Skinning and Gutting...

I haven't decided what motor/controller/battery configuration I'll be using yet. A lot of that will depend on measurements that can't really be taken until the old engine, etc. has been removed.

Below are some pictures taken as I've been stripping and gutting the bike. I've got a bit of a handicap, I jammed my right thumb over the holidays so I'm doing most of this left handed... and slowly.

Pre-Op ST1100, a couple of years ago when I was riding it regularly.

In the garage, half naked.

Stripped naked.

Gas tank out.

Exhausted.

And so it began...

I've owned several motorcycles over the years, and a 1996 Honda ST1100 is my most recent. This thing is a monster, it weighs about 700 pounds and has a gas tank that will hold over 7 gallons of fuel. Shaft drive, water cooled. I've owned cars with smaller engines...

I bought it from a friend of a friend who had decided that he was getting too old for that heavy of a bike. I put several thousand miles on it over the course of a couple of years. Life intervened and it ended up in storage for a while.

I'm between jobs and decided that since I have time on my hands, now would be a good time to convert the ST1100 to electric. I don't have a garage where I'm living, so I joined the Dallas Makerspace. DMS has a garage area, and one of the members was already in the midst of converting a Fiero to electric. Just after Christmas 2011 I got the ST1100 moved to the garage. What follows is the steps and missteps as I go thru the conversion.