Lower 4 battery packsShaft failureDisplaying the unfinished bike at the Pe
OwnerChristopher Jones
Owner's Other EVs2014 Voltron Evo
1988 Honda Prelude EV
LocationKalamunda, Western Australia Australia map
Web/EmailWebPage email image
Vehicle1985 Suzuki RG250 Gamma
This was my first electric race bike, and its
sole purpose was to fang around a
racetrack at full speed for about 5-7
laps. It was a rolling chassis I bought from
Two Wheel Wreckers in Osborne Park, Perth. It
had no motor, brakes, or drive train, but it
did have burnt out fairings and good wheels.
The aluminium frame meant I had to take it to
many a skilled welder as I don't have the
skills nor the tools to make it happen.
MotorAgni Motors B95 re-enforced motor (brushed) Permanent Magnet DC
I used two Agni motors on my bike held
together by an 8 mm aluminium motor
mount with plates cut by Action Laser
Cutting, Bayswater. The mounts were
welded up by Goodwill engineering,
Malaga. The combined peak power was
probably close to about 55 hp, but
I won't know until I put it on the dyno.
The joining shaft is critical, and I
have previously popped the original setup
out of alignment. I used a 38 mm
solid shaft which was a pain to pull
apart and re-install, but it's solid.
Drivetrain428 pitch chain. 42:12 ratio.
ControllerKelly KDH12121E
This was a heavy duty Brushed DC
permanent magnet 1200 A controller good for
144 volts DC. It has no trouble dumping over
550 amps into the motors. In fact I have to
scae the output back by about 10% to conserve
my brushes.
Batteries32 A123 Systems Prismatic 20 Ah cells, 3.30 Volt, Lithium Iron Phosphate
I bought these through Emissions-free
Worldwide (aka Paul Lynch). The batteries are
built as 8 packs of 13.5 V each, and 60 Ah
capacity. Paul did a fantastic job
building packs, but I doubt he'd do it again -
it was a lot of work! The
system is essentially 3P, 32 S.
System Voltage106 Volts
ChargerElcon 1.5 kW
This charger from Elcon is pretty darn
good. It pumps out a smooth 12 amps and once
it hits 117 V it levels off and reduces the
current. Eventually it turns itself off. It
was fully integrated with the BMS so if
anything goes wrong it will cut out using the
enable feature. I had three of them, and since
they are fully isolated you can run them on
three phase power to do a very fast 2 hr
charge. Or, stack six of them for 30 mins!
HeaterPerth is bloody hot. I don't need much more
heat :)
DC/DC Converter
I used an axillary 12 V battery which runs the
BMS and a 12/24 V DC converter (the controller
needs 24 V to operate properly)
InstrumentationCycle Analyst from ebikes.ca, high
current variety. It is rigged up so I can
monitor charge currents in as well as
discharge currents out. I also bought a 12 V
fuse box from Eastern Beaver which will cover
things like the controller, contactor
and horn.
Top Speed112 MPH (180 KPH)
I recall clocking about 180 km/h on the front
straight at Eastern creek. Moments before the
motors lunched themselves.
AccelerationIt puts the biggest grin on my face :) It has
more pull from the line than a 250 cc gas bike.
When I bent the LHS motor shaft I did 0-80 km/h
in under 3 seconds.
Range62 Miles (99 Kilometers)
Well that depends... As this was a race
bike it never got ridden efficiently
Watt Hours/Mile112 Wh/Mile
Miles? Who uses miles any more? I get about
70-100 Wh/km which is about right for cruising
at 50-60 km/h.
EV Miles
Current:30 Miles (48 Kilometers)
Seating Capacity1 adult
Curb Weight350 Pounds (159 Kilograms)
The original RG250 Gamma kerb weight was
about 131 kg, and the power was about 40
hp. I'd hope to get similar performance.
TiresBridgestone Battlaxe's at the moment, but
eventually some sticky 120's or something would
be sweet.
Conversion TimeAbout 2 years all up
Conversion Cost$17,000 when all is said and done.
UPDATE 18th June 2011: The new joining shaft has gone in
with the 14 tooth front sprocket fixed in place. This
substitutes the piss-weak coupling I had before.
Unfortunately the subtle mis-alignment between the motors means it
is too tight and it doesn't spin freely. So I need to shim the
motor mounts to make sure everything is solid. The new E series
Kelly controller is awesome! It's like I never changed the
sprocket ratio. I needs to be finished this week and crated off
to Sydney for the first Australian TTX-GP race!

Final update: I parted the bike out in early 2012 and started
working on my new bike, Voltron Evo. Look it up - it's much
better.
The frame went to someone who was trying to restore an RG250 two-
stroke. Batteries ended up on a couple of E-max scooters which we
raced for the LOLs, and the motors were totally lunched, so they
went to the racetrack in the sky. A great learning experience,
but AC is the only way to go.

code by jerry