2015 Electric Motorcycles: Buyer's Guide, UPDATED

[jansdejager]

anybody keen on taking a lead acid bath alongside Harvey Wallbanger in the coming future

The 2015 model year follows a big 2014 for the electric motorcycle industry. Zero made significant upgrades to its entire lineup, the Harley-Davidson Livewire concept was unveiled and toured around the country, and Brammo updated its flagship Empulse. Some of the higher-end bikes--among them the Energica Ego, Lightning LS 218, Lito Sora, and

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[Pitbull]

anybody keen on taking a lead acid bath alongside Harvey Wallbanger in the coming future



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Looking at how crap the TT Zero is doing at the Isle of Man. It will be a long time before I buy an electric bike.

That being said, they are doing better and better every year. But the reliability is still very very very far off.

 

[jansdejager]

Reliability on a 2-wheel, ook :wtf:

personally I think electric car racing defeats the point. The tech was refined in the 50's and there isn't much more you can change on a dc motor, except trim down the chassis. Something people don't realise is that motorcycle's have terrible fuel economy, so this is about the only plus here.

 

[Pitbull]

Reliability on a 2-wheel, ook :wtf:

personally I think electric car racing defeats the point. The tech was refined in the 50's and there isn't much more you can change on a dc motor, except trim down the chassis. Something people don't realise is that motorcycle's have terrible fuel economy, so this is about the only plus here.

It's amazing to watch technology evolve in front of your eyes. Watch the TT this year and make sure not to skip the TT Zero. Every year the bikes are better and better. Very spectacular too when you see them catching a light, limping as far as possible and so on . That being said, some of those machines when they do run, they run amazingly well.

 

[Ridolfc]

I would love an electric bike. I think it will take a while to adjust to it as there is almost no sound and no gears. Would be fun to play around with an electric bike for a few weeks but I am not sold on buying one...... yet.

 

[jansdejager]

I would love an electric bike. I think it will take a while to adjust to it as there is almost no sound and no gears. Would be fun to play around with an electric bike for a few weeks but I am not sold on buying one...... yet.

Maybe Sanral should make motorcycles and electrics exempt from tolling. Congestion, solved!

 

[Pitbull]

I would love an electric bike. I think it will take a while to adjust to it as there is almost no sound and no gears. Would be fun to play around with an electric bike for a few weeks but I am not sold on buying one...... yet.

There is a documentary you can watch.

Remember the riders in the TT needs a certain certification to part take. So the riders riding the Zero bikes are the riders for the production bikes too. They comment on how amazing it is to hear the crowds cheer, and the fact that the wildlife doesn't hear the bikes so unless you hoot you will run them over or crash.

I'll try and find the name of that documentary. You guys will thoroughly enjoy it.

Edit: Documentary is called: Charge

 

[jansdejager]

With improvements to their company and product, Zero has focused a lot of its efforts recently on selling motorcycles to fleet buyers, including police departments.

There are currently more than 50 police departments that use its electric motorcycles for quiet, swift patrol duties--and save money on both gasoline and maintenance.

Many police departments particularly like the fact that electric motorcycles don’t require the maintenance that gas bikes do. They are far easier, and hence less costly, to maintain.

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[Colin62]

I'd rather not be stuck with an electric vehicle with the current state of our national electricity grid.