Tightwad

I wouldn't add a lip to it as it will cause some buffeting and may undo what you just did in a way.

Oh, ok, following you now. I thought you were referring to this project... I totally agree with you, seems like the rest of the one's I've seen are mostly hack together projects. I put some thought into this to make it look like a bike that someone would want to drive. The cost of making a molded battery wouldn't be that bad, the problem is, its not modular, its for ONE design of bike and would likely not fit in another bike. Lots of development cost for each bike they design. Best idea is to use small (like C or D size) lithium batteries that can be installed in small sub packs. As far as the generator on the wheel idea... adding any weight to the wheel for magnets would increase the energy needed to accelerate to speed. Adding coils would add weight, and when you put the load (batteries) on the coils from the generator, its going to load the wheel. Imagine this: You have a hand crank generator hooked to nothing... you turn it, it turns freely, because there's no load. Put one light bulb on it, and it may be a little harder to spin. Put enough light bulbs on the generator and you can actually lock the rotor. The gains of adding a generator are negated by physics... it would be better to add another battery or two for more range. Just because lead is heavy, doesn't mean it doesn't get you that much further..... My thought was to use the wheel generator to create charging power when braking...heck, they could even be used as stopping power the way you explain it....increase the load to it and it increases the braking power(rear wheel only), use an RPM comparison between wheels to ensure you aren't locking the rear wheel of course....like the reverse of a rev limiter. The weight of the magnets in the wheel was a concern to me as well.

Did you look at our racks? I think we did a great job fitting in square batteries into a bike... plus the fairings cover it up. I used smaller ones that fit better inside the chassis.... Its not like companies are going to create cells that are "molded" to a form factor. What batteries were you thinking that could be "molded" or "disguised"? I'm all ears. I chose a small form factor for that reason. You should see the other guys trying to fit car batteries in theirs. Don't get started on lithium either, I'm not going to spend $5-10k for a battery pack.... I chose these for cost/form factor and ability to get high voltages and higher speed/efficiency. The batteries are Gel, and they can be oriented as shown in the pictures. SLA's and Gels can be oriented any way you want. Its the flooded batteries you have to orient horizontal. People don't use those in motorcycles because of the danger of spilling. As far as "room" for regen.... do you know what regen is? It uses the push on the motor when you slow down.... the motor acts like a generator and charges the batteries. I can't do regen with this motor without modification, but we're working on an AC system, and that will have regen capability, in the same form factor as the motor/controller on this bike. You don't put anything else on the wheels to do regen, it has to do with the motor. My apologies, my thoughts and my words did not work together...common problem with me actually. My thoughts about the batteries were not a knock on your current (sic) project, but rather just my random thoughts that most conversions I have seen look quite blocky...much of it having to do with car sized batteries as you mentioned. I can well imagine that companies could indeed design a molded battery, it's just that the demand hasn't reached the incredible cost of developement yet. Again, when I was thinking of regenerative braking, it wasn't having to do with the motor (that was an assumed use actually, I errantly thought most EV's used that)...what I was referring to was turning the wheel itself into a generator of some sort. I don't know what options exist, but the design of a motorcycle tire(ability to reach both sides fairly easily) would seem to lend itself to such a prospect...kind of like turnign the wheel into a big generator, with the ability to disable it to keep it from working against the motor of course. Let me reiterate that I love your project, I encourage more people to try this stuff, I was just stating my opinion on the asthetic value of the blocky look.

The biggest thing that turns me off to conversions is how the batteries just look like they are stuffed in there, whatever ones will fit. I would love to see some care taken to the asthetic nature in molding the batteries into the bike to disguise them a bit. Are they lead acid, or gel type? Do they have to be oriented vertically, or can they be angled? Is there any room for using regenerative braking or similar on a bike? Seems like there would be possibilities to use the wheels for this, where a car would be harder to adapt.

In my quest for voltmeters I bought one of those Ebay ones. It was way too big. I also tried the Stinger ones, which are 2 wire...the part that lit up and said Stinger was bigger than the part showing the voltage. I finally settled on the one I am currently using because it was tiny and fit in the pod panel. It has a seperate regulator, but that is easy to mount anywhere behind the gauge. The Daytel ones look nice, nicer than mine in fact, but are not as easy to find and I wasn't ready to drop $50 to see if I liked it.

