Electric Motorcycle Conversion
Fri, 30 Jan 2009Donald and Andrew Higginbotham, are a father and son team that converted a Suzuki RF900 into an electric motorcycle at their home over the course of three months worth of Saturdays. It ended up costing about $3,000 to complete with parts from Electric Motorsport.
The bike gets about 35 miles per charge at a maximum speed of 55mph. The six batteries used are good for 300 to 500 charges and take 12 to 18 hours to completely charge when fully drained, according to Higginbotham Sr.
Now, I know going electric is not just about saving gas money but I did a quick calculation: The conversion works out to about 20 cents per mile, not including the cost of the electricity. That is also assuming you are able to use the batteries to their full lifespan. That seems a little steep to me, especially now that gas prices have calmed down. It is impressive that a father and son worked together to accomplish such a goal, without much help.
Source
By Joe Magro
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