Appalachian Highways

The New Motor Arrives

Parts for the EBR are beginning to arrive. Today I received the motor and controller. This is an AC-powered motor, originally designed for golf carts, optimized for electric vehicles. It features a peak of around 46 horsepower and almost 100 ft/lbs of torque, available at a standing start. This bad boy is rated for 7500 [...]

New Project! Ultimate Motorcycle Journeys

If you had to come up with a list of the ten best motorcycle trips on the North American continent you could imagine, what would they be? Would you include a ride along the Pacific Coast Highway? What about Alaska? Trans-Canada? The Four Corners? (Just reciting the names makes me want to get [...]

Journeys III – Done

I’m happy to say that the 3rd edition of Motorcycle Journeys Through the Appalachians is done. Cooked. Submitted. I was happy to do it, but am equally happy to move on to other things.
This edition will contain five new loop rides and two new basecamps. Four rides and a base camp are in Ohio. [...]

Lookin’ Good

If you just glanced at this, you’d just see another mid-90’s sport bike. That’s what I hope to accomplish when I get this back together. I need to figure out what to do with those holes in the fairing where the crankcase stuck out. And that hole in the seat where the fuel petcock [...]

Fitment

After building 30 battery boxes, cutting the tank, and refitting a few pieces of plastic, we can now get a much better idea what’ll fit and what won’t.
In order to reach a minimum of a 72 volt system, I had to fit 22 batteries on board. Fitting 26 gets me 84 volts, 30 gets [...]

Cutting the Tank

Following “the gutting,” the first real modification task involved cutting the underside of the gas tank. The tank will be refitted to the bike and will make a nice spot to nest either the controller or battery charger. If I happen to find a place for both of those items elsewhere, it creates room [...]

Phase 2: Prototyping

I stood for a while, staring at the empty frame. Now a bike, only because I say so, this gutted chassis waited patiently while I mulled over my next move.
I could pull it all apart, clean and replace components, then start the build back from scratch. But that didn’t seem right. I didn’t feel [...]

Appalachian Highways is a companion site for the books and features written by Dale Coyner. Your comments and stories about your motorcycle travels are welcome and appreciated!