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I only work 3 miles from home but with gas prices getting out of control, I thought it would be great to have an electric vehicle. I've always wanted a motorcycle and decided that making an electric motorcycle would be a good EV project, keeping costs down, and be fun to ride.
Start by removing all of those nasty internal combustion engine parts. Remove the gas tank and using your grinder or other cutting tool to cut out the bottom. This makes room for extra batteries or components. (Make sure all gas is out before cutting) Reference your owners manual so that you don't cut any necessary wires, and try to sell some of the parts to help pay for this project.
Next, make cardboard mock ups of all of your batteries and electronic components to see how and where things are going to fit. Take a look at my pictures to see how I fit everything, believe me that taking the time to make accurate cardboard mock ups is well worth the effort.
Now for the hard part. You need a secure battery box and motor mount. I had a friend weld it up for me and he did a fantastic job. From the photos you can see that he first strung up the motor to allow for minor adjustment to be made before cutting the motor mount plate. After that was cut he made a nice chain and sprocket enclosure with a door and welded them onto the frame.
Next he fabricated the battery rack and gave each battery a swing arm closure to give a tight fit yet still allow me to get them out easily. Half inch foam padding spacers are between each battery to help cushion the stack--but believe me, they aren't going anywhere. The last thing
he did was weld in metal plates for mounting my electrical components.
After you get your motor mount and battery compartment all welded up, take some time to clean up the frame of your bike. I removed any rust spots and chipped paint that I could find. Then I used some metallic gray and black spray paint. This makes a world of difference and costs very little.
I made a fake gas cap and ran the power cord from the charger up the frame and out the top.
Now that you have all of the welding done and your frame looks great, let's install the electrical components and start wiring it up.
Next, make cardboard mock ups of all of your batteries and electronic components to see how and where things are going to fit. Take a look at my pictures to see how I fit everything, believe me that taking the time to make accurate cardboard mock ups is well worth the effort.
Now for the hard part. You need a secure battery box and motor mount. I had a friend weld it up for me and he did a fantastic job. From the photos you can see that he first strung up the motor to allow for minor adjustment to be made before cutting the motor mount plate. After that was cut he made a nice chain and sprocket enclosure with a door and welded them onto the frame.
Next he fabricated the battery rack and gave each battery a swing arm closure to give a tight fit yet still allow me to get them out easily. Half inch foam padding spacers are between each battery to help cushion the stack--but believe me, they aren't going anywhere. The last thing
he did was weld in metal plates for mounting my electrical components.
After you get your motor mount and battery compartment all welded up, take some time to clean up the frame of your bike. I removed any rust spots and chipped paint that I could find. Then I used some metallic gray and black spray paint. This makes a world of difference and costs very little.
I made a fake gas cap and ran the power cord from the charger up the frame and out the top.
Now that you have all of the welding done and your frame looks great, let's install the electrical components and start wiring it up.
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