2012 MID-OHIO ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE GATHERING - JULY 20-22, 2012


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Mid-Ohio Electric Motorcycle Gathering - July 20-22, 2012

DeltaBike USA and Schultz Engineering, LLC helped coordinate an Electric Motorcycle Gathering to coincide with the
AMA Vintage Days
and the
Craig Vetter Fuel Economy Competition
that took place July 20-22, 2012 at the Mid-Ohio Raceway.

Left to Right:
Seth Snyder (Schultz Engineering), John Lowitz (JMU), Sam Osterhout (JMU), John Edinger (JMU), Noah Podolefsky (Colorado), Mark Gelbien (Enertrac), Kraig Schultz (Schultz Engineering), Joe Ruva (Iowa), Thad Wolff, Kyle Ginaven (Ohio), Brian Richardson


Left to Right John Lowitz, Thad Wolff, John Edinger, Noah Podolefsky, Sam Osterhout


Left to Right Joe Ruva (with Bike on trailer), Keith Gerlach, Craig and Carol Vetter, Jon Vos and Wife, Ben Schloop, Vic Valdes, Alan Smith, Fred Hayes and Wife


Ben Schloop with Jon Vos (of Belgium)

Vetter Challenge Fuel Economy Run July 20, 2012

The challenge ride was planned for 80 miles, the electric portion 40 miles. The ride started with one lap of the Mid-Ohio race track, then 8 miles of city riding, followed by twisting turns at 45 to 55mph up to the point where the electric bikes turned back.



Notes: Only 2 of the electric bikes completed the electric portion of the ride (20 miles out, 20 miles back, 40 miles total).

Kyle crashed with only minor injuries to himself and bike and did not finish
Joe Ruva lost his motor shaft key and did not finish.
JMU bike had electrical issues and did not finish.
Kraig Schultz and Brian Richardson did not ride due to wet roads and threat of rain.

The Overall Winner of the challenge (with ability to carry 4 bags of groceries and going the entire 80 mile distance), was Fred Hayes with his Diesel Powered Streamliner Bike getting 144 MPG and $.0192/Mile cost.

Here is table showing the overall results, gas, diesel and electric.



For more details, visit Craig Vetters site http://craigvetter.com/pages/2012-Fuel-contests/2012-Vintage-Days-Challenge.html

Dinner Ride - July 21, 2012


Dinner Ride - Saturday Night we rode to the Road House and returned through the country side (28.1 miles).

To recharge from the wall after the ride: Delta-11 2.93kW = 104.3 Wh/Mile, Noah's Bike 4.36 kW = 155.1 Wh/Mile

The Dinner ride was conducted at 55mph. Noah did a high speed take off and an awesome burn-out to help raise his average Wh/Mile.

Featured Electric Riders 2012

Electric Riders who attended included:

Brian Richardson with his latest Electric Race Bike Click to Visit his facebook page




Kraig Schultz with his Delta-11 Electric Concept Bike





Noah Podolefsky with his beautiful GSX Conversion


The James Madison University/Outlier EV prototype


Kyle Ginaven and his latest motorcycle conversion






Joe Ruva from Iowa


Featured Electric Motorcycle Vendors 2012

Mark Gelbien of Enertrac Corp. makes the most powerful motorcycle hub motors you can buy. www.enertrac.net

Kraig Schultz test rode Enertrac's duel hub motor bike at Vintage Days on Sunday morning and had this to say, "Your duel motor bike is awesome! It has great acceleration and regen. I'm reminded that higher voltages are the way to go - all things being equal, it gives high speeds and higher torques, and I will remember this knowledge as I design my future bikes. I love your product and plan to keep using it in my builds."

This bike is the one Kraig test rode. It's the one Mark Gelbien rode and demonstrated the lowest fuel cost per mile in the 2012 Mid-Ohio Vetter Challenge.





Trailbuddy showed their sweet Electric Trail 70. This is Mark Bredeweg standing with his Trail 70 Electric Prototype.



Featured Speakers and Events 2012

Brian Richardson and Kraig Schultz did a joint presentation entitled "The Electric Cafe Racer and the Future of Electric Motorcycles" 3pm-4pm on Friday, and 12pm -1pm on Saturday. Click here for a complete Schedule

Powerpoint Used for Kraig's talk: Future PDF File

Electric powered bikes participating in the Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge did a lap on the Mid-Ohio course at the beginning of the challenge ride.

Here's a picture from the 2009 Vintage Days Electric Motorcycle gathering with Kraig Schultz's Electric Honda Dustbin nose to nose with Brian Richardson's 1966 Norton Featherbed Electric Race Bike Click to Visit his facebook page



Performance to Goals for 2012 Electric Motorcycle Gathering

  1. Goal: Achieve event excellence simular to the 2009 TTXGP event at Mid-Ohio i.e. electric motorcycles racing on the track with gas powered bikes, electric motorcycle test rides, opportunity for enjoyment and communication to all who attend.
    Actual: Thirteen electric motorcycles were gathered from across the county. We didn't get to race gas bikes on the track, but all of us got a chance to do a parade lap with the gas bikes. Enertrac gave electric test rides. The fellowship was good. Lot's of people visited our bikes in the garages.

  2. Goal: Provide locations and times where people can gather to discuss and learn about electric motorcycles.
    Actual: The garage hang-out was excellent for this.

  3. Goal: Provide charging stations at Mid-Ohio Raceway for participants in the Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge.
    Actual: The garages each had a separate circuit breaker, so we were able to charge all the bikes we needed to at the garages.

  4. Goal: Oversee the data collection and accurate reporting of energy used by bikes riding in the Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge.
    Actual: The recovery of the crashed and broken down bikes delayed and made the data collection a bit messy, but in the end we collected the data.

  5. Goal: Arrange for event coverage by public media and via the internet.
    Actual: With all the preparation for doing seminar talks, doing the various rides, etc. this did not happen.
We reserved 3 garages on the race track (#26, #27, and #28). Each garage had a different venue.

The garages provided a cool place out of the hot sun, protection from rain, and a great place to kick back and relax. We even slept in them at night.

Garage #26: One garage stored Fred Hayes Diesel and Military Motorcycles.

Garage #27: The Second Garage showcased Brian Richardson's Electric Race Bike.

Garage #28: The third garage showcased Electric Motorcycle Conversions and Prototypes (Noah Podolefsky's GSX Conversion, Joe Ruva's Ninja Conversion, Schultz Engineering's Honda 125 conversion and the Delta-11 prototype)



On Saturday morning, Kraig was able to scout out a proposed route for electric rides in the future. It would be perfect for doing 25 mile laps on.



Thank you to my support crew, Seth Synder and Ben Schultz for logistics support at this event.



History of the Gathering - 2008-2012

In 2008, Craig Vetter began gathering people to AMA Vintage days to focus on improving motorcycle fuel economy.



Schultz Engineering representatives have attended the gathering since 2009.

To see a report from 2009, click here.
To see a report from 2010, click here.
To see a report from 2011, click here.

Changing Motorcycle History Starting Today... Copyright 2012, Delta Bike USA