site: EV Tradin Post

mmmm. partz.

Need '84 VF500F Interceptor partz?

AKA "the Smelly Bits" in EV lingo...

Check out my eBay listings here.

Craig Bramscher: Transportation 2.0

Some vision from Brammo via Hell for Leather Magazine.

Very cool stuff.

An Empty Canvas, a Clean Page, a Blank Slate

...your logo here?

pls RT- Santa Monica Ceremony for "End of Trail" (Route 66) Nov. 11

SANTA MONICA PIER OFFICIALLY NAMED WESTERN POINT FOR HISTORIC ROUTE 66

66 Vintage Cars and Motorbikes Drove Final Leg of Iconic
“Main Street of America”

Date:
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Time:
9:00am - 12:00pm
Location:
The Santa Monica Pier

Facebook Event with info here.

Ceremony Unveiled Famous “End Of The Trail” Sign

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (November 11, 2009) – After 83 years, the Santa Monica Pier was designated as the official Western Terminus of Route 66 today by the Route 66 Alliance, an organization that promotes and preserves the historic roadway between Chicago, Ill. and Santa Monica, Calif. in a ceremony at the Southern California landmark where a replica of the once lost “End of the Trail” sign was unveiled by local dignitaries and civic officials.

The ceremony was preceded by a processional motorcade of 66 vintage cars and motorbikes that drove the final western tip of the highway, beginning at Santa Monica Blvd. and Lincoln Blvd. and ending on the Santa Monica Pier.

The official designation of the Santa Monica Pier as the West Coast’s end to Route 66 during the Pier’s centennial year was developed in partnership with the City of Santa Monica, Route 66 Alliance, 66 to Cali and the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corporation to acknowledge a commonly held public perception that the pier was the end of the historic roadway, although never officially recognized.

“This Veterans Day marks the 83rd anniversary of Route 66, and we are proud to on this day unite the nation once again from Illinois to California by commemorating the national link the ‘Main Street of America’ delivered so many years ago,” said Jim Conkle, chair of the Route 66 Alliance, “We believe that unveiling this sign at the iconic Santa Monica Pier today will resonate deeply with those across the country who are passionate about the roadway’s enduring legacy.”

The sign’s unveiling was a tribute to a historic and famous sign that read “End of the Trail” that once stood overlooking the Santa Monica Pier during the 1930s. Although long ago disappeared, the sign played a role in creating the national public opinion that the end of Route 66 was at the Santa Monica Pier, even though the official terminus was under debate throughout the road’s history.

About the Route 66 Alliance
The Route 66 Alliance is a foundation designed to preserve and support programs and projects that benefit the entire length of Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica. This is accomplished through the development and distribution of new resources to worthy, qualified organizations that share its vision and mission.

About the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corporation
The Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corporation (SMPRC), established in 1983, is a non-profit, public benefit corporation made up of business and community leaders who represent the full range of community interests. It was created by the Santa Monica City Council to preserve and enhance the pleasure pier experience for people of all ages and for future generations and is funded by the City of Santa Monica. For more information, visit http://www.santamonicapier.org.

mail comes. box arrives. awesome awsomeness within.

FearLess Q + A answers Question of the Decade: Did Your Butt Hurt?

Justin TV and Fearless Q+A is here...

OCC and Seimens on Conan

Here's the linky, go to 33:00 for Paul.

Subscribe to MAKE, help fund ev=MC2!

MAKE Magazine has set up an AWESOME fundraising deal. For every MAKE subscription we sell, they donate HALF the fee to any qualifying caper in need of funding. I guess this started as robotics teams, but they now extend it to lots more. How sweet is that?

Here's how it works. Go here and download this .doc file. Fill it out. Get all your friends to fill it out. For every subscription, I'll put the name on the bike. (Yeah, stealing this idea from ShockingBarack, but imitation is flattery, right?) Email a .pdf or .doc of it back to me, or snail it to me. I'll give you the address via email, OK?

DO NOT email me any secure info, please, like CC numbers and stuff.

Checks and all should be made out to Make Magazine...

hmmm. New idea for route? Route 66, mebee?

Since I'm headed through the Arizona neighborhood to meet the folks at the Desert Rose B&B, is it time to maybe indulge my longtime curiosity about Route 66? Interesting... It would add a little twist to the story, and give me some back roads to travel... Check out The Mother Road, here.

The actual road only still exists in some spots, but here's a detailed three-section map of the whole original route- now called "Historic Route 66" on the Google Maps. And you gotta love them Google Maps, huh?


Part 1- Chicago to St. Louis
Part 2- St Louis to Tulsa
Part 3- Tulsa to Santa Monica

The Eastern map- Boston to Chicago, via Bellows Falls, VT and Niagra Falls...

OK, now it's almost sacrilege to post anyone but Nat King Cole, but I've got a weakness for these boys- nice bike footage too.



OK OK! Nat, the King!



