Lectra Conversion Diary

The curiosity I've been having for awhile is what is the actual power use on my motorcycle. The curiosity is partly due to the range I've been getting (actually not getting) since in the past it had a hard time delivering more than 10 miles range whereas other e-motorcycles such as on the evalbum are supposedly delivering more like 20 miles range with an equal size pack to what's on the Lectra. However a couple weeks ago I fiddled with the rear end, put a little bit of slack into the chain, and the performance improved dramatically and it's now easy to get 10 miles range.

I've been pondering the next major phase of my Lectra motorcycle. I'm sure the battery pack will croak "soon" because SLA batteries supposedly have a life of 300 charge cycles (or so) and every time I ride the Lectra to work it is two deep charge cycles and while I haven't been keeping count it's likely the pack I have has 70-100 charge cycles in it right now.

Recently I noticed some motorcycles w/ approx 100 lb battery packs are having the same range as I'm getting with the 220 lb pack on my Lectra. Namely 45 miles/hr and up to 10 miles range. Last weekend I showed the Lectra to a knowledgeable e-motorcycle builder and he thought I should be getting better range. So I'm wondering what's up with the range.

If I'm careful and don't hit the throttle real hard .. I can get 11-12 miles range. Hit the throttle hard, and the range is much less.

I rode my Lectra to work today and had the most bizarre ride home.

It started before I took off -- two of my coworkers were in the parking lot having seen the bike and they told me they'd spent the prior 1/2 hour going over all the details of the bike, and saying that Dave (me) would love to see the bike. So when I came towards them wearing a motorcycle jacket they broke into cheers and waving and saying what an awesome bike. Ohmygosh.

Today I got the fairing out and tried fitting it to the Lectra. Last week I measured things and drew pictures on paper, but this week it was made a little more real.

First.. this is what the fairing looks like, the picture was taken the day I picked it up. We loaded it on my motorcycle trailer and strapped it down sitting in the rail.

Today I studied the Fairing and the Lectra and am looking at ways to attach the Fairing to the bike. To remind y'all -- Along with my Lectra came a "full" fairing whose design was derived from a motorcycle which achieved 470 miles/gallon efficiency in a contest in the mid 1980's. The fairing is sold by Craig Vetter.. the idea is one way to achieve long(er) range is to increase the aerodynamic efficiency, and that link takes you to a page that shows approximately what I have and what I'm trying to do.

Phase 2 of my Lectra project is coming. Phase 2? Read back in my blog in previous Lectra Conversion Diary entries for more details. In Phase 2 I have a full fairing which is meant to make a shell around the entire motorcycle and make it extremely aerodynamic. The idea is to explore vehicle efficiency as a way to increase range.

I wanted to ride the Lectra over to the EAA meeting... y'know, show it off, etc. ...but... On my way over the chain broke.

I've had a couple instances where I go to take off and the chain slips off the sprocket and there's no power. It's very surprising when that happens 'cause I'm accustomed to this bike having lots of get up and go power, and when this happens it's zero. It's happened twice, the last time two days ago on my way to work.

One of my coworkers has his last day at work today - and he's one who has been very interested in EV's and following my progress on the Lectra conversion. That makes today the last day he could easily see the Lectra, so I rode it in today. Um, gosh, it's 45 degrees out with dense fog ... and for example my helmet kept fogging up, and at every stop I had to be a manual windshield wiper, wiping off the fog with my hands. But I made it in.

The question I've been working with the last couple weeks - other than Holiday activities that is - has been what to do for the dashboard on the Lectra. The Lectra design has a piece of molded plastic which kinda sorta maybe resembles in an odd way the gas tank in a gas motorcycle. If you squint your eyes just the right way, that is. It woulda been obvious to reuse that piece to cover that section of the bike, but I've been looking at a different idea.