| Owner | Frank John | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner's Other EVs | 1994 Toyota Pickup 1976 Suzuki GT550 | ||||||
| Location | Brooklin, Maine United States map | ||||||
| Vehicle | 1974 Harley Davidson Aermacchi * SOLD - AUTUMN 2009 TO A FRIEND WHO'S STRIPPING THE EV COMPONENTS TO MOUNT IN A FULL-SIZE HARLEY SOFTTAIL FRAME I was given this for cleaning up someone's shed; it was a rolling chassis with blown motor and I decided to stick the electric stuff in it as a proof-of-concept vehicle. H-D imported Aermacchi (an Italian manufacturer) during the sixties and seventies. | ||||||
| Motor | Advanced DC 140-07-4001 Series Wound DC Really too small for this vehicle but it performs pretty well regardless. | ||||||
| Controller | Curtis 1204 275 amp | ||||||
| Batteries | 3 Universal Batteries 12110, 12.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, AGM made best use of the space available for batteries. | ||||||
| System Voltage | 36 Volts | ||||||
| Charger | Iota DLS 42-18 No temperature compensation but works well regardless (using zener regs.) | ||||||
| Heater | Huh? | ||||||
| DC/DC Converter | none | ||||||
| Instrumentation | Speedo, Westberg combo Volt/Ammeter | ||||||
| Top Speed | 50 MPH (80 KPH) Motor is geared 5000 rpm = 50 mph. It's hard to do and really eats up battery life. The bike likes 35-40 mph a lot. | ||||||
| Acceleration | Adequate. | ||||||
| Range | 30 Miles (48 Kilometers) I've never gone further than 15 miles but resting voltage shows the batteries at 75% SOC. This at 30-35 mph. There's a lot of rolling hills around here. | ||||||
| Watt Hours/Mile | 125 Wh/Mile I keep track of A.C. Whr/Mile using a Kill-A-Watt meter. DC numbers would be smaller. | ||||||
| EV Miles |
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| Seating Capacity | 1 adult | ||||||
| Curb Weight | 400 Pounds (181 Kilograms) Battery weight is about 50% of total vehicle weight. | ||||||
| Tires | junk | ||||||
| Conversion Time | 3 months | ||||||
| Conversion Cost | ~$1K | ||||||
| Additional Features | I used to carry the charger with me but I think the potholes around here made it fail. I never needed to charge on-the-go anyway. Workmanship isn't that good but the bike is functional and very reliable. | ||||||
| The only disadvantage of not mounting the charger on the bike is that when it's plugged into the batteries after a ride, it has never registered that they need a Bulk charge i.e. battery voltage after stopping is above what the charger needs to see in order to start bulk charging. I have to turn the system on and whack the throttle open while holding the front brake in order to force a voltage drop that the charger sees; this enables proper charging! | |||||||
1974 Harley Davidson Aermacchi
“E-Bike”
Last Updated 12-14-2009
Copyright © 1997-2024 by Mike Chancey