Daily motorbike news, views & reviews
Electric motorcycles are the next big thing. The market is currently dominated by cheap scooter imports from China, but boutique electric motorcycle companies such as Zero and Brammo are making better-quality products. They are about to be challenged by the established motorcycle companies such as BMW, Harley-Davidson, Victory, Yamaha and KTM. We bring you the latest developments in battery technology, government subsidies and other news about electric motorcycles. We have also ridden several electric motorcycles and review them for performance, handling, range, comfort and styling.
Start-ups making electric motorcycles and scooters are leaving behind the giants of traditional motorcycle manufacturing, according to American motorcycle industry guru Robert Pandya. “The motorcycling environment, technology, and customer are simply changing faster than our industry is adapting,” says Robert, a former Indian Motorcycle executive and now a senior motorcycle industry consultant. “Sure there are …
One of the problems with electric motorcycles is finding somewhere to charge the battery, but a Chinese company believes the answer is in removable batteries you can carry inside to a power point for charging. Removable batteries could be a way forward for electric motorcycles and scooters with several Japanese and Chinese companies now using …
Ok, so electric motorcycles are not as constrained on design as traditional bikes, but are some of the latest models simply taking the Mickey! We recently showed one that looked like an X and another that had pineapples in the seat and now there is another made mostly of wood while the latest concept looks …
Damon Hypersport electric motorcycle has launched with some impressive 200 figures: 200Nm of torque, 200mph top speed and 200 miles (320km) of “real-world” range. The Canadian start-up won the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show Innovations Award last week and claims their Hypserport is the world’s “smartest, safest, and most powerful electric motorcycle”. That’s not quite …
American fun bike manufacturer Cleveland CycleWerks is the latest to join in the electric motorcycle trend that will define Whirring Twenties decade. For years now, the Ohio-based company has been designing small-capacity fun machines that have been built in China and retail for less than $50000. However, in March 2020 they plan to unveil their first American-built bike …
Rather than a return to the Roaring Twenties, this decade could see an abundance of electric vehicles creating a Whirring Twenties. Let’s do the disadvantages first: Expensive; Limited range; Dubious whole-of-life environmental impact (mining, production, energy source and recycling); Slow charging; Scant charging infrastructure; No common batteries across the industry; and They lack soul. There is …
Segway, the makers of the ubiquitous personal mobility vehicle, are branching out into electric sport bikes with the help of Chinese company Ninebot. They have released this video of their Apex sport bike on a Japanese racetrack. The sound and speed of the bike certainly don’t impress. At one stage it shows the cockpit wth …
A giant tablet-sized touchscreen on the first electric motorcycle from Nepal shows environmentally conscious riders how much fuel they are saving and their carbon offset. The Project Zero from Yatri Motorcycles is expected to be released in March 2020, but there are no details on where it will be available. There are also no details …
NAWA Technologies has revealed an electric café racer with a hubless rear-wheel motor and world-first ‘hybrid’ battery system, combining next-gen ultracapacitors with a lithium-ion battery. They say it is the first time an electric motorbike has used ultracapacitors. Nawa claim it is 25% lighter, 10 times more powerful, with five times more energy. Yet they …
The Tarform electric motorcycle is claimed to be more environmentally sound as it uses non-toxic, biomaterials such as flax for body panels and pineapple material in the seat. Not sure if we would like sitting on the rough end of the pineapple, but at least Taras Kravtchouk, the New York founder of the Tarform electric …