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.:

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!):

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.

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.

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).

Last night I washed the bike, and tried very unsuccessfully to remove a broken bolt from the frame. I tried heating & cooling and tapping it around with a punch, and then I tried using an EZ-Out extractor, but the initial drilling is going very, very slowly. I’m also drilling way off-center, and no amount of angling seemed to get back toward the middle. Hers’s hoping I’m close enough when the time comes. I’ll probably just keep squirting WD-40 in there over the next several days.

I ordered a new set of tires today for it, from Accessory International. I’ve never heard of them, but they came up high in the Google search. I probably should’ve shopped around a bit more, but I just wanted to get a set of tires less than 15 years old onto the thing. I ordered an Avon Roadrider 110/90-16 for the front ($94.80 ) and Avon Roadrider 120/80-17 for the rear ($73.81) for a total (with $30 shipping) of $198.61.

My plan is to pull the rims off the bike on Sunday and take them to Fremont Honda, where they can put the new tires on for $25 per wheel. However, I don’t yet have stands for the bike, so that may hamper efforts.

All of these parts, except the charge controller and batteries, are available in a kit, with some additional wiring and connectors, for $1195. Electric Motorsport's price for the motor is a little higher than getting it directly from Mars Electric, but I can pick it up instead of paying shipping.

The Alltrax speed controller, however, does not do regenerative braking, something I'd like to add. That may not be possible until I design my own speed controller, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for an off-the-shelf solution.

The charge controller is designed to plug into a standard North American A/C outlet. When charging from solar panels, this is an ideal application of maximum-power-point tracking. I will probably have to design my own charger to support both 110 VAC and MPP tracking.

Currently, the bike is en route from San Marcos, CA, where it has been sitting in my parents’ garage for over 10 years. It should arrive sometime this week.

I'm a little bit worried about the current registration. It was registered as Planned Non-operational (PNO) years ago, but I don’t think my parents kept that up. I’ll have to make a thoroughly enjoyable visit to the DMV to straighten that out. I hope it doesn’t end up costing more than the bike is worth!

After it arrives, I will give it a thorough cleaning, and attempt to get the gasoline engine running again. Even though I will be removing it and selling it, it will likely be easier to get it running while still installed on the bike, and this will give me a chance to check out the rest of the vehicle.

Then begins the disassembly.

Everything gas-related will be removed: tank, engine, transmission, starter, radiator & water pump, emissions control system, muffler, clutch, and even the battery. (The tank will be modified to make room for batteries, and will eventually be put back on the bike, because it’s an essential part of the bike’s appearance.)

That will be followed by another cleaning, as well as any cosmetic or corrosion repair and painting.

Then a bracket must be made to hold the electric motor, as well as re-connect the portions of the frame that once held the engine. Additional brackets will be made to hold batteries, the speed controller, charge controller, and various accessories.

Next I’ll add a DC-DC converter to provide power for accessories like headlights, taillights and turn signals, as well as illumination for the speedometer and other displays. Somewhere in there I'll make a cool system status monitor.

The brake system will need to be disassembled, cleaned and have the fluid replaced. New brake pads might be necessary.

Finally, I'll repaint the new plastics (I bought a used set from a guy named Seth in Massachussettes, hopefully he'll send them soon), and reinstall them on the bike.

As a last step, I want to make a portable bike port with a couple solar panels on top. I can store it in my office, and bring it out each day to charge up my bike (and keep it cool). Since I can’t put panels on my roof (stupid HOA), I can at least do this!

Check back for updates, but this project will take at least a couple of months, if not longer. (For example, one step I haven’t mentioned above is to build a nifty work bench and storage in my garage!)

Expenditure so far: $450 to transport bike.