| Author | Message | ||
     Hughlysses |
I just found this short interview at Cycle World with Dane Hoechst, EBR program manager and former long-time Buell employee: http://www.cycleworld.com/2014/08/29/on-the-record -with-dane-hoechst-erik-buell-racing-program-manag er/ Here's the interesting bit about the AX:
So, very cool that it will be an all-new motorcycle, but after reading this it sure sounds like we won't see it this year. | ||
| Ratbuell |
...or the Elves are having some fun with the press... lol | ||
| Hughlysses |
Yep, that's always a possibility. Like Court keeps saying, ~170 elves have been busy working on something for the past couple of years. | ||
| Jstav2012 |
"page not found" now. | ||
| Reepicheep |
For people sitting on the fence, that at least relieves the tension. Now you can go out, get the SX, and start figuring out how to put removable hard luggage on it. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Can anyone relate what Court's phantom post last night/this morning said? | ||
| Ourdee |
Hugh, Check with Froggy. Myself, I try to respect the privacy once it is retracted. I wonder if there was some inaccuracy in the original links content. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Maybe the "someday" answer was too nebulous and EBR is naturally worried that it is apt to drive us adventure riders waiting for the AX to other brands. I'm wondering what kind of comfort that plank provides on the SX. EBR has a $2000 off sale on their RX as seen on the EBR site. Brammo just dropped their electric bike price by $5000 to $7000 on their high end bikes. Maybe this will force Zero to drop their prices. I think they'd really start getting people on electric bikes if the prices would get out of the stratosphere. http://green.autoblog.com/2014/08/27/brammo-offers -massive-price-drop-on-electric-motorcycles/ (Message edited by electraglider_1997 on September 02, 2014) | ||
| Hughlysses |
^ I'd guess either Dane was mis-quoted or as you suggest EBR asked that the interview be retracted because of something said in it. I'm wondering what kind of comfort that plank provides on the SX. I had a demo ride on an SX in July, and the seat is surprisingly comfortable. It is noticeably better than the stock seat that was used on Buell XB_R's and the 1125R and CR. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Interesting! That makes a 2013 $10K brammo Empulse in the realm of sanity now. Still no bargin by any measure, but something you are likely to "break even" with relative to any other naked standard internal combustion bike. You are just "pre-buying" $5000 of gas savings when you buy it. I wonder what the differences were between 2013 Empulses and the 2014 Empulses ($1k difference). | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Yesterday I watched a Brammo video with Eric Bostrom and it was pointed out that the difference between the 2013 Empulse and 2014 is biggest in terms of the transmission. Most change was done with the controller according to the video. http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/brammo/2014 -brammo-empulse-r-review-video.html | ||
| Uly_man |
I would not be in a such a hurry to "stump up" the big money needed for these new high end electric bikes. The technology is still SUPER new and needs a lot of development. A car is one thing but bikes are a different matter altogether. If an electric bike that was in the class of a Uly came on the market today I would still wait five years for them to iron out all the bugs and the price to drop to a decent level. But that is just me I guess as I am happy to let others pay for product development. | ||
| Reepicheep |
The $10k price is noteworthy, as that really is a $5k bike when you consider how much cheaper electric power is than gas power is. If somebody had 100 mile range for $5000 with 400cc like performance, I'd have one in my garage tomorrow. It will be, over it's life, free. (Here is the math... figure the average price of gas over the life of the bike is $4 per gallon. That $5000 will buy 1250 gallons of gas, which is about 60,000 miles assuming a 50 mpg vehicle, which a 400cc should be if done right. 60k miles is probably a reasonable "total lifespan" of most modern motorcycles. Of course this assumes the batteries will last 60k, which they probably won't, but I'll ignore that as lots of ICE engines are toast long before 60k also). | ||
| Froggy |
Zero at least claims the "ZERO S ZF11.4 +Power Tank" would still have 80% of its battery capacity at 385,000 miles.
