AKIRA power bike-based electric bike build

I just wanted to see your previous build. Looks good, straight out of Equador!

I would mainly recommend modifying an existing one, at least partially. Im sure your deep into research already.

There is this one guy, IM sure you seen was building a replica many moons ago and still is at it. you know the Matus Akira project.


Anyhow, looks like you have the understanding of the electric part of the bike and if you modified or built the mark 1 frame, you should be well on your way.

Im my opinion I would find the largest scooter avialible cheap or free in your area with a title or papers and start there, that way you are mainly building a "modified" whatever not a whole new built frame. I guess my concern would be registration and insurance at that point.

Also a scooter frame is most closely related to the the Power bike frame.

At that point you need the figure the wheel setup that will work for your project and so on.

I would also recommend to worry about function, structure and safety first, then worry about it looking exactly like the Power bike.
You have a lot of work ahead of you, please keep posting.

Yup! Straight out of Ecuador. It looks like something made in a garage, hehehehe. The Mark 1 was made modifying a donor bike. Oh yes...I've been deep into research.

I've seen Matus' Akira Project. I respect his efforts.

The Mark 1 was a learning experience, that's why I think I can make the Mark 2. ;)

I see your point, but registration will have to appeal to their sense of "adventure" and no insurance is contemplated.

Scooters have one problem: RIM size, they are too small. That part has taken a lot of time and thinking by the way.

Function is very important, again: knee-deep into research. The chassis has been an exercise in physics and forces distributed on the chassis. Yes, there is a lot of work ahead, I will keep posting for sure. Thanks a lot for your kind comment buddy.
 
An update, here is a diagram of the bike as designed by Akira Creator Katsuhiro Otomo, I have compiled an image with the orthographic of the bike.

Akira - Kaneda's bike measurements v2.jpg

if you notice in the top picture of the side view of the bike there is a black thick line in front of the front wheel, that is reference and is on purpose there, it is a reference of the length of the rider's leg so since that is a part that can be measured, I took it out as a reference to get the measurements of the rest of the bike, with that I will get a clear picture of the size of the bike, as well as wheel sizes, the tires seem HUGE, let's see if that can be achieved or there has to be some compromise. Stay Tuned!
 
I see your point, but registration will have to appeal to their sense of "adventure" and no insurance is contemplated.

I don't know about the laws outside of the U.S but if you're state-side it's a point that really should be given consideration. Riding a motorcycle without registration will get you a hefty fine at best and your bike impounded at worst. You'll be getting lots of attention in something like this too.

Of course that's assuming you want to make this street-legal at all, which has a whole set of requirements and challenges all on its own. Starting with an existing chassis that has a clear title and registration will make the whole process easier. If it's just a "show bike" that you won't be taking out on the road, you can avoid a lot of that.
 
I don't know about the laws outside of the U.S but if you're state-side it's a point that really should be given consideration. Riding a motorcycle without registration will get you a hefty fine at best and your bike impounded at worst. You'll be getting lots of attention in something like this too.

Of course that's assuming you want to make this street-legal at all, which has a whole set of requirements and challenges all on its own. Starting with an existing chassis that has a clear title and registration will make the whole process easier. If it's just a "show bike" that you won't be taking out on the road, you can avoid a lot of that.

Hi Grey, it will attract attention, for sure, however I have the impression that there won't be any issues with the bike, since it is not violating regulations of any kind, and by being electric it will be more than welcome. Still, right now all that seems so far away that I can check up on that while the bike is being constructed.
 
Hi Grey, it will attract attention, for sure, however I have the impression that there won't be any issues with the bike, since it is not violating regulations of any kind, and by being electric it will be more than welcome. Still, right now all that seems so far away that I can check up on that while the bike is being constructed.

