Electric Motorsport (GPR-S etc)

I didn't see this posted on here anywhere. Looks like Electric Motorsport has a couple of reasonably priced scooters available in limited quanities:

http://www.electricmotorsport.com/store/ems_electric_scooters.php

There is also a updated GPR-S page here:

http://www.electricmotorsport.com/store/ems_electric_motorcycles.php

All:
Well, I'm new to this forum and just took delivery of my new DOT approved GPR-S. It's the AC version with 20, 50AH cells. I think it's the first registered in Texas and will have the TAG "AC-001". I notice that little exposure of the Electric Motorsport GPR-S in this forum so I thought I would introduce it. The bike is about "250CC" size weighing in at 280 pounds. The frame is made by Tiger in Thailand (which also makes some Kawasaki frames). It comes with a backlited LCD dispay which shows speed, odometer, trip odometer and time. Mine also came with a Curtis Spyglass which also shows speed as well as BDI% (remaining battery), AMPS, Volts, controller temperature, and RPM. Mine has 20, 50AH HiPower LiFePO4 batteries, a Curtis 1236 controller and an AC-15 motor which I'm told can deliver about 36HP in this configuration. The bike has regen which provides very nice braking and gives a little energy back when stopping. Some other characteristics and performance points are listed below:

1. The craftsmanship, fit and finish of the bike is excellent. The only possible issue I have identified so far is the black cover on the access port on top of the tank which covers the cord storage area hinge that holds the electrical cord is weak. People will be breaking these off without much effort. The paint quality is excellent. The mechanical and electrical setup looks to be done with quality parts and workmanship. I wouldn't quite call it aircraft quality integration, but it's as good as my '08 Toyota Camry Hybrid.

2. The kickstand is great. It has a little handle that sticks out that makes it easy to kick it up. And it goes up and down a lot easier than the ones I rode in motorcycle school (which was a new bike with 600 miles). It is strong enough to rock the bike up on the kickstand and rotate the bike 180 degrees to get out of your parking spot. I had the lights on while riding and I could easily see the numbers on the main gauge which has MPH, Trip, Odo and clock.

3. The acceleration is relatively soft off the line but then comes on strong. The softness has it's advantages in that it makes for a very smooth and controlled take-off. There is good power after 20MPH and clearly acceleration per degree of throttle increase is much more at 35 MPH than it is at 5MPH. I've got to do some additional testing to see if this degree of softness schedule is ramped with speed or time. I suspect speed. Top speed is said to be 80MPH, but I've only done 55 to date. There is still plenty of power left at that point. RPM at 55 is only 4300 of the 7500 authorized. The Spyglass indicates a max of 300AMPs at full throttle. A steady 30 MPH indicates a draw of about 30-32 AMPs. The regen is very strong. Under normal conditions in a housing area you don't use the brakes at all until you get below 3-5 MPH to get to the final rest. You can reduce power and not turn on the regen (or not hard), but when you turn the throttle all the way off it acts like a brake with about the same decel you would brake with under normal conditions. The regen and brake lights are activated by either applying brakes or throttle off. The Spyglass indicates -14 AMPs when the regen goes on above 30MPH. It was very windy today with wind steady at 15 gusting to 20. I could feel a little buffeting but it wasn't bad and tracked pretty straight.

4. When fully charged, the Spyglass indicates about 81 Volts. I did a very rough estimate of miles/charge but the numbers are so small they are probably not very accurate but so far I'm getting about 50 Miles Per Charge (MPC) based on the BDI percentage drop compared to miles traveled. I'm nervous about damaging the batteries so I probably won't take it down too low. I'm told it's best not to take the batteries down below 2.5Volts which for me translates to 50 Volts remaining.

5. The seat is very comfortable and has a second seat and pegs for a passenger. There is no integrated storage for your helmet, but it does have an external lock with the same key as the main switch.

6. The noise generated by the motor / drive train is a little louder than I anticipated. It's probably about the 75-78db level. It's a little louder when just taking off (5-15 MPH)and then quieter when cruising (40MPH).

ChuckJ

All:
Well, I'm new to this forum and just took delivery of my new DOT approved GPR-S. It's the AC version with 20, 50AH cells. I think it's the first registered in Texas and will have the TAG "AC-001". I notice that little exposure of the Electric Motorsport GPR-S in this forum so I thought I would introduce it. The bike is about "250CC" size weighing in at 280 pounds. The frame is made by Tiger in Thailand (which also makes some Kawasaki frames). It comes with a backlited LCD dispay which shows speed, odometer, trip odometer and time. Mine also came with a Curtis Spyglass which also shows speed as well as BDI% (remaining battery), AMPS, Volts, controller temperature, and RPM. Mine has 20, 50AH HiPower LiFePO4 batteries, a Curtis 1236 controller and an AC-15 motor which I'm told can deliver about 36HP in this configuration. The bike has regen which provides very nice braking and gives a little energy back when stopping. Some other characteristics and performance points are listed below:

1. The craftsmanship, fit and finish of the bike is excellent. The only possible issue I have identified so far is the black cover on the access port on top of the tank which covers the cord storage area hinge that holds the electrical cord is weak. People will be breaking these off without much effort. The paint quality is excellent. The mechanical and electrical setup looks to be done with quality parts and workmanship. I wouldn't quite call it aircraft quality integration, but it's as good as my '08 Toyota Camry Hybrid.

