Electric Roadster

[Jocke_D]

Thanks mate!

Sorry to hear about the crash. Have you removed some parts of the original frame then that could be a reason for wobble. Have you balanced the wheels?

I don't know how to do that, but I don't think they are out of balance that much, I'd feel some kind of vibration if it were the case

I'm not trying to tell you how to make things because you really seem to have that figured out but here's a couple of ideas regarding the side covers.
A buddy of mine is building a -67 Mini with a turbocharged VR6 and AWD.

Sweet. If there is a build thread I'd be interested to read it.

Kind of hard to quote this in a comprehensivfe way
It sounds, like I assumed, that you have thought about almsot everything. Kind of glad I couldn't help, haha.

Static balancing wheels could be done at home, very simple. Basically a stand with an axle and some bearings. It shows where the wheel is heavier. The faster the wheel stops and stands still the more off balance it is. Then is it sort of a guessing game to find how much counter weight to add on the opposite side. Use small amounts first gently taped on the rim. When the wheel has a hard time settling you are good to go. I guess there are tons of videos on youtube.
My experience is that this is almost never a problem but I usually work on newer bikes. Yours is kind of old and the wheels could have lived a hard life until you got it.
Here is an example from a swedish e-sales site.




Here is a link to the mini build. Unfortunately in swedish but a pic says a thousand words

[Dui, ni shuo de dui]

It sounds, like I assumed, that you have thought about almsot everything. Kind of glad I couldn't help, haha.

lol, actually I really appreciate your questions and suggestions guys, it forces me to think a bit more about different perspectives and makes me challenge the ideas I already had, it's really nice.
That's one of the main reasons why I keep posting my builds on this forum actually.

Static balancing wheels could be done at home, very simple. Basically a stand with an axle and some bearings. It shows where the wheel is heavier. The faster the wheel stops and stands still the more off balance it is. Then is it sort of a guessing game to find how much counter weight to add on the opposite side. Use small amounts first gently taped on the rim. When the wheel has a hard time settling you are good to go. I guess there are tons of videos on youtube.

Interesting, it seems relatively easy to build, I'll give it a try whenever I'll have time, thanks

Here is a link to the mini build. Unfortunately in swedish but a pic says a thousand words

Great, thanks, looks sweet! Just in case you don't know it already, a little tip: in google chrome you just right click and translate to english. Works for any language and any webpage, so it doesn't really matter if the page is in swedish. The translation isn't perfect but good enough to understand 99% of what's going on

[Dui, ni shuo de dui]

Some progress on making the rear light:
I made a little PCB board to hold the LEDs. First I designed it, then ordered it on JLCPCB. three days later it was here, I also ordered some soldering paste and also the components as well (leds and resistors).

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Then I put the soldering paste with a seringe, and delicately put the components on top of it. Finally, placed all of this in a little PCB oven I borrowed from work:

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7 minutes later, Tadaaaaaaa:

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Not too bad for a first time!
It was actually much easier than I thought, I'll do that more often.

I then attached some resistors in order to dim the lights. Whenever the brake levers are not activated current goes through these resistors, which makes the light shine at half brightness. If the brakes levers are pressed then the resistors are bypassed and the LEDs shine at full brightness. Very simple:

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Next step was to attach the PCB to the light guiding block, for that I just used painters tape, but later I'll encapsulate the whole thing in transparent epoxy. Also added a plug.

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And then reinstalled in on the bike to see if it works. Well no problem, it works well!

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I'm quite satisfied with the result, so I'll keep this design and make a new version based on what I learned. The goal of the new version will be to improve quality. This one isn't too bad for afar, but there are some bubbles and dirt embedded inside the epoxy casting, plus I'd like to integrate some kind of way to secure this thing inside the tube.

But anyway, that was a success. I'll have to start working on the front light. No idea what I'm going to do there.

