Akira Bike Project - 18 - recumbent/feet forward motorcycle frame jig - part 2 

Thanks for the sub and welcome to the project! glad you found it! Definitely not many recumbent builds going on these days, the Gurney Alligator was a landmark and definitely an inspiration! It had the fastest 0-30 time cycle world had ever tested, even though it was a single cylinder 650 thumper. Amazing what you can do when you can put all the power down without wasting it lifting the front. I didn't like the awkward hunch forward position in had though and definitely am going with the comfortable reclined position in my build.

Thanks! I'm definitely happy with how this came out and all ready making good use of it!

Yeah it certainly appears to be some type of hybrid electric (electric sparks shooting from wheels + clear internal combustion engine high rev sounds...) Batteries just aren't there performance wise yet for a high performance long range motorcycle that is electric only, but I do really like the idea of a hybrid electric. My platform opens up alot more space than a conventional upright bike, I can fit a ~5 kWh battery pack in the undercarriage alone for instance, and that's not even touching the space between the legs under the steering column. My primary goal is a fully functional vehicle that's useable and performs well, secondarily it is heavily aesthetically and form wise inspired by Kaneda's ride. The first rideable stage in development will still be gas powered only, but I will definitely be working on an hybrid electric upgrade to it. Hybrid electrics have alot of challenges in execution, combining the HP+torque curve outputs from the ICE motor and the electric motors smoothly over the RPM band is a challenge, but something that can be done, and can be optimized for performance or for efficiency or a balance. Fitting regenerative electric brakes into a motorcyle is a challenge too, and you may be raising the unsprung mass significantly with that. Now that I've picked up a cx650 turbo, I like the idea of adding turbo charging as well, and the platform is really conducive to that also (it's hard to fit turbos on upright bikes) Turbos have challenges as well, and a good setup might be a lower rpm range optimized turbo and a higher rpm range optimized turbo, so it would be a twin turbo. These would fit nicely with that transverse v-twin rear engine layout and look really cool. Turbos can also be significantly improved by using turbo hybrids. These put generators/motors on the shaft that connects the compressor with the turbo charger. Instead of opening the waste gate when the pressure is too high, the generator puts a load on the shaft, and they function as motors to spin the shaft up and eliminate turbo-lag. So in my ideal world it would be a .... hybrid twin turbo hybrid gas electric drivetrain (?) or a twin hybrid turbo hybrid electric ? We'll need a new name like a super turbo hybrid or something lol. Thanks for the comments and following the project! if you're able consider becoming a patron and joining the discord for more shop/design talk!

I was going to say I don't think it is, it's some baked on oil from the hot rolling process, but apparently it *is* all just forms of iron-oxide: "the flaky surface of hot rolled steel, consisting of the mixed iron oxides iron(II) oxide (FeO), iron(III) oxide (Fe2O3), and iron(II,III) oxide (Fe3O4, magnetite)" so I'll give it a try on the next piece! Strange that the grinder and sander are so ineffective when it's just other forms of iron-oxide.

@@matus1976 The main difference between the iron oxides is that rust is a hydrate and is porous and therefore has little strength compared to mill scale. So mill scale abrades easily. The other oxides behave like ceramic coatings. "Blueing" as used on firearms is just an oxide coating

Thank you! welcome to the project! The initial version will be gasoline engine powered, but I do plan on making an all electric version as well as a hybrid version!

Definitely an option I'm considering in future versions

I won't know for sure until I finish everything, but probably starting at 15k for a kit version of these prototype models and the weight and performance optimized versions will be more.

Definitely up for that - I'll message you on reddit