Re: Corbin Sparrow Owner's Review

[Bill Dube <billdube@killacycle.com>]

At 04:59 PM 3/31/00 -0500, you wrote:
>
>
>
>New Corbin Sparrow 2000 Owner's 1000 Mile Review
>
>  Noise is down to a belt-related squeek-squeek kind of sound, which
>seems audible only from inside the cab. 

	ArmorAll is what the belt-drive Harley folks recommend. Seems to work well
on Sparrow belts too. Increases range slightly.

 I haven't found the top of it's
>highway speed yet, but it seems to do 70 MPH quite well... 
>
	It's governed at 75 MPH. I found this out in the first fifteen minutes
behind the wheel.

>
>The CD player works fine, although when the motor controller is engaged I'm
>afraid there's no chance of any AM or FM radio reception.  Speakers are
>limited to two small units in the back of the seat - I'll probably hide a
>couple under the dash some day when I'm bored.

	FM should work OK. AM is, indeed, hopeless in an EV. 

	You should figure out a way to install battery heaters and run the pack at
about 120 F. You can boost the range by about 15% with heaters, even more
in the winter. The battery life in an EV is actually improved by heating
the batteries. This is because you increase the battery capacity and reduce
the depth of discharge on every cycle. The higher temperature slightly
reduces lifespan, but the reduced DOD more than makes up for it.

	Davide Andre drives a Sparrow in Boulder. He is contemplating putting
"laces" up the front to complete the "high-top sneaker" look.


Bill "Wisenheimer" Dube'  billdube@killacycle.com
check my website at:
http://www.killacycle.com