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Sifo
| | Posted on Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 06:59 pm: | 
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I wouldn't mind one for my daily commute. I would still need a second bike though for my other rides. Suddenly I have to provide storage and insurance on another bike. That costs me money. That will likely keep me filling up with gas. An electric vehicle may be good for 90% of your driving, most people NEED a vehicle that will be good for 100%. |
Panhead_dan
| | Posted on Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 07:29 pm: |
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The current trend for ICE motorcycles seems to be heading in a direction I don't care for. All the computer controlled gizmos are not things I want on my trusty bike. It's looking to me like all manufacturers of larger ICE bikes are using computer controlled crap now.
Fully electric motorcycles have the potential to be very simple to repair and maintain in my own garage. The problem for me will be if the manufacturers perceive the computer controlled gizmos to be something that the consumer wants and therefore they go ahead and put that crap on the e-bikes too.
Of course, all this will also depend on the battery tech getting a little better as well as the price being attractive. |
Kenm123t
| | Posted on Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 07:57 pm: |
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Why would I want a coal power motorcycle or any other vehicle. Electric vehicles powered by a onboard nuclear power cell with a 10 year refuel time and you have something |
Panhead_dan
| | Posted on Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 07:57 pm: |
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Froggy
Posted on Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 12:13 pm:
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My next bike has a 50% chance of being electric. The other 50% chance is being a Ural.
I am shocked to read that post Froggy!
YOU OF ALL PEOPLE!
But it makes perfect sense to me. Ural has recently gone to an electric starter (and kik). I got no problem with that. What I have a problem with is things like replacing a throttle cable with a bunch of computer stuff. I mean WTF?!
Ural is boasting a current selling increase of 39%. NO OTHER MANUFACTURER EVEN COMES CLOSE!
Why?
Maybe because there is no ABS, Traction control, throttle by wire, efi, electronic-non-fixable-on-the-side-of-the-road-BS on it.
I have been looking closely at Ural lately for this reason. The model I like comes with a shovel held on with a leather strap! Too bad it has a hack. |
Ft_bstrd
| | Posted on Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 08:06 pm: |
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Froggy just heard that electric bikes crash well.  |
Slaughter
| | Posted on Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 08:06 pm: |
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Why buy? Convenience
Why NOT buy? Inconvenience
Both true depending on circumstances and need |
Court
| | Posted on Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 08:53 pm: |
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Most people here will own an electric motorcycle. |
Cityxslicker
| | Posted on Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 09:12 pm: |
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keep bringing that price down and it will make a nice ride in areas where the enviro nazia are against cycles because of the exhaust
http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/ |
Blake
| | Posted on Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 09:12 pm: |
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Jeremy,
>>> With the ability to locate motors practically anywhere, driveline lash and unsprung weight of gears, belts, and chains can be eliminated by placing the motor in direct drive of the wheel(s).
Might ought to cipher on that some more. Motor heavy; make mongo big unsprung mass; also consider drive belt/chain loading effects on suspension, some are desirable, some not so much. |
Ezblast
| | Posted on Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 09:57 pm: |
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I was running an errand on my bike and saw by following it That it was a Zero motorcycle, pulled in beside it to check them out. Seems Pittsburg Devil Mountain HD/Buell is selling them - smart move!
EZ |
Cityxslicker
| | Posted on Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 11:53 pm: |
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of course I saved myself near 8K when I bought the Sikk and am riding it in the same fashion....
I will put a environmentally 'approved' sticker on it for the greeners
 |
Kenm123t
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 12:55 am: |
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Panhead did they sell 39 more bikes in 2010 than in 2009? I want a Ural hack so My Hounds can ride. Bloodhounds love to ride! |
86129squids
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 01:10 am: |
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City- got specs/prices on that schweet ride? IIRC in another thread you said they were no longer in production... |
Froggy
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 02:10 am: |
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quote:What I have a problem with is things like replacing a throttle cable with a bunch of computer stuff. I mean WTF?!
