No love for electric motorcycles?

I've looked and while there are not that many electric motorcycles out there they are still motorcycles. Is there no love for them to warrant their own section? Scooters and others have a section, why not electric?

There are a couple of threads down in Shiny Things

http://advrider.com/index.php?forums/shiny-things.70/

I think the bottom line right now is that they are too expensive and simply do not have the necessary range needed at this point.

It's a maturing technology that will come into its own some day, just isn't there right now. They are toys for people w/ lots of disposable income.

Agree. Tree huggers may like them, but the reality is that they don't necessarily 'save the planet', they just move the carbon footprint someplace else.

Agree with Yellow pig.. I bought an electric trials bike for my son and it is excelent. For a kids bike they are great IMHO better then gas.
For me I would buy one in a minute IF.. there was one that Had all the best components of a current MXer, Was Afordable, and had could run all day or have a replaceable battery pack so I could cary an all day charge.
Also it would be nice if it was plateable (might as well get a normal reg as opposed to an offroad reg if you are already at dmv and paying taxes and fees)
Right now, the Atlas ? and Mademoto? have the suspention worked out, but from what I have read ,the only about two hours on a charge and costs near 10k

Yeah, the closest thing right now is the Alta Redshift MX or SM. Very exciting bikes, just into production. But they're more like $15k, and still only ~2 hr or ~50 mile range. Battery swaps are possible - reportedly only about 10 minutes to swap - but at 70 pounds, packing an extra battery along for extended rides isn't realistic...nevermind what a spare battery might cost.

Agreed.. If I had that kind of money I’d buy one to help further the tec. But I dont. Seeing my kid’s Oset in action it is obvious to me that an MX or trials are the best platform for electrix. tons of torque and hardly any noise is a great (addictive) combination.
Plus being quiet you can ride more places. My kid gets tons of seat time just banging around the yard. Noone ever complains.
I don’t think the batery life will ever get to where it is a viable cruiser/tourer/ or ADV bike. But a commuter for sure.

Personally I own a Zero SR. it's range is 80 hwy and 100+ city. Yes it is pricey at $16k but that's what you pay to be an early adopter. I do use it as a commuter vehicle to and from work but that doesn't make it any less a motorcycle. Currently charging off 110 volts takes 8 hours but a quick charger reduces that time to 2-2.5 hrs for a full charge. And yes it is all torque. I can do 0-60mph in 3.3 sec which is amazing in my opinion. The is very little maintenance. Tires, brake pads, and the belt every 25k miles.

just need to do an "electric" sub forum in bikes. include all makes/models for now until traffic builds. will be mostly Zero's until others jump on board seriously.

just my $.02,

laramie

I do believe that Harley Davidson will introduce their Electric Motorcycle offer at a competitive ($8,000 to $11,000?) price point. They have the deep pockets that allows them to amortize the R&D/development costs over a much broader time range.

Current prices reek of the manufacturer trying to recoup the costs immediately.

I am interested, but currently have no need for yet another bike in the garage, especially one with a limited travel range.

As far as being 'Green / environmentally correct / sustainable, lower carbon footprint' and all - I see very little improvement over a well tuned, well maintained gasoline powered bike.

IMO, Just because it's "new", doesn't automatically mean it's better, or an improvement. It's merely a different means - albeit more difficult ( less travel range / needs recharging for 8 hours, etc.) than what it is challenging.

College kids are showing how its done.. around the world, taunting adults, "You're so weak!". I disagree. We've just gotten fat and lazy, waiting for Yamasaki to make one.

Btw, this is nothing new. Been done many times. However, the 2016 hub motors from China are 2X to 3X more efficient. It's a "new day" for e-motorcycles!

The market is very small, so you'll have to make your own, since the Hondasaki company won't be making one soon.

A very frugal (cheap!) friend bought two broken down electric motorcycles, fixed them up, and they're both running for under $3K total. (He has stopped driving his cars .. all 7 of them.)

As long as gasoline is all accessible and relatively cheap - electric vehicles will trail in development and will stay a rarity.
Give me 200 miles range and 5 mins recharge time, having the same power and price as the gasoline ones, and I'm sure buying it.

In spite of the environmentalist claims, these are coal powered for the most part. Yes there was a SS1000 but only in California where charging stations are available. Even a thirty minute charge time available in the smallest of towns in Appalachia would be livable with a 200 mile range, but those days are far in the future without compelling reason to make it happen.

Basically this.

I have an OSET electric trials bike for my kid. The silent factor is the biggest factor to me. We used to practice in a school yard and now ride in an HOA neighborhood and nobody bats an eye. Would never happen with a regular gas bike.

If I had the extra money Id like an adult sized dirt/trials bike to do some stealth riding too around the neighborhood and on nearby mountain bike trails.

Well, if you want to buy one and not build one, Zero is pretty much the only option. Not trying to disrespect, because I would totally take one, but they are not the "sexiest" bikes. I am bummed Polaris bought Brammo, and seemly locked it in the closet - because they had some decent looking bikes. I am totally in the market for one, as it would suit my motorcycling needs very well (12 mile daily commute, mostly and ride around the small city where I live). I commute on a Prodecotech e-bike and love it, but don't want to ride it every single day (cold, heat, weather, etc.). BUT it has shown me the practicality of electric bikes. When there are more and better options, I will own one.

Knuckle-draggers can talk all the s**t they want about environmental aspects or call me a tree-hugger, but when they doing a valve adjustment, chain cleaning, oil change, air filter replacement, injector cleaning, throttle re-map, sprocket replacement, or buying gas, I will be out quietly riding.

Seriously Polaris, WTF? Why can't we buy this?

http://www.rideicon.com/the-ride/bikes/2014-team-icon-brammo-empulse-rr-rage

Which brings this thread full circle. I understand there's not a particularly good place to fit e-bike threads on this site. But I'm not sure road warriors is the place, as many of the e-bike options are strictly off-road bikes. Then again it's abundantly clear current e-bikes are very limited in their ability to serve as "adventure" bikes - similar to road bikes - so maybe Road Warriors really is the best of the bad fits.

To me, Thumpers is probably the most valid location for e-bike threads, because in most cases current e-bikes attempt to fill roles that would normally be occupied by thumpers.