Possible Donor Bike?

Post by **mattW** » Wed, 07 May 2008, 22:19

Hey Guys,
What do you think about this rolling chassisfor my motorbike conversion? The price is certainly right and the aluminium frame is a plus but how much work do you think it would take (besides the conversion itself) to get it roadworthy? I don't really know much about getting motorcycles parts.. My total budget is $750 for the donor bike and I guess it wouldn't cost more than $500 to fix this up.

Post by **Mark T** » Wed, 07 May 2008, 22:57

I think it looks pretty good. There's a couple of guys in NSW on evalbum who have done bikes. Why not send them an email for advice. I know Jon and Mark with the GS250 are in the AEVA.

Post by **zeva** » Thu, 08 May 2008, 01:47

Looks like a great place to start an EV conversion - much cheaper without the engine, and saves the effort of removing it yourself! That said I'd advise making sure everything else is up to scratch and won't cause problems come licensing time (if not, replacement parts can get expensive quickly!)

Might be worth checking if the seller is OK with an inspection before the auction finishes. Do you know any motorcycle mechanics who might know what to look for re: brakes/suspension/electrical/etc?

By the way... You and others have been inspiring me to do a motorcycle conversion myself! I started looking for a good donor bike myself this week. (Yes I know I should finish the MX5 first.. but it's nearly there..

)

Post by **mattW** » Thu, 08 May 2008, 02:06

Lol maybe we should do an open source bike- Or at least share design features- are you looking at similar specs to mine?

Post by **mattW** » Thu, 08 May 2008, 05:58

The other problem is the lack of gauges. Does anyone know where a speedo on a bike gets its signal from and how difficult it would be to retrofit one on? I could just use one of those TomTom Rider things but it wouldn't work in tunnels etc. Anyone Got a decent solution?

Website · Post by **Simon** » Thu, 08 May 2008, 06:36

A motorcycle speedometer generally works by a cable driven from the front wheel. One option is a digital bicycle speedo but the cable for the sensor is generally not long enough and fixing the magnet to the wheel is not easy either!
A complete and running bike would be a less risky option, that way you can test the brakes, lights, instruments and handling etc.

Post by **mattW** » Thu, 08 May 2008, 07:32

Yeah I'm considering just going to some motorbike wreckers and seeing some bikes in person that I can pick up. The only problem is most running bikes of the size I want are selling for around $3000 which is a lot to get a safe bet.

Post by **mattW** » Mon, 19 May 2008, 23:37

I found another less skeletal bike, an '84 Suzuki GSX250 for $500 pretty close to me, seems to be running. I might grab a motorcycling friend and go do an inspection. The only thing I am worried about is fitting 72V worth of batteries in.

Post by **mattW** » Mon, 26 May 2008, 17:59

I'm bidding on this bike at the moment:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 3DWatching
Hopefully getting it registered shouldn't be too hard and it's not stolen or anything... Its pretty much perfect for what I want it for including the aluminium frame.

Post by **Thalass** » Mon, 26 May 2008, 22:13

I once saw an article somewhere on the internets (I can't find it anymore) where a guy wanted a speedo on his pocket bike, so he put an optical sensor over the front disk brake, and built a circuit that took the pulses from the light shining through holes in the disk (I think it was six holes total), and then displayed the speed in km/h. Not sure if this would be legal, as such, but if you could demonstrate it's accuracy I don't see why they'd have a problem.

If I remember correctly it was a fairly simple circuit to build, though it had to be calibrated of course. I'll keep looking, but I think my google-fu is a bit off today.

Post by **mattW** » Mon, 26 May 2008, 23:10

The new bike I'm bidding on seems to have all the running gear- it just has carbi/choke problems but its got an aluminium frame, plenty of space for batteries and its dirt cheap. The auction finishes tomorrow night so I am pretty excited about this one.