I know, seriously? Why would someone want a vehicle thats more reliable, smoother, has more power and needs less maintenance? Hell just look at the 1125R vs XB9R, one requires constant work and service every couple tanks of gas, the other gives constant care free riding 
Only a fool would want primary chains that require frequent adjustment, clutch cables that snap, throttle cables that bind, brakes that won't operate themselves, transmissions that won't put themselves in the correct gear, or a suspension that can can be fully adjusted at 70mph with a single button press.
Yea, the Ural doesn't have much if any of that, but it would be a 5th bike, not something I would need to depend on every day. I have vehicles that aren't piles of crap for that. Look in my garage and roll out my 4 bikes, the only one that hasn't started since October is my Blast.
I do have a bike of my dreams in mind, but it does not exist, and would cost more than a house to build, so its on the back burner till I can get that Mr Fusion working. |
Blake
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 02:33 am: |
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Not sure I'd enjoy the ride near as much without the V-Twin IC engine. I'd have to ride one and see how it does.
Shifting through the gears and working the clutch is very enjoyable to me. The sound of the V-twin is music to my ears. And there's something about the hellish fire-breathing violence that is being contained between your legs and transformed into motive power at your control that is just very viscerally satisfying.
Electric? Not so much. |
Rich
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 06:21 am: |
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I'd ride one. |
Trojan
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 07:28 am: |
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My next-door neighbors are taking delivery of their Leaf next month. They calculate it will cost them about $2.00 in electricity to travel the 80-100 mile in-city (& mild weather) range they expect the Leaf to provide.
There is a network of "quick recharge" stations being installed along the I-5 corridor. Using these stations you can 80% recharge the Leaf in 20-30 min., and conceivably ride the slab on batteries from the NW to Cali.
The costs in electricity are a PR man's dream, because they are always quoted as extremely cheap to run. However they are not very efficient and the true costs are far worse. The electricy has to be generated by mostly coal or oil burning burning power stations and these are definitley NOT efficient.
A 20-30 minute charge time for the Leaf assumes that you charge it at every opportunity and well before the range of the car is reached. If you do 100 miles it will take 8-10 hours to fully recharge.
In cold weather the range is drastically reduced, as the BBC guy found last week trying to drive an electric Mini from London to Edinburgh (a mere 400 miles in 5 days!). Driving in 2011 with no heater, radio, wipers or other electrical equipment just so you can do 80 miles per day before the batteries expire is not a practical consideration in our climate!
Until they have easy access (and secure) public charging points across every country then electric vehicles will remain a novelty rather than the norm I'm afraid. If governments don't encourage people to introduce sufficient infrastructure to support the vehicles they won't catch on regardless of tax incentives.
Renault have a plan to set up a series of 'battery exchange' centres for their new electric vehicles, so that instead of stopping for hours to 'fill up' you simply pay to exchange your batteries for freshly charged replacements at 100 mile intervals along the route. However until they decide to standardise battery design (unlikely in the short term) that isn't a practical solution either, and prices will undoubtdely be higher than self charging! |
Superdavetfft
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 09:09 am: |
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Trojan - I was kind of wondering about some type of battery exchange, similar to how they let you exchange propane tanks. Roll up to a station, swipe your card, put your old one battery in a cage and grab the replacement.
But yes without 100% standardized batteries it's not going to happen and if you standardize batteries you'll force designers to compromise and build a design to fit that battery as well as making it easy to R&R.
I don't think that battery technology, as we currently understand it, will really ever work because of the long recharge cycle. I'd like to see more coming out of the fuel cell arena. I haven't heard much about them lately, anybody know if they've made any real progress? I understand they've got buses somewhere running fuel cells as a test. |
Paint_shaker
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 10:04 am: |
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"Ten reasons I don't want no electric bike.
1. No big twin in it.
2. No noise.
3. No rumble.
4. No shifting
5. No clutch
6. I like to piss off environmentalists
I forget the other reasons."
