Part 2: the idea and donorbike

But ...i needed something with a loooong range. Reason is that i need to prepare to get to my workshop in the Netherlands. It is near a town called Monster. Really! So ...that is where the name of the project came from.

At first i thought about using a Vectrix as donorbike and fill it with batteries, but ...as a non-engineer i didn't like the idea of trying to convert this complex Vectrix system into something with a different set of batteries. So...i bought a Suzuki Burgman 650, because i knew fromt he pictures from the bikeweb-site that it has a very low frame.

The donorbike, a Suzuki Burgman 650

I started to test different seat positions.

• Option 1: seated just in front of the fuel tank. It is a very low seating, so it will create less frontal area, which results in less drag. But ...i need to place the airfilter somewhere else to give space for my legs. And i need to make a proper foot rest system that still allows full steering of the front wheel.
• Option 2: seated on top of the fuel tank. This is more like the original driver position. I can keep the airfilter and i might have the same low seating if i place the fuel tank behind or in front of the driver. This option has lesser space behind the driver, so ...less trunk.
• Option 3: seated on top of fuel tank but with a typical recumbent seat angle. I really like that the entire back is supported. It makes long rides less tiring for the lower back. But ...here it creates a new problem. Totally no more space behind the driver and the need to make the steering system longer.

I prefer option 1 for its low seating, the ability to use the original fuel tank, the fact that the drivers head is more forward and so the highest point is more forward. This can help to get the center of the side area more towards the front and ...i know from Arnold Wagner, the designer of the Ecomobile, that this helps with automatic countering of sidewinds.