| Owner | David Snow | ||||||
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| Location | Cleveland, Ohio US map | ||||||
| Web/Email | | ||||||
| Vehicle | 1981 Kawasaki KZ440 Now titled as an Ohio 2008 Self Assembled Vehicle | ||||||
| Motor | Perm Motor Perm 132 Permanent Magnet DC | ||||||
| Drivetrain | ANSI 40 chain. 12 tooth sprocket on motor, 48 tooth rear sprocket. | ||||||
| Controller | Kelly KD72401 Kelly 72 volt, 400 amp regen controller. Not using regen yet, will toy around with it sometime. | ||||||
| Batteries | 4 NAPA BAT8301, 27DCM, 12.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, Flooded Chose to go with less expensive FLA batteries. Thanks Duke at NAPA in Bay Village, Ohio. | ||||||
| System Voltage | 48 Volts | ||||||
| Charger | Soneil 1214CC Purchased from Summit Racing WebPage | ||||||
| DC/DC Converter | DC2415 WebPage | ||||||
| Instrumentation | Standard speedometer, added PakTrakr 600 to monitor battery condition (note, Pak Trakr does not like rain) | ||||||
| Top Speed | 42 MPH (67 KPH) Had 54 tooth sprocket in rear to start, 36mph top speed, chose to go to 48 tooth rear, better top speed, doesn't make much difference on acceleration from dead stop. | ||||||
| Acceleration | Seems like second gear from dead stop, but after a half second or so she takes off, no problem keeping up with city traffic. Still tweaking Kelly controller. | ||||||
| Range | 30 Miles (48 Kilometers) 30-35 miles is to 100% discharged (estimated). I'm trying to keep trips in the 15-20 mile range to keep batteries at no more than 50% discharged. | ||||||
| EV Miles |
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| Seating Capacity | 2 adults. I've tested acceleration and distance with single and double. Having gf on back doesn't seem to make too much difference with either acceleration or distance. | ||||||
| Curb Weight | 480 Pounds (218 Kilograms) | ||||||
| Tires | Original OEM | ||||||
| Conversion Time | Started beginning of January, worked 1 or 2 days a week for several weeks converting frame, mounting motor, batteries and controller to finally get it going on it's maiden voyage on February 20, 2008. Thought that was the hard part, nooooo, hard part was reassembling all the little things, blinkers, fenders, finding the right handlebars, redoing front brake line, hunting down a headlight, then deciding to do the right thing and have it inspected by the State Highway Patrol to get it titled properly (ask me about that one) | ||||||
| Conversion Cost | $3000ish | ||||||
| Additional Features | Chose to extend frame for battery tray, center of gravity is ideal. | ||||||
| Was watching the show Cool Fuels (August 2006) and saw the episode with ElChopper ET. Fell in love with the idea of converting a motorcycle for $1200. Purchased plans for ElChopper ET and went from there. Thank you to my family to encourage me to pursue this project...all of them in their own ways. Son Ryan was there to lend a hand often, Son Eric who was interested but school and distance kept him from hands on (except when he came home for Easter and bent the handlebars ;-), Daughter Shannon and son Brad for betting me I wouldn't do it, gf Sue for being a good passenger, and Mom and Dad for all of their help. A HUGE thank you to Dave Galmarini for his welding skills, excellent ideas, and overall great guy status in my book. He spent many hours listening to me babble about this project, and came up with some great ideas as we progressed. If it wasn't for him I'd still be dreaming about converting a motorcycle to electric instead of riding it around now. Thank you to Dave's father-in-law Jim, for welding the drive sprocket and asking his neighbor to bore out rear sprockets. Thank you to the motorcycle shops in the Cleveland area who laughed at my idea when I asked them if they'd be interested in working on this conversion, made me even more determined to complete it. | |||||||
1981 Kawaski KZ440
“Help me name it”
Last Updated 05-06-2008
Copyright © 1997-2008 by Mike Chancey