| Author | Message | ||
     Xbmacon |
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30347330#3 0347330 | ||
| Greenlantern |
If that price point is met, I would say they have a winner. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
So now we'll get not only "I didn't see you", we'll get "I didn't hear you" thrown out as excuses by incompetent drivers. well whoop de do. I could use that to go to work but it'd be flat when I got home. If I'm going out to play, I want more than an hour. | ||
| Firebolt32 |
Sounds like a whined up toy. I'm with Grumpy though, I want more than an hour. | ||
| Xblaw |
It would scare me to hear the suspension, debris flipping off my tires, etc, etc. It would be eerie to say the least. I just don't see how 4 hrs of charging to go 60 miles is anymore environmentally friendly than using 1.25 gallons of gasoline in my Buell. I just don't see motorcycling being an area where "green" is going to take off. | ||
| Greenlantern |
It probably would not play in the more rural and suburban areas with good reason, but in the megalopolis' such as the Apple here, That range is about right for a average back and forth commute especially in Manhattan where you can count the amount of gas stations on the lower island on both hands and still have fingers left over. Plus urbanites will love the low maintenance that goes with the design. Would I get one ? No, my commute consists of a quicker more comfortable eco- friendly train ride. But I do believe the beginning of mainstream electric motorcycling has arrived. | ||
| Jaimec |
I can see the first aftermarket application for this baby: a loudspeaker and a recording of a straight-piped Harley at WFO. Of course, there would be a volume control so you could adjust it accordingly (something you CAN'T do with a regular straight pipe). Oh! And it would afford you the freedom of pointing the speaker FORWARD so the people in FRONT of you will know you're there and coming up on them, not the people BEHIND you who not only know you're there, but are thinking of ways to eliminate you without getting themselves in trouble with the law... | ||
| Swordsman |
60 miles @ 60mph for $10k? "Urban assault vehicle"? "Fast"? The nerds in Silicon valley need to poke their heads out of their cube every now and then.  ~SM | ||
| Oddalloy |
Doesn't look like the headlight is on in the video... wonder what the range will be with that "on" ? | ||
| Ochoa0042 |
its should have a transmission, then maybe it can have more range | ||
| Elvis |
Two available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001SK3GHA?ie=UTF 8&tag=thekneeslider-20&link_code=wql&camp=212361&c reative=380601 | ||
| Svh |
Thats the dirt only version. I am with most of you. The range just doesn't make sense unless you are in a larger city. I could easily take it to work and plug it in there too I suppose. | ||
| Jaimec |
It's definitely geared more towards commuter use, not leisure use, I'd say. | ||
| Fast1075 |
When I retire, I wanna get one of those and terrorize the golf cart crowd at the retirement village...WoooHooo a knee draggin old coot on a stealth bike...what's not to love. | ||
| Jstfrfun |
It's a good start, look what's happend to the Buell over time, only got better. But I'm thinkin' it'll go the way of the EV-1. | ||
| Socalbueller |
This would be almost perfect for my commute. It is a little slow for the freeway in LA (non rush hours). I could get away with the 60 mile range if I could plug it in at work and my girlfriend's place. I did demo an electric scooter at long beach one year and I liked it, smooth, instant torque, and quiet. I could get use to an electric motor fast. No oil changes, no oil leaks, no spark plugs to change, no air filters to change, I assume in a couple years or when it is time to replace the battery you could get one with more capacity. It's not something for canyon riding on the weekends but for getting around the city on the weekday it would be better than a Buell. The Zero X is more of a beefed up mountain bike than a light weight motorcycle. So I bet the S is the same way. | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
It's a good start. Give it more range and power, freeway speeds and it might be great. | ||
| Froggy |
So I am the only one here that was waiting the last few years for the street legal version? Hell I almost went ahead with my plan to buy a tuber with a blown engine to convert to electric. | ||
| Froggy |
It costs only PENNYS to recharge this. Also as for environmentally friendly, there is ZERO emissions. Your Buell pollutes just as bad as a car due to the very lax restrictions on motorcycles compared to other vehicles. 60MPG doesn't mean squat, its what comes out the pipe that matters. | ||
| Froggy |
The problem then is weight and space. To get more range and speed, you need more and bigger batteries. The technologies in batteries are getting better, just compare the lead acid battery in the Saturn EV1 to the Lithium based one in the Volt.  The volts battery is smaller and lighter, which will provide better range and more cargo room. They can increase the size of the battery, but the bigger it gets, you are pulling more mass, and it will start to affect other things like handling and it would take longer to charge too. | ||
| Greenlantern |
I was wondering where you had gotten to Froggy . You are usually the first one to chime in on stuff like this.  | ||
| Barker |
I'm demoing one soon. I'll let you know what I think. | ||
| Macdiver |
Also as for environmentally friendly, there is ZERO emissions. That is not really true. There are emissions at the power plant if the power plant is a fossil fuel plant. If the power plant is a nuclear plant, then you have the waste issue. Also the inefficiency in transmission and charging means that the plant had to burn around twice as much fuel to get the provide the power to the bike. Mobile, internal combustion engines are still the most efficient way to provide power which is the idea behind hybrids. Use the excess energy from braking etc. to charge the batteries. | ||
| Froggy |
Sorry, I was actually getting work done today, didn't have time to spam F5 on the quick board. Power by me is nuclear. The nuclear waste isn't a huge issue, it is safely disposed of, and compared to the waste of most other power plants (smog from coal plants, etc) it is little to no concern. A gasoline engine typically has a 25% thermal efficiency, while even a nasty polluting coal plant is about 50%, and nuclear is about 65%. So not only does using gasoline use twice as much power vs. power from a plant, there is more environmental damage from transporting fuels, the oil refineries, and extracting the crude from the ground. Not that nukes grow on trees either. The way hybrids use the braking power is by using the electric motor in reverse so to speak. Electric motors work to ways, if you put power in one way; it comes out the other end. On one end you got the battery, and the other end you got the wheel. To accelerate, you give more power to the motor, which turns the energy into movement and accelerates the wheels and the car. When you let off the pedal and begin to coast, the motor becomes a generator, taking power from the wheels and putting it back into the battery. Works the same way as engine braking, but without the decel popping. Electric only vehicles do the exact same thing, except they don't have a gasoline engine to assist with acceleration and power generation. |
