I have decided that it would be fun to convert a Kawasaki road bike to electric, it will not have staggering performance, but will be interesting to make.

THe donor bike is a Kawasaki ZZR600, it has been dropped at some point in the past so the fairing’s are not in the best condition.

At the moment my intention is that once the conversion has been completed it will look the same as the petrol version, but minus the exhaust. Now to take it all apart.

My friend Matt giving the stripped down bike a good degreasing and clean with the power washer.

A pretty clean bike, ready for the start of the conversion to electric power.

The first job is to configure how to fit the six cyclic 38Ah battery’s. I have decided on one at the bottom, two in the middle and three at the top, this will leave just enough room for the 72v DC Motor.

Speed Controller, Battery and Motor support frames.

Inside of the fuel tank which is cut away to make room for the battery’s and speed controller.

The speed controller has been mounted to a bracket which is bolted to the bikes ‘HT Coil’ mounts, the isolating solenoid will also be bolted to this bracket, just to it’s side.

The fuse shown is for the isolating solenoid, as the solenoid runs of 12/ 24 volts, the power for it comes from the last battery in the series. This is a temporary measure.

A side view with the lower fairing removed.

A side view with the lower fairing removed.

Yet another view.

I have decided to add an extra 12 volt battery (Bottom Left) to power the isolating solenoid as well as the bikes lights etc, this meant a total rewire. The bike remains dormant unless the ignition key is on and the speed controller is activated by the R/H side emergency on/off button as well as the side stand switch.

I have used the original dash, but blanked out the bits I will not be using i.e. water temp, rpm counter and fuel level, although I will be adding a volt meter at some stage, which will be put in the fuel level location.

At some point in the past, when the bike was dropped the majority of the scratches were to the decals that covered the bike, with these removed the scratch’s disappear and the bike now looks in fantastic condition.

When I get chance I will make some new decals, just to make it look a little less plain.

Phil recommended to me Peter and Tony’s motorcycle repair centre in Liverpool, they gave the bike a quick once over and a short time later I had an MOT. I would recommend them to any one, cheers guys! Now to find some insurance.

Cedric Lynch himself having a play on the bike at SCR, It doesn’t look like he’s hanging around either! I’m guessing he think’s it’s rubbish because it’s not powered by a Agni / Lynch Motor.

First trial run on a private airfield.
Please excuse the interlaced video capture.

First road legal outing with Phil Credidio at the helm.