
John in CR said:
Did we ever get a distance for these races? Here's my bike at 49lbs along with my rider soon to start training, who probably won't be ready till the 2012 racing at Luke's place. The bike is missing some small parts in the pic, as well as the controller and battery pack, but there's some weight loss to come that will more than offset the missing odds and ends, like getting rid of the solid steel seatpost required for me to ride and cutting off the drum brake (regen braking on the rear). I just need to know range required to determine a pack.

I realize the little guy will be low on race experience, but that hubby pushes me to 60mph on 74V nominal, so even with a 50% weight gain by race day he'll still weigh considerably less than the bike. That will give him a tremendous power to weight ratio advantage over the rest of the field, and much lower total energy requirement. That means the race instructions can be just follow the leader and blow by him on the last straight away for the win. Max learns quick, so that will only be needed in the first heat, and he'll know his limits and can just say bye-bye from the start in subsequent races. :mrgreen:

edit- Not only will this be the quickest bike in the field, it will probably be the cheapest too at less than $250 all up plus battery with the only used part being the bike frame.


That is absolutely awesome, hahaha. It kinda makes me want to give up though :D
Or start training my own little monster... hmm.
 
Dogman,
I wouldn't want to race it myself either, but for Max it would be like a 650cc gas dirtbike would be for me. I wish I only weighed 50lbs and could take it for a spin off road on the hill near the house where the dirtbikes go play.

Dozentrio,
I doubt I'd let my son race that young, the speeds would be too high. I just wanted to make a point regarding anyone actually taking the 70lb ebike racing seriously. I understand having the weight limit to keep costs and power limited, but if that's the only rule, then it's more about the size of the rider than anything else, because of the ability to manipulate the power to weight ratio via the rider. Same weight bikes and similar weight rider and bike combos, and then you'd have something to prove a better rig and/or rider.
 
John in CR said:
Dogman,
I wouldn't want to race it myself either, but for Max it would be like a 650cc gas dirtbike would be for me. I wish I only weighed 50lbs and could take it for a spin off road on the hill near the house where the dirtbikes go play.

Dozentrio,
I doubt I'd let my son race that young, the speeds would be too high. I just wanted to make a point regarding anyone actually taking the 70lb ebike racing seriously. I understand having the weight limit to keep costs and power limited, but if that's the only rule, then it's more about the size of the rider than anything else, because of the ability to manipulate the power to weight ratio via the rider. Same weight bikes and similar weight rider and bike combos, and then you'd have something to prove a better rig and/or rider.
I can't wait to get another bike together for this. I just got another bmx given to me. I have a 7kw rc kit coming from marko and If needed I will uses my 12kw motor! I will have a killer rig come hell or hi water! And I can ride! I am super stoked I lost 10 lbs aready for this my self and I will do what ever it takes to loose more weight to KICK SOME ASS! :mrgreen:
 
That sounds great, but how can we build a bike near the weight limit without knowing the distances of these races. Those outrunners should give you a lot of leeway for battery weight.

I'd like to see a matchup with comparable riders...one with a high power RC rwd and the other with 2wd with 9c's or similar in very small wheels and high voltage. I keep thinking the 2wd would have the advantage despite the 10lb cost unless the race is long enough that the higher efficiency of the outrunner makes the difference. I'm not into breaking and fixing stuff, so I have to stick with what's durable, and wait for you pioneers to fully develop the RC stuff. To me those all too common breakdowns of the electric racing moto's is a detriment to the cause.
 
From OP:
Tiberius said,"The sort of race I'm interested in is on a hard surface, not dirt, and a track with corners. A kart track would be good.
The race should be long enough to make a good race, but not so long to require massive amounts of batteries. Say 12.5 miles / 20 km.

this is about the distance of the death race also.
 
Thud said:
From OP:
Tiberius said,"The sort of race I'm interested in is on a hard surface, not dirt, and a track with corners. A kart track would be good.
The race should be long enough to make a good race, but not so long to require massive amounts of batteries. Say 12.5 miles / 20 km.

this is about the distance of the death race also.

Thanks Thud,

Actually, I'm very encouraged that on page 20 we're still talking about the same numbers.

Nick
 
A rule on weight but still no firm distance. 20km sounds good or the closest full lap to that distance. Tiberius, can we make it a definite in case I decide to come across the pond?

Luke, if you're listening, can we firm that up for the 2012 too?
 
John,

Are you thinking of entering? That would be good.

My original proposal was
70 lbs (32 kg) max weight, including batteries
Working pedals
12.5 miles (20 km)
Hard surface with corners, eg a kart track

The idea is that the 70 lbs and pedals ensure the machines are e-bicycles rather than e-motorcycles.
The distance means that its neither short burst with 100C discharge rate batteries and absurd power, nor an endurance event with 250 W motors and lots of pedalling, but something in between, where the design of the electrics will dominate.

There's been a bit of discussion, mainly about the 70 lbs limit being too low, but now we've had a few people confirm that they can put together competitive bikes below that weight. If anything we're now starting to see arguments for lowering the weight limit. Maybe for future years we could see a progressive lowering of the weight limit as technology improves.

Basically it becomes accessible and affordable at the amateur level, which electric motorcycle racing isn't.

There should be more than one race like this, and even races with other formats to make it a weekend. For instance, I'd also like to see a hill climb.

Various proposals have been discussed, but I believe the favourite at the moment is the weekend of 7/8 August 2011 in Luke's area.

Nick
 
FWIW, the death race was 12 laps, which is around 10 miles of race. Plus one lap to line up, and most took another lap to get back to the pits. So nearly 12 miles of travel. The heat races were 8 laps.

So the DR is just a hair shorter in 2010. I think some other races there have been 15 laps.

I'm still a bit short of batteries to really test my under 70 pound bike, but I only got about 3 miles of racing speed out of my 20s 5 ah 30c turnigy battery when simulating the braking and accelerating of a cart track race. So I might need 15 ah of 20s to make 12 miles of racing speed. Not sure if I can still make weight with 15 ah aboard. And that's with not that hot a controller! All that slowing down to 25 mph, and speeding back up to 40 is harsh on the battery.

It's going to be really hard to make a hub motor bike that can make weight, hit 40 mph or more on a short straightaway, and still go 12 miles. But that's the challenge of the world challenge.

The death race on the other hand, is simply a how much can you afford to throw at it kinda deal. More of a we know it can be built, but can you stay on it in those corners challenge there.

BTW, it was Safes comments about rider weight that finally got his 1000w thread shut down on the other forum. :roll: So don't be naming names here. :lol: He seemed to be using rider weight as his excuse to not actually ride his bike in the DR. An 18 year old with cornering skills will have a definite advantage over a 180 lb 50 year old. If I can afford to show up, it will be strictly for the fun of it.
 
Oh dear.


So it seems that the general consensus here is to get a group race going with some loose guidelines, and THEN we can worry about adding or modifying other rules (such as power, weight, etc.). I like 20km as a distance.


I think that within a few years we could see a few categories emerge, such as light weight, medium, and heavy weight. Maybe even a lead acid group :lol:
 
Look for me in the SUMO class....I will be the long bearded geezer blowing ontrollers up in the pits....... :lol:
 
For some reason I was under the impression that this 2011 racing was on your side of the pond Tiberius. I guess it never crossed my mind that someone would come up with the great idea, and volunteer another country to host it.
 
He's already got the european champ belt.
 
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