Electric Harley / Bikes

These may be practical for the daily commute ( up to 177 km ), but a long trip would be a pain . Unless they can sort some way to increase that , their market is going to be pretty limited .


http://ausmotorcyclist.com.au/harley-davidson-announce-livewire-full-specs-and-future-electric-concepts/?fbclid=IwAR2KmkwrkNJYVbrDHHURj6qUGp7aUJh5ZZ8_4A0xabM22DEWQKjG_IhUsrs

2019 Zero FXS [zero-fxs-2019] - $8,495.00 : Zero Motorcycles, Electric Motorcycle Company
https://www.zeromotorcycles.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=227

I am interested in the electric thing. Have been reading up on the Zero, it seems sort of reasonable...or did. 
I contacted one of the importers at the  Gold Coast, who have only just got back to me.
They're not being imported any more,  plus they told me, Zero won't warranty them. 
Seems strange they won't warranty their own product.
Anyway, they told me there's another bike going through ADR right now,  and should be released within a few months.
Not far for me to have a look,  so when it's out,  I'll go down for a bow peep.

It won't matter how good that Harley is, if it doesn't make that potato potato sound at 150db then they are not going to sell too many. It's not like the vrod has been a great seller

Probably not , but with other manufacturers also developing electric bikes , their options may one day be limited to keeping their old pre electric ( or what ever comes next ) bikes on the road .........or make a recording of  " the sound " & play it while you're out riding LOL .

The day definitely seems to be coming when electric will be taking over. Hyundai are releasing cars next year with a range of well over 400km - even if that's only 300 or so in real life, that's enough to be practical. Drive for three hundred km, charge for 30 minutes (morning tea) for an 80% charge, and on your way again.

If the cars are getting that close to practical, the bikes are going to be getting there soon.

Making noise seems to be the only thing Harleys do well, what will an electric Harley achieve

Well ...........there's that problem out the way  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UotZ_ZLB5A

I see an upcoming market for the original piece of cardboard and a clothes peg to attach same to the front forks.

To be successfully marketed they would need to be in traditional orange/black colour scheme though or Harley owners would not be interested. 

Will you need a current licence to ride a electric bike? 

truck wrote:Will you need a current licence to ride a electric bike? 

Interesting point truck .....................there is already talk of whether or not to licence electric push bikes or not . I suppose it depends how powerful they  get .

paul wrote:

truck wrote:Will you need a current licence to ride a electric bike? 

Interesting point truck .....................there is already talk of whether or not to licence electric push bikes or not . I suppose it depends how powerful they  get .

https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/driving-and-transport/cycling/riding-a-power-assisted-bicycle

Chook wrote:

paul wrote:

truck wrote:Will you need a current licence to ride a electric bike? 

Interesting point truck .....................there is already talk of whether or not to licence electric push bikes or not . I suppose it depends how powerful they  get .

https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/driving-and-transport/cycling/riding-a-power-assisted-bicycle

Looks like they are onto it already .............interestingly there is a petrol motorized bicycle still getting around here at times .............wondered why it has been mainly at night for a while now 

paul wrote:These may be practical for the daily commute ( up to 177 km ), but a long trip would be a pain . Unless they can sort some way to increase that , their market is going to be pretty limited .

177Km - that's about as far as you can travel in a straight line in Tasmania without getting wet. Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

One of the issues with electric vehicles is that the government will start loosing money on fuel excise.  Won't be long before they work out a new tax, got to keep those pollie pensions topped up.

barry_mcki wrote:One of the issues with electric vehicles is that the government will start loosing money on fuel excise.  Won't be long before they work out a new tax, got to keep those pollie pensions topped up.

No different to Tesla's and other electric vehicles.Even hybrids will have resulted in a massive reduction in revenue received

BanditDave wrote:

paul wrote:These may be practical for the daily commute ( up to 177 km ), but a long trip would be a pain . Unless they can sort some way to increase that , their market is going to be pretty limited .

177Km - that's about as far as you can travel in a straight line in Tasmania without getting wet. Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

I don't seem to remember too many straight line roads in Tasmania , but either way , when you got that far , you would have to sit around waiting for your battery to fully charge to go home again . Here a round trip somewhere and home again for lunch  is more often than not over 177 km ..............but I guess my island is bigger than yours 

paul wrote:

BanditDave wrote:

paul wrote:These may be practical for the daily commute ( up to 177 km ), but a long trip would be a pain . Unless they can sort some way to increase that , their market is going to be pretty limited .

177Km - that's about as far as you can travel in a straight line in Tasmania without getting wet. Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

I don't seem to remember too many straight line roads in Tasmania , but either way , when you got that far , you would have to sit around waiting for your battery to fully charge to go home again . Here a round trip somewhere and home again for lunch  is more often than not over 177 km ..............but I guess my island is bigger than yours 

Our piece of this island i bigger paul 

I reckon when the industry sorts itself out, the battery charge issue will disappear.  All vehicles will have a universal battery setup where the whole pack is removed and a new one installed, change over time would be less than filling up a tank of petrol.  That's how RC planes, cars, boats have been doing it for years, when was the last time you sat round to fill up your BBQ bottle ?

barry_mcki wrote:I reckon when the industry sorts itself out, the battery charge issue will disappear.  All vehicles will have a universal battery setup where the whole pack is removed and a new one installed, change over time would be less than filling up a tank of petrol.  That's how RC planes, cars, boats have been doing it for years, when was the last time you sat round to fill up your BBQ bottle ?

Barry, you have just solved the government's problem regarding revenue.

Swap the battery module, scan at register and then add the GST

It probably won't be self service so you have already created another job (for someone who can't get a real job!)

Win, Win