Not to sound like a broken record but this is something you really need to take seriously. Registration is absolutely necessary if you want this bike to be street legal, it varies by state but typically you'll need brake and light inspections from an official station, a declartion of construction detailing the cost of all major components, (this is for proof of ownership and you need to prove it for everything on the bike) emissions inspection (not an issue for an electric vehicle) and finally a formal inspection typically done by a law enforcement officer or highway patrol agent. If you don't meet the criteria for proof of ownership your application can be denied before it even gets that far so thorough documentation from the beginning is extremely important.

Again this process varies by state, but motorcycles in particular have their own set of rules for registration. You can do research about this online for your specific area. Buidling a bike from scratch means that it will have no prior registration or VIN number which adds some extra steps to the process to get a VIN number issued for the bike, and so on.

It can seem a bit daunting, but there are lots of resources out there to help you. You could contact a local mod shop for advice or do your own research online, there's a large community out there of custom car and motorcycle enthusiasts who do this sort of thing all the time.
 
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Not to sound like a broken record but this is something you really need to take seriously. Registration is absolutely necessary if you want this bike to be street legal, it varies by state but typically you'll need brake and light inspections from an official station, a declartion of construction detailing the cost of all major components, (this is for proof of ownership and you need to prove it for everything on the bike) emissions inspection (not an issue for an electric vehicle) and finally a formal inspection typically done by a law enforcement officer or highway patrol agent. If you don't meet the criteria for proof of ownership your application can be denied before it even gets that far so thorough documentation from the beginning is extremely important.

Again this process varies by state, but motorcycles in particular have their own set of rules for registration. You can do research about this online for your specific area. Buidling a bike from scratch means that it will have no prior registration or VIN number which adds some extra steps to the process to get a VIN number issued for the bike, and so on.

It can seem a bit daunting, but there are lots of resources out there to help you. You could contact a local mod shop for advice or do your own research online, there's a large community out there of custom car and motorcycle enthusiasts who do this sort of thing all the time.

Not at all, I thank you for your interest and concern!! I see the registration process in the US is somewhat similar to the one down here in Ecuador. A technical inspection is indeed involved, which is of no problem since the design involves brakes and lights, there is something like the declaration of construction, or a similar step, I'll have to get on it. Emissions? Shmissions!! that won't be a problem. The inspection by a law enforcement officer is a part I'm not sure we have, however there is an inspection to get the VIN number. I'll get to it, since I have to do the process for the Mark 1 (the modified bike), it will be a perfect time to check up on that.
 
Update! I have taken the reference I talked about my last post and came up with some measurements, but first, something important for this post: 1 inch = 2.54 centimeters (cm), 1 cm = 0.393 inches, now, about those measurements:

front tire: 83 cm
rear tire: 93.3 cm
lowest clearance: 8.3 cm
chassis length: 151 cm
Seat height: 45 cm
overall length: 341.6 cm
wheelbase: 253.3 cm
height from ground: 120 cm
chassis height: 106.6 cm
dashboard height: 8666.6 cm
headrest height: 106.5
headrest size: 20 cm
chassis width: 60 cm

20160630_002058.jpg

With this now I'll start cross-checking with actual tire sizes. stay tuned!
 
Update! ok, so I started going from the tires onward, so tires that are 83 cm and 93.3 cm tall. have to be constrasted with real tire sizes, usually tires have sizes like this:

110/90-21, which means:
110 milimeters width
90% of the width as height of the tire
RIM diameter 21 in inches.

This all comes down to a front tire with this size: 110/90-25, but RIM 25 is not standard size for tires, I doubt they even make those. For the rear tire is even more extreme! 93.3 cm means that using conventional rear tire designations and sizes you would have 130/90-31! a whooping RIM size 31!! I haven't found those sizes anywhere. If we think this through, it's starting to look like the original art for the bike:

20160417_225519.jpg

can't be exactly done, look at how that lineart differs from the version made by Masashi Teshima, specially size and position of the rider, and size of the rider related to the bike:

