Before Tesla made the Roadster...

Before Tesla built its first car, the Tesla Roadster, EV enthusiasts on the Endless Sphere Forums were already well into exploring and building lithium-ion powered bikes.

Among these enthusiasts was Benjamin Chiu, a Taiwanese engineer living and working in Taipei. Ben decided to use his background in engineering to build what is still viewed today in the EV community as one of the greatest home built electric bikes ever conceived: The Dogati Electric Superleggera.

Ben's vision to design the ultimate electric bike started by looking at the design of the Ducati Monster, a legendary motorcycle originally designed in 1993 by Miguel Galluzzi. Using the CAD program Solidworks he designed a custom skeleton frame that would eventually be constructed out of chromoly steel, ensuring optimal strength and functionality.

To power this unique design, Ben decided to utilise a modified Astro 3220 brushless motor made by Astro Flight. The Astro 3220 is a notorious piece of hardware among e-bike enthusiasts as it is one of the most powerful brushless motors ever made capable of outputting almost 8hp while weighing less than 5lb (2.3kg). As a power source Ben used A123 prismatic cells neatly packaged in a custom designed, backlit housing.

In his two year journey, Ben accomplished an incredible piece of engineering marvelled at by electric bike enthusiasts all over the world. A powerful electric bicycle capable of reaching speeds up to 60mph (95km/h) while weighing in at only 80lb (36kg) Achieving a power-to-weight ratio rarely associated with a bike this agile and good looking.

After receiving much praise from the EV community, Ben has stated that he has plans to create a production version of the Dogati. His last post on Endless Sphere stated: "i've got 10 sets of frames/swing-arms and cnc components sitting on the shelf right now"

Here's a video of Ben doing an uphill test with the Dogati, check out the acceleration!

Link to the original build thread on Endless Sphere.