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The Electric Motorcycle Thread

I’ll try the Airhawk first. If my knees are still cramped, maybe bringing the pegs an inch or two forward instead of down would help. I know that will also increase the chance of scraping, but probably not as much as lowering them?
 
I've gambled and lost on the knee angle for the Zero SR and the Mana GT, trying to deny cycle-ergo.com. But if it's not a 35" tall dirt bike or Gold Wing with close to a 90* knee angle, it's going to be uncomfortable locked in with a 34" inseam.
 
I hear you, thanks dittoalex! I’ve always wanted an electric bike and only bought gassers because I couldn’t afford one so I’ll never go back to gas, but the knee comfort is going to be a rough adjustment coming from the Multistrada and its upright, comfortable posture. My inseam is only 32” but my knees really don’t like being tucked up longer than about 20 minutes and will make their displeasure known.

Hopefully the Airhawk and maybe some R&G frame sliders that I can rest my feet on every once in a while will be the difference-maker.
 
The Zero SR can be steered effectively at a good pace with the boot positioned with the heel on the peg since ergos are already whack due to lack of gas tank to stretch across. And due to the tractable power it keep such a smooth pace as long as you can contort, like an electric FZR400. I should upgrade the master cylinder and put it into rotation.
 
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Saw this on Facebook posted by Zero

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Meh.. another toy that's not street legal.

The Zero-powered Ural was pretty cool. They missed an opportunity to use the extra space in the tub for batteries. Could have actually made something with an acceptable range.

URAL_Electric_9.jpg
 
I think there was a sidecar that they did put batteries in I don't remember if it was this bike.

If you think about it it makes sense to have an electric sxs, it's a utility sxs so you figure it's intended use would be farm/ranch use. It's be lower maintenance and you don't need to fill it up with fuel can charge it at home and with solar panels if you have em.

Another place side by sides are great is the desert but I don't recommend anything electric in the desert haha after riding the Light Bee through the desert at least for long distance.
 
This seems like a big deal. Posted on Visordown.com and other outlets.

SWAPPABLE ELECTRIC BATTERIES CONSORTIUM FORMED BY HONDA, YAMAHA, KTM AND PIAGGIO

Honda, Yamaha, KTM and Piaggio sign a letter of intent to set up a swappable electric batteries consortium for motorcycles and light electric vehicles.

ANNOUNCED today, the four manufacturers (Honda, Yamaha, KTM & Piaggio) have signed a letter of intent to set up a swappable electric batteries consortium for motorcycles and light electric vehicles.

They will all collaborate on batteries that can be switched amongst their future electric model lineup, meaning a universal battery cell that can be used across all models. It may not be something that we see on the roads and in use any time soon, but it’s a clear sign of intent that they are all planning for the longevity of use for their electric vehicles, as well as promoting the use of electric power with increased availability.
Click to expand...
 
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While driving prices down would be significant, the swappable aspect seems like the real home run. Owners of these brands (and others that may join this consortium in the future) might be able to ride up to a sort of vending machine and exchange a drained battery for a freshly-charged unit and be on their way. Easy access to swappable batteries for several brands of vehicles would potentially eliminate a significant hurdle to EV adoption for these scooters, motorcycles and light vehicles.
 
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Yeah if they can get more manufacturers online would be great. It's almost like having a gasoline standard. If all the manufacturers would work together like this would be great, like how Tesla wants to do things their own way.
 
KooLaid said:
Come on, hopefully time to see something decent worth buying. Something with some big power like the Alta.
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Well think about it with this you can swap out an a battery pack easily and keep on riding, you can go riding with your buddies that have similar bikes as well. One of the drawbacks to the alta was the range/endurance. If you can easily swap a pack you can let one pack rest or recharge it while your rippin with the other pack.

Which is exactly what I do with my Sur Ron Light Bee. Modular batteries are very handy. It's like those portable power tools, imagine if you could say buy a Dewalt and buy batteries from Kawasaki. You'd have more supply and it would drive prices down and your not locked down to one manufacturer. Or if you had a Dewalt vacuum and Kawasaki drill and you have more batteries between the two.
 
HadesOmega said:
Well think about it with this you can swap out an a battery pack easily and keep on riding, you can go riding with your buddies that have similar bikes as well. One of the drawbacks to the alta was the range/endurance. If you can easily swap a pack you can let one pack rest or recharge it while your rippin with the other pack.

Which is exactly what I do with my Sur Ron Light Bee. Modular batteries are very handy. It's like those portable power tools, imagine if you could say buy a Dewalt and buy batteries from Kawasaki. You'd have more supply and it would drive prices down and your not locked down to one manufacturer. Or if you had a Dewalt vacuum and Kawasaki drill and you have more batteries between the two.
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fast charging is the way bro. swapping packs is only possible if you got the pockets for another pack.
The zero packs for the FXS were like half the cost of the bike. Thats why i only had the one pack, plus then you would need an external charger. But if you could recharge in 30 mins or less then thats closer to gassing up and having a beer soda and a snack inbetween sessions.

either way battery tech needs improvement to become cheaper, lighter and take a charge faster. As soon as the batteries get cheaper the cost of ev's will plummet.
 
Fastcharging is nice but if you were to be able to swap packs out easily from a station you couldn't beat that.

From having done track days on two electric bikes it's hard to escape an overheating battery. When you're just ripping on the bike the battery will overheat. One way to get around that is to be able to swap packs you'll have a fresh not heatsoaked pack ready to go. But that is just racetrack for just street riding. The only other time I've overheated a battery on the street is regen down a long downhill on a warm day.

But yeah batteries are expensive that's pretty common for the battery to cost half the cost of the bike. I can't imagine how much the Energica battery costs to replace especially the new one. For one of the Empulse battery packs it is $7000.
 
HadesOmega said:
if you were to be able to swap packs out easily from a station you couldn't beat that.
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Not realistic imo. You imagine battery pack stations popping up any time soon?
 
Not anytime soon, but the EV charging infrastructure has been $hit for the last decade. If they could just install EV chargers at every gas station...
 
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