[mechman600]

http://www.evconvert.com/tools/evcalc/

Simply amazing. However, there is no preset for a 400 lb motorcycle, so I have been tinkering with the numbers under "1988 Honda Civic DX Hatchback" - basically wildly guessing. My bike is a '78 Honda CB400T. No fairings or windshield. Does anyone know what numbers I should enter for Drag Coef and Frontal Area for my bike? How does a bike compare to an '88 Civic (with drag coef of 0.3 and frontal area of 18)? I have a feeling that non-faired/windshielded bikes are less aerodynamic than I think....

 

[DavidDymaxion]

I've heard a motorcycle has about the same aero drag as a small car. Sanity check: The gas mileage for a small car and motorcycle with the same size of engine isn't very different.

http://www.evconvert.com/tools/evcalc/

Simply amazing. However, there is no preset for a 400 lb motorcycle, so I have been tinkering with the numbers under "1988 Honda Civic DX Hatchback" - basically wildly guessing. My bike is a '78 Honda CB400T. No fairings or windshield. Does anyone know what numbers I should enter for Drag Coef and Frontal Area for my bike? How does a bike compare to an '88 Civic (with drag coef of 0.3 and frontal area of 18)? I have a feeling that non-faired/windshielded bikes are less aerodynamic than I think....

 

[mechman600]

Sanity check: The gas mileage for a small car and motorcycle with the same size of engine isn't very different.

Very true; I have owned both. I'm going with numbers 10% less than a small car. It turns out that I will have tons of range anyway, so if I'm short by 10% I won't really mind.

 

[mechman600]

I'm finding some interesting things when it comes to battery choices. For my 48V motorcycle I am trying to decide between flooded and AGM batteries. The Trojan 24TMX 85ah (47 lbs) seems to be the smallest flooded deep cycle I can find, and the Interstate DCM0060 60ah AGM (44 lbs) is one I can get for very cheap through my work - about $96CDN.

Assuming my Peukert calculations are correct on http://www.evconvert.com/tools/evcalc/?s=b, it seems the range will be better with the lower ah AGM batteries. 40 mph seems to be the breakpoint where their ranges are equal. Below 40 mph, the higher capacity floodeds give more range. But at 50 mph with higher current draw, the Peukert effect kills the floodeds and the AGM rules. Very interesting.

 

[Automcdonough]

It's a good start.
I have a weird motor, I'd have tried punching in my own values if they had better descriptions than "n". I also would like to see Maximum torque values to get an idea what the acceleration would be like.. on my spreadsheet I charted these all on a graph, used it to decide on if I can go to a single-speed reduction instead of the transmission.