Akira - size comparison.jpg

what do you think? seems like the bike will have to change it's form in some way
 
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I did some research many moons ago. The tire sizing available is a factor. Custom rims and custom adapters can be made, but the tire sizes vs how much power to run those is a major factor.
If you have money to spend. Look into aviation landing gear tires. See if there is tire chart online. Or check for a local aviation salvage yard.
 
you are very right Abelugo, custom rims and custom adapters could be made, but again, power-to-weight ratio is a factor, and a Big One. On the other hand I have tried to stay away from custom parts in certain areas, since that will affect the operation and maintenance of the bike. Like for instance, aviation tires are not a bad idea at all!! but stuff like checking for air, and changing a flat tires suddenly becomes an issue, and a complicated one. That's why I'm looking into tires that are more mainstream, and would be easier to patch up or change if anything where to happen.
 
update! so, after finding out that tires WILL have to change, and that hence the shape of the bike will be slightly altered I came to the conclusion that I need to visualize the chassis in 3 dimensions and see how the length of the chassis and all the components will fit together, so I took a page out of the movie-vehicle-production-process-book and decided to go for a maquette to see how it will work, here are some pictures of that:

20160417_225645.jpg20160423_224302.jpg

I'll keep building it this week. Stay tuned!
 
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ok, so after more research and analysis I've come to settle on RIM 21 tires, which of course are much smaller than the original drawing by Katsuhiro Otomo, but it will be far easier to build and service than going with any other exotic solution for the tire size problem. Having the maquette has helped a lot, here you see re-sized tires to fit the RIM 21 ones to the scale of the tire:
20160717_233410.jpg

The rear swing arm is not made yet, only the front one, "front swing arm" you say? well yes, that is another modification I'm introducing, it won't affect the final look, but there are some interesting points to be made. More soon!
 
The maquette is coming up nicely, here another picture:
20160723_184617.jpg

You can see I have put the newly sized RIM 21 tires as white disks at the ends of the scale model to see how this flare's up and compares with Otomo's vision, needless to say, there will be an impact, no HUGE tires anymore, however I still think it won't look bad either, I cooked up a photoshop pre-render of how the bike will look, taking the original art by Christian Pearce and making some adjustments to it, to see how far off will the bike be when done:
20160724_225058.jpg

As always, comments are welcome.
 
thank you for your interest Jintosh, I know I sound a bit "off-the-wall" but I've seen things on this Forum that inspired me to start this, people here are amazing. Now there is no single day that goes by that I don't think about different parts of the build, whether it is chassis details, or steering mechanism, or even android dashboard. I dedicate a lot of time to research and sketching and bouncing off ideas with other engineering friends.

Words like yours keep me going. Stay tuned!
 
Indeed, I will be watching closely. After 2 years on this site, I've worked my way up from nothing, to making 3D printed props from my own designs.

I want to expand, and have been thinking of some version of the countdown timer from LOST.

And then I see this. :D You're really showing me what is possible in the extreme.
 
I admire that you are building your own designs now, this build will also be an "own design" hence the title "Akira power bike-BASED", I'm basing a lot of the bike on Otomo's vision, but there is room for my input as well, I hope that doesn't scare people away from watching the build. I checked the timer from Lost, I like the symbols, and the vintage style flipping mechanism is a nice relic from those days. Thank you for your words, and with that a yet new update:

99% finished on the maquette:

20160806_171338.jpg

and its construction has helped visualize a lot of the build in 3 dimensions:

20160806_171148.jpg

as you can see in the front the steering mechanism will resemble that of the Travertson V-Rex:

Travertson V-rex - side right with rider staring.jpg

which has an "exotic looking" steering mechanism, but rather than just looking for more complexities than I already have on my dish as you may think, this answers to a physics matter: steering forces on a regular fork, versus steering forces on a pivoting swingarm! and the role of shocks on both configurations:

Travertson V-rex - underworks front.jpgTravertson V-rex - underworks side.jpgTravertson V-rex - underworks.jpg

Next: get those tires!
 

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