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 Posted 8/10/2012 8:03:55 AM |
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Junior Member
 
Last Login: 10/6/2015 7:35:15 AM
Posts: 10,
Visits: 54
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Hi
Im new here, im a 27 year old guy from England and just love Batman! (what guy doesnt?!)
Firstly I just want to say that i am just amazed at some of the work i have seen on this site, simply awesome! (my skills are sadly no where near this level...)
For now I dont have the time or money to attempt a batmobile, so I want to attempt a Batpod instead.
Now when i say Batpod, I dont mean a screne accurate replica from the movie, pretty much a fully functional motorbike. That is way way waaaaaaaaaaaaay out of my area of expertise (dont know squat about engines.... welding..... or motor bikes in general.....) So instead I intend to build more of a simplified version, instead of an engine, a 36v battery and a powerful electric motor with a controller (a lot simpler) and instead of a big bulky metal chassis (expensive, hard to work with if you dont know how to weld, and very expensive!) i will use wood and plastic.
Now I know it will be more like a two wheeled go-kart than a motor bike, but im cool with that as i dont have a bike licence, and im pretty sure that if a motoized bike had pedals on it then its classed as a bicyle and requires no tax, insurance, licence or mot  .... these pedals will of course be removable!! 
One other aspect of this build is it has to be "on the cheap" instead of tens of thousands of dollars (pounds £ to me) it will not even be tens of hundreds.... in fact i think £300 would be pushing it!
What I have figured out so far is:
- the wheels (overall size) is appros 15" wide and 30" tall. Now proper hoosier wheels will cost loads, so i was thinking of nipping down the scrap yard or trying ebay for a set of used landrover wheels.
- The man chassie will be made out of wood held together with thick abs/pvc plastic brackets
- the steering.... er how does that work exactly?
- the brakes will most likely be gokart type brakes i will get from ebay.
- cosmetically I will be able to make the Batpod look the part as Im pretty good at making things, check out my youtube channel for my previous work (search meathead316 or gavin finn)
-hoping for a top speed of at least 25-30mph
So thats the plan, a Batpod Lite and at present thats all it is as I wont have the money to buy parts for a few weeks, so Im using that time to get as much of it figured out (with your help i hope) as possible so that i only buy parts i need rather than wasting money "experimenting"
Thanks fo reading
oh and these icons are well cool ---> 
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| Posted 8/11/2012 6:15:52 AM |
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Junior Member
Last Login: 10/6/2015 7:35:15 AM
Posts: 10,
Visits: 54
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Done a bit of calculating (Im hoping someone can confirm these)
The main body of the bike is kind ofthis shape ^ but flatter and by my calculations the fron half is 42" long and he back half is 56" long and the distance between both wheel pivot points is 99" long. making the whole bike (minus the guns so end of each tyre to end of each tyre 129" long... or almost 11 feet!!! surely that cant be right?!!!
These are the key measurements and as soon as i have these confirmed i can then begin planning everything out properly.
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| Posted 8/15/2012 1:32:20 AM |
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Junior Member
Last Login: 10/7/2014 5:53:00 PM
Posts: 14,
Visits: 62
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| 129 inches sounds about right. I'm making a 1/2 size batpod for my son and it measures 70 inches from tire to tire. I'm using 18-in riding lawn mower tires. They are not as wide as I wanted, 9-1/2'' wide instead of about 11'' wide. But that's negligible. It also give the front tire more room to turn. I'm actually making the front axle 1 in wider, so that the bike will have wider turn. I'm almost completed with the wood/pvc version. I am going to use that to make the metal version. I'm running it with a 24 volt electric motor. The metal version will only slightly heavier than the wood/pvc version. If it works, then I will make a full scale version for myself.
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| Posted 8/15/2012 1:45:56 AM |
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Junior Member
Last Login: 10/7/2014 5:53:00 PM
Posts: 14,
Visits: 62
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| I just don't see how you could make it out of wood and pvc. It just won't hold. Even with my 1/2 scale in wood/pvc, it is very fragile. I'm only using it as a mock up for the metal version. The frame of the badpod is very simple and the only way I see it holding together is with metal tubing. PVC will just shatter. I don't know how to weld either, and I am teach myself how to do it. I got a small, beginner welder and it is not hard. Sure, my welds are sloppy, but it will hold :-) I'm slowly improving.
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| Posted 8/27/2012 6:52:31 AM |
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Junior Member
Last Login: 3/13/2024 6:26:39 AM
Posts: 36,
Visits: 602
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| This version has me pretty interested. Have you considered making the frame with a foam core and then coating that in frp or Kevlar. I can't see why that wouldn't carry the weight of a rider and battery pack. Weight of wheels and electric motor (if mounted in wheel) doesn't need to be add to sprung weight.
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| Posted 8/28/2012 1:35:57 AM |
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Forum Member
Last Login: 9/18/2023 8:01:25 PM
Posts: 320,
Visits: 193
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