Safe, street-legal 45 mph e-bicycle possible?

[IronSpadeCycles]

This might help sort out this issue! These pages are from "The Racing Motorcycle, A technical guide for constructors. Volume One" by John Bradley, first published 1996. I have both Volume 1 and 2 and if you are ever thinking of building you own motorcycles they are a must have. About $200 for both with shipping to US from publisher in UK.

Later Travis

 

[jag]

I'm only interested in electric. I have an ICE Ninja 250 already. Actually, 2 of them if you include my wife's, which she never rides anymore. I might convert one, but I'd like something smaller and lighter. My commute is under 4.5 miles each way, so I'm not very concerned with range. I could just go with a 20 mph e-bicycle, but I'm more comfortable flowing with traffic than trying to keep out of it's way, even though there are bike lanes on most of my route. Most of the streets I use are straight and pretty level and 2 or 3 lanes in each direction. Speed limits are mostly 40 mph, with traffic flowing around 45 or 50. I'd like to mostly go 40 with the ability to up it to 45 if I feel I'm slowing people down.

Since you have a motorbike you can predict/guess how riding an e-motorbike would be.

I take it you don't have e-bicycle experience. I think most people who have ebicycles ride them in different ways and places than they would with a heavier vehicle. My ebike weighs 30kg and does 50km/h. However, my average speed around town is just over 30km/h. Yet in practice I get around faster on the ebike than in a car. If I were to change anything I would go even lighter. At 20kg (12-14kg bike, 4kg geared hub motor, 2-4kg batteries) I'm hoping I can negotiate the urban jungle even better, so that will be my next project when time/money allows.

So bottom line ebicycle /= emotorcycle, and it might be worthwhile getting experience with light yet decent performance ebicycle to know what it is about.

 

[JohnT818]

Thanks, again, for all the advice.

I'm definitely concerned about the safety of such a vehicle. Bad welds, poor geometry, and inadequate suspension are all concerns I had. I'd hate to go down at 40 mph again. My shoulder still isn't fully healed from a lowside on my motorcycle about 6 months ago.

Maybe jag is right. Maybe I should try a lower powered bicycle system first. I haven't ridden a bicycle much since I was a kid. I should probably do more unpowered riding, too.

If I want to go with more speed, I guess I should convert one of my motorcycles. Someone suggested a 125cc sportbike, and I'd love to do that, but I can't think of a street legal one here in the States. I'm kind of tempted to do a Yamaha YSR, but I doubt it would have enough room for batteries. Maybe with an EnerTrac hubmotor! I'll have to think about that one.

I guess if I build something myself, I'll stick to 3 or 4 wheels. A 2 wheeler might not be the best vehicle to practice on. Eventually, I hope to build a variation of a Locost and thought a bike might be simpler.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locost

Oh, and Brammo just dropped the price of the Enertia electric motorcycle to about $8K! That's a $4K drop! And they're going to be selling it through Best Buy with financing available. Probably not the way I want to go, but... 60 mph, 45 mile range. Nah, too heavy for me. 324 lbs. I already have two bikes that weigh about that much.
http://www.brammo.com/home/

I've been thinking about this project so much, I'm getting antsy to start building, but guess I should try to remember to not overstep my abilities by too much. Travis is probably right; I should weld something that won't be so likely to hurt me if it falls apart.

 

[mwkeefer]

As dumb as this may sound...

I LOVE THIS PLACE!

Never a day goes by that I don't come across some new idea, concept, view on old idea, etc... you guys are inspirational. Now if I could just figure a way to add 500mm to my 9fs folding bike so it could be more stable at 60mph = )_ (hk)

-Mike

 

[IronSpadeCycles]

Funny thing is I really had only thought of doing a E-boardtrack racer fun bike up until now but I'm thinking since I have an 05 YZ125 sitting in my shop with a blown topend now my creative wheels are moving. I'm might do a conversion and build it Motard style. What's the highest torque most compact brushless motor available for say a 48V system? Texas laws are so easy to get a dirt bike registered. Add a head light, brake light, turn signals, horn, and mirror.

Who knows, I think it would be a riot.

Later Travis