Anybody here

Common DC motors will not work on AC. This is because they contain permanent field magnets and are reversible by reversing the polarity of the applied current. Since AC reverses 60 times per second, the motor will try to follow the reversals, but will end up not turning at all, or perhaps buzzing a little bit. Also, it will overheat quickly in this state.

The Difference Between AC and DC Electric Motors
Answers.com - Can DC motor work on AC What changes are to be made so that it works on AC

Don't give up! I think that is not a bad idea at all! Just think of it in similar terms of the Chevy Volt, in that it is an electric car that has a generator motor extend it's range.

You might just have the generator feed a NiMH or old NiCa battery pack, or even lead if you want to go the cheap but heavy route, if you keep those batteries charged up (much like an alternator does with a car battery) they will last a good long while, and hey like you said, cheaper than Lithium!

IIRC the Prius has been doing this from the start with NiMH batteries, and just now they are going lithium. The only difficulty I see is switching back and forth between AC and DC, I know you could just run off the generator with an AC motor, I have an old craftsman variable speed drill that was even made in the USA I bought in the early 90's (imagine that! ) that is still going strong! Maybe you could use the motor out of that, it is solid as the day is long, I used it the way you would use an air motor angle grinder and it never got hot much less burned up, not sure what RPM's it has, but you can always do a simple reduction with #25 chain, and add a jack shaft if you need more than a 10 to 1 reduction.
Just don't shock yourself in the process!

If I may be so bold, my friend, that day has already arrived. The price however, is that of Lithium battery.

I can tell you that I am able to go more than 50 miles on mine, and depending on how much you want to pedal, and how fast you need to go, you can really do as much as you want (or your wallet can handle).

I have been having good success with this beauty:



Here's my build thread:

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=21173&start=60

Total added weight to bike, 5 - 10 lbs depending on how much battery you need, I use about 15lbs total (drive and battery), but I also went 53 miles the other day and only used 2/3's of my battery pack.

I am setting up a demo bike with this drive at the local bike shop to try and promote the product (I can't do a regular 9 to 5 because of my condition) so hopefully building electrics will work for me.

Don't just take my word for it though, there are others building them too.

If you do decide to try this, just make sure that you follow the recommendations on motor and and battery voltage. After building a few hub motors I thought I "knew" what I was doing using way too much voltage and burned up a motor and controller.

I was spinning my rear tire at 62 MPH no load speed!!

And I was fine (not using full throttle because it was SCARY fast acceleration!!) on the flat, but after hitting about 36MPH at warp speed I backed off my dial-throttle (servo tester, no return spring hehe) and then thought I was doing ok.

Then I went up a local 8% hill was flying past some poor sod slugging up the hill at 20MPH, when I let out the magic smoke!

Now that I have the correct motor, voltage and controller, I can do the same hill at 16MPH with moderate pedaling and a bike that weights only about that of a walmart bike (41 lbs).

Here is the youtube vid of the TV show "the new inventors" with the maker of the drive:

YouTube - Kepler_Drive_on_New_Inventers.wmv

If you have any more questions, I can send you some other links of other guys building their own with this kit.

Dayn