Homebrew Electric Motorcycle

So, while at the Vintage Festival at Barber Motorsports this weekend my brother and I got to see one of the new electric motorcycles that are currently out.

We got to talking about building a homebrew electric motorcycle. Something grassroots priced.

I'm thinking a full fairing bike to hide the batteries etc. Thoughts on which one? I'm thinking lighter is better? Maybe a Ninja 250?

I don't really know that much about electric motors but I know there are people on here who do. What electric motor would you use that would be easily/cheaply sourced? How many batteries would you need to run the bike?

Discuss......

I don't know if you have seen the episode of OCC when they build the electric drag bike that sets the new 1/4 mile record. If you haven't try looking up parts and motors they used to incorporate into your bike design. Maybe this is irrelevant to what your trying to do, but I thought any info could help you. Lawless Electric Drag Bike

Brandon

diyelectriccar.com has a few builds and I think one of the others is ecomodder.com ?

There's someone riding a homebuilt one around Purdue. Never had a chance to talk to him, but I seem him riding it frequently. All I know is he has solar panels mounted on "wings" attached to the sides of what would have been the gas tank. When he's parked, they're horizontal to catch the sun, but fold down when in motion.

Edit: Found a pic of it Here

I hope you have lots of money for batteries. The only feasible ones I know of are very expensive.

I actually don't have any money right now........

Thanks for the links guys. I'm still looking through diyelectriccar. Lot of info there.

Most of the diy guys just use 3-4 car batteries. Expensive, but not the lithium expensive that stroker is talking about.

I recall seeing a photo of a "DeWalt" electric bike it had 18-20 18vEXP dewalt cordless drill batery's sticking out of it...

http://hackaday.com/2008/06/25/kawasaki-kz440-electric-conversion/

A simple/dirty/cheap setup, plus links to others...

It seems yellow top batteries are a big limitation for range. Would it be at all feasible to use Prius batteries like Bryce (Nashco) did w/ the Challenge Fiero?

My cycle would do it for you. DIY Electric Motorcycle on Instructables

If you left the stock rear sprocket, it would be geared about right for a freeway jaunt.

This is just using all off-the-shelf parts. Yes, lithium is great, but hasn't been in my budget.

You can go with SLA batteries which are cheap and heavy

Or you can go with LiFePO4 batteries which are

1. incredible
2. extremely light
3. safe in a crash
4. incredible
5. expensive
6. incredible

The cheapest place I've seen them is via an ebay seller who calls himself "ping batteries." He also has a site here. http://www.pingbattery.com/servlet/StoreFront

From what I can tell, he's the #1 provider to the EV bicycle community for these packs.

Also, I've heard of some people collecting laptop batteries over a period of time and using them. (Good, light, cheap)