Brilliant-just about the only post supporting electric bikes was made by @Wattie. Synchronicity man, you can't fight it!
It would be different if the market demanded it. Instead it is being forced on the market- that bothers me. I understand they have amazing tourque but count me out.
Wrong vehicle and wrong genre. I drive gas, not diesel. You need a diesel engine to do that shit. In fact I hate diesels. And those inconsiderate fools cum jagoffs are pretty much wannabe rednecks who listen to "country rap." I defy categorization, but I'm about the furthest thing from that.
I’d love to have one, I’ve no problems in owning more bikes. But would it replace my current bike… nope! Summat like this would only be a laugh!!! but would I have it over a CR… nope.
I will never own a E car or E bike. They say they are good for the environment and all that but what do they do with all the dead battery's in 10-15 years?
Similar deal here in the Arizona desert, @capt. And besides, when you hit your range limit with a gasoline engine, it takes about 5 minutes to fill up. I can't see electric bike developers getting the charge time down to anywhere near that in my lifetime. I will chime in with a phrase that others have used--"Never say never". But I think I'd only have an electric bike if it was one a several bikes in the stable. And if I had a lot more money and space than I do now.
@sprintdave, I had the opportunity to test ride both the LiveWire prototype bike about six years ago or so and then to test ride the LiveWire a little over a year ago. In many ways they are fun to ride but I'm with you--I like to shift and the LiveWires I rode were fully automatic. It felt very odd to not have a shifter peg/lever and no clutch lever. I also missed the sound of the engine and exhaust and the feel of the engine. After the LiveWire national tour and getting feedback from test riders like me, Harley actually added a nearly imperceptible "pulse" to the engine when the bike was at a full stop--sort of like a heartbeat. The point was to let the rider know the bike was actually on!
My daily driver is the all-electric Volvo, and I absolutely love it. It is hands down the best car I've ever driven and I'll never go back ti ICE's. The fact that the economy is way better is obviously a big plus too. As for bikes on the other hand ... to me, riding is purely a hobby. I don't commute and I don't care much about running costs. As the traditionalist i am in this field, I want my bike to look good and to sound good, and the alternative to my early Hinckley bike would probably have been a late Meriden bike.
I understand the concerns about electric and the love we have for our current motorcycles. However my response was to the thought of 'never' going electric. I hope I can keep my petrol bike alongside new tech. I also understand the arguments about not going electric, however I can't help thinking these were the same arguments about moving away from horse drawn vehicles. Petrol cars have no soul, not like horses... what about the range, a horse can go on and on, all it needs is a field of grass or some hay.. a horse is a lot cheaper... there is no petrol station in my area.... there is no way I could travel 100 miles in my area in a petrol car... petrol cars need proper roads.... Petrol cars will be restricted to towns and cities... Things will change, change is normal.
I do understand where you’re coming from but, and it’s a big but. There was no need to make horses illegal to make (breed) them out of the choice of the people. That’s because the people realised That the motor vehicle was a better form of transport. If battery cars etc are really better than ICE vehicles there would be no need to ban ICE vehicles. The people would see that battery vehicles are a better form of transport. Just like the evolution from horse to ICE. A natural progression. It’s not a natural progression though as we are being forced into battery vehicles. If they were so much better we would move to them voluntarily without the need to ban ICE vehicles. Now I wonder why the natural progression isn’t being allowed to take place?
I'm keeping my hands firmly in my pocket on this one! That is to say that I can't/won't say "I'm never going to go electric" but, right now, I also wouldn't invest totally in the technology and/or its current applications. I've driven a couple of electric - full and hybrid - cars and they ARE, without doubt, an impressive driving experience but there remain areas (range, infrastructure, cost of ownership) where they're still very much 'work in progress' in my mind. I will, though, wait and watch with interest - bearing in mind my ancient propane powered car won't, as I like to think, live forever.
And that's what is happening where I am. The ban year is 2025, but it is already irrelevant. In January this year, 19 of the 20 top sellers had cables. This month there were sold more battery powered Porsche Taycans than all the petrol cars put together. So we will pass the ban year unnoticed. The selection of EVs are very good now and the infrastructure is there, who needs a ban?
I really don’t see why anyone would buy say the porsche over say a Nissan Leaf now they’re both electric. Surely a washing machine motor is a washing machine motor? Buying what used to be a sports car over what used to be a shopping car will no longer be worth doing. To me buying battery cars will hold all the fun of buying a new fridge. Just another white goods electrical appliance.
