What's a Joker, and you're going to do what?!

The MX5 Cobra is out of the shed, so room for my next project 👍

MX5 Cobra project (see NZ Japanese Cobra blog) is all done bar the painting (soon hopefully). So, it makes way for my next project...

Electric Conversion of a Classic Scooter

So, I was toying with the idea of getting an electric bicycle to ride to work (on nice weather days 😃), but... wow, aren't they expensive for what you get! I then looked at electric scooters (moped scooters). For not much more than the cost of an electric bicyle you can get an electric scooter, but not a very nice looking one (like a Vespa or similar classic scooter). Then I remembered that before I decided to do the MX5 Cobra I liked the idea of doing an electric car conversion - so, light bulb moment - let's do an electric scooter conversion! A bit of research later to see how feasible it would be, estimating likely costs, etc, and the project was a go.

But, what scooter should I convert?

Obviously, the name "Vespa" sprung to mind. A quick search of TradeMe showed that most of them are over 50cc, so you need a motorcycle license, they are subject to Warrant of Fitness inspections, have higher registration costs, etc. And, the 50cc ones are fairly plain.

What else? First, I saw a Vmoto Milan, then a Yamaha Vino, and an Aprilia Mojito, but the Honda Joker (also known as the Honda Shadow) was the one that took my eye. Especially as there were a number of Chinese built replica's available, which are better priced (at least for my project budget anyway), and given I would likely be using Chinese electric scooter parts, it didn't make sense to pay more for a genuine one.

So, my search started for a cheap Honda Joker, genuine or replica. Not many on TradeMe and the ones on there were in the South Island. I then put a "wanted" advert on Facebook Marketplace, and was very surprised with the amount of responses I got! Because I included the following photo of a Honda Joker, I did get a quite a few people not seeing the "wanted" and then contacting me to buy the scooter in the photo though 😀.

Photo I included in the Facebook Marketplace "Wanted" advert

The best sounding offer I received was for a Joker replica scooter with a blown engine (but with all the parts to rebuild it), otherwise the scooter was in great condition. Suited me, as I didn't need a working engine anyway (although I will probably try rebuilding theold engine and selling it 😉). However, it did mean a trip to Whangamata to look at it. Long story short: trip undertaken → "nice bike" → deal done → "load her up and I'll take her home"... and here she is:

My Honda Joker Replica

Nice two-tone paint!

Like the chrome on her rear!

Rear wheel missing, as was removed to strip down the blown motor.

Next step: What parts do I need to electrify her?

Well, thanks to Facebook Marketplace again, I noticed the following two electric scooters advertised for $250 each.

Basically, they were running scooters, but minus the batteries and chargers. However, as they use 2000W hub motors on 10" wheels and come with all of the control bits (at least $600 worth new imported from China), I thought I'd grab one of those and see what bits could be used to electrify the Joker. Again, long story short: went to Manurewa to look at them → said "yep, I'll take one" → the chap said "you sure you don't want them both?" → a bit of haggling later (paid not much more than the price for one) → deal done → "load them both up and we'll be off home" 😀

Watch out for my next post where we start looking at the "Electro Scoot" scooters and seeing what's what around the batteries and electric bits...