See Hispanic Slammers blog as he described it as well or better than I ever could, and he has some cool video….here are a few pictures that he wouldn’t have had: HS notices something is wedged into his exhaust….what the heck is that?? Using precise tools, as VFR owners always do: Ahhh, it was a Denver requirement….that looks (and sounds) better! Breakfast anyone? Mmmmm, waffles: Lunch Time….one thing I learned from Dutch and HS is to stop often and eat a lot….Food was pretty good here, but cash only as seems common in AR. Dutch looks guilty: From here on it was boring for the most part, barring that one point where my voltmeter indicated 16.8 volts and my multi-meter had dead batteries….not to self *check batteries in tools before you depend on them* We saw a nasty car accident at the end of the AR run, most likely a death involved. Didn’t look good that’s for sure. The last 40 miles into Dyersburg were the longest of the trip so far, even crossing the Mississippi wasn’t that exciting. This view of the back of the Hotel where we parked the bikes was the best one of the evening, I was beat: I need to thank Hispanic Slammer for NOT include the part of my video where I most obviously blow that tight right-hander going up the mountain, and take in the view from the opposite lane. Following too close is a bad idea folks.

Fine, I will buy you lunch. You do PB&J? :biggrin:

Nashville or Bust! TMac seemed like such a good idea! Memorial ride on a nice weekend, situated close enough to my Birthday to allow some guilt-tripping on the wife to gain a kitchen pass. It almost worked as well. When I let her know the dates, she informed me that I was missing one key event….my youngest daughters 3rd birthday. Piss. As I prepared to let the opportunity pass me by, I looked with envy on the plans being made by other riders from all over the continent to attend. T-shirts were designed, old memories re-hashed, and routes with CURVES were designed. Curves….what would it be like to take a flat-land DFW bike on a road that curved for something other than an exit ramp? I would not be able to find out. As I jealously monitored the plans of various riders, I noticed DutchInterceptor was planning to go up a bit early, and hit the Ozarks on the way….now the Ozarks aren't that far…maybe I could make it a 2 day run, and get some fun in? The inventive mind took over, and I began planning….in the end I decided I would go as far as Nashville….for a couple reasons. #1. It would still allow me to get back by sometime on Friday…the key date I must not miss or I would need a dog-house addition to fit my sorry behind. #2. I would be able to meet more VFR people….especially Bailyrock. I had to see his hardbags for myself to believe them, and view his Laundry room/Race Takeoff room. #3. I would be able to travel through some states not previously seen, and certainly not on a bike. As Dutch solidified his plans and routes, along with HS and others, I was stoked. All my slush fund money went into my ride budget. I checked and rechecked my bike….as a daily commuter it stays pretty current, so that wasn't an issue. It didn't seem like the day would ever arrive, but slowly it came closer and closer. With 1 week to go I even found a suitable deal on my TomTom One GPS, which would prove to be a nearly invaluable purchase. 2 days before I was set to leave I was still building GPS mount. 1 day before I was modding my GPS mount to include my Camera….thank goodness this last ditch effort worked out ok. Monday Arrives!!!!! Yup, the time was here! MGTX73 sent me a text message at 6:00 saying he was off…and that was the end of my sleep. As I puttered around, pretending I had stuff to do (I had been packed for a full 24 hours already), I realized my Registration would expire at the end of the month….say around….Nashville? Oh crap. I got online and renewed it, knowing I wouldn't get the sticker in time, but at least it would be current. Inspection would also be expired, whups. Another txt message arrived….after Mike should have arrived…traffic holdups….more puttering. I got the bike out, and had my wife snap a picture of my grinning mug (Camera/GPS mount can be seen here): Mike sends another txt…."Almost there"….turns out there had been two bad accidents on the freeway between his cousins place and mine…and he got lost (GPS got him to my place tho). He rolled up and we took off….he needed fuel but we decided to get out of town first. Finally gassed up and we were on our way…running behind about 40 minutes for our meeting with Dutch. Luckily the time estimated did not account for possible triple digit speeds (did I do that??). It was a bit chilly, and the speeds didn't help….poor Mike had been on the road 2 hours already, and was now getting beat up by my attempt at leading. I had a short learning curve for using the GPS navigation, part of which included quick mind changes for exiting or not exiting freeways….overall the ride was uneventful. Texas drivers were very considerate, 4-5 times they pulled off to the shoulder so we could pass. At one point it is rumored that speeds may have approached 2x the limit, but that is hearsay and not admissible in court. We managed to make up all but about 10 minutes of the lost time, putting us in Clarksville well within the time span we had agreed on with Dutch. Mike spotted him at a gas station….I had been paying attention to the GPS and not looking at the surroundings…this was a theme I carried much of the way. We had to turn around, but we made it! After gassing up and chatting a bit, we headed out for Oklahoma and the Talimena Parkway. The ride to the Talimena was pretty boring. Actually really boring mixed with mildy boring. Here is a fuzzy picture taken from my Camera, as it was shooting through the windscreen.: We finally started getting into some actual trees (very rare in DFW) and some rolling hills. We stopped for fuel/rest somewhere in OK…I didn't note the name of the place: Dutch on the left, Mike (mgtx73) on the right Here is a shot of the whole place: After this, we hit the beginning of the Talimena parkway. Dutch warned me in advance of the first curve…and even what he said didn't give me enough warning…the first curve is one SHARP left hander….>180 degrees decreasing…and the last thing you see before the curves start is a nice view of the valley laid out below…where you know you will go if you miss the turn. Unsettling, but no mishaps. Just a couple miles into the parkway we came to a nice overlook, so we took a photo-op, and learned about how the rocks came from Texas at some point Mike took a bathroom break, then seems to have misplaced something…. Just as we were about to leave, a motorcycle gang accosted us. At first we thought they wanted our bikes, but then we realized they had their own VFR's, so we joined forces The rest of the ride to Mena was through some nice gentle curves, until you get to the area right above Mena where the mountain dumps into the valley and the curves get more intense. I remember sections of the road from time spent there while in College on summer break…back then I had a 79 Z28 that was faster than I had the money to pay for the tickets for. Overall I was comfortable on the bike. In Mena we stopped at a pizza buffet place (Really great Pizza). It was ~2 PM, so the place was empty…as was the buffet. They offered to make any pizza we wanted, but we weren't too picky. Pizza was not spectacular, or even marginal, but it was warm and editable and cheap. If I had it to do over again I probably wouldn't, except I needed to get shots of the place as I had worked in an ajoining business that was no longer in existence. From here Ernie headed back to OK, and the 5 of us continued up towards Russellville. HS did a good job of describing the ride up, so I will just add a couple pics I took. All the bikes lined up nice HS has trouble restraining tears as his fear of heights takes over. Gary berates him to "buck up and act like a Web Forum owner already" Outside the Russellville hotel….Mike is missing as he slept in a bit More to come as we hit day 2, and Tightwad learns how to turn corners.

