# MY Motorcycle EV build thoughts?



## spdas (Nov 28, 2009)

Aloha all. I am building a trike that is suitable for me in a Wheelchair. Here is what the plans are and what I have so for.'

1: I bought 2 Suzuki RF600's for $200.each that are in the process of being stripped down for weight. 
2: One frame will be on the left and one on the right with one front wheel in the middle in front. I will be in the wheelchair in the middle. 
3: I want it to be a "showpiece" and not a McGiver job so will be fitting the fairings and tanks to make it look sweet and hide the batteries, etc.
4: Looking for 50 mph cruising with 50 mile range.
5: I am welding and building the frame now that will accomodate most any motor and battery type and size, but will soon have to make some design choices to use whatever motor or battery type. 

6: I want to now start selecting the controller and voltage avenue I will go on, such as: Should I go with say 120v (10 batteries in series) or 72v and 12 batteries in series (2 banks)? Or 12 6V golf cart Costco batteries in Series? Ideas?

Sooo.... Of course planning for Lifep04 for future, but not willing to shell out $5-8k on batteries yet. 

Questions:
I think I can fit up to 12 x 6 or 8 or 12V batteries, but at 60# apiece we are looking at 720# total + 260# for the frame, etc. It is going to be one heavy mother. How will the handling be? 
More ideas?
thanks
Frank


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## kek_63 (Apr 20, 2008)

If you can carry the golf cart batteries, they will give you the best range. 72v should easily get you going 50mph.

There is a guy in my area (Windsor, Ontario) who has an ICE trike exactly like you are planning (checkerplate ramp at the back, passenger seat frame flips up to the side, full fairings, etc). I've seen it at a couple of bike shows - will try to track down some pictures. He has done some beautiful fairing work on it.

Keith


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## spdas (Nov 28, 2009)

Aloha, here is a photo of my "ice" moped. It is the fifth one I have built, (from 50cc to 250cc) according to whim. This one is capable of 75MPH (120kph). Now I want to build the equivalent EV out of sport bikes.
Any less weight or advantage using Prius car batteries and reconfiguring them to 72vx65AH? Reading about them now in other threads here. Still resisting the plunge to Lithium and concentrating on the trike design now.
thanks

Frank


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## john818 (Aug 1, 2008)

That's pretty cool!

I used to see a guy cruising my neighborhood in a sidecar rig. He'd roll his chair into the sidecar and drive it from there! It looked pretty funny with no one sitting on the bike seat!

Lets take a quick look at your layout. If your total weight were 1100 lbs including rider with equal weight distribution, you would haveunder 370 lbs on each wheel. I don't know what your bikes weigh or their capacity, but lets also look at a 450 lb bike with a heavy rider, say 250 lbs. That would total 700 lbs. If it happened to have equal weight distribution, that comes to 350 lbs on each wheel.

That's fairly close. You might be okay, but you might want to stiffen up the suspension a bit, maybe a lot. Unlike a bike, your trike will have a lot of weight transfer from the inside wheel to the outside wheel under cornering. Weight transfer under braking might be a problem, too. Most heavy braking is done by the front wheel(s), but your single bike tire and brakes might lead to poor braking.

These are just a few thoughts off the top of my head. Don't pay too much attention to them.

After so many builds, I'd bet you know a lot about this stuff, but here's a link to a page I came across a while back called "A Builder's Guide to Trike Design." There's some good info there.
http://www.btinternet.com/~jhpart/bktrikep.htm

Good luck with the build!


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