Think I'll keep the Route 66 links here too:

A Route 66 Business owner's blog

Real-world riding- from Brian, of Brammo

I'm going to go ahead and re-post this from ElMoto.net- some thoughts from the ShockingBarack ride from the guy who designed the bike. The comments about the performance mods are the most interesting... it reminds me of digital photo vs. film- gas and electric are two different animals entirely, with different riding experiences.

So, obviously, I've spent some time in the saddle with the Enertia over its development. However, I must admit that living with the bike day-to-day has brought to light new experiences and realizations that never would have occurred in a controlled engineering environment. For example, the time it takes to coil a charge cord in a near freezing garage when you've got nothing on but what you wore to bed is much more critical than when you're in a climate controlled work environment fully clothed! Here are my first and most significant observations in no particular order:

1. The batteries probably require closer to 5 discharge and charge cycles before they're really working optimally. They kind of end up with a "false" balance on the first charge cycle, then diverge and converge again to give full performance in the above stated number of cycles.

2. Coiling the charge cord under the seat into a nice tight ring somehow pushes all of my OCD buttons. I've since purchased a small velcro "cable wrap" to keep everything nice and tidy.

3. When the infrastructure is in place, electric motorcycles will be the ultimate in performance customizing. Connecting through the CAN bus connector in the back of the dash, our service guys can adjust parameters to take the bike from forgiving commuter to screamin' demon in a matter of minutes. On a gas bike, these kinds of performance changes would require A LOT of mechanical work and time.

4. My Ducati Monster 696 now feels like a chore to ride. Still love it for the canyon carving, but it'll stay parked for the daily commute, that's for sure.

5. The rear suspension feels just a bit harsh to me. I weigh a bit under the average US male (170 lbs vs. 190 lbs) and so I think the rear shock could be tuned a bit better to my weight. I'll be talking to Aaron Bland (Lead Engineer) about how to adjust this next week. Perhaps I'll post the procedure...

6. I like not having to go to a gas station on my way to work or back home!

All for now...

-Brian.

Thanks Brian!

Tradition is Not a Business Model @electric_power

In Tradition is Not a Business Model, Jensen Beeler talks with the heads of Zero Motorcycles, Brammo, MotoCzysz and Mission Motors about the year's breakthrough in EV and electric motorcycle markets. This is a fascinating read, four very considered interviews.

This is at Asphalt and Rubber- definitely a bookmark.

Nods to Electric Power for the tweet!

Stimulous money almost out. I can haz?

I love this site, Greentech Media. Apparently I missed my shot to get eleventy million dollas for my little project.

Stimulus Money for Energy Companies Going, Going…

Matt Rogers, Senior Advisor to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, says 85 percent of the selections for grants have been made.

snap!

New Speed Record- Lightning, 166.388 mph (or so)

From Zoomilife, this story- Lightning set the record at a recorded 166.388mph at the SCTA World Finals at the Bnneville Salt Flats.

Take a look at Aaron Frank's blog on Motorcyclist, here, for the Bonneville Diary.

our FIRST place to sleep!

Thanks to Innkeepers Betty and Sebastien Lauzon, of the Desert Rose Bed and Breakfast, we have our first confirmed host! The Desert Rose is a "Green" B&B, committed to operating and supporting Green initiatives in the Hospitality industry.

Inn Details

"The Desert Rose offers world class luxury and amenities at an affordable small town price. Our quaint desert setting will give you the most authentic Arizona experience.

"We are very centrally located, only 15 miles from Sedona, 10 miles from Jerome, 16 miles from Cliff Castle Casino and Montezuma's Castle, and no more than 10 miles from at least 3 wineries."

Here's some more on them...
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/desertrosebandb
Twitter: http://twitter.com/desertrosebandb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/desertrosebandb

Thanks folks, see you in the Spring!

Rechargeable Zinc-Air Batteries

I say again. WOW.

via physorg.com, the manufacturer's site here- ReVolt Technology.

wow. just wow.

...not much to say about this one. Except of course, that second image is called BIKE_CHAINED_retouched.gif, so I'm guessing its just more BS.

Sorry guys. Done with this story.

Lesson Learned. Get picked up by the AP. Congrats! @shockingbarack

I remember once sitting in the studio of a very bright guy, talking about digital photography, my day job. I was voicing an opinion about something, and he responded, and I started to pick a point with him, then suddenly it occurred to me. If I keep my damn mouth shut and listen, I might actually learn something.

Well, yesterday the Brammo publicity stunt went national, and it did so via the Associated Press. And in the Politics section no less.

Schooled. Not too proud to admit it either.



(PS. Could it be that shockingbarack.com has blocked my tweets from the site? OH, the PAIN.)

my sig on the Shocking Barack bike!

THANKS ElectricKAT!

OK, I take it all back...

Brammo in DC- LA Times tells a little more of the story...

OK, according to this LA Times coverage, there's a little more to the Brammo Shocking Barack agenda than we've heard.

After they arrived in Washington, the riders and Brammo CEO Craig Bramscher met Tuesday with officials from the Energy Department and with lawmakers, including their home state senators. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Brammo, which employs 52 people at its southwestern Oregon plant, was poised to become an economic driver for the state.

