I threw a list up there early in the thread on the parts. The only diffrence is I used an Etek motor and a Alltrax Axe controller and I’ll try and add everything up here later today and let you know.
Hi everyone…
I just wanted to drop a line I have been very busy lately and havent had time to work on my bike. I am going to have to replace my motor, a few weeks ago I was driving it around the block and the motor went on me there were sparks and metal shavings coming out of it. The motor is rated for 150 amp continuous and 300amp for 1 min and I think I might have gone over the 1 minute at 300amp. Live and learn I guess, when it is up and running again i am going to limit the amps to 200 and get a nice big bright amp meter on it.
[QUOTE=Paul51480;1186]Hi everyone…
I just wanted to drop a line I have been very busy lately and havent had time to work on my bike. I am going to have to replace my motor, a few weeks ago I was driving it around the block and the motor went on me there were sparks and metal shavings coming out of it. The motor is rated for 150 amp continuous and 300amp for 1 min and I think I might have gone over the 1 minute at 300amp. Live and learn I guess, when it is up and running again i am going to limit the amps to 200 and get a nice big bright amp meter on it.[/QUOTE]
lol that sucks but at least you know what is up with it and what you have to do.
heck get a higher amperage motor 
I would love to get a higher amperage motor, but its an awful tight fit with that Etek. I think if the motor was any bigger it might not fit.
Hello, I’m new to the board, and I’m interested in doing a motorcycle conversion of my own. One thing on your bike that concerns me a bit is the angle of your drive chain in relation to the rear sprocket. Normally, you’d want the centerline of the countershaft sprocket and the drive in as close proximity to the swingarm centerline as possible. With the motor mounted up high like on your bike are you having any chain binding/slacking issues? An easy way to check would be to set the bike up on a jack or something on the bottom frame rails, raising the bike high enough to let the rear wheel swing through it’s swingarm arc. Remove the rear shocks, then rotate the swingarm to check for binding. In any case, it looks great, and I hope we can hear more about your adventures soon!
Paul51480
I like what you have done with the motorcycle it has helped convince me to try a motorcycle conversion.
Sorry to hear about the motor. 
Robbvious
I am new here also. And I am considering doing a motorcycle (have just acquired a donorcycle).
I believe he mounted the motor on the swingarm. If so the motor sprocket moves with the rear sprocket. Which would mean no binding/slacking. Some motorcycles have a swingarm design that is well suited for this type of mount. As there is enough room for the chain to clear the swingarm.
Ah, right you are, it does appear to mounted on the swingarm. I guess I still wouldn’t think that’s the best solution. I don’t have my handy-dandy motorcycle engineering text nearby, but adding weight to the swingarm seems likely to contribute to some ill handling unless you use more stiffly sprung shocks.
I have a couple of candidates for my conversion and am trying to decide which to use. I have a '75 Honda CB750SS and a '06 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 Military. I’ll probably go with the RE because the engine is a bit dodgy and it has nifty built-on metal panniers that could easily house the charger and motor controller. This is a stock photo:
Here’s mine along with my Bonneville:
There are no kind of binding/slacking issues with mounting the motor on the swingarm. The motor is mounted on the swingsrm to avoid slacking the motor moves with the rear sproket so the chain always has the same tension. The motor is almost dead on the center line of the bike, in fact the bike is balanced quite well so the bike handles pretty good. I am glad there are more motorcycles converting I want plenty of pictures 
Good luck to you all with your conversions
Hey Paul,
Looks like a great job on your conversion.
I worked on converting a cycle to electric this summer.
Pretty similar set-up. I am using a Briggs Etek with Alltrax controller. I loosely followed the “Secrets of El-Nija” book plans.
Currently, I have 3 Optima Yellow-top batteries installed. They are high power and deep cycleable. They are pricey, but I had a bad experience once in a camper with flooded acid deep-cycle batteries, and have preferred to use sealed batteries since then.
You can find out more about my cycle conversion at:
http://web.mac.com/benhdvideoguy/iWeb/cycle/Welcome.html
Another great page for electric vehicles is Austin EV. My cycle is listed there at http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/1133
Use the search menu to search by make/type and select motorcycle. Lots of fun bikes listed there.
Also on my web page, I have a few notes about registering an electric cycle and some other info people might find handy.
-ben
Hi everyone,
So I have been looking for someplace to repair my motor and the few places I have emailed dont work on the Etek. I found another motor on ebay yesterday and won it. As soon as my new motor comes in I will be running again. I also have a amp meter and a battery fuel gauge on the way to install. I think I will tune the controller down to 200 amp and see how long it holds that well accelerating and I might tune it lower I really cant afford to burn another motor up :D I have repaired the speedometer so I will finally be able to see how fast I go at 48v :cool: catch you all later....Hi everyone,
I got my new motor last night and now I have to order a new sprocket cause the new motor has a 3/4 inch shaft and the old motor had a 7/8 inch shaft so now it will be another week or two. Yesterday i installed and wired all my lights now I just have to figure out where to put the switches and I can have that all done.
