Wow! Here is my Vision for the perfect E-Bike fairing!

LI-ghtcycle

LI-ghtcycle

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Oregon City Oregon
This is exactly the type of thing I would like to build!

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http://richardajohns.blogspot.com/

I'd really like to see if I can make a similar shape with Cor-Plast (that corrugated plastic sheet that is used for "vote for me!" signs you see in people's yards) and minimal yet strong framing. I like that he has at least the beginnings of something that would stream-line something in-front of the pedals.

I don't think he has left much room for knees, and that would have to be addressed for my version, but the basic shape and idea is extremely close to what I have visualized. :)

I'm thinking for the rear however more of an "A" frame or arch made of 6 inch or larger square "screen" or fence like material that would then be skinned in the Cor-Plast sheeting.
 
Lowering that saddle to the bottom would have a big effect on aero by reducing overall frontal area, but a front fairing not all that much. It's the vacuum in immediately back of you pulling you rearward, which results the wake of turbulence left behind the bike that is the major detriment to our aerodynamics. That basket on the back is far more detrimental than the small benefit of the front fairing. Do up nice it would look slick though.
 
Yeah, I envision a rear set of Saddle bags (ok Panniers ... I hate how eclectic bicycles are lol! ... maybe we can fix this in our new class of electric bikes! :p ) That are really a tall streamlining frame that comes up to at least my shoulder, is more of a "screen" or section of fence material that I can lash stuff onto, inside of the arch, and skinned in cor-plast.

I just love the over-all concept and non "bubble boy" look, I admit I know nothing about aerodynamics, but I DO know what looks pleasing to my eye, and the main function for me would be keeping the cold air off of me, and if I can make it reasonably aero too, that would be great! I will try and follow something close to the shape of the tail sections I see on recumbent bikes, but I'm not wanting to build anything like a true stream-liner, however I really like this design, and it would be fun to build in the future when I have more time and money (like that's going to happen! ... can't have time AND money right? :mrgreen: ) Pretty amazing, he gets 214 MPG with this!

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http://gas2.org/2010/01/26/guy-mods-honda-motorbike-to-get-214-mpg/
 
That's the cool thing about aero, it can go hand in hand with being eye candy.

The updated pics show something that makes a whole lot more sense than the fairing on the front with a milk crate on the back. When I do a tailbox, it's going to incorporate lots of cargo space, and hopefully solar charging for my batts as well. 8)
 
Yeah, the first posting of pics were all messed up for some reason ... I would also have the front fairing come up MUCH higher, not as high as a Vetter motorcycle touring fairing, but somewhere in between the two, and shaped more like a modern sport bike.

I would have the rear saddle bags virtually cover the rear wheel and only be high enough to allow for the same cornering clearance as the pedals, and maybe being rounded on the bottom could be a little lower and give the same clearance.

I would make it all one piece and have quick a release system that would not allow things to fall off easy, and would require lifting it straight up off of posts with clevis & hair pin like keepers, so the weight of the load keeps it on the posts naturally, and the pins keep it from going too high up and off these posts that would only be about 1 1/2 inch tall, four on each side, so there would be a sub-frame on each side for the saddle/arch rack/trunk one piece unit. I would ideally have the back of it open like a trunk with a streamlined tear-drop shape at the end for light cargo, and the majority of the heavy bulky cargo would be lashed/bungee/strapped inside the arch (sleeping bag, tent, tarp etc. And maybe side doors to access "pannier" saddle bag area, where things can simply be stuffed, and one side will have a sealed bottom, and the other side vented on the bottom to allow wet clothes to drip-dry maybe.
 
looking for similar ... but for a tadpole trike
 
The guys who claim super high milages are hypermiling. They got switches turning off the engine. They pulse and glide. They are not driving normally. If they had someone else in the car with them while doing the stuff that they do, they would be viewed as being "nuts".
 
D-Man said:
The guys who claim super high milages are hypermiling. They got switches turning off the engine. They pulse and glide. They are not driving normally. If they had someone else in the car with them while doing the stuff that they do, they would be viewed as being "nuts".
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I'm not so sure about that regarding something like the Vetter. Let's back into the numbers. The electric streamliners can do 60mph on 1kw of power. That's 17wh/mile, and assuming an electric drivetrain efficiency of 90%, it requires 15wh/mile of mechanical power. A gallon of gas has about 36kwh of energy content. Let's be conservative and say their ICE drivetrain runs at only 25% efficiency, so a gallon of gas produces 9kwh of mechanical output. That's 600mpg at 60mph if you put an ICE in a really good streamliner. The Vetter is aero, but much higher and not nearly as aerodynamic as a streamliner, but 214mph sure seems readily achievable on the highway at 50 or 60mph without hypermiling type riding.

John
 
Yeah, I can see 214mpg with steady riding at 55mph.

But Dman is right about the super high mpg figures when it comes to cars. Such as getting 50mpg in a V6 Accord as I read about once. The guy was driving at 30-40mph, under the speed limits almost always, and definitely not driving normal.

I myself eeked out 39mpg during the last 900 miles of my drive from TX to CT with a loaded down car. '97 auto civic, everything stock. The trick was keeping it around 65mph most of the time, and well, I am just an efficiency NUTCASE and pay extreme attention to throttle usage and wasting as little momentum as possible. I did idle in traffic for an hour, but I also was in some heavy truck traffic for a couple hundred miles. Sitting 2 seconds back might of gave me another 5% mpg. I wouldn't say I was hypermiling though. There were times where I had to drive like normal due to traffic.

