Sudden Purchases

About 2 months to the day since I worked on the bike, I have begun to actually order parts for the conversion0. The delay is due mostly to having other, more important, engagements, but I just decided the other day to go ahead with it, as planned. I have researched a fair amount, so I have some confidence that I'm not wasting my money.

The Parts:
I've ordered the motor, DC-DC converter, battery chargers, and picked up batteries.

The motor is the ME709 by Mars Electric LLC.
It's 36 lbs of PM goodness and was $537.

The DC-DC converter is the 300 Watt Sevcon 11086.
It will convert 72 Volts to 12 Volts with 25 Amps. It cost $213 from Electric Motorsport.

The battery charger (x2) is the JAC0891-102 by Japlar.
It's a 36 Volt, 4 Amp charger that can accepts anywhere from 100 to 240 Volts AC. These cost $246 online and should be idiot proof.

The batteries are the DCM0035L model from Interstate Batteries.
Not too expensive, nor too heavy, nor too skimpy, I believe. Rated at 34 Amp-hours and non-spillable, these will hopefully make nice starter batteries. I'm not thrilled about the terminal type, but I don't really think another 1/2 inch is a deal breaker. These cost $564 and I picked them up locally. I continued trying to decide where to place the batteries on the bike this evening and made decent progress.

Still to do:
I've still got to verify a few things related to the speed controller and order it as well. Apparently, there's a waterproofing option that costs $20. This component might also be back-ordered or slow to ship, in the amount of 4 weeks or more. Additionally, the Kelly controller I've selected is cheaper somewhere other than KellyController.com, which I find strange. Then again, I found several items on that site that seem over-priced.

There will be many other purchases, but these are the big, exciting ones for me. These are the components that are critical and must be selected for each application, individually. These that I've already purchased make up for more than half the total project budget. I'll probably try and go back through all the parts later on, describing them and my reasoning for selecting them.

Another e-Lifan:
On a similar note, I found another electric Lifan.
The first electric lifan I found was Lennon Rodger's eMoto. Last night, I found on the evAlbum, Mark Gelbien's electric 2009 Lifan GS200. It's a nice looking conversion and has impressive stats. Apparently, the guy has made his own version of a hub motor and tested his design by converting a Lifan to electric. There are videos he's posted on YouTube that aren't bad either. I'd be interested in his technology if I hadn't more or less finalized my design before seeing it. Also, his hub design being sold for $1,300 right now, so it wouldn't quite fit my project anyway. Maybe I'll seriously consider hub motors for any future conversions though, as there might be some promise in that technology.

The Goal:
National Ride to Work day for 2009 is June 15th. I'd like to participate in the global event, so this is my only deadline of any kind. I guess I'll need to have the thing legally road-worthy around the end of May so that I'll have time to practice riding, get used to the bike, and make sure it's actually safe. I'll have to get some riding gear too, which is fine by me.

I'm seriously enjoying this project now. I know I may be waist deep in wires, measurements, calculations, and nuts and bolts in a few weeks, scratching my head, but I'm thinking it will be worth it.
-Colby