The Electric Garage: Electromotard MK 4

I love it when I can say somebody “built a bike” and I mean they built pretty much every blessed thing on the bike.  So it is with Team Farfle (say “far-full”).   Team Farfle is mostly Jackson Edwards and Chase Nachtmann, but they describe themselves as “a small group of college students with a passion for building and racing electric motorcycles.” Indeed.  Their passion drove them to build this bit of insanity practically entirely from scratch, including the motor.  Yes,  I said the motor.  Because Farfle said  “I need more speed, and I’m not going to get it with 30 pounds of hubmotor in the back. Im turning over to the dark side. ”

The Dark Side.  mmmmm.

So first, the bike.  It’s a Supermotard, or Supermoto design, which is a class of bike designed specifically for a race which includes flat track, motocross and road racing.  It started with basically a motocross bike fitted with road tires, but has now evolved into a genre all it’s own, with bikes purpose built.  Team Farfle set out to build a Supermoto that was purpose built a step beyond that – for an electric drivetrain, and the result is a frame that weighs in at around 29lbs.  Supermoto: “The grace of road racing, the fury of MX…”

Next, the motor.  This is an outrunner, which is a brushless motor where the outside of the motor spins, and the armature is held stationary.  Outrunners are very common in RC planes and hard drives, and generally have a lower RPM than a conventional brushless motor, but much higher torque.  If you have any doubts about that torque thing, just take a look at the size of that front sprocket.  They also sound hilariously science-fiction radical.

OK, I’m going to cut right to the photos.  Then I can give you some specs, and finally all the links that should keep you reading for a good, long, while.  Stick around, there are 19 shots, and that’s only a taste of what they have.  Here you go:

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Here are the specs:

Weight: 199lb track, 209lb street trim

Horsepower: 36hp and 109ft/lb

Top speed: 115 mph

Motor: 26kw, 28lb, 89% eff at 17kw output. Max rpm: 3000

Controller: Sevcon Gen4 size 2, and size 4.

Battery config: Turnigy nanotech 25-50C 24s5p configuration for 88.8v nominal and 25ah. 1.9 kwhr useable.

BMS: Manzanita Micro 12×3

Frame: chromoly trellis – 57″ wheelbase,  24º headtube angle, 29lb

0-60 of around 4.7s geared for 70, with a 160lb rider

OK, now for the links.

Endless Sphere first, the motor thread.

ES again, the MK4 build thread.

ES, and the previous build thread, before the MK4, the emotardcycleracer.

Sort of a condensed version of the build thread on ElMoto.

The Team Farfle Racing page on Facebook

The Team Farfle main website, where you can catch about a half-dozen more linkies.