Weird idea - making a hybrid Seca...

This is probably something people will cringe at but I was thinking that the shaft driven Seca is almost a perfect bike to convert to an electric hybrid.

Think about it. You can easily get smaller 12V lead-acid gel-cell batteries and wire them so that they make a higher voltage pack and then use this:

http://www.wholesaletrains.com/Detail.asp?ID=200411255

attached to a small alternator to recharge them. The fuel tank you'd convert to diesel if there's any conversion to be done there.

For a drive motor you could use something like this:

http://shorterlink.org/1060

36V is a little weak so maybe a more current conventional DC drive motor instead - something designed to run faster. (I'm sure a fast enough motor is out there - http://www.nedra.com ;-)

Range depends on how many batteries you could put on there.

Thoughts anybody?

I get these weird ideas sometimes...

 

I think it's a neat idea, but an electric motorcycle would need to run at a respectable clip to be stable (no putting along at 10mph).

The shaft model HAS to be heavier than the chain model - just more metal there.

I'd follow this dream with a chain drive model - my 2 cents.

 

Heavier frame-wise or are you talking the shaft? I think while it might be a little heavier the advantages of the direct drive would make things a lot simpler for the conversion.

In the end the weight of the batteries will make the weight of the bike itself minimal to the final power and range of the bike.

I did figure out that your could make custom 144V battery packs of Lithium Ion cells without too much trouble. ( http://shorterlink.org/1061 )

Making the packs custom with Li-Ion cells would give you a long lifetime and a more stable charge/discharge cycle. But then with the small motor/alternator combo you're keeping them mostly charged all the time anyway. (In theory anyway.)

Just don't use Sony batteries. :wink:

 

I was thinking the shaft - everything else being equal you can save about twenty pounds by using the chain from the tranny to tire than the shaft.

It would be easy to bolt straight to the shaft sure!

I was thinking you tie your motor to the tranny somehow to increase your speed..?

 

Not sure about the tranny yet. Some of the motors are capable of directly driving the shaft fast enough for highway speeds. And leaving the tranny in there adds weight and reduces battery/charger/controller space.

20 lbs different? Hmm...I have a hard time believing that there's that much difference in weight between the shaft and two sprockets and a chain. I'd have to see them weighed.

There is one more thing to consider - road presence. If the bike has a small motor and is mostly electric you don't get the "loud pipes save lives" effect. You'd have to be doubly careful riding it.

I'd love to have a dead Seca to play around with but the evil money monster is preventing me from doing large projects like that at the moment. :-(

 

Hey - that monsters at MY HOUSE TOO!

;')

Jim

 

Interesting idea. I have a spare Seca Turbo that might be a good guinee pig. The fairing would make it a bit more aerodynamic (I think). Too bad we're not closer together. I'd love to take on a project like this, but don't know enough about it.

Greg

 

Bummer. The fairing would also hold quite a few batteries. Especially if we were constructing custom battery packs.

 

Actually, I don't think the fairing could hold any batteries. There might be space for some, but that much weight would make for some really strange handling characteristics I would think.

Greg

 

Not considered is the size of the battery pack compared to capacity and that also involves weight....

Nucluleer cell be better...

 

If you can fit a nuclear reactor on your bike I'll be very impressed. Though I'm betting you could make a Pebble Bed Reactor small enough. Fueling up would be a bitch though. :grin:

Honestly though I was talking about a hybrid not a pure electric. That means less batteries and if you use individual cells you can distribute the weight around the frame. A couple of years later the battery changeout would be a pain but you could do it.

I still think the idea is viable.

 

It would make the bike nose heavy and throw off the handling. The shaft drive is about 15-18% mechanical loss. A chain or belt is more efficient.

 

I know this is an old thread, but the weight issue is moot as all the electric conversions I have seen come in lighter than the original configuration. that being said, they all seem to average about 50 miles with a top speed of about 60mph. not real impressive compared to the gas originals. there are a bunch of electric conversions on this website here...

www.evalbum.com

I have a couple electric carts and a wheelchair conversion listed there...

http://www.evalbum.com/preview.php?vid=4096

http://www.evalbum.com/preview.php?vid=4664

http://www.evalbum.com/preview.php?vid=4668

CN