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How to build a 96-Volt Electric Motorcycle

Step 3Connecting the Motor to the Drive shaft

Connecting the Motor to the Drive shaft
Since the 1982 Turbo is a shaft drive, I had to put a jackshaft and belt drive to turn the drive shaft already on the bike. You really should use a conventional chain-driven bike for conversion. The motor goes in sideways and the drive sprocket just goes right on the motor shaft; much easier (but I already had this bike). Since the drive-shaft to rear wheel was about 2.8:1 ration, I used a 2:1 ratio on the jack-shaft to get an overall ratio of ~6:1. This ratio will be good for mid range power and overall speed, but DC motors have such high-torque at the low end, it will be a bit overpowering for the drive shaft. I turned the controller down to min current and min acceleration.

The only "engineering" part is figuring out where to attach all of the brackets & supports for all of the other components; I used only existing holes on the frame already. It's strictly trial & error.
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8 comments
Nov 29, 2010. 7:41 PMqwertyman10 says:
Did I miss something, or is this bike capable of shifting gears? and if not, is there an easy of making it able to shift gears? Where I live, we have a lot of hills, and I wouldn't want to compromise torque for speed, or vice versa.
Apr 3, 2011. 4:54 PMandrewclark says:
qwertyman10

I see you asked this question in the comments under another step too and no one has answered. I believe no question is a bad question if you don't know the answer, and if you are afraid to ask you may never learn. I'm just sorry you had to wait till now to get a response which you might not even see. (I'm not sure how the notifications work on this site)



There is no transmission so no shifting. In this project the motor is directly connected to the drive shaft by a belt that looks similar to the ones used on Harleys. The author suggests using a chain drive bike as opposed to a shaft drive, for better efficiency. (The shaft must turn some gears back in the differential where it connects to the back wheel which makes it less efficient but also lower maintenance.) If you did this the motor would be connected directly to the chain by a sprocket. Still no shifting.



As for any compromise in torque or speed you don't need to worry. Electric motors have so much more torque than an internal combustion engine that special steps need to be taken to keep it from ripping apart the drive-train, and speed is determined by volts so it's all about the batteries you choose.



Hope this helps.
Apr 4, 2011. 1:19 PMandrewclark says:
Thanks Kentucky-bum,


Great instructable by the way. I'm now itching to try this myself. I have a very long commute so it wouldn't work for that, but I could always use it for short local jaunts.

Mar 29, 2010. 6:58 PMdavidrvalencia says:
 where did you get the motor and controller? 
Aug 2, 2009. 10:50 AMrickheid says:
Great project! I would also like to know where you got the pulleys? Thanks, Rick
Sep 28, 2009. 5:29 PMTimmyNei says:
Try Fastenal for power transmission supplies, they are everywhere and you can talk to someone about what you need instead of just looking at a website or catalog.
Sep 7, 2009. 2:21 AMThe Lightning Stalker says:
Shaft drive is awesome. No messy chain lube to fuss with. It's better for the environment.
Apr 6, 2009. 3:20 PMbiker600 says:
Great project! thanks for all the info and pics Primary belt drives for motorcycles run upwards of $300, where did you get your components, how hard have you pushed it and what's the breaking point of the belt?

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Author:Kentucky-bum(EV World)
A jack of all trades and a master of many; I was the Sr R&D Engineer and Manager of R&D for a very large company, but now I am consutling on my own. I can truly say 'been there, done that', but I can...
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