Electric Motorcycle
A partner and I modified an existing motorcycle frame and converted it to electric power for a project in college. A lot of effort was put towards the packaging of the components, as electric motorcycles present different opportunities and drawbacks than traditional combustion engine layouts. I generated a full CAD model of the Suzuki GS450 before selecting a suitable battery pack, controller, motor, and other components. The CAD model allowed us to visualize and evaluate numerous iterations of our design very quickly. Although we had to work around significant limitations with our budget, workspace, and tools, I was pleased with my first foray into full-scale electric vehicles and hope to revisit this project at some point with more resources.
In addition to modifying the frame, I fabricated a custom battery box, motor mount, seat, and electronics housing. We used FEA to analyze our motor mount and frame, refining the tube geometry and wall thickness to ensure sufficient strength. Frame modifications resulted in significant weight savings, but the overbuilt frame sections of our donor bike and heavy gel mat batteries meant the vehicle was not as nimble as we were hoping. A lighter frame and higher quality battery pack would be huge improvements for a second iteration.
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