Bonneville world speed attempt electric bike

[cave weta]

Eva Hakansson has a passion .
She is a hardcore "EV geek" with a green heart and passion for power and speed.

Owner of the electric motorcycles ElectroCat and KillaJoule and part of the KillaCycle racing team.

Graduate student at University of Denver .

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Eva has been building a streamliner over the last year with which she hopes to take the world speed record for motorcycles, and she wlill do it with what I remember her describing as- "1172 cordless drill batteries"
I would like to drum up a bit of support for her here and let you all know how she goes this week on the salt.


For those of you who want to catch up with her build of Killojoule- her 500 horsepower electric bike, before the action starts at Bonneville on Thursday. There are a gizzillion photos on her facebook page HERE- http://www.facebook.com/killacycle?v=info&ref=notif#!/killacycle?v=info

Or you can read Eva's blog HERE- http://www.evahakansson.se/

Lula - who writes for New Zealand Motorcycle Trader and News has just written a story on Eva in the latest issue HERE- http://www.motorcycletrader.co.nz/Info/Magazine.aspx

[cave weta]

Eva has just released one of her promo photos ....

looking good Eva!
next photos will be of her building the bike itself....

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[cave weta]

Eva is a graduate Electrical engineer and made all the components herself
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Last week the motors went in - 250 horsepower each....
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Eva has done all the design and much of the welding herself
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[cave weta]

and a few more.....

first test drive brrm brrmmm!- (whirr whirr)
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bodywork being fitted over the weekend
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[munster]

Keep 'em coming.

I love electric stuff. Would love to build an electric boat one day, one we can ski behind and go all day. Electric Drag Boat Racing is quite big in America.

[cave weta]

Eva 'borrowed' the batteries, controller and motors from her electric dragbike -Killacycle for the streamliner .
The controller has a kiwi connection- it is 'open source' technology made here in NZ and shared around the world at no cost- it is the 'LINUX' of EMV technology.
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another body shot...
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and the shot that had me smiling ...... She just had to take it round the block two nights ago!
the wee wheels on the sides extend using compressed air when the run is over. (my tiny involvement in the project)<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=2a0esxt" target="_blank"><img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/2a0esxt.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

Eva and Bill will head off to Bonneville tonight in the best tradition of Burt Munro, late for tech inspection which is this Thursday(16th) and without a proper trailer !

[cave weta]

Trailer-who needs a trailer! -they just wedged it between the kitchen and the lounge and drove!
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Eva and Killojoule are on the salt!

They made it through tech inspection (a massive two and a half hour marathon of check every bolt and hose) and they will make their first run early tomorrow. weather is crisp and clear with light winds. just perfect for a shakedown....:yes:

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[cave weta]

Just recieved update from Eva:

Spent the day tuning in the bike and learn how to balance it. Streamliner motorcycles is a _very_ weird breed - they behave like nothing else. They kind of counter-steer, but they don't listen to body English since you are strapped in on the inside.

Made one run on the long course (after 3-4 hours in line) , but retracted the landing ...gear too early. The bike was obviously not at high enough speed to balance so it turned a sharp right and before I flipped the switch and got the wheels down again I was already outside the track, however still upright.

Talked to Max Lambky, builder of the beautiful Vincent streamliner (link below) and he gave the very, very helpful advice to raise the landing gear so I could feel when it really balanced. He also told me to keep the landing gear down to much higher speed, some streamliners don't get stable to well above 60 mph.

We followed Max's advice and raised the landing gear and believe it or not - we manged to get permission from the race officials to go out and practice behind the pits. Running back and forth at 50-65 mph a few times really gave a much better feel for the machine. However, I discovered another problem - it was pulling to the left. Not insanely much, but enough to keep in trouble keeping it straight over a 7 mile course. Back to Max Lambky, and he told us how to adjust the wheel alignment. Discovered that the rear wheel was pointing a touch to the left. On a normal motorcycle it probably wouldn't have noticeable, but streamliners are apparently very sensitive to very small mis-alignments. With help from our extremely helpful and skilled pick-up crew (we didn't come here with a crew, but picked up quite a few crew members at the track) we managed to align the rear wheel. Fingers crossed (or thumbs hold that you do in Sweden) that this will solve the problem. We hope that we can take it out for another test ride early tomorrow morning before we line up for the real course.

