Beat me to it. You could also mess around with the fairings and possibly have the whole thing just solid batteries.Quote:
Originally Posted by msmrx57
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Beat me to it. You could also mess around with the fairings and possibly have the whole thing just solid batteries.Quote:
Originally Posted by msmrx57
The modules are about twice as long as they are wide, so if I were to turn the two center modules in line with the bike they would take up almost exactly the same space. Keep in mind, the modules I mocked up are 10 packs in a nice box, so when I am able to built the full pack I will have a pretty high level of flexibility in terms of redesigning the modules.Quote:
Originally Posted by mDust
No....sorry, just no...Quote:
Originally Posted by mDust
I have thought of that and I may be going that route if absolutely necessary. I want to keep it all within the body if at all possible however.Quote:
Originally Posted by msmrx57
Going for the cruiser/naked aesthetic, so no fairings, sorry. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by d_stilgar
There is going to have to be a certain level of changes in the naked aesthetic of motorcycles as we move to the electric powertrain. Bikes with fairings you can just hide everything under the fairings, much like you do with ICE bikes. A few examples of this:
Zero S:
Native GPR-S:
But with the naked aesthetic, there's a problem. At its core, the idea of the naked aesthetic is to lay bare the functional workings of the bike. This very much follows my ideals of form following function, and so does very much appeal to me. Case in point, both ICE bikes I've owned have been naked.
Now traditionally the application of this aesthetic has been to make the engine a primary part of the aesthetic of the bike. This presents a problem when applying this aesthetic to electric bikes, as, well, the is no engine (kinda the point).
This conundrum is made a bit more clear if you look at the primary parts of the bike.
ICE:
- Fuel storage
- Carbs/injectors
- Engine (block/headers/etc)
- Transmission
Electric:
- Batteries
- Controller
- Motor
- Transmission (if applicable; a lot of electric motorcycles don't have one)
- Charger
The proportionally largest part in an ICE bike is almost always the engine itself. Thus, it makes sense to make it the primary focus of the naked aesthetic. However, as you have seen in this log, that relationship (like so many other things) is stood on its head with electric bikes.
Now, this bike will not have a transmission, so we are left with:
1) Batteries
2) Controller
3) Motor
4) Charger
The motor and controller are quite small relative to the rest of the bike.
Similarly, the charger is relatively small.
So the batteries are the largest proportional component and thus the primary aesthetic point. So the problem presented is how to present the batteries in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
A bit of a step towards the naked aesthetic is seen in the Brammo Empulse:
Still not quite there though. If we want to really see progress on this aesthetic, we need to look at the DIY community. My personal favorite, and one of my inspirations for this project, is the work of a man by the name of Noah Podolefsky:
I don't pretend that I will be able to measure up to the high level of work that he has done on his GSX, but I hope to at least end up with something that at least looks good to me. ;)
On to news:
Finally got the sprocket yesterday! :D
Took them long enough (30 days), but I am very happy with the end product. It looks very nice, feels very strong, and I'm pretty sure (haven't actually weighed either) it's lighter than the drive sprocket I'm using. :P
Original 44-tooth sprocket:
New 60-tooth sprocket (not actually mounted yet; have to rig up a jig to get myself the leverage I need to get the mounting nuts off):
Now, in the process of getting the wheel off, I got a closer look at the tire, and...it's got cracks forming in the sidewall. :( So this weekend I'll be taking the wheels to a local motorcycle shop and getting new tires fitted.
..also found the rear brake pads are pretty well shot, so gonna be ordering a full set of new pads. Front aren't too bad, but I've got it off the bike for the new tire anyways, so I might as well.
I'll also be calling around the next few days to find a new machine shop....who will actually talk to me and not just ignore me for 3 weeks... -_^
On the battery front, the US warehouse still hasn't been restocked yet but I got the 5 more packs I ordered from the Honk Kong warehouse, so I am now set to go with a full 50 packs, fully tested and approved. I've been doing a bit of a re-think on the way I'll be doing the bus-bars, in my eternal quest for simplicity. ;) I'll post updates on that at some point in the next few days.
Well, it's been quite a while since I updated this. Life and work been getting in the way.. I do have some updates though.
On the battery front, got a good few updates.
I ended up tweaking the module enclosure a bit in order to decrease complexity and increase strength. I'm using closed-end blind rivets on most of the connections instead of screws, and only using screws to hold the top on.
I also finalized my design for the bus bars and parallel boards.
Bus bar (3/4x1/8" C110 copper bar), cut and prepped for drilling:
Main hookup hole drilled (this will take a 2/0 AWG terminal, bolted on with a 3/8" bolt):
I forgot to take a shot of one fully drilled, tapped, and sanded, but there will be plenty more for me to get those.
Now, for the parallel boards that will let me only need to feed one nice 7-conductor, shielded, wire from each module to the control module with the high/low cut-off boards.
Pile-o-parts:
And much soldering later, all 5 done:
Module fully wired (except for the hookups). I think I'm going to shorten the positive leads on the batteries...in case you hadn't guessed, this was not how I originally planned to do the hookups...much more compact though.
And closed up, with mock-up cables (don't worry, they're not far enough into the box to touch the bars):
This is one of the small modules. I will have one more like this,and one big module that will basically be three of these in series. I have some 1.5x1/8" C110 copper bar on order for the two series connection bus bars.
...speaking of that bigger module... :twisted:
On the mechanical front, I've gotten all the frame bits cleaned up nicely, sprocket mounted, and I finally got that motor adapter plate. Still need to work out a rear support...that hopefully will not have to involve another chunk of aluminum machined to size..but might..
This past week-ish, I've been driving all over the eastern half of the country, getting myself to and from southern MO for EVCCON, an electric vehicle conversion convention put on by the guys behind EVTV. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested; just the chance to hang out with other EV nuts for 4 days was priceless. ...plus, it gave me lots of ideas for an upcoming car conversion I'm planning. :p
On the note of EVCCON, I'm sure there are better pictures out there, but here's a some video I got of the end of a parade on the last day of the event (pulling into a hotel parking lot, if you must know :P ). Every car you see turn into the parking lot in this video is electric, with the exception of the silver truck (though the purple car it is towing is electric..it was having controller troubles).
There was an empty parking lot down the hill that seemed appropriate for a group shot. ;)
It's good to see the project is still progressing. How's the battery placement situation?
Well, I have a placement set for the current 5kWh pack. Due to now financial reasons, I will likely not be upgrading to the larger pack for a few months. My current goal is to have the full pack by the start of riding season next year. On the plus side, starting with a smaller pack will let me figure out actual power usage without breaking the bank, then scale the pack to what I will actually need instead of what I estimate I'll need.
