TastyAlmonds

So I’ve been looking at alternate modes of transportation and considering once again getting a motorcycle.  Various thoughts and considerations go along with such flights of fancy, and I figured I’d share a few with you.

What it looks like right now is that the lease will be up on the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited I am driving now, and I will need something to replace it. I’d like something that is at home both on the road, and off – much like the Jeep.  I’d also like to see better gas mileage.  Now I’ve always had a special place in my heart for motorcycles, having grown up in the mountains and having experienced what it’s like to take to the trails and back-country roads here in Colorado.

I’ve looked at a few options, and am particularly enamored with a certain BMW at the moment.  I also have seen some pretty neat DIY projects out there, where a person has gone and built themselves an electric motorcycle.  This has considerable appeal for me, since it’d be clean, fuel costs are nearly absent, and I have a background in computer and industrial electronics.  So I’m searching for a dual-sport motorcycle which I could convert.  I’ve already found the motor and speed controller.  I’ve also recently heard from a Chinese manufacturer about prices on some really nice lithium batteries that would work perfectly for this project in my opinion.  All told, I’ve figured on my spreadsheet that given current costs of Jeep and fuel, I could pay off all associated costs of building my electric motorcycle in about 9 or 10 months.  This would be a mode of transportation I could use for years to come, and the only thing really needed maintenance would be some of the various mechanical bits, and maybe in four or five years swapping out some batteries (which with technology progressing as it has, I would expect even higher capacity batteries to be available on the market).

Well, those are my TastyAlmonds for now.  I’ll keep you posted on just what it is I’ll be up to here.