It's been 15 years since we opened our first shop in Camperdown, screaming into Australia and the world's cultural consciousness, and It’s safe to say we’ve seen a lot. Since day dot hundreds of Deus SR's have thumped their way out of the Workshop, each unique yet identical at heart, utilizing refined dinosaurs in a 4 stroke symphony of suck, squeeze and bang to create automotive power. But today, that 4 stroke story took a turn.
Out with the old: The story really starts when long-time friend Fergus, so long in fact his SR was the first to leave the Deus Workshop in 2005, contacted our head mechanic Jeremy about converting his already custom SR500 into a Current Craving Commuter by replacing the iconic thumper with an electric package which would’ve blown the bulbs clean out of Nikola Tesla’s laboratory.
Living within the world of wattage we ditched the engine, exhaust and carburettor. With a bare frame in front of us Michelle and the team at Fonz Moto https://www.fonzmoto.com/ were called upon to help source and design a battery and motor package suitable for the limited space we had available.
In with the new: A 72V 3000W electric motor and a custom 3.3KwH battery were sourced along with a controller and new electronic hand controls. Laser cut motor mounts which orientated the battery and motor in such a way that it mimicked the original engine allowed us to utilise the original frame mounts and chain drive -an easy engineers report is a good engineers report. New electronic throttle and regen brake (replacing the clutch lever) were installed and after the boffins in the Fonz workshop wired everything together the first test rides affirmed that this would be a winning combo- Lightweight, torquey, smooth. This set-up is good for around 100km/h and 100km range.
With the heart transplant complete and voltage coursing through the SR's new copper veins the last step was to clean up 15 years of use and love. New side covers were fabricated to hide the controller under the seat and the tank given a new mirror finish.
The end result is an exceptionally unique bike, with plenty of zip and a reverse gear. We love it and look forward to seeing Fergus zipping around the streets soon.
Photos by Kenyon Batterson.
