Who created the electric motorcycle?

June 23, 2009

By Lauren McLaughlin

Eastlake High School senior Jordan Brunner turns heads while cruising around town on his unusual motorcycle.

“It’s been pretty cool,” Brunner said. “When it goes by, people wonder what it is.”

For his senior project Brunner built a silent running electric motorcycle.

Brunner said he originally wanted to build an electric car for the project but it was simply too overwhelming.

He then decided on an electric motorcycle instead.

Brunner started doing research for the project in September and completed the motorcycle in mid-May.

The motorcycle can go up to 50 mph and charges overnight.

“The farthest I’ve gotten is about 27 miles,” Brunner said.

Brunner’s mother, Marianne Brunner, said she was not surprised that her son chose to build an electric motorcycle for his senior project.

“He was born to be an engineer,” Marianne said.

According to Marianne, Jordan started building things when he was eight years old.

“He was into robotics in middle school,” Marianne said.

“When he was younger it was a bit overwhelming to keep challenging him,” Marianne said. “But now I look forward to seeing what he can do.”

The teachers on his project panel, Sarah Walker and Elise Meilleur, were impressed by Jordan’s project.

“I thought it was awesome,” Walker said. “He really put a lot of work into (his motorcycle).”

Meilleur said when she first heard about his project she thought it sounded really exciting, but she was concerned about whether or not he would be able to finish it.

For the senior project the students are required to spend 60 hours on their project, but Jordan easily put in twice that on his, Walker said.

Jordan enjoys motor biking and engineering, so combining the two seemed like a good idea for the project, Jordan said.

Jordan’s favorite part about building his motorcycle was seeing the wheel first spin.

“It actually didn’t work when I first had it wired together,” Jordan said. After a few more tries Jordan did wire it together correctly.

“I hit the throttle and the wheel turned,” Jordan said. “The wheel turned backwards but it was still turning. It was great.”

Walker enjoyed watching Jordan debut his electric motorcycle.

“The look on his face was priceless,” Walker said. “He was so proud, so proud.”

“Hearing about it is one thing. Actually bringing it in was a whole different thing,” Jordan said.

Meilleur was eager to see the finished product.

“It was really exciting to see it in action after hearing about all the challenges he had to overcome for this project,” Meilleur said.

“My friends think it’s pretty cool. With the price of gas being so high they all want one,” Jordan said.

Jordan received a partial merit scholarship to Gonzaga University and will be attending there this fall.

He plans to major in mechanical engineering.

Intern Lauren McLaughlin can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 244 or samrev@isspress.com. To comment on this story visit www.sammamishreview.com

Eastlake High School senior Jordan Brunner turns heads while cruising around town on his unusual motorcycle.

“It’s been pretty cool,” Brunner said. “When it goes by, people wonder what it is.”

For his senior project Brunner built a silent running electric motorcycle.

Jordan Brunner prepares to ride the electric motorcycle he built. Contributed