2. The kickstand is great. It has a little handle that sticks out that makes it easy to kick it up. And it goes up and down a lot easier than the ones I rode in motorcycle school (which was a new bike with 600 miles). It is strong enough to rock the bike up on the kickstand and rotate the bike 180 degrees to get out of your parking spot. I had the lights on while riding and I could easily see the numbers on the main gauge which has MPH, Trip, Odo and clock.

3. The acceleration is relatively soft off the line but then comes on strong. The softness has it's advantages in that it makes for a very smooth and controlled take-off. There is good power after 20MPH and clearly acceleration per degree of throttle increase is much more at 35 MPH than it is at 5MPH. I've got to do some additional testing to see if this degree of softness schedule is ramped with speed or time. I suspect speed. Top speed is said to be 80MPH, but I've only done 55 to date. There is still plenty of power left at that point. RPM at 55 is only 4300 of the 7500 authorized. The Spyglass indicates a max of 300AMPs at full throttle. A steady 30 MPH indicates a draw of about 30-32 AMPs. The regen is very strong. Under normal conditions in a housing area you don't use the brakes at all until you get below 3-5 MPH to get to the final rest. You can reduce power and not turn on the regen (or not hard), but when you turn the throttle all the way off it acts like a brake with about the same decel you would brake with under normal conditions. The regen and brake lights are activated by either applying brakes or throttle off. The Spyglass indicates -14 AMPs when the regen goes on above 30MPH. It was very windy today with wind steady at 15 gusting to 20. I could feel a little buffeting but it wasn't bad and tracked pretty straight.

4. When fully charged, the Spyglass indicates about 81 Volts. I did a very rough estimate of miles/charge but the numbers are so small they are probably not very accurate but so far I'm getting about 50 Miles Per Charge (MPC) based on the BDI percentage drop compared to miles traveled. I'm nervous about damaging the batteries so I probably won't take it down too low. I'm told it's best not to take the batteries down below 2.5Volts which for me translates to 50 Volts remaining.

5. The seat is very comfortable and has a second seat and pegs for a passenger. There is no integrated storage for your helmet, but it does have an external lock with the same key as the main switch.

6. The noise generated by the motor / drive train is a little louder than I anticipated. It's probably about the 75-78db level. It's a little louder when just taking off (5-15 MPH)and then quieter when cruising (40MPH).

A couple of pictures are posted below.

All:
Well, I just took delivery of my new GPR-S. It's the AC version with 20, 50AH cells. I think it's the first registered in Texas and will have the TAG "AC-001".

1. The noise generated by the motor / drive train is a little louder than I anticipated. I think that the motor is hard mounted to the frame and the motor noise resonates through the frame, making it louder. It's probably about the 75-78db level. It's a little louder when just taking off (5-15 MPH)and then quieter when cruising (40MPH).

2. The regen is very strong. Under normal conditions in the housing area you don't use the brakes at all until you get below 3 MPH to get to the final rest. You can reduce power and not turn on the regen (or not hard), but when you turn the throttle all the way off it acts like a brake with about the same decel you would brake with under normal conditions. The regen and brake lights are activated by either applying brakes or throttle off. The Spyglass indicates -14 AMPs when the regen goes on above 30MPH.

3. It was very windy today with wind steady at 15 gusting to 20. I could feel a little buffeting but it wasn't bad and tracked pretty straight.

4. I did a very rough estimate of miles/tank but the numbers are so small they are probably not very accurate but so far I'm getting about 40 MPT based on the BDI percentage drop compared to miles traveled. I'm nervous about damaging the batteries so I probably won't take it down too low. I think Martin told me I could take it down to 2.5v / bat so that would mean I could take it down to 50V.

5. The seat is very comfortable, but I tended to slide forward into the tank if I wasn't a bit careful. That may be because the pegs are pretty far back. Also, if you're not paying attention your knees can strike the top of the fairings. That will just take a little getting used to.

6. I had the lights on while riding and I could easily see the numbers on the main gauge which has MPH, Trip, Odo and clock.

7. The craftsmanship, fit and finish of the bike is excellent. The only issue I have identified so far is the hinge that holds the electrical cord cap is weak (the black access port on top of the tank). People will be breaking these off. The paint quality is excellent. The electrical setup looks to be done with quality parts and workmanship. I wouldn't quite call it aircraft quality integration, but it's as good as my '08 Toyota Camry Hybrid.