The small driver's compartment also gives us grief and problems with the steering linkage, but that is nothing we can fix at the track. When we get back home, we will cut it off just in front of the roll cage and extend it 6-12 inches (as much as we can but still fit it in the trailer....) That will make it easier to get in and out (I really need a shoehorn as it is now), it will be easier to steer, more comfortable and we can fit a much greater steering ratio.

Anyway, we are having a great time at the Salt. People are extremely friendly and helpful (could also come from all the hot dogs and water bottles that we are handing out to everybody that comes by our pit.... ;-) It is the nicest race event we ever been to. Both Bill and I definitely have salt fever - we are going to continue doing this! (And if we can't get the KillaJoule to balance - we are turning it into a side car by just adding an outrigger with a wheel and run it as a side car streamliner. :-)


A diesel streamliner leaves the line !!!!! - sorry California EPA!:crazy:
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Ticket to Ride!
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More tech inspection
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[cave weta]

Rocky Robinson is the holder of the worlds fastest motorcycle title at 360 mph in his twin turbo'd twin hyabusa V8 engined bike.
today he had this to say this to say about Eva:
Rocky Robinson "Eva's program is in its infancy, that's a given. But it is a step in the right direction and it takes time and dedication to get to the big numbers. I wish her, Kent, and all the others the best of luck. I'm still an old school piston power guy myself. There's something about the high-pitched scream of a turbo-powered motor (or two) pushing you along still spinning the tire at over 300 mph. The feeling never gets old..."

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[cave weta]

More news from Bonneville....


Another day on the salt has passed by and my salt fever is getting worse and worse. I am hooked on land speed racing. The salt is wonderfully flat, the World of Speed event is a lot of fun and the people are fantastic! This is the most pleasurable race event Bill and I ever been to. Our "pick-up" crew of Mike Willmon, Chester (never ...caught the last name), Bill (never caught the last name), EV legend Roger Hedlund and a few more great guys is awesome!

As Mike mentioned below, while towing the bike to the starting line this morning (no race vehicles are allowed to be driven outside the actual race track) we discovered that the pulled even more to the left. The wheel alignment was obviously not the problem. Talked to my dad and he suggested that we checked that the front wheel really was in line with the steering neck. Measured it carefully and found 1/16 inch offset. Adjusted that and towed it back and forth in the pits. Discovered that towing the vehicle - which is completely legal - tells a lot about the behavior on the track. If the bike wants to go on the side of the tow vehicle, it will for sure pull in that direction on the track.
Tweaked around with steering adjustment, more rear wheel adjustment and finally taking off some ballast. I don't know what really did it, but we made it go almost straight. It still pulls a little bit to the left, but it is manageable.

Got permission to run the bike on the very short "130 mph Club" course thanks to the wonderful race official Jim (who also drove the BYU electric streamliner a few weeks ago. What a wonderful guy). This course is less than 2 miles including run-out compared to the real track that is 7 miles long. On the 130 mph track they run normal street cars and street bikes with the goal to reach 130 or 150 mph. You can't set a record on this track, but you can join the 130 mph Club and 150 mph Club. Real race vehicles are usually not allowed on the 130 mph track, but we managed to get permission provided that we didn't run too fast.

The first run went perfect. Accelerated very gently, kept the bike straight and reached 88 mph on the 1 mile marked. Released the parachute and slowed down very nicely. Everything was looking bright.

The next run started good, but after about 0.5 miles the bike leaned heavy to the right and I barely stayed inside the markers. Shut it down and coasted over the finishing line. Thought that a side wind or soft spot caused it.

