[Masamune]

Hello friends, I'd like to see what we think about electric motorcycles and the possibility of an electric FZ09.

I think about this because I have notoriety at work for being the one who rides in on his bike and they were joking about my boss entered a drawing at a Vegas convention to win one of these Zero Motorcycles (for me to ride on for our IT onsite stuff.) Jokes aside I thought about it and...

I personally don't like the idea. Part of the joy of motorcycles for me is working on them and customizing them to our hearts content. In a way, we imbue our bikes with our own individuality and you'll be hard pressed to find two that are exactly the same. I look at this electric bike and I don't really see much to it, you know? Of course that could just be me, but those are my thoughts. I just love working on my 09 every weekend and feel content knowing it's being well taken care of by me.

 

[LouG]

Not for me. As far as I have seen, EV's are commuters only, the rigmarole for long distance travel is not my idea of fun.
And, being a cynical old sod, if car manufacturers are all jumping on the bandwagon, what's in it for them? Could it be the much higher churn rate in vehicles that will be unusable/unsaleable in 10 - 15 years?

 

[Masamune]

Not for me. As far as I have seen, EV's are commuters only, the rigmarole for long distance travel is not my idea of fun.
And, being a cynical old sod, if car manufacturers are all jumping on the bandwagon, what's in it for them? Could it be the much higher churn rate in vehicles that will be unusable/unsaleable in 10 - 15 years?

I thought about the idea of a hybrid motorcycle. It sounds appealing buut.... not sure..

As for car manufacturersI think right now they're doing the ol razzle dazzle with the brand new fancy electric car to get everyone comfortable to the idea of them. then they'll introduce the subscription model into cars. I think Tesla does that already.

 

[LouG]

Weight has always been the enemy of bike performance and handling, adding batteries, electric motors and all the control systems sounds like real fun killer.

 

[themyst]

The way I ride my MT-09, if there were an electric version, i'd get like 60 miles of range. Good luck charging in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Shinyribs]

An electric FZ/MT 09 wouldn't be an 09, it'd just be an electric bike. The engine is certainly the star of the show with these bikes.

I'm down for an electric bike, but the people designing them seem too stubborn for their own good. Instead of using a strong enough motor to not require a gearbox and therefore fighting limited range, just use a smaller motor and give me a gearbox to multiply torque.

I think they're so hung up on replacing "antiquated" technology that they can't see the forest for the trees. A blending of technologies is probably our best bet rather than eliminating a gearbox just to get rid of every ounce of that scary petroleum a transmission needs.

 

[Shinyribs]

Oh, and as far as hotrodding an electric bike. Go check out RC car stuff. There's tons of performance potential in that stuff. Different motor controllers and such. Way easier than big bore kits, custom cams, ported heads, etc. It's really not a bad place to be if you're in to hotrodding. It'll never have the same vibe as a literal fire breathing fuel burner, though.

 

[marius.noah]

i'd get like 60 miles of range. Good luck charging in the middle of nowhere.

Nox Vidmate VLC​

 

[LouG]

I had an electric bike, if I pedaled hard enough I could get to 40 km/h.

 

[Nightstalker]

I don't see it for sport bikes but can easily see it for small commuter style ones I would like to see an ATV or side by side electric with a small gas powered pony engine attached for recharging in remote \ off grid locations versus having to take along a free standing generator. Would be very quiet in the woods or mountains for hunting.

 

[dandywarhol]

I had an hour test ride on a Zero and came back within 45 minutes - I got bored! Initial superbike grunt was intoxicating at first but then got boring - little engagement, few controls to play with and on a cold March day in Scotland I missed the engine heat!

 

[2wheelgnnr]

Just some feedback here. Ridden them a little and ok...wow the instant of power ok but the sound..its NOT the same..but on the other side...we went dirt bike riding/trail riding this last weeked at Majestic atv dirtbike trails in bradford/smethport PA and we had with us 2 sur rons Electric mountain bikes and Zero with us....my brother had the zero and loved it on the trails vs his gasser and my other brother nad I had the sur rons....actually it was FUN..other than constanty looking for the read brake pedal that does not exist on the surrons it was good. the electrics kept up fine with gassers and we were afraid of battery life and we over 50 miles it was fine battery wise.......quiet but controllable and not too much different from a dirtbike in some way better cuz lighter and you can control your ride better...it was hard terrain and we had the tork and all we needed. Id do it again and my brother with both a KTM gasser dirtbike and his zero thinks next hear the KTM will stay home. He was shy about using the zero at first but then again this was not any street riding all dirt so Im sure no one super cares as more concerned with street but our experience on dirt and gassers vs Electric..........