9. The rear springs are yellow. I think they should be black and I'm going to work on that

10. The kickstand is great. It has a little handle that sticks out that makes it easy to kick it up. And it goes up and down a lot easier than the ones I rode in motorcycle school (which was a new bike with 600 miles). Martin also showed me a neat trick yesterday. If the bike is sitting in a parking spot and you want to turn it 180 degrees to get out of the spot. You stand on the kick stand side, hold the bike by the handlebar and the seat handhold, pull it up to balance it on the kickstand and walk it around counterclockwise to the new heading. He said he made sure they bought strong enough kickstands to do that.

11. The acceleration is relatively soft off the line but then comes on strong. The softness has it's advantages in that it makes for a very smooth and controlled take-off. There is good power after 20MPH and clearly acceleration per degree of throttle increase is much more at 35 MPH than it is at 5MPH. I've got to do some additional testing to see if this degree of softness schedule is ramped with speed or time. I suspect speed.

ChuckJ

Hello all,

Just thought I'd share this link. Saw this from another forum. This is very attractive! I want this!

http://www.electricmotorsport.com/store ... _gpr-s.php

I've gotten a couple opportunities to talk with Todd @ Electric Motorsport and take a real close look at the GPR-S. The longer opportunity was at the Solfest a couple weeks ago at the Solar Living Institute. They had a booth at Solfest and I hung out for hours with them talking about everything including a real close look at the GPR-S. They were also at the Stanford EV Rally today but I was so busy I didn't talk with them much.

The GPR-S is really really really nice looking. Very sharp, and appears to be very well put together.

He told me they are working with a factory in Thailand which had formerly built Kawasaki motorcycles. In other words, a professional quality motorcycle factory. They worked on a custom frame design that's specifically geared to hold thundersky cells. They can currently get enough for a 60v pack, and I think they are 60ah cells but not sure. He said something about a possible tweak that could get them to a 72v pack but I suppose that can't be a guarantee of course.

As it says on their web site the motor mount uses a standard bolt pattern and there are several motors you can mount on the bike. The brushless ETEK, SepEx, an AC motor, etc. I think the standard is the brushless ETEK. And they have access to a variety of controllers. I wasn't able to get a clear story whether the bike will be delivered with the standard motor and controller, or whether you specify which motor/controller you want when you order the bike. I'm pondering buying one myself and Todd said they'd build it for me however I want.

The bike looks real small and skinny, and they said the total weight is 285 pounds. Gosh, the battery pack on my Lectra weighs almost that much (200 lbs).

They have optional trunks and saddlebags available.

There's a computerized dashboard tho I think it doesn't have functions equivalent to paktrakr or cycle analyst. If you want a cycle analyst electric motorsport does stock them and I'd think you could talk them into building a CA onto the GPR-S.

They've geared it at 65 miles/hr top speed .. quoted range is 30 miles at 65, or more like 60 miles at some lower speed.

The story with BMS and/or charger. He talked about two options and perhaps both are sold with the bike. One is they have this BMS unit which is a largeish box, made in China, has a large multipin connector you plug into the bike. The other is a "fast charger". What Todd suggested is the fast charger can be carried on the bike, and they'd configure it to give a 90% charge .. that is, so that the fast charger is not going to overcharge the pack. Obviously the fast charger doesn't have BMS capabilities, and if it's configured so it doesn't put the voltage above the high volt threshold then the pack (knock on wood) won't get overcharged cells.

The BMS unit is large enough to make it inappropriate to carry on the bike. The tendency will be to leave the BMS at home. If the fast charger is small it can easily be carried on the bike for opportunity charging around town.

Yesterday I attended a 'Green Transportation' show .. http://www.greentransportation2008.com/ .. there were several exhibitors and it was a great time mostly spent chatting with some friends in the local EV scene.

Electric Motorsport was there, though Todd was not as he is still in Thailand. He had two employees there who I'd never met before. They had an EVT America Z-20, a converted Ninja style bike, an ATEV and a GPR-S. They described their business as doing custom conversions for people, and that they don't convert "old" bikes because of the quality of the parts and stuff on newer bikes.

Anyway.. the GPR-S was interesting. I didn't take it out for a ride but a) it looked very very well put together and b) it's a lot smaller than I'd expected from the picture (link below). The battery box is rather narrow, and the bike as a whole is much narrower than the typical ninja-style bike. Also the bike I sat on had taller handlebars letting you sit more upright than being hunched over in head-first fashion.

It's still not quite the style I personally prefer - I prefer the laid back style, my Honda Rebel really fits me very well. But this GPR-S is pretty close.

Apparently Todd took his motorcycle to Thailand for a show. Lucky him. Link below.