Lined up for the real course to be able to make the first leg of a record attempt. Since the electric streamliner motorcycle record is open, two complete passes would give an official record. Prepped the bike in the staging line to save time. The distance to the pits is about 5 miles....
On the starting line I thought the bike was leaning a little more to the left than normal (the landing gear is about 1 inch above ground so it always leans to one side when it is standing still). Everything was supposed to be prepped so I didn't think anymore about it. But already from start it started to pull very strong to the right again. I couldn't get it upright and at the first mile marker the bike almost laid on its side. I shut down, released the parachute (mostly to show the officials that it still worked) and shut down. Something was obviously wrong with the air actuated landing gear. Bill and Mike came in the "rescue vehicle" (Mike's pickup truck) and when they refilled the air system we discovered the problem - the portable air tank we used. The air tank has a valve instead of a normal air chuck, and while filling the air system in the staging lane, we had actually let out air of the bike instead of filling it. It had made the normal filling noise and the air gauge showed full pressure - but it had showed the pressure in the portable air tank - not the bike's air tank ( the frame). The "filling" sound was from filling the hose from the bike's air system, not from filling the bike.

After a long, hot and very intense day, there was no human energy left to try to squeeze in another run.

Just about to load the bike on the trailer, we discovered one more problem with the landing gear. The air cylinder rod had unscrewed from the piece that holds the landing gear. It was threaded and tack welded in and we thought it was more than sufficient, but it apparently wasn't. Maybe the fact that we screwed up filling the air actually saved us from actually breaking the landing gear on the course, which wouldn't had been fun at all.......

Nevertheless, we are having a great time. People are extremely friendly with few exceptions. The race officials are a gift from god. They could easily put us back on the trailer after two unsuccessful runs and claim that the bike was unsafe, but instead they let us practice behind the pits and on the short 130 mph course to shake out the bugs. They really want us to succeed and run safe. We are definitely coming back next year!

Bedtime for us - the alarm goes on 5.30 tomorrow morning and we want to be in the staging line at 7 AM. Two successful runs can give us the first electric motorcycle streamliner record in history, but I am completely happy if I just keep the rubber side down and the shiny side up all day.

// Eva ( & Bill & Mike)

P.S. Rocky Robinson - driver of the beautiful and insanely fast streamliner motorcycle "Ack Attack" and previous world record holder has written a very nice article about us on Motorcycleusa.com.

[nutjob]

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:gob: What in gods name....

[cave weta]

:gob: What in gods name....

I bet you wanna hear it at 360miles per hour dont you............

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trouble is....... the track is so far from the viewing area that you can't hear it:angry:
(might as well get used to it though...Eva's Killajoule is silent and will top 400 mph next year)

[cave weta]

Eva has sent an update from Bonneville

Just came home after a loooong drive back. (Why does it always feel longer driving home...?)
Simply too tired to write a long report, but the conclusion is that we at least reached our goal to keep the shiny side up and rubber side down. Unfortunately no official record (our successful runs were on the wrong course), but we will be... back!

Seriously considering going back for the World Finals in October (in 2.5 weeks... gaah!)
Because of the handling problems, we plan to make a side car for it. That will give it three wheels and at least it won't fall over.

It will be really hard work getting it ready in 2.5 weeks, but we think it is possible.
If anybody know where we can find a small side car wheel rated for over 200 mph (could be solid aluminum), or know somebody that has raced fast sidecars - pleeeease contact me immediately.

[cave weta]

well the Bonneville excursion has to be called a shake down to test the build.... top speed was 66mph.
the systems on board are capable of the design speed - Eva has to modify the steering to be by rudder rather than steering for next attempt

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[piston broke]

what do you mean by,steering by rudder?

do you mean like a plane,i.e tail section,rather than front wheel control

[avgas]

bloody scary ride.

[marty]

holy fuck if that's what it sounds like at 66mph what on earth is it going to sound like at 200?

[cave weta]

what do you mean by,steering by rudder?

do you mean like a plane,i.e tail section,rather than front wheel control

yep , she found that steering is too sensitive, they are working on an adjustable dampener that will gradually tighten and centre the steering, then transfer the steering to a rudder like on a plane.


holy fuck if that's what it sounds like at 66mph what on earth is it going to sound like at 200?

It has no gears- just mega torque from zero to full revs. the two liquid cooled motors are 250hp each they pull 28,000 Rpm.