Paul,
That’s a great project. I have enjoyed reading about it and
it is inspiring and educational (I’ll be more careful about goggles) and now I am glancing sideways at my ole Honda CL500!
Mark
[QUOTE=Mark;1679]Paul,
That’s a great project. I have enjoyed reading about it and
it is inspiring and educational (I’ll be more careful about goggles) and now I am glancing sideways at my ole Honda CL500!
Mark[/QUOTE]
i was using my angle grinder this weekend and i was SURE to put on some saftey glasses before messing with the thing lol i dont want anything in my eyes that isn’t supposed to be there… lol
I’m glad I inspire safety LOL… For anyone who isn’t bothered by the pain of the whole thing maybe the money of it will bother you, i made right around $1000 in eye doctor bills.
[QUOTE=Paul51480;1687]I’m glad I inspire safety LOL… For anyone who isn’t bothered by the pain of the whole thing maybe the money of it will bother you, i made right around $1000 in eye doctor bills.[/QUOTE]
eye pain is enough!!! i hate work on eyes…
I got my new sprocket and installed it today. I took it out for a test drive and having never really rode anything much more then a moped and a few dirt bikes, its one hell of an experience to do 55 down the road on a motorcycle. I just spent the last hour making and mounting a bracket for the charger and a panel for all my switches and gauges. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get out there and mount the panel, the bike looks like spaghetti right now with a large bundle of wire coming from the rear and then another bundle coming from the front. I am not so sure I can turn the controller down to 200 amp. I was trying to keep it at 150 amp today and see what it did. From a standstill it takes 150 amp just to begin to move. I might have to get smaller batteries to reduce weight. I took 2 batteries off and ran it at 24v it goes from 0-30 in around 6 sec and at 35 which is top speed at 24v is draws 100amp. I have 4 115 amp batteries on it now. I was thinking if I go with 4 50 amp batteries I will cut 100+ pounds off the bike. I think I will see what range I get with the big batteries then decide if I want to downsize or not. I’ll just have to watch my amp meter and not overdo it for now.
[QUOTE=Paul51480;1715]I got my new sprocket and installed it today. I took it out for a test drive and having never really rode anything much more then a moped and a few dirt bikes, its one hell of an experience to do 55 down the road on a motorcycle. I just spent the last hour making and mounting a bracket for the charger and a panel for all my switches and gauges. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get out there and mount the panel, the bike looks like spaghetti right now with a large bundle of wire coming from the rear and then another bundle coming from the front. I am not so sure I can turn the controller down to 200 amp. I was trying to keep it at 150 amp today and see what it did. From a standstill it takes 150 amp just to begin to move. I might have to get smaller batteries to reduce weight. I took 2 batteries off and ran it at 24v it goes from 0-30 in around 6 sec and at 35 which is top speed at 24v is draws 100amp. I have 4 115 amp batteries on it now. I was thinking if I go with 4 50 amp batteries I will cut 100+ pounds off the bike. I think I will see what range I get with the big batteries then decide if I want to downsize or not. I’ll just have to watch my amp meter and not overdo it for now.[/QUOTE]
awesome, cant wait to see!
I went to Pep Boys today and found they have a full line of LED bulbs to fit the sockets on my bike, so I got two to play with. I have since learned one LED bulb draws .06ish amps as opposed to the OEM bulbs that draw 1.6 amps each and the headlight draws around 4 amp. I would love to do the all the lights in LEDs because its the difference between a total draw of around 12amp for the OEM lighting and 4.3amp for the LED lights and the headlight. The problem is in the turn signals, I have two different flasher relays I have tried. I got a thermal flasher from Wal-Mart for like $1.50 and a mechanical flasher from NAPA for about $11 and two lights together don’t pull enough to trip the flashers. One OEM light will trip the flasher easy enough. I will have to run OEM lights in the rear signals and use the LED lights in the front so they will trip the flasher. The front lights are running lights as well as signals and the rear are just signals so they wont be drawing much as they will only be on when I turn. I think I will be able to run LEDs in the tail light with no trouble. If anyone knows of a street legal LED head light please drop me a line.
Never mind, LOL…
I have read around a bit and I just need a electronic flasher relay and I can use all LED bulbs. I’m sure they were hanging right near the bulbs LOL…
I made a couple new videos today :
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlipd1isyGs[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqEc7VI_w6E[/ame]
Sorry for the glare on the speedometer but its hard to do 55 down the road driving with one hand and videoing with the other… LOL…