[fechter]

Very nice!
Was the board expensive? There are places that do those here but are too expensive for hobby use. Not bad if you want 100 boards.
I want to make a custom brake/tail/turn signal light for my Sur-ron.

[Dui, ni shuo de dui]

Very nice!
Was the board expensive? There are places that do those here but are too expensive for hobby use. Not bad if you want 100 boards.
I want to make a custom brake/tail/turn signal light for my Sur-ron.

No it costs peanuts! I paid a little extra since this one is an aluminum PCB and I needed it in white color, so in my case it was 10 bucks for 5 boards (minimum order qty). If I went for the traditional green color that would have been 3 bucks.
Maybe shipping can make it more expensive depending where you live, I can't tell you since I live in China.

The process is fairly simple:
First, design your PCB with the EasyEDA editor: https://easyeda.com/editor
There are some tutorials available on youtube, I've watched a few first and then it was easy enough, the tool is really neat, you start with your schematic, there are libraries for lots of components, then you design the PCB routes and you can even see it in 3D if you want.

Then export all you files (gerber, BOM and pick and place file) and then import it in the JLCPCB website so you can get a price estimate: https://cart.jlcpcb.com/quote

Finally select whatever options you want, the price will be calculated in real time.

You can ask them do do the SMT (soldering the components), or you can do it yourself. In which case you can even order the soldering mask, and best of all even this costs almost nothing (10-15 bucks or so, with the frame). Completely nuts.
Super easy, super cheap, totally worth it. First time is very intimidating, but once you've done it you'll realise this is really no rocket science and it's actually a very useful tool to master

No I do not work at JLCPCB nor EasyEDA, and I'm not sponsored or anything, but I can say it is probably one of the most impressive service I ever got from any company. I'm also amazed how automatized their processes seem to be, their IT guys must be real good.
Anyway, give it a try, it's awesome.

[fechter]

OK, thanks. I'll have to check that out. The places I've used here in the past I was not really happy with.

[CONSIDERABLE SHOUTING]

That rear light is badass!

[Dui, ni shuo de dui]

Thanks guys, glad you like it!

So, in order to have this thing working, I had to make a 12V harness. The bike didn't have one since it didn't really need it until now, but since the lighs are running on 12V it is now necessary. I'll also need it for the horn anyway.

So first I had to design and print a bracket to hold the DCDC converter.
I wanted to use a smaller one I had collecting dust in a drawer, but it turned out to be dead. I'll see if I can get it running again later, but meanwhaile I used this one which works just fine but is much bigger than necessary.

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Also worked on the wiring, I'll organise it a bit better later but so far it works just fine.

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I've reinstalled the fairings, the bike can be used again. Next will be to start making the front light.

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[Dui, ni shuo de dui]

As I keep procrastinating on making the carbon fiber parts ( partly because it's very tedious, but also because I'm missing some stuff that can't get since the lockdown), I'm working on some details/accessory parts. Especially improving water protection.
The bike is not intended to be ridden on the wet, but sometimes there are puddles and also dirt and debris could easily be projected by the rear wheel towards the battery pack. So I had to find a solution to at least protect it a little bit.

I decided to go with 3D printing and made some flat parts, then bend them with a blowtorch afterwards to get the final shape. This way it could be printed much faster, it will also be more solid because of the print filament direction. I decided to make some kind of little winglets/air extractor looking things just to try to make this part a little more interesting, but there is no actual hole for air to escape (because this would defeat its purpose as a waterproofing device, obviously ), so that's purely cosmetic. But if anyone asks, I'll say that it improves downforce .

Anyway, first I designed and printed the top part:

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I had to design these little doors to be able to access the two screws that secure the battery at the rear. There was a bit of trial and error to get there but it's no problem because the printer is fast so it didn't take long to print several prototypes and test whichever fits.

Then I bent the top and the sides with the torch to get this shape:
The goal here was for this part and the side covers to interlock with each other in such a way water cannot get in.

