eBike

I decided this week I'm going to have the rims, frame and swing arm stripped and powder-coated. Generally, the paint is in good shape, but it looks kind of old, and it's shiny. I'd prefer a matte look (I think).

One of my co-workers is to blame for this idea. Thanks to him, what I really wanted was to have the paint chemically stripped. They dip the whole thing in a hot vat of acid, then wash it, and dip it again in a solution that gives the metal a phosphate coating, protecting it from rust. The result is like newly-forged metal, and every trace of rust and paint is removed from both inside and out (it's a tubular steel frame).

Unfortunately, the chemical bath is pretty nasty stuff, and it seems no one in the Bay Area does it anymore. The nearest place I found was in Santa Ana, and they wanted nearly $250 just to do the frame. Locally, I called a powder-coat paint shop, and they gave me a ballpark estimate of $300 - $400 to both strip and paint. I'm guessing it'll be a couple hundred more for the swing arm and all the little pieces of the frame, but the end result will be very, very nice.

The other fact that encouraged me was that new bearings (which are necessary if I pull the old ones to allow painting) are fairly cheap! Between $5 and $10, depending on which bearing.

Tonight I'm trying to strip the frame and hubs down to nothing, including removing the swing arm, so that I can get the bearings pulled tomorrow before some planned recreation in the afternoon. At this point, though, it's looking unlikely, since I'm sitting here writing this instead of disassembling. But I did get some work done, and here are the images.

Here's some of the stuff that came off: turn signals, tail lights, the wiring harness, the handlebars, headlamp, console, etc.:

Posted by Rick at 11:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, strictly speaking, it was yesterday, as I write this.

Sadly, no real progress to report on the bike. Profit sharing paid out at work, so I decided to go buy the E-tek RT motor. I called ahead to make sure they had it in stock, which was good, because they didn't. But, the nice lady on the phone said they'd be in on Monday, so Monday it is.

In the meantime, I stopped by Michael's to get some styrofoam from which to make blocks the same size and shape as the eventual LiFePo cells that will be installed. I was shocked at how much Michael's charges for plain blocks of styrofoam. Eighty dollars later, I had some pieces of foam, including a round-shaped one intended to model the motor, and some spray glue.

I probably won't get around to shaping the motor block until I actually have the motor, so I may never bother…but styrofoam is much lighter than the actual thing!

I might take the rims to have the bearings pushed out this weekend. But there are birthday celebrations to be done!

Posted by Rick at 01:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today I picked up a tiny furniture dolly, which fit the bottom of the engine perfectly. Using that, I was able loosen the straps and lower it far enough away from the frame that it could then be maneuvered around and out (the four swivel casters helped a lot here).

I used the straps to keep the engine more-or-less secured to the dolly:

I then spent another hour or so removing the few remaining gas-related items. I couldn't get the cooling system thermostat temperature probe loose from the housing, so I ended up clipping the wire. I pulled the clutch and throttle cables off, as well as the voltage rectifier/regulator. The only gas-related items that remain are the console indicators (oil pressure light, neutral light, temperature gauge, tachometer).

Here's the bike now:

Here's a close-up of the area where the engine used to be. I'm now challenged with designing and fashioning a bracket to not only mount the electric motor (and batteries), but also restore the link between the two parts of the frame.

Here's a shot of everything that comes off the bike for good (with minor exception). Amazing how much stuff is required to support an internal combustion engine:

The whole mess is for sale, $500, you pick it up. If you want me to ship it, you'll have to pay for crating and freight charges (probably around $200). Email me, rmann AT latencyzero YOUKNOWWHAT com. You can also call 510 868-0934. I'll consider selling individual parts, but only if I get enough interest that most of the parts will sell.

Posted by Rick at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Given that two people are interested in buying the engine off the bike, I made a decision today to bail on the carb repair, and just start pulling gas parts off the bike. I got as far as separating the engine from the frame, but couldn't stabilize it well enough to actually move it away from the bike.

I started by pulling the muffler and exhaust manifold. This was a real pain, because the muffler was stuck on the manifold, and the manifold was similarly stuck on the rear cylinder's exhaust pipe. It took a lot of banging and prying to get it to come loose.

But it finally came free. There's a kind of metaphor or symbolism there, I think. Something about how entrenched in oil the world is, how it refuses to budge, to change. It's time Big Auto started making electric vehicles, but instead they hire operatives to run 'bots combing the web for articles about electric vehicles, and pretend to be people posting objections, reasons why electric cars can't work. Problem is, they're wrong.

So, after metaphorically beating the shit out of these assholes (by beating the muffler 'till it broke free), I accomplished the first real step in the conversion to electric.

Here's the bike without the exhaust:

And the parts that came off:

Earlier today I pulled the forks and handlebars off:

After the exhaust system, I pulled the radiator:

I pulled a bunch of the emissions control stuff as well, along with the ignition. Amazing how much stuff is necessary to let an ICE run:

I also pulled the rear wheel:

Finally, I got around to lowering the engine (which you can actually see in the previous pic, too). Unfortunately, my little jack couldn't support it properly, and it was too unstable to pull away from the frame. I ended up hanging it from the frame with some straps.

Posted by Rick at 03:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by Rick at 06:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I spent all of Saturday lounging around and finally building this:

You can see more pictures in the blog entry for it.

Hopefully this will make my back happy, no longer hunching over carbs and other motorcycle bits on the floor.

Posted by Rick at 01:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I bought a Pit Bull stand yesterday, and put the bike up on it last night. You’re apparently supposed to use a swingarm stand with it, but I don’t have one yet. In this picture you can see the stand supporting the bike, and I’ve already removed the front wheel.

Here are some pictures of the disassembled front wheel and brake assembly.

Front brake assembly:

The front brake disc. Very rusty, and that’s after wiping it down with WD-40 (yes, I will make sure to remove the lubrication before reinstalling it!):

Posted by Rick at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I’ve been haphazardly cleaning the carburetors. Here are some pictures.

I had not intended to disassemble the vacuum chambers, but a few posts I read online suggested that getting carb cleaner (mostly acetone and MEK) on the rubber parts would destroy them, so I decided to check on the diaphragm. I’ve been spraying the cleaner all over the inside of the carb, and was worried some might've gotten to it. There’s still another diaphragm I need to check.

So far, this carb seems okay.

Posted by Rick at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday I had a little housewarming party, but Sunday I shopped for the bike and did some work. I pulled the body panels, gas tank, air cleaner and carbs.

Here’s a closeup of where the carbs used to be:

Here are the carbs (they’re upside down).

This is one of the float chamber covers. The brown coloration is 15 years worth of gasoline congealing on it.

Since these pictures, I’ve removed the fast & slow jets, jet holder, float and float valve from one of the carbs. They’re sitting in carb cleaner. I’m trying to find a cleaning kit of some kind, something with pins I can use to clean out the jets; the carb cleaner is not enough.

Here’s the gas tank. It needs to be cleaned and have the rust removed. Eventually, I will cut out the bottom, knock out the dents, and put it back on the bike. It will probably house the charge controllers and some of the cells. While it would be clever to have the charging plug inside the gas cap, that might not actually be the most convenient place for it. We’ll see.

Posted by Rick at 12:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This entry will be continually updated with each expenditure on the project.

The following table contains items purchased specifically for the converted bike, like the electric motor, brake pads & break fluid, body panels, etc.

This table contains items purchased to get the gas engine to run again.

This table contains items bought during the course of the project, but which can be used again on later projects (tools, mostly).

Posted by Rick at 12:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)