Wheeled things... my other hobby
1974 Auranthetic Charger
The FIRST production electric motorcycle, by a little company in LA that lasted a few years during the gas crisis. Runs on two car batteries and had a claimed range of 25+ miles at 25 mph.
Found on craigslist for $75 - it was a rusty mess, but only took a few days of work to get it back to decent. Converted it to 1000W motor (from 750W), put a real motor controller and throttle, and upgraded to 48V for increased range. I also replaced the brake shoes and rear shocks (rusted solid) and converted it to LED lights and turn signals to keep the batteries going longer. Running on 4 12V golf cart batteries in series currently. Slow but quite fun; it seems to get to about 20 mph. I haven't yet calculated it's range with this set up, but I expect it is about 10 miles per charge.
Registered as a moped under CA laws!
The FIRST production electric motorcycle, by a little company in LA that lasted a few years during the gas crisis. Runs on two car batteries and had a claimed range of 25+ miles at 25 mph.
Found on craigslist for $75 - it was a rusty mess, but only took a few days of work to get it back to decent. Converted it to 1000W motor (from 750W), put a real motor controller and throttle, and upgraded to 48V for increased range. I also replaced the brake shoes and rear shocks (rusted solid) and converted it to LED lights and turn signals to keep the batteries going longer. Running on 4 12V golf cart batteries in series currently. Slow but quite fun; it seems to get to about 20 mph. I haven't yet calculated it's range with this set up, but I expect it is about 10 miles per charge.
Registered as a moped under CA laws!
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"Madrone" - The ultimate fieldwork truck
Madrone is a 1989 4runner with the veritable 22re 4 cylinder engine. She has taken me all over the west in search of plants, bugs, and mushrooms; getting >20 miles per gallon the whole time. 216k miles and still ticking away happily. In 2016, I painted her blue to get rid of a poor respray by the previous owner. |
BicyclesEven before moving to Davis (the biking capital of the US, unquestionably), I was pretty into bikes. Jimmy Tarrant and I did most of our birding in college on bikes (we have the RI big day biking record of over 100 species). Since moving to Davis, my bike collection has increased. I commute on, build up, and generally enjoy a variety of bikes... (currently, the kick is tandems - I've restored/built a couple old cruisers, including "Daisy", a fixie "Blue Steel", and a nicer 90's Motobecane 21 speed).
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1970 Citroen DS21My dream car for a long time, I drove a '70 DS in college. 25-30 mpg, cruising for 5 (or 6) at 70 mph, the most cushy interior ever put into a car and all the other oddities that a 40 year old French car comes with.
(note the '78 Alfa spider in back - another daily driver of mine from long ago) |
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1972 Saab 95
This sturdy little wagon gets 30 mpg, holds 7 (tiny) people and is generally a fun car. I had one of the best roadtrips of my life driving it up from LA the day I bought it. The weak transmission finally went, but after a new (old) transmission, a carburator rebuild, a brake rebuild, a new fuel pump, and more... it seems to be running again! It also awaits a proper name. August 2017 - blew a head gasket. the saga continues! |
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1967 Yamaha YCS-1 180 twin, "cafe racer"-esque
Bought as a stripped frame/engine, as the previous owner had cut frame down and stripped all unnecessary parts for racing (though I don't think he ever did). Made a fiberglass seat/tail section, put on all the missing parts. Still needs a connector piece for the front fork fabbed (for increased rigidity), but runs and rides nicely. Another 1968 YCS-1 restoration (to factory specs) in progress. I was pretty much finished, including a .5 overbored engine and all new paint, rebuilt autolube system, etc., but when all together, the transmission was bound up somehow. Need to get that straightened out. |