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This part features two switches, one controls the BMS, the other one is the ON/OFF switch for the bike.
Test fit on the bike:

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Finally I made another part to fit the bottom part of the frame, using the same techniques. Here it how the rear of the bike looks now:

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I'll print a more refined version later, this one is a quick prototype at low quality, but it doesn't look too bad so I'll keep it like this for now, my reserves of 3D printing plastic are drying up since lockdown

[Elektrosherpa]

Looks really cool, this minimalistic style.

What I am asking myself:
Can you drive on the streets over there without a license plate ???

[Dui, ni shuo de dui]

Looks really cool, this minimalistic style.

What I am asking myself:
Can you drive on the streets over there without a license plate ???

Nope. But problem is I cannot even get a license plate in the first place because there is no way to homologate a vehicle for the little guy, you have to be a registered motorcycle company.
Same thing in France unfortunately.

Some countries are a little bit more pragmatic and allow their citizens to build their own vehicles as long as they follow a list of basic safety requirements, from what I've heard UK legisation is one of the most DIY friendly. Hopefully other nations will get inspired from their example, but somehow I doubt it.

[tylerwatts]

Looking great Dui! Hopefully your lockdown ends soon.

In UK the rules are not you can build your own, but convert a homologated vehicle. There is a route to build your own vehicle completely but requires some stringent inspection tests which cost a fair bit of money. But yes we are fortunate in that regard! And for EVs very fortunate that DIY doesn't have to complete EMC tests on private vehicles as far as I know currently, I don't believe that has changed. In EU that is mandatory and expensive if you don't have certified components already.

cheers
Tyler

[Jocke_D]

For once it seems swedish rules are better (meaning more laid back)

We can use vehicles in three main types of registration.
Homologated by maker (most cars, bikes).

"Modified vehicles". You take a homologated vehicles and modify it not to much but enough from original state. Change of engine and braking system for instance. A special organization (SFRO, Swedish vehicles constructors national organization) need to do an inspection to see it meets all demands on safety etc. This is what I'm looking to do with my build v2.0 (if I ever get there).

"Amateur built". You build your own from the ground up. SFRO makes an inspection during build, "SFRO1", to see you meet safety requirements regarding design and build quality (they inspect your welding etc). Then you get a chance to fix issues and keep on building. When finished you do a SFRO2 and once that is finished you can do a normal registration.

You can also register bikes/cars that are manufactured to be used for competition. I have two bikes that are registered like this (HVA FC450 + Honda CR500). They don't need indicators etc but can only be used to, from and during competition. This is because lots of racing have transport stages between special stages during a race. You also need a competitors license and be a members of a club.

[Dui, ni shuo de dui]

That's so cool, you guys are lucky.
If it wasn't so cold there and if you guys had better food I'd really consider going there

[tylerwatts]

cheers
Tyler

[Elektrosherpa]

That's so cool, you guys are lucky.
If it wasn't so cold there and if you guys had better food I'd really consider going there

Yes, I agree to the "cold" thing.
But food is no problem, you just need to cook yourself

[Jocke_D]

That's so cool, you guys are lucky.
If it wasn't so cold there and if you guys had better food I'd really consider going there

Haha, I like the climate. Love the snow in winter (would like more here in the middle/south) and the warm, in my mind, summers. In the north I actually heard they got some more snow yesterday. Lucky bastards. Can't stand the heat in the south of Europe

Food is basically a case of tradition and using what the land can give and of course personal taste. Lots of differents kinds of meat/fish and potatoes is a good base. I love most of the traditional dishes but also going to an asian/italian/what ever restaurant.

Back to your build.
I think it would be quite easy to get it legal here. Proper lighting (with correct markings), speedo and rear plate is basically what it takes since you have done so much work regarding drive train. The main thing, I think, would be to find a nice looking CE marked rear light for registration.

[liveforphysics]

Beautiful moto builds. Glad you're not hurt from the wreck, bet you're glad you had that scratched up full face on. Great use of the printer to make your molds for CF parts.