Electric Ninja

This quarter is moving along quite nicely as far as schooldwork goes. ME 415 Design for the Environment with Joyce Cooper has been quite an enjoyable class so far. Enjoyable classes coupled with the fact that my senior project is bike motor mount design, means a lot of progress on the bike has been made this month.

The design is now complete, and even further simplified from what it was just weeks ago. The plates will be water jet cut out early next week. The finished mount will bolt straight into the original downtubes, making the frame incredibly sturdy and protecting components in case of a drop.

The motors arrived this week and I found a way to turn the face plates so the mounting bolts don't interfere with the chain and the belt drive. This was possible because the faceplate mounts in with three bolts, while the motor face attaches to the bike frame with four bolts.

The twin motors sit side by side on the lower section of the wooden mockup:

Alex's dad painted the rear fairing and gas tank. They look like new:

The aluminum plates have notches to simplify manufacturing the mount. They will allow for little to no measurements and potentially no need for a fixture. The plates will essentially fit together like a big lego set! Who would have guessed I'd be making my own legos when I'm 22. Dream come true right here!

Notice the rectangular notches for easy assembly: