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Photo by Hendi Kaf, in Cambodia

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Hendi Kaf,
in Cambodia



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  #1  
Old 19 Jan 2016
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Does anyone have an electric motorcycle?

I am interested to hear if anyone has an electric motorcycle as in one without pedals not a bicycle. I have been keeping an eye on what is or might in the near future be available and something with what to me is acceptable performance is not far off, although prices are still too high.
I would want a cruising speed of 50 mph (80 kph) and a range of 60 miles (100 km), a weight of not more than 120 kg with the size and preferably styling of a 125 trail bike, top speed above 50 is not important.
Does anyone have experience of owning or riding one preferably on the road?
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Old 19 Jan 2016
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I have ridden a zero, incredible machine. it exceeds what you asked for.
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Old 20 Jan 2016
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Originally Posted by oldbmw View Post
I have ridden a zero, incredible machine. it exceeds what you asked for.
Agreed, after posting I found them and one in particular did everything and more, not sure if and when I could afford one but would certainly like a test ride.
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Old 23 Jan 2016
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No, I look at them at the annual show and then recall the cost of the battery technology.

There is some discussion in this link that talks about the batteries among other things:
Electric Motorcycle Price Guide (UK) | A to B Magazine

The graph of UK sales indicates a nadir in 2013 with some recovery in the following two years.
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Last edited by Walkabout; 1 Feb 2016 at 17:01.
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Old 23 Jan 2016
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Did my road test run at last years German diesel bike rally.
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Old 1 Feb 2016
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Looking at the stomping performance that you get with a tesla I'd find it hard to believe that most cars sold in 5 or 6 years time will not be electric. Easier to stick a big battery pack under the floorpan in a car though, a bike might not be able to do it that easily with good range in the same way that diesel bikes are not taking off due to their cumbersome nature.
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Old 28 Feb 2016
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Originally Posted by oldbmw View Post
I have ridden a zero, incredible machine. it exceeds what you asked for.
I'll give this a hearty second. Easy to get data through your phone too.
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  #8  
Old 28 Feb 2016
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Here is a website of a Belgian woman that drove all the way from Belgium to Turkey and back on a Zero electric bike.
https://truihanoulleblog.wordpress.com/
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Old 1 Apr 2016
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I met the current owner (& the bike) of the original UK demonstrator model of the electric KTM (looks like a very compact 125 supermoto) this week at a local biker social.

Real world range is 30 miles. Weighs 100kg. Takes an hour to charge. Top speed limited to about 60 by the gearing. Difficult to insure at present (MCE covered him eventually). Battery guaranteed to be +90% effective after 700 charge cycles. Much faster acceleration than a learner legal 125, but able to ride on a CBT due to some questionable power measurement techniques that use average rather than peak output for electric vehicles apparently. Battery weighs about 35kg and is removable, so I suppose it follows you could already make a 135kg bike with a 60 mile range out of this one with a spare! The battery is about the size of a medium car battery (but not that shape) and sits where the petrol tank and/or top of the engine would be on a petrol bike - the electric motor is smaller than the bottom end casing on a 125, so there is a trade off in space terms from that.

He told me KTM have some that you can go and ride - might be worth looking into if your interest in them is piqued?

The tech is moving along as is the support for it - I recently bought a 5 year old petrol-electric hybrid Lexus. I looked at the cost of the replacement batteries before I took the plunge, and it was something eye-watering like £3000 from Lexus -but- the few owners with high mileage 8-10 year old models in the club who have had battery issues (a few, certainly not all) report that you can get a full recon from a specialist in Northampton for £800 - so the "but what about when the battery wears out?" question is fast becoming much the same as "what about when it needs a new turbo" for a lot of other modern powertrains. Obviously conventional hybrid batteries are a lot smaller than plug-in electric or plug in hybrid vehicle batteries by comparison, but I suspect it's only a matter of time before they are also similarly affordably supported
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