BMW EV Conversion
The idea came from EV converted classic cars such as VW beetles and Mini coopers. However the principle is roughly the same there are a few differences. With a car you have the characteristic body that can hide the ‘ugly’ EV powertrain, with a vintage motorcycle you don’t have that luxury. We have seen classic motorcycles converted but they usually have a big square battery box where the engine used to live and a hub motor. Making it a silent motorcycle that lost most of it’s iconic characteristics.
So we set our goal: design a bolt on EV drivetrain that replaces the existing crankcase, maintaining the gearbox and motorcycles engine characteristics.
We chose to start with BMW R types, a iconic engine design and motorcycle appreciated by the custom scene. But besides the possibilities with the BMW airheads there are several engines suitable for conversions. Basically any Pre-unit drivetrain: BMW, Moto Guzzi, vintage Triumphs, Harley Davidsons, URAL and bunch of English brands.
You can contact us to convert your Pre-unit motorcycle to EV!
In the easiest sense of the concept, pull out the combustion guts take and replace that with a Electric motor. But there is a lot of engineering involved designing the new casting for the motor housing and battery pack that fits the original frame. As well as all the necessary- and safety components.
The Experience of riding a custom or vintage motorcycle is more than half the fun, an engine shaking, revving, accelerating and turning heads as you’re strolling around. So we wanted to uphold that excitement while riding a EV motorcycle: shifting, revving, torque and definitely turning heads with some incredible noise!
The experience: image the whine of a supercharger combined with a JET turbine and incredible torque!
Next to awesome sound there is the handling of a bike. Instead of a fixed geared E-drive, we keep the gearbox this maintains the experience of riding a motorcycle as well as lowering the load on the electro motor just like a combustion engine: less RPM less Amps needed, less batteries to carry around.
But most of all you can play around with the Torque! Yes, you can ride off in any gear which will have a different torque and speed experience in each one. And you can just switch gear any way you like! We had never done power wheelies with a BMW R type, well, now we did!!
SPECS on the R00 in a nutshell:
72V Power unit, with a max peak up to 20kw and 72Nm with a max rpm of 7500
New Aluminium cast housing Black or Silver.
80km Urban range
72V 58AH batterypack that weighs 24kg (just 2kg more than the OG gas tank)
Charge cycles >2000 (about 160.000km)
18A charger
Gel coate paint ready fiberglass shell
Bolt on to R type airhead engines form 1969 til 1995 (R45-R100)
There is also the option of having the Kit installed by us at LM creations for a additional €1450,- euro *(cover paint and gearbox rebuild not included) We can of course always make custom modifications to the bike on request as well, for extra cost.
The full story about the R00 Specs
The power unit, a 72V motor up to a 20kw peak power output and a max torque of 72 Nm, a clutch adapter all housed in a new Aluminum body that bolts to the gearbox just like the original combustion engine. With the power unit also comes the controller to drive the controls and DC converter for the 12V accessory wiring. The motor is capable of 7500rpm so the speeds are the same to the original engine that goes in the red at 8000rpm. The torque curve is of course different to a combustion engine but the riding capabilities are very similar. With the gearbox functioning as a mechanical driving settings.
The 72V system Battery pack that mounts on the frame just like the original gas tank. The battery power is capable of running a calculated urban range of 80km. The weight of the batterypack is about 24kg so a little bit more than the weight of a full R80 22L fueltank. >2000 charging cycles so a total of approximately 160.000km.
The 18A charger for the battery from 0 to 80% in about 2hours and from 80% to 100% also in about 2hours.
Battery cover, this is a smoothed ABS battery cover ready finish ready to send to the painter. It’s of course possible to modify the original gastank and fit that to the batterypack but it’s advices to line the gastank with a non-conductive material.
To our knowledge it’s possible to Bolt the system to all: R 45 R60 R65 R75 R80 R90 and R100 types (1969 till 1995) minor modifications may be necessary, such as removing the electric mount brackets on the top tube to make room for the batterypack. The installation of kit is relative easy and a installation video will be supplied with the kit. We are working with EU R100 EV safety standard, mandatory for EV homologation. We haven’t yet had it kit certified but we will in the future. Making it also possible to alter the registration paperwork of your motorcycle and officialy list it as a EV motorcycle. Also advised is to check the gearbox for wear or rebuild it to factory specs.
