Baileyrock Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Hey stranger, Long Time!!! Thanks for teh update and keep them coming!!! BR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frodus Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 Thanks BR for the support! More pics.... Pic of the fibarglass faux tank (just 1/2 of it, used as a cover) with filled in gas cap: Pic of the battery pack: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Good to see this project still coming along Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vfrcapn Posted June 22, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted June 22, 2012 Looks good even though the 6/19 post was written in ancient Greek. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer InvisibleCities Posted June 22, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted June 22, 2012 ^ Too funny, I'm still working my way through a Google search on most of text as well ;-) Very interesting project! Looking forward to seeing how this all comes together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frodus Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 Haha, sorry guys. I kinda wrote it technically for another forum as well, but wanted to post an update here for the people that have supported this project. Basically, things are coming along well and it's going to meet my expectations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer mello dude Posted June 25, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted June 25, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frodus Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 (edited) Lots of small cracks in my airtech fairing (was secondhand) so we've spent some time filling those and making it stronger. I've been focusing a lot more on the electrical and have full integration with everything. The battery management system monitors cells and current and backs off the throttle on the controller if I go over limits, and while charging it shuts off the charger or disables regenerative braking. And because I'm geeky enough to even build the electric motorcycle in the first place, I had to take advantage of the fact that Torque can "Tweet" to twitter :) Edited June 27, 2012 by frodus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frodus Posted October 1, 2012 Author Share Posted October 1, 2012 Update from my blog: It’s been a slow summer. I’ve been too busy this summer to get much done and David moved his shop. I haven’t posted lately, but I have been doing things on and off. I’ve also been riding my SV650 a bit. Really glad I got this to practice on while the bike is being finished. I’d rather learn on this than the eVFR. I wouldn’t want to drop either, but I’d rather drop the SV650 (Has frame sliders) than the eVFR with rare fiberglass fairings. A few weeks ago I decided I wanted to bin my cells. I borrowed an IR meter from a friend. It’s an AC impedance meter and I realize it won’t accurately give me the DC impedance, but it will allow me to organize the cells into groups of similar IR values. I spent a few nights with my girlfriend testing the cells and writing their IR value on them (she’s awesome!). I got ~150 cells that measured between 5.0-5.9mOhm and like 30 between 6.0-6.9mOhm. One I thought was above 7, but was just the leads not attached correctly. I had some cells that were test-cells and some that were showing low voltage, so I set those aside for testing and further study/destruction. Now that I had boxes of cells, I noticed some had a tiny number of rust specs on them. None of the rust was very bad, but I wanted to get a pack with as little or no rust on it as possible. Some of the ends where the epoxy is applied seems to have been contaminated, and in some cases appeared between the case and blue plastic covering. After organizing the cells, I have ~165 cells that are near 100% and are between 5.0 and 7.0mOhm. The rest are extras and will be used if I need to replace a cell. I plan on putting a small pack of 16 cells together in a 4s4p 1/2kwh arrangement as a test pack that I can also use with an inverter for portable power (could be used as a small emergency pack to charge the bike). So after sorting the cells, I got the water-jet cut copper buss-bar de-burred and ready for assembly. I used groups of the same IR value to assembly each parallel group. This will ensure that all of the cells share the current as equally as possible. I think I need some longer Stainless Steel screws. The screws that came with the cells seem to be all over the place with regards to quality, and some of the threads were easily stripped. Despite 2 screw issues, the pack went together well and It measured 36.38V (~3.3V/cell). Here are some pictures of building the 11s5p smaller pack (located above the motor): I’m going to David’s tomorrow and turning the pack over to him so we can start on the plastic holders/battery box. I also re-started my Discharger project. I’ve gathered most of the pieces and put together a schematic. I’ve gotten help from a few friends Bob Simpson and John Muchow (designed the CC400 discharger I’ve got). I think we’ve addressed any issues that were lingering and figured an easier way to stop charging when an alarm is triggered. I’ve got a sort of Interlock right now. The Low-voltage alarm, Over-current alarm, Over-temperature alarm and Emergency Stop are all wired to a latching relay. If any of them trigger, the gate of the FET is pulled low, and the discharging stops. The contactors are only there to connect/disconnect the battery, and not to stop the test. Here’s a pic of the parts and of the schematic: Anyway, that’s it for now. I’ve cut down on my social obligations and renewed my motivation for the discharger and eVFR. I’ll probably start building up the larger front pack this week if I’ve got time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted October 1, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted October 1, 2012 Nice looking battery pack. Now, for the girlfriend................. