Omaha man builds electric motorcycle in spare time (w/VIDEO)
Electra Green DIY electric motorcycle - Click above for an image gallery
A man from Omaha, Nebraska named Tony Parker (no, not that Tony Parker) recently found himself with a bunch of extra time on his hands after being laid off from his job, so he decided to try and put it to good use by creating a home-built electric motorcycle he's calling Electra Green.
Using a 2.5 kW DC electric motor hooked up to four 12-volt lead-acid batteries, the Electra Green is reportedly capable of hitting speeds of up to 50 miles per hour. What appears to be a fairing from an older Yamaha motorcycle helps keep things as aerodynamic as possible while a donated seat and saddle bags from an unknown Honda motorcycle complete the package.
In addition to the actual motorcycle, Parker also built both a small solar charger and a wind charger, though we'd imagine either solution would take a very long time to actually charge the bike to full capacity. The completed machine was shown at the 2008 Motorcycle Show at Omaha's Septemberfest, where it managed to take home a trophy for 3rd place in the Custom Sports category. See a short video of the bike in action after the break.
[Source: FirstOnTop.com via Gas2.org]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
organic 10:37AM (5/27/2009)
hehe I dont know if I'd call those older front fairings as helping aerodynamics
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Gary 11:17AM (5/27/2009)
Why don't ALL motorbike manufacturers make electric models? This guy proves that it can be done. The motorbike manufacturers and oil companies are in bed with each other.
Blah. Blah.
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