81 CB650C Electric Conversion

[cbguy123]

Took about a year to get this electric conversion rolling on the street. It is not complete yet! Tank, front fender, and plastics need to be painted. Also, the frame needs some touch-up paint. Fully electric, the range is between 30-50 miles depending on how much throttle is given. Gets me to work and back! Fun to have on the road, the acceleration is awesome! Much faster than stock. Bike is also lighter than stock so it moves! I plan on getting some saddle bags on it to hold more batteries. That will give me greater range and speed. I can't recall the exact conversion cost, but it is somewhere around $3,000. And it still needs more parts!

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Those are lithium ion batteries. Very high capacity and light weight.

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Tach replaced with digital volt meter. This is my fuel gauge!

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[MiGhost]

Now that looks cool. I have been interested in electric bikes for a while. I assume that you tucked the electronincs up into the tank

If you are looking for a set of OEM hard bags for the rear battery package. I have a pair that I would be willing to let go. The green set that can be seen in my project post. http://www.hondacb650.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6556

Ghost

[Volker_P]

Welcome here!

Very interesting and unique project!

In fact the low rpm torque of a CB650 is poor so an electric engine will go off much better in fact. Would be nice to have some more techical details like weight and topspeed.
Guess these are lead batteries as advanced ones would be much more expensive.
There are some open components, does this bike also work in the wet?

Weights at the rear are not that good for riding, rather consider to use the tank region for further batteries if possible.
Another option might be a single wheel trailer that you can couple to the bike only for longer trips. This way you could keep the present acceleration and rideability for commuting and you may use cheaper large batteries on the trailer.

Please keep us posted on your progress.

[cbguy123]

The electronics are mostly under the seat...there was plenty of room once the battery box was removed. All the electronics were completely redone. I appreciate the offer for the hard bags Ghost, but I am going to wait a little bit. I might try to squeeze more batteries in the bike without using saddle bags to hold the batteries. Top speed of the electric bike is 60mph. I am not sure of the exact weight of the bike now...I am certain the bike weighs less then stock though. The batteries are of the lithium ion variety. All the batteries weigh in at 80lbs. They are very strong for their weight! Yes, they cost a pretty penny- ugh! If the batteries were lead acid, the weight would easily be tripled. There are some open components, but the bike works fine in the rain! Good idea about the trailer pulling more batteries! That certainly is a possibility, it's just a matter of how money I want to put into this thing. Mostly I use the bike to commute to work, about a 20 mile round trip. I can do that easily and recharge at home. One thing is certain, it turns heads! Everyone wants to talk about this project. I even got a job offer to do motorcycle electric conversions!

[Volker_P]

For the weigth, just place the wheels one after the other on a bathroom scales. Hold the bike upright and underlay the other wheel with something of the same height. Usually this gives quite good results.
Interesting speedo cable position BTW.

[gojoego]

That is really cool!!! have you guys seen the brammo bikes? same electric bike idea for those who (like myself) don't know enough to put something like this together

[VII]

I always thought an electric conversion on a motorcycle with a sidecar would work out great. You could likely even still carry a passenger if you carefully fit the batteries in the sidecar.