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frodus Posted October 1, 2012 Author Share Posted October 1, 2012 Hahahaha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frodus Posted January 20, 2013 Author Share Posted January 20, 2013 (edited) Decided to part the project out... too little time to finish I've got: Complete rolling chassis 1986 VFR700F with 4250 original miles with title Two seats Full set of fiberglass (including the solo tail cover) Upper fiberglass modified for dual headlights with a matching LSL Mig Dual headlight set Givi Luggage Rack and top case for VFR700F Edited January 20, 2013 by frodus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phlebmaster Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Thanks for everything Travis! Isn't is funny how life works in circles? Nice work on this btw, not many people have the knowledge to pull this off. I'll bring you your sproket soon. This bike will once again live, but as it was made by Honda. I have 2 of these babies now and this one is going to get the royal makover back to original...with the exception of the crazy headlights. I love those! Here is the link to the Revolution! http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/73827-phlebmasters-1987-vfr750f-evolution-full-of-pics-and-win/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 I was hoping frodus would finish the bike and then put a big windup key sticking out of the tailsection or something. Anyhow, good luck with the 2:1 bike merge thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer mello dude Posted February 8, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 8, 2013 Aw, hate to see frodus give up on it. He's been at it for quite a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frodus Posted February 8, 2013 Author Share Posted February 8, 2013 Well, not completely giving up on electric, just.... upgrading. Just purchased this, A 2013 Brammo Empulse R electric motorcycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer mello dude Posted February 8, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 8, 2013 Wow, that's pretty cool. Give us a riding report after you've been riding it awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer 2thdr Posted February 8, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 8, 2013 I'm sure your application for this bike works for you, but for me I could never get my head around a $16k + bike that I could only ride for 50-75 miles at a time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 the specifications for the brammo are fairly high, there is a lot put into the chassis, and the gearbox addresses one of the chief drawbacks of electric bikes. unfortunately the other major drawback, range, is still present. 8 hours recharge time, im assuming on 110v, and 3.5 hrs recharge time, assuming again 220 or 240v, is a real problem for me. but then again, if I were riding in an urban environment, and commuting to work, it might make more sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frodus Posted February 8, 2013 Author Share Posted February 8, 2013 Exactly. This bike fits my riding needs. I don't really desire to do long trips on a motorcycle, and I don't need to go over 100 and I don't need to refuel in 5 minutes....it's for around town, commuting and for fun. ~120 miles range, 100mph top speed are much better than the bike that I was putting together. The eVFR project was maybe 50 miles range and 80mph witn no transmission and 5 hour recharge time.... and fortunately for me, I was able to sell most of it for what I had into it/slight profit and put it towards this bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frodus Posted February 8, 2013 Author Share Posted February 8, 2013 Tylerstock.... I sold my stuff to this guy: http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/73827-phlebmasters-1987-vfr750f-evolution-full-of-pics-and-win/ So you'll still see how the chassis/fairings turn out ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer 2thdr Posted February 8, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 8, 2013 Don't take this as dismissing your choice of bike, but if you come back here with real world world experience of 120 mile range I will eat my hat. If you look at their specs it says up to 100 miles in urban riding that they define as averaging 19 mph... Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frodus Posted February 9, 2013 Author Share Posted February 9, 2013 Don't take this as dismissing your choice of bike, but if you come back here with real world world experience of 120 mile range I will eat my hat. If you look at their specs it says up to 100 miles in urban riding that they define as averaging 19 mph... Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2 Saving this, for posterity :) Not sure where you got 100 miles range from.... other articles or specs on their website? Anyway, I do know someone that works there as head of engineering as well as 2 other industrial designers that helped on their race bike. I know they've tested these and are honest about range. I'll try it out sometime. Would take me a while to go 120 miles at 20mph, but it might be fun on a weekend to try out. Range specs: City: 121 miles* (195 km) Highway: 56 miles** (90 km) Combined: 77 miles*** (124 km) *SAE City Riding Range Test Procedure for Electric Motorcycles (variable speed, 19 mph / 30km/h average) **SAE Highway / Constant Speed Riding Range Test Procedure for Electric Motorcycles (70 mph / 113 km/h sustained) *** SAE Highway Commuting Cycle (.5 City weighting, .5 Highway weighting) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer 2thdr Posted February 9, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 9, 2013 That is the text I was trying to recall from memory (not a good one obviously). So it's 121 miles @ 19 mph average. I just know that with other bikes and cars that I've owned, the numbers quoted are usually very optimistic and don't correlate well to the real world. I will be waiting to see how you do. How long until your new bike is delivered? One other number I quoted incorrectly however, is for the R version you say you are getting, it's more like $19k instead of $16k. Man, that would get me a Panigale wouldn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frodus Posted February 9, 2013 Author Share Posted February 9, 2013 Within a couple weeks I hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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