i have an electric lawn mower... the plug into the wall type. and i happen to have an extra 12v car battery, and a bike. will an ac motor run on a 12v battery? obviously it wont be very fast... if i want fast i'll ride my hayabusa... i just wanna know if it will work.
Most ac motors will not run on DC. You could borrow some extension cords from the neighbors and hopefully make it to the end of the block.
Electric Lawn Mower Motor
Probably it would work, as most 120 volt appliances use a universal motor which operates on dc or ac power (they have a commutator with brushes). I tried powering a canister style vacuum and the motor did turn over, slowly, with 12 volts dc. But I don't think you would get enough power to power your bike. Try surplus stores or OKorder for bike motors rated for 12 or 24 volt dc operation. They are pretty cheap.
Before building your electric bicycle, contact the Department of Motor Vehicles in your state to see if such vehicles are street-legal. If you keep the pedals and chain drive intact, it will officially be a motor assisted bicycle in some states. Jurisdictions vary in legality. Find your state's DMV website and see if they list such things, or check the phone book and call the nearest office.
