Motor Placement 2Motor and ControllerGuest Battery ChargerAnother AngleWith the Leeson in Frame
OwnerMark
Owner's Other EVsFrankenTrike
Chinese-Made Eagle Scooter
Mark's Turf Pro
LocationHuntsville, Alabama United States map
Email email image
Vehicle1980 Suzuki GS 450
Ratty old Suzuki motorcycle frame I got real cheap, converting to electric 15 years after I first conceived of the idea. The original idea would have involved a Kawasaki 440 LTD, as I had owned 2 of them in my time, but I used something very similar, which is fine with me...
Motor Series Wound DC
Club Car golf cart Special Service 3.2 hp DC motor

UPDATE: I'll start with the Leeson PM motor from off my electric tractor for testing purposes
DrivetrainChain drive, (maybe) will use a jackshaft...

UPDATE: I will probably not do the jackshaft, and had even considered using a golf cart rear end with the golf cart motor, but again probably not...
ControllerCurtis Not sure
Markings inside the controller seem to indicate this is a Curtis PWM 300 amp max controller
Batteries3, 0.00 Volt,
Will start out with reconditioned deep cycle batteries, then upgrade when I can afford it
System Voltage36 Volts
ChargerGuest
3-Bank 30 amp marine battery charger, it looks like it belongs on the frame where the gas tank used to reside...
Conversion TimeI've been collecting the parts for a couple of years, but the actual build has just begun...
Conversion CostSo far, about $175, thanks to some wheelin n dealin... That's just for the controller, motor and bike frame...

UPDATE: Add another $75 for the battery charger off eBay, and $55 for the first of four (reconditioned) deep cycle batteries...

UPDATE: Went back to the battery store and got two more of the same brand and size of battery for an additional $45 (!), so now I have 36 volts available for the first phase of testing...
Additional FeaturesToo soon to list anything worth mentioning...
5-15-11: Just got the bike into the garage and started fitting parts. No batteries, except the ones off my tractor to test the controller with, and not much else.

7-27-11: I have a Guest battery charger and one deep cycle battery, will purchase more batteries as they become available.

11-23-11: Traded in some dead mc, scooter and car batteries to get a good deal on two more reconditioned batteries, making a total of 36 volts, and I decided to use my 1.5 hp Leeson from my electric tractor as a test motor. It's much easier to deal with and I want to know what kind of performance I can get out of it in this arrangement anyways. My inspiration for this project comes from this GL1000: WebPage /> When I slack off too long, I just look at the pic of that bike and I get reinvigorated. I could have the bike ready for testing by Xmas. Hopefully, another update will be forthcoming.

12-5-11: Spent Sunday evening fitting the batteries and the motor. Started on the components of the battery tray, but held back by inferior drill bits that just wouldn't cut through the frame without breaking n stuff... Purchased a new drill bit that promises to drill steel, we'll seeeeee....

code by jerry