I really like that front fairing on the bike above. Should really help to keep warm in cold weather, especially if you extend a windshield.
 
veloman said:
I really like that front fairing on the bike above. Should really help to keep warm in cold weather, especially if you extend a windshield.
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Yeah, I hope I am able to make this from cor-plast, it might not look as nice as fiberglass, but I believe it will be much lighter and cheaper, just not sure if it will be strong enough on it's own, might require "ribbing" inside or maybe two layers and have them stressed against each other stiffening them up.

I still have a good sized piece of clear plastic from my original windshield from a "bucket" shaped container I got cheap from goodwill, I have also thought of finding old child car seats that are being disposed of at the local transfer station or free on CL or something, since they might have nice thin ABS and be roughly the shape I need, where I can just heat them and shape them as needed.
 
It takes a fair amount of heat/like an oven to do much with coro or plastic. I tried a 1200 watt hairdryer on coro to just make a straight bend 90 deg. and all it did was make it easier to bend . It def would not even sag or deform at that temp. Should be a thread here where somone used windowscreen and resin to make fairings.
 
I've been using a heat gun from harbor freight to do all kinds of insane bends on 1/4" plexiglass, I'm sure it would do just as well with coroplast. I have a piece of corplast from an old sign at my shop, I will try to do some work on it with the heat gun to see how well it works on it.
 
Sweet, thanks! I'm going to check out my local hardware store tonight and see what they have for sale in some form of large squared fencing, I'm thinking something that has 8" squares or larger to use as the frame to attach gear to and on the outside to skin in cor plast.
 
Phys properties: http://www.coroplast.com/resin.htm

It's easy to blow holes in fluted PP with a heat gun. PP also sustains flame quite well, and the resulting gasses are kinda nasty.

You might try shaping through piecing, rather than thermoforming.
ES member GeeBee did a nice coro velo that way... http://www.flickr.com/photos/23600382@N06/page4/
 
Thanks for that link TD. GeeBee really do a good job with that plastic. That gives me even more interest in doing similar but using very thin plywood for easy exterior finish and fiberglass/epoxy on the inside. With a curve and just a 4oz glass cloth, 3mm plywood can be incredibly rigid, strong, and lightweight. Thanks to Harold, I also have the option of using balsa at the joints to totally eliminate all sharp edges.

Here's one I really like that I think I can pull off a pretty good copy of in plywood and balsa http://pixelman.unblog.fr/files/2010/03/stepper0303.jpg

 
Wow. That looks good. Is it for real or is it a computer generated dream? I'd like to see some performance numbers. I wonder why they go concave in the middle of the hood to the riders head.
 
I think it's just a concept design, though the other designs on that page are obviously computer renderings. The 3 angles of this one look quite real other than that ground texture. The other stuff at Pixelman.unblog.fr were a bit to far out there for my taste, and I want to stay away from 100% enclosed. I don't think that channel in front serves a purpose other than looks. I'm sure from inside the velo I would like that view better than just the body falling away in all directions.
 
My thought is if you did a side enclosure, make it like a door that will swing open when you push on it. A small magnet can hold it shut while riding. You'd see a large benefit compared to having just a front fairing and tailbox, I'm sure.
 
veloman said:
My thought is if you did a side enclosure, make it like a door that will swing open when you push on it. A small magnet can hold it shut while riding. You'd see a large benefit compared to having just a front fairing and tailbox, I'm sure.
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I've been thinking how to do that too, and my only question is how wide to go if it's a 2 wheeler. For me it's going to take some experimenting to see how wide it the minimum, while still having good stability at stops with feet down. On my bike I go quite wide with my feet, but a lot of that is because the seat is low and it's a motorcycle seat.
 
I run a web site for recumbent motorcycles or "Feet Forward" PTWs here http://www.bikeweb.com There's a large image gallery and some of them might provide some inspiration. Building bodywork for motorbikes is hard but weight is much less of a problem then on bicycles. There's a whole bunch of photos of Cedric Lynch's electric version.
http://www.bikeweb.com/image/tid/57

This kind of design might well work with a LWB recumbent bike. Note that you can continue the bodywork a long way back past your knees and still have plenty of room to get a foot down and climb in and out.
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This is my fairing build on a Catrike 700. It lightweight and keeps the wind off of you!
My buddy use to draft me.....keyword "use to" ;)
I had the vision and brought it to life! :)

[youtube]rYdnkaAhVtI[/youtube]
 
While not so gud for large hail stones I luckily don't live where large hail stones are normally found
So...
my vision consists of fiberglass rods and tubing covered with shrinkwrap film.
Velcro-held doors of clear vinyl that roll up when it's not raining with the whole body (minus the floor pan) being easily removed from the bike/trike

i.e fully enclosed against rain/drizzle/fog

Since fairings can act like a kite why not build it like a kite?

when I was a kid a millennium ago I built bodies for crate cars using bed sheet material stretched over a wood dowel frame then painted (doped fabric)
I'm pretty sure my mom wondered where the bedsheets would disappear (that and Halloween)
 
LI-ghtcycle;

If you want to work with coroplast fairings, here is link to my friend Ed Gin's coroplast seminar. The seminar is geared toward recumbents, you can applied it to upright e-bikes too.

http://www.recumbents.com/wisil/gin/fairingseminar.htm
 
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