I have 3.77 kids at the moment....it wasn't easy to break away. Luckily my wife is understanding of my insanity, but the kids is why I had to turn back at Nashville, rather than going on the TMAC.

This was my first experience riding anything twisty, and it was a blast!!! I was grateful to HS and Dutch for making sure I was comfortable with the speed. My camera is not that great, but it did surprisingly well considering, HS did a great job of mixing the footage....and thanks for taking out the part where I blow my line and end up 1/2 way into the other lane! 123 is a great technical road...at one point I thought maybe we were riding trials. I liked the increasing and decreasing radius's, although they can be a bit scary.

Yes, this is exactly what the VFRness does, except I use the frame for ground and a heavy duty inline fuse holder (8 gauge wire). Instead of Button Hooks I added a set of connectors to tee into the harness. Button hook would potentially introduce less possibilities for issues, but can be hard to do without a good soldering gun (not an iron, they don't get hot enough really).

Contact Ricks, it sounds like an internal R/R issue. They make a nice product but everyone has bad days or gets a bad piece.

:blink: this idea works as well, goes on the outside(bar end) and does about the same thing.

The problem with the comparison to flying is that I don't envision having to stop for: flat tires mechanical issues(mine or others) Rain etc....when i used to travel i could travel very light. Having to be somewhat self sufficient means I pack a bit more....but not, all the bags won't be going. I might need to make room for a sleeping bag, which will cause issues.