 

[f155mph]

The short answer is no. The long answer is that since I mostly ride in the country to avoid traffic and other vehicles, finding a gas station is hard enough let alone a place to recharge.

 

[OldSchlPunk]

Personally not interested in EV's at all. I'm an old fart and stuck in my ways in some ways. EV's don't make that beautiful noise that exploding dinosaurs do...'nuff said.

Besides the range, lack of recharging stations and time to recharge, where the hell is the electricity going to come from? CA already can't supply the electricity needed to support the grid as it is, now you want to add millions of EV's to that?! Someone needs to look at reality and quit smoking all that dope.

Manufacturers have all jumped on board to get their share of the gov't teat. Lots of "free" gov't money out there. No gov't solutions, just our money being thrown around. I realize it is smart business to be in the game and know what's up in case reality does change and electronic technology does make huge strides (it more than likely will make huge strides, it's going to take a while). Battery production is terribly harmful to the environment at this stage, I dare say it's worse than petroleum.

Oil's not going away soon, too many other products we use every day come from petroleum by-products. Don't get me started on the ethanol scam.

 

[Masamune]

Cool to see so many thoughts on the matter.

I love my 09, and can't imagine not having a gas engine in it.(my truck though, go ahead and throw an electric engine in that, the mileage is horrible enough as it is) but Yeah the electric motorcycles are very stale to me. An electric enduro for camping might be a fun little toy though. and the recharging stations, I've actually never seen one where I am. I guess they're that few and far between in AZ?

 

[ChesterBurnet]

I'm not interested or disinterested in electric cars or motorcycles. They are here to stay. I think that the early adopters will end up being disillusioned. What happens when these batteries start wearing out en mass. What happens in 5 years when the technology has grown exponentially and you car is totally outdated and under performing against the newest technology. The other thing that shocked me as I didn't know this, that if you have a Tesla type fast charger, it costs about as much or more than gasoline at current prices for a full charge. Eventually, gas powered vehicles are gonna be gone. Additionally, I saw a guy that is street drag racing a Tesla and cleaning the clocks of gas engine cars.

 

[LouG]

Being a cynical old sod, I'm very suspicious of anything big corporates are interested in. it usually means we'll be financially sodomised.
It's clear the EV fad appeals to them as it'll mean sooner and greater "churn" in vehicle sales. Where an ICE car can go for 30 - 40 years with relatively cheap maintenance and multiple owners, an EV has 10 - 15 years before it will be valueless. A battery replacement will far exceed the value of the car.
I, and I suspect many others, will not consider buying a 10 year old EV at any price. Our Govt is not only allowing, but subsidising importation of used Nissan Leafs. These things are so run down that they practically need an overnight recharge after every commute. And the owners can forget travelling to other towns nearby, the closest to me is 40 km's away, you won't get there and back with one of these POS's.
But, having said that, there is an EV coming soon that will be in our price range, looks good, will suit our commuter needs and save us about a grand a year. 5 years use will pay for a home charging set up. Then we flick it for another new one.

 

[dandywarhol]

How are the various governments going to get back tax lost of fossil fuels - yup, tax the EV charging stations

 

[OldSchlPunk]

What happens when these batteries start wearing out en mass.

I'm an LTL truck driver. A couple of weeks ago, I delivered a battery pack for a Chevy Volt to one of the local dealers. The crate was HUGE, about 4'x7.5'x2.5', I forget what it weighed but it wasn't light. The guy that unloaded me said they are doing several swaps a month, when they can get the battery packs. He said is isn't easy or cheap. It sounds like GM (more likely the gov't) is subsidizing some of the cost. Dealers supposedly can't give away EV's that are near their expected battery life. They probably aren't giving much for trade value either.

I just don't see an up side to EV's.

Then there's the gas tax issue. State/Fed gas taxes pay for the road building/repairs. No gas, no tax money. That isn't going to fly for long.

 

[LouG]

We have a thing called Road User Charges, it's designed to capture vehicles that don't use petrol, which is highly taxed. And was intended to hit heavy vehicles to compensate for the extra damage they do to roads. Currently this starts at $NZ76 per 1000km's, and applies to all vehicles up to 3500 kg's. Heavier than that pays more. EV's don't pay it at all........for now.
The catch is that vehicles under that weight don't damage roads, it's purely a tax grab at that price. And it will apply to EV's when they become a significant part of the fleet.