OwnerEl Ninjista
LocationSeattle, Washington US map
Email email image
Vehicle2006 Kawasaki EX 500
MotorAdvanced DC A00-4009 72V Series Wound DC
DrivetrainDirect chain drive.
ControllerAlltrax 7245 72V Controller
Batteries23, 3.30 Volt,
LiFePO4 batteries
System Voltage76 Volts
ChargerZivan 72 Volt Charger
HeaterN/A
DC/DC ConverterAstrodyne 72 Volt
InstrumentationThe Cycle Analyst Version 2.0. This is the second gauge I've had on my El Ninja. (See "Comments" for more about that.) An ancient, cheapo speedometer/odometer which replaced the stock one. (That's what accounts for the low total miles. I drove it around 15,000 miles with the internal combustion engine.)
Top Speed75 MPH (120 KPH)
Haven't figured out the range yet, but it does zoom on the freeway pretty well. Slows up to 45mph climbing steep hills.
AccelerationAs quick as it was with internal combustion from 0-30mph. Slows a bit from there to 75mph.
RangeDepends on speed. See 7/12/09 update below.
EV Miles
Current:115 Miles (185 Kilometers)
Seating Capacity2 adult
Curb Weight490 Pounds (222 Kilograms)
The above weight is a guess. But it's not much heavier than stock - maybe 30lbs more.
TiresTwo!
Conversion TimeWay too long of a wait for the batteries (from China, of course, *sigh*) and other parts. Started in September 2008, finished (sort of) in January 2009
Conversion Cost~$10,000; Work done by Carlo at ev-supply.com
Additional FeaturesRemoved broken stock faring and replaced with new headlight, front turn signals and mirrors.
Has a new Givi 30N Top Box (holds the Zivian charger)

35 pictures of the conversion/finish at WebPage
I live in an apartment building (2nd floor), so I had to buy 150 feet of 600 volt cable to string out to my bike, parked near the street ($280), so I can keep my $700 charger (bolted to the inside of the Givi box) in my apartment, rather than on the bike. I also bought 140 feet of 2" PVC tubing to cover the cable ($125). And, I keep 100 feet of 12 gauge extension cord in the top box for charging away from home ($80). Finally, to keep the spot where I charge my motorcycle open (as well as help prevent theft), I bought 40' of heavy duty chain ($100) to create a small triangle-shaped area where my 600 volt cable ends.

I bought the 2006 Ninja 500 because of its great gas mileage (I got 72mpg with one tankful - all highway miles - but generally got around 55mpg), but it didn't do well in cold, wet weather. Unfortunately, Seattle has cold, wet weather several months of the year, so it really began to piss me off that it would sputter and stall 1/2 the time the temperature was 40 degrees F or less. Plus, I wanted to drive as "green" of a vehicle as possible - hence, El Ninja Del Norte!

UPDATE: 6/16/09 - Originally I had a PakTrakr Monitor System for batteries, but it was less than ideal for several reasons: 1) It had no backlight, so it was useless at night. 2) It drew its power (more than you'd expect, too!) from just 3 of the 23 batteries - which caused these batteries to fail while I was storing the bike for three months. 3) It didn't have a very reliable way to gauge how many amp-hours I had left, and therefore, how much range I had. Hopefully the new gauge will do better. I'll update this page in a few months with that information.

UPDATE: 7/12/09 - The Cycle Analyst has proven to be a terrific gauge; I highly recommend it for use on motorcycles/scooters/bicycles. It can be set to count how many amp hours you are using so it's a more accurage way to know how much juice is left in the batteries. Carlo suggested that I not use more than 30 amp hours per charge. That leads to the other update - I've finally found out my range, and it's not that great. On the highway, full "throttle" it can go about 15 miles. Mixed highway and city driving around 20-25. Theoretically, staying at 30 mph and under, I could go 30 miles before needing to recharge.

code by jerry