Yup!
Froggy, my next bike will be a Ural w/hack! |
Blake
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 11:22 am: |
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Very interesting points Matt wrt the electric cars. I hadn't even considered the heater issue. That's a real deal killer I'd think. Seems like running an air conditioner would kill the range too. |
Cityxslicker
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 11:32 am: |
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This is my get outta dodge recon bike, I bought specifically for off road, off grid shenaninigans
No electrics what so ever f the EMP
kick start, no lights (I am using mt bike equipment0
165 lbs
125cc
QUIET as hell
1.8 gallons, est 65-75 mpg at aggressive riding
and as of this coming weekend, rhino lined black for stealth
new they were 1800, if you are interested drop me a PM, he has a hand ful left.
you will need to 'set up' the bike but if you have the tools and the time, no biggie
it is any overgrown bmx
oh, not street legal in washington, check your locality. |
Buellkowski
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 12:06 pm: |
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A 20-30 minute charge time for the Leaf assumes that you charge it at every opportunity and well before the range of the car is reached. If you do 100 miles it will take 8-10 hours to fully recharge.
My neighbors have installed a Level 2 charger in their garage that will provide the 8 hour full recharge. The public "quick recharge" stations are high-output Level 3 chargers.
Your point re: coal/oil power generation is taken, but keep in mind that most of the power generated in the Pacific NW is hydroelectric with some wind tossed in.
For the record, I'm more of a Volt supporter. More flexibility in operation and less investment in infrastructure required. |
Gentleman_jon
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 12:48 pm: |
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Daves, Paint -
Nice to see that there are one or two old timers on the board that still get it.
 |
Froggy
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 12:52 pm: |
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Good thing there aren't many of you left!
(Message edited by froggy on January 21, 2011) |
Blake
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 01:42 pm: |
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Hah!
>>> For the record, I'm more of a Volt supporter.
I support freedom of choice and oppose having my earnings taken under threat of imprisonment to subsidize a lie (90 mpg equivalent) let alone a government owned automobile manufacturer. It is truly outrageous.
I'd be happy to see every Chevy Volt burst into flames and burn to a crisp.
I support rescuing all the CO2 that has been buried over the years and putting it back into the environment from whence it came. It didn't hurt the Dinosaurs, and according to the archeologists it supported the most amazingly prolific reign of life in Earth's history.
I support life.
Down with dishonest alarmism and government theft from the people.
Now, about those islamists...  |
Blake
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 01:43 pm: |
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Spiderman
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 02:11 pm: |
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Way to Out-blake yourself... |
Buellkowski
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 02:23 pm: |
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>don't feed the trolls, don't feed the trolls, don't feed the trolls,...< |
Froggy
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 02:33 pm: |
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What lie? If you read the window sticker, it clearly states it gets a 93mpg equivalent when running on electricity. It is a number for comparison using the same tests that all electric powered cars will be tested with, so you can see what uses more energy than others. The leaf is rated at 99mpg equivalent under the same test. |
Cityxslicker
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 02:38 pm: |
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one of my favorite jokes from my shop teacher about 'electric' cars and motorcycles circa 1982
'what are you going to do, plug it into a current bush ?'
'why would you f*ck about with all that technology when we have perfectly good internal combustion engines?'
you are never getting one of those robot cars to be anything as cool as a deuce coupe
i hope to hell i never live to see it
old hot rodders never retire, they just keep making older rides faster |
Froggy
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 02:45 pm: |
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quote:perfectly good internal combustion engines
LOL thats an oxymoron if I've ever seen it.
Over a hundred years in development, and its still inefficient garbage. |
Jaimec
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 03:13 pm: |
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Froggy: Amen. Most of the energy produced by an ICE is wasted as heat, and not kinetic energy at all. |
Xdigitalx
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 03:48 pm: |
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Electric vehicles seem kinda cool I guess... but I still say "Drill Baby Drill". (and plant more trees) |
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