The bike itself might not make it to 400k, but it is not because of the battery. | ||
| Brighton |
Reepicheep posted: (Here is the math... figure the average price of gas over the life of the bike is $4 per gallon...) If electric vehicles become more popular and start putting real demands on the power grid, will the price of electricity remain ball-park cheap, or will it increase to gasoline-type pricing? If you expect to buy a "free over it's life" electric motorcycle you might want to get it sooner rather than later when the price of electricity might sky-rocket. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I don't think electricity would go up that much. At the end of the day, I can make a coal fired power plant that occupies 100 acres of land and ways 50,000 tons much more efficient than I can make an internal combustion engine that occupies 3 cubic feet and weighs 200 pounds. We would likely need more power plants though. Not so much for motorcycles, we are smaller and fewer so all of us would probably not make a dent. But if all commuters switched over that could make things interesting. | ||
| Court |
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| Trevd |
Electricity rates have already skyrocketed here in Ontario - thanks to our provincial government's mismanagement of the energy file. Highest rates in North America now apparently. They are predicted to go up at least 40% more over the next 3 years. I don't know if I would be able to afford to charge an electric bike at my place. | ||
| Court |
It's a foot race between battery tech and power costs. I'm hearing of a battery that will charge in less than 10 minutes, run your iPhone for 6 months and you can jump start your car off of. But . . . on the cusp of retiring I'm inundated with lucrative work offers ranging from NYTRANCO to NEWS All this while we've been hearing folks talk about conservation . . . . well, ya'll kept plugging in those iPads, iPods and iPhones . . . .in addition there is huge political pressure to deliver wind, solar, geothermal and other alternative technologies. For a flavor of how quickly you can spend a couple billions . . . do some research on "energy parks". Anyway . . . . I could care less what they do about the energy but it's a good time to be one of the "experts" in building cross country transmission lines. :-) | ||
| Hughlysses |
Hey! Start your own e-bike thread!   I was just thinking, the response Dane gave above about the AX is NOT the typical response we've heard from Erik and others at EBR when asked about "future products". They always say something like "We can't comment on future products." I wonder if Dane got taken out behind the woodshed for saying something he shouldn't have, was he just teasing the interviewer, or were the comments supposed to be "off the record"? | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Sorry Hugh, We could always charge our bikes for free by parking under high tension electrical transmission lines.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXhZvyGtMrk | ||
| Hughlysses |
LOL. That video reminds me of a video I saw about 10 years ago on a public access station while I was staying in a hotel in Corpus Christi, Texas. It was for a local rock band called "RUPL: Raised Under Power Lines". I still think that's one of the best names I've ever heard for a band. I almost rolled out of the bed I was laughing so hard. | ||
| Testcase |
While I was in England this past July, I was reading the Motorcycle Monthly rag and there were a few articles about EBR including a little throwaway blurb about the SX being due in August and the AX being unveiled at EICMA (coming November) for sale in late '15. | ||
| Reepicheep |
What would you know, you ride (drive?) a Ural! Geesh, they will let *anyone* in this place.  Welcome back Chuck, and congrats on the new Uly! | ||
| Testcase |
HA! It's been nice to be back on a Uly and this one's been running like a top... a loud, explody, shaking angry angry top.  | ||
| Octopusenvy |
If you're going to spend crazy money on an ebike, the C-1 goes into production in this last quarter of 2014. Some really interesting features, particularly the gyros and upwards compatible batteries, though it needs clip-ons not wheel-steering, and is most unlike a bike as far as bikes go http://litmotors.com/c1/ | ||
| Jesse_lackman |
What's the point of the C-1? It seems to be another engineering test of the public's ability to actually spend money on super ugly things. I think it would be mandatory to wear a pair of super ugly glasses while driving the C-1, and have something like an element in the garage for when you need more ugly. Probably traded a Pontiac Trans Port in on the Element. At least the Trans Port had the useful function of being able to haul 4x8 sheets of plywood on the dash! A VW turbo TDI will get 45-50 MPG and it looks good! A friend just bought new one - charcoal and tan leather interior - beautiful - for 24K! | ||
| Froggy |
I am one of the people that have been waiting for it to go into production, I really want one. It is the best of both world in regards to cars and bikes. You get the comfort and weather protection of a car, but the size, maneuverability, and better fuel economy of a bike. It is perfect for commuter vehicle. In theory it is safer than a standard motorcycle, which is a perk when dealing with hung over rushhour cagers. | ||
| Jesse_lackman |
I'm sorry. | ||
| Afsoc_commando |
I'm with Froggy on this one. I do like the Zero but cannot go year around in it. I already have the VW TDI and it is an awesome cage for fuel mileage... but just to and from work and not have to worry about rain and to get even better fuel economy I would love this C1... I like the Elio for the same reason but the C1 will be so cool with the Torque of the electric drive.... |
