Harley-Davidson announces its first electric motorcycle
chicagotribune.com
chicagotribune.com
Well, so much for the hope it might quiet down the disruption from at least some Harley riders.
Where I live, the noise from them is simply awful. I wish the noise ordinances would be enforced against them. Very selfish people, who inflict that upon the neighborhoods they ride through.
Plenty of other bikes perform just fine while keeping noise to tolerable levels.
It's useful to keep a diary for a month. Include photos and videos. If you can dedicate a camera for a month and keep that in a fixed place it helps.
You then make notes of all the details in the photos - licence plates, desceiptions, times, dates, etc.
Dump all of that neatly collated information in the hands of whoever does the enforcement and see what happens. Do it for a few months if nothing changes, and escalate after a few months.
If non-Harley motorcycles with reasonable noise levels are insufficiently safe because they're so quiet, then no one should be riding motorcycles at all.
I don't agree with either of these perspectives, but whenever anyone makes the "loud pipes save lives" argument, this is what they are saying. It might look good on a bumper sticker but it doesn't make sense. It's no different than suggesting that all pedestrians walk around screaming gibberish as loudly as possible at all times, to reduce their chances of getting hit by bicycles.
If I really believed that I needed to ride a Harley in order to ride safely, I would stop riding altogether. It's not worth annoying hundreds of people every single day just to indulge myself in this one thing. I would find a different hobby.
Nobody points their pipes forwards. They install loud pipes because they are assholes, and want everybody behind them to know.
I think they need to take a cue from Tesla and make it all about the neat features that Electric vehicles can provide, such as quicker acceleration, no transmission, etc. Just my 2 cents anyways.
I also think the whole transportation industry is going to have to get over crashworthyness and move on to autonomous automatic crash avoidance. High speed trains are not crashworthy compared to traditional passenger trains. Efficient personal vehicles should not need to be crashworthy.
There's no actual logical connection between the two things.
I've always wanted to learn how to ride a motorcycle. I would enjoy not having to shift. Accordingly I may choose an electric motorcycle over a traditional one. And none of that has anything to do with whether I'll be a safe driver or not.
Logically it's absolutely no different than a driver preferring an automatic car vs a manual transmission car. It doesn't mean the person is going to drive faster.
So, basically, if you are afraid of bikes because they have shifters, but otherwise willing to learn, give it a try. I guarantee you that you'll feel comfortable shifting the gears on a bike and starting with the clutch on the first day. However, if you just don't want to learn because it looks like too much work, please, stay away from bikes, electric or otherwise.
Apart from styling and green aspects I think they would want to focus on low maintenance benefit. Most electric will lack in power, weight and range compared to ICE.
The biggest advantage of an electric bike is probably less maintenance. If the drivetrain was sealed, you'd only have to deal with tires and brakes.
That said, electric bikes have some pretty big disadvantages. Battery weight forces them to sacrifice range or increase weight (or both). At least in the near future, electric bikes are going to be worse at handling, braking, and accelerating.
It's a shame, because I'd love to have an electric bike with the same range, power, and handling as my Ninja 250.
You can also design 2 wheel drive bikes! I honestly have no clue if it would be a good idea, but with electric power you can do that. It might be a death trap for all I know, but I think it would be really cool to have an all wheel drive bike.
The final advantage of electric bike is silence. That actually cuts both ways. You want to have a loud (reasonably) bike, so people notice you, and don't run you over. But riding full speed in near silence through a country road is quite surreal as well. Try getting your bike to 80+MPH on a backroad someplace, and kill the engine for a few seconds. It's quite an interesting experience.
Silent electric bikes would also be really awesome for riding in the woods. That way you can have some fun without annoying everyone within an ear range and scaring all the animals away.
Yamaha also made a two-wheel-drive racebike prototype. Don't remember the name.
It's pretty interesting to read the ride reports on two-wheel-drive bikes. The handling seems to make a lot of sense ...
IMHO - the styling is really where this wins. They seem to be shooting for a different sound than a traditional electric bike, but I'm not hearing it - perhaps it sounds better "in person". Quicker acceleration is not as large an issue as you might think as motorcycles already accelerate quite quickly (even 600-class bikes require careful throttle modulation to prevent wheelspin).
There aren't a lot of competitors in this space (Zero, Brammo), so it's a good time for H-D to throw their hat into the ring.
Interesting that a company that's succeeded by selling... old technology is attempting to innovate again.
The V-Rod(attempt at innovation) was met meekly.
Buell, where they actually innovated, shut down a few years ago.
Harley Riders don't want innovation and change. They want noise and an image.
The 'young crowd' wants cheap bikes made to look tough and vintage. Hence the redesigning and marketing of the Sportster(entry model).
The rockstar lawyers want big heavy cruisers that can carry their leather shells loudly across the country.
I was quite surprised at the styling of the electric Harley. Admittedly, I am not remotely in the motorcycling world, but to me a Harley is a bike with a big fat end to go with its big fat sound. Something meaty. I would never have thought Harley if I saw this bike.
Electric motorcycles are undoubtedly the future, but bikes are totally different vehicles than cars. They have very different use cases (recreation vs. utility), and riding on public roads comes with outrageous risks. I've been riding since my teens, and finally sold my road bike in order to preserve my life. I only do track days and regional racing now to get my riding fix.
Electric bikes will have an advantage in areas that gas bikes are weak, such as noise and emissions. For the road, battery technology needs to get much cheaper to compete with gas. In terms of performance, nothing beats an electric drivetrain. The only issue is with the massive weight of the current gen battery packs.
KTM electric dirt bike:
Until now I could usually rely on the fact that motorised vehicles are loud enough so that I can hear even when I can not see them. But with all these new e-vehicles it might happen that they are almost completely silent at low speeds so I as a biker would loose half of my senses. I rely so much on vehicle sounds while riding bike that I feel almost feel blind when I wear headphones and listen to music while riding bike.
So I hope that all those new vehicle will make at least some sound when they drive on the same road as I do.
Unless the internal combustion engine powered vehicle is accelerating or travelling at highway speeds I don't hear the engine. I actually hear the sound of the tires on the road and displaced air. Modern engine/exhaust systems are so quiet that for all practical purposes they are silent.
The only thing I miss with an electric/hybrid vehicle as a pedestrian/cyclist is the reving sound from the engine when a vehicle starts moving without any other warning (not that you can actually hear that in many urban environments). My current opinion is that all larger vehicles should make a noise when they start moving. That might have the nice side effect of making it possible to do away with those stupid backup alarms...
The booming sound let's everyone know it's coming. It could probably be called a safety feature.
Saying that "thousands believe" does not make for a strong argument regardless. Thousands of people believe all kinds of things we collectively know aren't true (flat earth, didn't land on the moon, take your pick). I just lump loud pipers right in there with the flat earthers and anti-vaxers: people that believe what they want to believe regardless of the facts. You want to make a bunch of noise with your toy? Have at it, but don't try to pass it off as a safety feature.
I can easily throw an opposite opinion: besides riding motorcycle every single day, I drive car, and usually I notice motorcycles roar too late. Also, I had two occasions when drivers didn't notice sound of my motorbike (it's not quiet at all) and changed lanes right into me. So I prefer to assume every driver is deaf and ride that way.