I wish it was time to leave....except then I would REALLY be in trouble because I don't even know where I am turning back....at this point I am thinking Nashville....but you never know. Only 2 more days of work...I can do it!

It's the camera that was slow...I installed the sliders 2 days after I got them last fall. Of course I could work outside if I wanted to, that White crap doesn't show up here much.

Heading to Arkansas and Tennessee to see Slammer, Dutch and others off to TMac...Family constraints keep from going the whole way...wish I could tho! Still planning route back...or I keep meaning to plan it.

Saddlebags are probably first to go I think...the Tailbag doesn't move around as much and I don't have both raincovers for the saddlebags. I have to pack for 4-5 days, so I will need more space than just the smallish tankbag can provide. I think I will gather everything I plan to take and make a final decision from there.

How do you know when a Harley Rider is happy? He has bugs in his teeth!! I have always hated bugs hitting me...especially the kind that sting. Having them fly into your helmet is really a good thing...NOT! To combat this I did my first(not first ever shown) mod: This reduced my BIT(bugs in teeth) ratio quite a bit. Rivckyo does VERY nice work, is a pleasure to deal with, and I have no complaints. The installed could have done a better job, but I don't pay him so what can I complain about? Next I have an item I have been VERY pleased with. Top Commute Speed has been raised by 30 MPH, while MPG has increased drastically as well....I refer to this gem: Good ole Texas Tolltag...cut 15 minutes from my evening commute....most of which was spent idling at stop lights wondering how much hotter I could get if I replaced my red Helmet for a black one that matched my Jacket and Pants and Boots and Gloves. I also wondered at these times why 103 in Texas is MUCH worse than 105 in AZ....They both cook you but Texas also stews you. Final mod is a case of "shutting the barn door after the livestock escapes"....I order Sliders from Radar....waited a week or two, THEN dropped my bike at 2 mph in a parking lot. The next week the sliders arrived.....I got the Purdy Red posts for mine. Radar does B E A U tiful work: Easy to install, fits like a glove, and of course I haven't dropped it since.

As I have been preparing for my first "For Fun" road trip, I have been looking at all my luggage options to see what I will use. I finally put EVERYTHING on, just to see what it's like to drive an RV-Motorcycle. Dutch suggested I pack light, so now I need to see which options I end up using. All Dressed up, nowhere to go (until Monday): Do the bags really make my butt look big...or was that the BBQ? Tailbag envy? Remember tankbag, size doesn't matter! Tailbag is EXL bag on custom rack. Saddlebags are used items purchased from the Classifieds here. Tankbag is from NewEnough clearance. Total out of pocket for whole shebang is <$120.....no wonder I am called "Tightwad".... I don't think I need all this stuff....this is a 4-5 day ride, not a 3 month tour of duty.

yeah, your way probably works better.....this is what I get for overthinking it. Piggyback onto the black wire, connect to switch, connect switch to ground. Power is switched with the key. :pissed:

Here is an interesting option I came up with. This would allow control of the fan when the fan switch is NOT activated by the Temp getting to 220. It would provide a safeguard against forgetting to turn your fan on.

98 and older (ehem). In then end tightwad, as you can see, I smashed up my Vtecker and was forced to keep the 5th gen for I have no car... should have gon through with the 5th gen harness too, plug and play... almost... drool drool... The 5th Gens, especially the 98-99 are very easy(no monitor wire). Here are pics of the VFR developement for the 5th gen that should help: 5th Gen R/R Fix Those are nice pics, but would you please explain what you did? What is that wire you have connected the rr mounting bolt? The VFRness is just the "Beef up dem wires" thread condensed into a plug and play harness....no soldering/cutting/special tools required. In this case another board member trailered his bike up to have it developed, as I have a 6th gen and wanted a live specimen. That is where the duplicate ground was connected, to avoid too much going to the battery terminals.

R1's work, but have odd plugs so they require more tweaking. Look for an R/R from a bike with more electrics (so newer generally) and 3 stator wires going to it. The Red/Green may be Red/Black, and may not be duplicated like the VFR R/R. I don't think the R/R is the problem, I think it is the wiring. Of course all regulators can fail...happens in cars all the time. Happens less than it used to, but wiring has gotten better in them generally.