[hipsterjr]

The Tiger News paperhttp://www.thetigernews.com/PDFs/11-18-2011.pdf

The Article
http://www.thetigernews.com/news.php?aid=7312&sid=1
Article text

“It’s electric”
Student Chestley “CJ” Couch takes his self-made electric bike to the streets of Clemson.
by BRADY BROWN
This article originally appeared in The Tiger on November 18, 2011 | PRINT


Throughout his life, sophomore Chestley “C.J.” Couch has always considered himself a tinkerer.

Prior to his time in Clemson, he spent four years on his high school robotics team as well as three years as a coach.

Throughout all this, Couch noticed that the school was throwing away surplus parts.

Seeing this as a waste, he asked if he could be allowed to hold on to them. For about a year, these parts sat waiting in his closet.

On arriving at Clemson, Couch, a Charleston native, found the hill situation throughout campus quite bothersome for the average biker. As a mechanical engineering major, he finally realized a practical use for these spare parts: make an electric bike.

Couch took a 750-watt electric motor (equivalent to about 1 horsepower) and attached it to the back of an everyday, run-of-the-mill bicycle.

It only took a few weeks for Couch’s vision to become a reality. He rotates through five different rechargeable batteries, so whenever he’s on the go, all he has to do is pop one in, and he’s ready to roll.

The top speed of the bicycle is geared down to 7 mph which, as Couch jokingly said, “Is more than enough to mow people down on Library Bridge.”

Living on campus, Couch finds his invention to be extremely beneficial when it comes to getting to class and other places around Clemson.

The bike basically coasts down hills, and the engine just needs to be switched on when facing hills or during long flat stretches.

Couch explained his inspiration for putting an engine on a bicycle.

“I had motors and batteries … I look around and am like, ‘What can I put a motor on?’ … I’m a third generation drag racer so I’m all about power and speed … If it’s mechanical — gears and motors — I’m into it.”

The electric bike is a perpetual project for Couch, as he is always looking for ways to improve it, whether it’s adding a new motor or making slight alterations here and there as he goes.

Couch summed up the benefits of his bike. “For trips about a mile from campus (CookOut or Bi-Lo, for example), I now use my bike instead of wasting the gas and fighting for parking or waiting 20 minutes for the crowded buses,” he said.

“While I could have easily just bought a moped or a gas-power bike kit, I wanted something that fit with Clemson’s green initiatives and put to practice some of the concepts that I’m paying so much to learn.”

“Besides all that it’s just cool to be able to ride something you designed and built,” Couch said.

Specs:
2 cims connected to a 2005 ifi gear box and gear for hills with a top speed of 7-10 mph. The bike is a '95 Specialized Rockhopper.