Topic: 1976 CB750F EV conversion - SCIENCE!

[fatmatt650]

I've been spending a lot of time on a Fantic 180 Integra electric assist mountain  bike and have become a full on, religous convert to the concept of electric vehicles. After finding out that it is now possible to do long distance touring on a Zero with charger upgrades from diginow, I became convinced that I need to purchase one of these vehicles myself. Turns out that's a little out of my price range right now. I've been planning a cross country trip this coming spring and started considering trying to do an ev conversion on my 1976 CB750F but I now realize that's probably nowhere near enough time to go from idea to reliable vehicle. So now I have a new plan. Plan out a trip according to available charging stations and expected charging times. Attempt to maximize my range and efficiency. Make my bike and load as aerodynamic as possible. Collect as much data as I can. Then replicate the same trip next year with the EV conversion to compare energy efficiency, practicality and user experience. It looks like I can fit enough Nissan Leaf battery modules for over a hundred miles of highway riding and a motor capable of blowing doors on any stock Honda off the line, in the available space of the stock motor. What do y'all think?

[Don R]

Squeeze in a 2000 watt Honda genset and you can have a hybrid lol.  Good luck, I hope you'll do a build thread so I can watch and learn.
 Years ago I wanted to build a hybrid electric S10 pick up. I spent my money racing instead, burned up a lot of dinosaurs. Eric Buell's going electric too, maybe he'll loan you one for a road test and photo report. Feull Motorcycles.
 Craig Vetter did some hi mile gas and E bike rallys, there are pics on his site. One used leaf batteries and one used chevy volt batteries. Three were zero's they did 80 miles. Fairing ideas too.

[754]

FATMATT, WHERE you been,,,
 Wondering what happened to you..
 Yeah E bikes, its a big thing now..

[fatmatt650]

FATMATT, WHERE you been,,,
 Wondering what happened to you..
 Yeah E bikes, its a big thing now..

I've been sticking to the pedal powered bikes lately, how you been? The CB750 hasn't racked up too many miles since the CO trip, just a little commuting here and there. I don't recall if I shared this but my fusebox pigtail shorted out on me just outside Moab. It's still running on an alligator clip bypass but I finally got Hondamans upgrade. Just gotta plug it in one of these days. Really looking forward to getting into this project. I have a pretty rough idea of how it will all work except for charging. I'm gonna contact Diginow and see if they can build me a custom version for my bike or if I can adapt one of there Zero units. Also looking at a conversion on my 1961 VW singlecab. That should be simpler because there's a bunch of aftermarket kits already available and I won't be worried about quick charging on the road, I can just plug it in to slow charge all day at work.

[scottly]

Also looking at a conversion on my 1961 VW singlecab. That should be simpler because there's a bunch of aftermarket kits already available and I won't be worried about quick charging on the road, I can just plug it in to slow charge all day at work.

Hey Matt, about 20 years ago I was involved in making adapters to do VW conversions for a guy that ended up being a flake. I still have 6 motor to transaxle "bell-housings", and one flywheel to motor adapter for the early VWs, as well as several flywheel adapters to fit the later bus and Porsche 914. The early flywheel adapters were made by Jim Stein, as I didn't have a lathe then.
I haven't followed the scene for a while now, but back then the Advanced DC 9" motor was a common choice. The adapters I have are for the ADC 9" or 8" motors.

[fatmatt650]

Awesome! I'll be super stoked if I can put one or two of those to use after all these years.I'm probably pretty far away from getting into the VW conversion but, we'll see. I'll bet even if I go for a different motor, one of these can be adapted. I actually have a later, type 4 equipped bus, but it's my camper and I don't think I can make that a practical EV just yet.

[scottly]

Hey Matt, here are some pics of the different adapters, with some rough measurements. From the quick glance I took of your motor, I think the 9" one might work better, due to the increased thickness? The thickness of the 8" is 2.5", while the 9" is 3.1".

[grcamna2]

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