Motorcycle Hybrids Are A Good Idea.

"PardonMyFlemish16" (TheCoolKid) 08/26/2015 at 21:40 • Filed to: None

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I have been riding my bike to work a lot lately and I notice I only use the brakes when I am basically coming to a stop. I mainly slow down via drag or engine braking.

Now I know motorcycles have to be light yadda yadda. But I think they really lend themselves well to hybrids. On surface streets I am constantly pointing, squirting and then slowing down (sorry). There is a lot of opportunity to recapture energy there. And even on the highway, while there’s less stop and go, there are still hills and slow downs.

The battery and motor would not have to be big at all. Battery could just be cells conveniently strewn about the bike, giving just enough juice for some “torque fill”. Motor would just go with the clutch and flywheel. Bike + rider is only 700 lbs... you would not need much electric capacity to get things moving. It would help gas mileage a ton, which could work both ways... something like an NC700x could do like 100MPG... or a Tuono V4R could get more than 30 MPG lol. Would help a lot with emissions too which motorcycles are surprisingly horrible at. Just spitballing here.

TheOnelectronic > PardonMyFlemish16 08/26/2015 at 21:42

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Either you’ve got a heavy bike or a heavy rider, there. 700 pounds is... quite a lot.

I think the weight would be the biggest issue. Hybrid systems are usually very heavy.

bob and john > PardonMyFlemish16 08/26/2015 at 21:44

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700lbs is a heavy as shit bike + rider combo...me and my SV might tip the scales at 550.

DrJohannVegas > bob and john 08/26/2015 at 22:16

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I thought SV650s are around 430 wet. You must be a svelte dude.

HammerheadFistpunch > PardonMyFlemish16 08/26/2015 at 22:17

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It’s a great point, a super capacitor and in wheel motor would be a good place to start. Maybe even 2wd

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > PardonMyFlemish16 08/26/2015 at 22:19

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I think you can get bicycle wheels with electric motors and batteries built in. That might be a place to start.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > PardonMyFlemish16 08/26/2015 at 22:35

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I like the idea. I wonder how hard it would be to have a U shaped battery that wraps around the bottom of the bike. It would help keep the center of gravity lower.

nlzmo400r > DrJohannVegas 08/26/2015 at 22:55

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You’re correct. 700LBS is not that out of line as a conservative estimate for a 400lb (dry) bike and a 200lb rider. To those suggesting the motor in the wheels, this is the WORST possible place for motors. The NVH would destroy them very quickly and adding all that weight into the wheels would have very negative affects on the handling. I suggest looking at a piggyback system that would send power directly to the crankshaft.

samssun > PardonMyFlemish16 08/26/2015 at 23:24

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There may be a lot of chances to recapture energy, but there just isn’t that much actual energy. Marginal return on a 50mpg vehicle is going to be pretty minimal. Big trucks are where your return is, because even saving 3mpg on a 12mpg vehicle will save you a lot of actual gas.

I guess you could fit a small LI battery for torquey starts, just don’t know that it would ever be worth all the extra equipment to regenerate via braking.

bob and john > DrJohannVegas 08/27/2015 at 00:10

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They are that stock...mine isnt

Baeromez > PardonMyFlemish16 08/27/2015 at 00:37

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Nah, just go full electric. A bike is the perfect application for full electric.

PardonMyFlemish16 > bob and john 08/27/2015 at 06:28

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Most bikes are ~400-500lbs, most riders are ~200lbs geared up. I don’t think that is an unreasonable average. Maybe 650 at the most.

PardonMyFlemish16 > Baeromez 08/27/2015 at 06:31

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Im not going to risk my life on a bike that’s heavier than a gas bike and has no engine note. IMO motorcycles need engine notes to exist... they have to be visceral.

BloodlessWeevil > HammerheadFistpunch 08/27/2015 at 08:03

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Adding rotating mass is a bad idea in general, even more so on a motorcycle. You would make handling and lean dangerously unpredictable.

I think driving the chain directly from the electric motor would work better. Energy recovery would be directly through the electric motor. Drop a few lithium-iron phosphate cells at the bottom of saddlebags or in a tank bag. The downside with this setup is it makes the control scheme more complicated. You would have to do a lot of programming work to get the gas engine and electric motor to work together properly.

BloodlessWeevil > PardonMyFlemish16 08/27/2015 at 08:07

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Are you assuming the electric version is going to weigh more? It does not have to be that way. I worked on a senior design project that cut a hundred pounds off a Honda Rebel by swapping in an electric drivetrain. Bumped up power and torque a bit too.

PardonMyFlemish16 > BloodlessWeevil 08/27/2015 at 18:23

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How was its range compared to the gas setup?

And yea, the weight would go up a little bit, but that could be offset by using a smaller engine by example.

BloodlessWeevil > PardonMyFlemish16 08/27/2015 at 18:34

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Just over 60 miles, the gas version gets 130-150 before reserve (2 gallons.) We ran a few different driving styles (city vs country) and total range did not vary a whole lot, but testing was not exhaustive by any means. The upshot is we came in at just under the cost of the gas version. You could easily double the range with another thousand dollars.