The company is lobbying to extend an Energy Department grant program to include two-wheeled vehicles. It also wants to expand a 10-percent federal tax credit available to electric vehicle buyers under the economic stimulus law.

Now, I'm getting torn about this caper. There are a few things that really started eating at me... with this story, I'm wondering why we didn't know about these meetings and the E.D. Grant program side of the story. I know Schiff got a haircut, I didn't know there was lobbying going on. From the site and the tweets, it sounded like nobody got to talk to anyone... strange. Somehow this makes me feel cheap, and used... well. That's not something unusual for me...

Here's what's bugging me.

First, OK, they're retracing the trip of the CEOs in a big jet, for $4. Fine, but they flew two motorcycles in from Oregon with a crew of 6. Now, I could do the math if I didn't hate math so much, but my guess is they're spending more for the trip than the CEOs in their Gulfstream. OK, OK, I get the point, but this is really close to just plain spin. A budget of zero? I think not, and now you've squandered your most precious gift- my trust.

Next, am I really supposed to believe that they're taking 3 weeks of a head engineer and a creative director's time to do this trip and waddle around Washington ringing doorbells? If not, and from the story above it appears not, then why don't they just dish and tell it? If so, then here's my biggest concern. Did they really, truly believe that Washington DC is going to drop everything and meet them? That President Obama will walk out, at the drop of a hat, and help them sell their products? ("Sales event", by the way, is what one contact they quoted called this...)

This just makes them look naive and unrealistic, and reinforces a lot of the impressions of what the EV industry is all about- either the ultra-rich who can afford a Tesla, or a bunch of dreamers who have no grasp on reality. There's enough out there to fight, misconception-wise, about EVs without help. Sorry, guys, I'm just sayin.

Finally, and this is petty, I know, but jeesh. This is being touted as some holy grail, to bring a solution to America's transportation and economic problems to the attention of Washington DC and the American People. Seriously, what this is is a publicity stunt, pure and simple, in the grand tradition of all publicity stunts, and it curiously coincides with the product release (this weekend, I believe) of the Enertia at Best Buy. It is a Sales event, not a political statement. Again. Cheap and used...

Want an interesting read? Read this Op/Ed piece by Frank Rich about Balloon Boy's dad. He makes the point that during times of economic recession and depression, desperate publicity stunts start coming out of the woodwork. It really, really bothers me that this caper could even be close to being considered a publicity stunt by anyone. Especially by me...

Brammo? This was a great trip, and could have, if the cards were on the table, served us all in the EV community really powerfully, sorry for the pun. I just wish you'd called it what it is... Sales and Marketing, and left the high horse at home.

Funny, early on I got on the comments section of a blog supporting the effort. I still support it, and it's been interesting to see how they've done things and how effective it's been. Although they have only just over a thousand followers on Twitter, it looks like the national press is picking it up now, and who knows where it's going to go... but I'd ask this. If it does go big, and you do get some press, then decide if you're just releasing a product, or you're carrying a bigger cross. And no, you can't have it both ways.

Oh, one more thing, and this is clearly me being a bitch. "The first American Electric Motorcycle"? Now, granted Vectrix is a scooter, and was assembled in Poland I guess, but c'mon. Maybe it's just because it's a company down the road from me, in New Bedford, MA, but these guys have been around for a while, and did a great job, and are holding on by their fingernails. Now is the time to close ranks and support everyone, and Vectrix needs all of our support, from every quarter. It would serve Brammo well, as well as this industry, to give credit where credit is due.

site: @evchels - awesome EV blog!

Chelsea Sexton's blog here.

Tweets here.

"...just a girl who plays with cars." Indeed.

"Sexton, who first gained public notoriety in Chris Paine’s 2006 documentary, ‘Who Killed the Electric Car,” is the co-founder of Plug In America and is now leading The Lightning Rod Foundation.

"She has long been a outspoken advocate for electric vehicles ever since the days she worked for General Motors as an EV1 specialist whose job was to assist customers who leased the short-lived, two-seat electric car. She helped lead efforts to keep the car from being recalled and crushed, an exercise that ultimately failed, but not before bringing public attention to the fate of these innovative machines."


I got me a lot of readin' to do. Thanks, Chelsea!

@ShockingBarack ...what's the Plan?

Not sure what the boys have in mind... guess we have to wait until Monday?

Electric Super Cub. YES.

"Honda pulled the wraps off a two-wheel-drive EV-Cub at the Tokyo Auto Show. The slick concept nicely updates a design that debuted in 1958, when the slogan “You meet the nicest people on a Honda” moved motorcycles beyond the bad-boy stigma to the masses.

"The company didn’t provide much in the way of details but said the concept is designed 'to be just as functional and convenient as its world famous predecessor.'”

Story from Wired, here. ...not that they know what they're talking about. "Heck, we not sure how much more efficient it will be, either, unless you’re charging it with solar power."

Just flat out ignorant.

Sparky Takes MIT- aviods unpleasantness with Security, no Obama Sightings