# Series Hybrid KTM Adventure Sidecar Rig



## SamM (Oct 27, 2008)

I was out for a leisurely drive with my wife yesterday and we started talking about what I was going to do with my KTM 950 Adventure. My doctors have told me that I should really give up streetriding motorcycles. Off-road riding is still ok for me to do and I'm building a KLR for that. If I got a sidecar motorcycle, I'd be fine to ride it on the street. Long story! Anyway, I tried to sell the KTM and that didn't go well.b So I'll keep it. 

Here's my thought. Remove the brakes, exhaust and the complete front and rear suspensions on the bike and sell it all. Sell the LC8 engine and all associated hardware: radiator, oil tank, battery box, etc... Basically I would have a frame, fairings, headlight, bodywork and fueltanks. I would then fabricate and new frame for the sidecar and bike. The bike would bolt to the frame through the footpegs, engine mounts and skidplate attachments points. The frame would become the new skidplate. Add car type suspensions that would bolt to the new frame. A Subaru rear diff would drive the rear motorcycle wheel and the sidecar wheel for 2WD. An electric motor would power the diff. A diesel generator would power the system and batteries would take the place of the original engine. The complete rig would ride on automotive wheels and tires. It would be big enough to support the generator and whatever batteries that I wanted to use. 

What size generator would I need to power the electric motor all the time? After charging the batteries overnight. I would start on battery power and kick the generator on when the batteries were drained. The genset would be the range extender.

Any thought?

SamM


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## knarf (Jun 5, 2009)

*Diesel/Electric series hybrid Dnepr/Ural sidecar rig*

Well, not much more to say at the moment than that I'm contemplating a diesel/electric series hybrid conversion based on a Dnepr or Ural sidecar rig. And that I'm not planning to use a differential for driving the sidecar but instead would go for a hub motor in that position, coupled with some controls to keep it from spinning out of control. This would make the bike useable as a solo as well as a tractor...

I'd base my powerplant on one of the many dieselpowered generators which can be had for not too much here in Sweden/Europe. These things cost around the equivalent of $800-$1000 here and are 'rated' between 5.5 KW and 10 KW continuous. Those ratings are possibly somewhat optimistic given that these machines generally have 400-500cc/10KW single cylinder diesel engines but with a reasonably sized battery pack it should suffice for driving a sidecar bike at a reasonable speed - I'm not planning to win any races with this thing, it will be my main transport and should be a) cheap to run and b) reliable, also in winter. An Ural or Dnepr does not do much more than 80 km/h with the stock engine so no great difference there 

The diesel generators weigh anywhere between 50 and 100 kg, the lighter ones would be preferrable of course but they also tend to be weaker... Some of the weight can be taken off as the space frame which these things are built in is not necessary since the bike frame can serve the same function.

As for what motors to choose... I have not decided anything yet. Same goes for batteries. I don't have a lot of money to spend on this (or anything else for that matter) so price is a main concern. I feel somewhat tempted to try to build my own motor 

More l8r...


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## SamM (Oct 27, 2008)

knarf,
Thanks for the reply. My rig is only in the planning stages, so far. The thought is to get the largest diesel generator that I can fit it into the luggage compartment of the sidecar. It would be stripped of it's mounting frame and made as compact as possible. I'd like to use one of the more reliable Hatz diesel engines to drive the generator. Here's a picture of the intented donor. I'm shooting for something similar to what's in the bottom picture, with an off-road twist. That isn't the sidecar that I want to use though. Black wheels, BFG off-road tires, a high suspension are some of the plans. 

SamM


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## knarf (Jun 5, 2009)

What sort of weight distribution do you aim for? Putting the generator in the sidecar is in itself an easy solution - lot's of space there after all - but it would get heavy with both that + your wife in there. With permanent 2-wheel drive that might not matter much though...

I've looked at Hatz, Lombardini and Yanmar and came to the conclusion that they all make nice, reliable engines. I've seen readymade generators based on Lombardini and Yanmar in the price range I quoted in my previous posting, Hatz has not been spotted yet except for a few spare engines here and there. The advantage of getting a readymade generator seem to lie both in price - those things are cheaper than just the engine alone when bought new - as well as the potential to use your bike as, well, a generator for when the next big storm comes along or you feel the need for such when camping or partying or whatnot... The disadvantage is the form factor as they all seem to use long generators while a pancake would fit much better in the frame. They also use somewhat undersized engines for the task at hand.

Hmm, maybe a Listeroid-based hybrid would work... for a tractor that is...


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