prius battery... maybe 
Thursday, October 19, 2006, 07:13 PM
I'm still considering the prius battery.
Apparently they get pretty warm as they charge - so warm that toyota put alot of effort into air cooling and such. I'm leaning towards using a B600 nicad. They're pretty cheap surplus and have a good rep. The problem? Each cell is 1.2v, and I'd want 48v at least. I've found them for $10 each online. $400 in surplus nicads... or $300 for prius batteries. I'm leaning towards the prius cells unless I find a good deal on the nicads.
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partses 
Thursday, October 19, 2006, 12:35 AM
Well, I lost out on the motor I'd hoped to score on ebay. It went from $40 to $340 in 3 seconds.

But I did manage to find a prius battery pack. I might just have them in hand in a week or two. The batteries are the biggest stumbling block for the project, and the NiMH cells would be perfect.
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Hybrid? oh yeah. 
Tuesday, October 17, 2006, 08:42 PM
I was catching up with a friend in Colorado, and he offered up a 50cc snowblower motor when I was pondering making the bike a hybrid.

So the bike will actually have a hybrid drivetrain. It might not end up ideal - I think 100cc would be better, but 50cc to play with will give me the chance to do something really different.
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The damage 
Tuesday, October 17, 2006, 11:31 AM
I made it over to check out the bike after work yesterday. It's indeed a Kawasaki. The motor is in good looking shape (ironically) but the fenders and tank are pretty toasted. The PO (Previous Owner) took them off to have them painted and promptly stored them in a wet basement for several years. They're coated in rust. It may work out better for me - since the tank has been dry for so long, I can probably cut it up safely and mount electronics in it. Normally I wouldn't work on a tank that had held fuel like that. The only major problem otherwise is the left handle bar control. It's in pieces, and looks like it's missing parts. I'll have to replace it.
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Wanted: dead/rolling motorcycle 
Tuesday, October 17, 2006, 11:25 AM
I sent out my freecycle request. Last time I didn't get anything - well, I did get an offer to sell me a bike in pieces. sigh.

This time was different. I got an email from someone with a bike! A non-running, but mostly complete bike. It's a 1978 Kawasaki KZ 650. Not a bad ride actually. I headed over to take a look at it later in the afternoon.

[rewritten to reflect history, ignore the date]
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