Think about all of those classic images with motorcycles involved, from the movies or advertising, then rethink them with electric power, does the feeling change? Would you come away with different thoughts, would they have the same impact? Brammofan had a little Photoshop contest on his blog and the results were pretty cool, Arnold as Terminator on an Enertia, an electric Batcycle and others, like the Easy Rider take off above.
But do electrics appeal to the emotions the way the old internal combustion engine does? Electrics may be utilitarian in some cases and they have a technical attraction, but in countries like the U.S. where bikes are hardly the everyday family commuter they are elsewhere in the world, they are purchased, in no small part, for the feeling you get or the image they portray, so I have to wonder, do these images get your motor runnin’?
Link: Brammofan via Autobloggreen
WRXr says
Sure. I welcome the electric bikes. Silent…torquey…..just gliding along like Superman.
jp says
I’m looking forward to seeing the Brammo bikes in person. It would be just the thing for my commute to work (at a Best Buy distribution center, ironically). Pity the price point is a touch out of my range at the moment.
Ian says
In all honesty: No. The sound, the feel, of a gas motor is what made a motorcycle so appealing. Sure, you could argue for chrome and leather jackets, but electric takes the spirit out of things. I have no problem accepting new bikes with smarter, more environmentally conscious motors, but I find them to be less fulfilling than a gas powered bike.
Ceolwulf says
The problem here is the Brammo is far too much of a fluffy bunny of a motorcycle. (It has to be, to reach their target market. Nothing wrong with that.) Redo those photoshops with the MotoCzysz and you’ll have something. The sound of these electric bikes howling past like something from a sci-fi movie is amazing. I could easily live with that.
redman says
I’d have to pass, and I’m willing to bet that a majority of the folks who check out the kneeslider will agree. Half of the reason we ride is because of the feeling riding gives us, whether its a sense of freedom, power or pure unadulturated joy. These new electric bikes may be fantastic bikes for their target market. However, that market is a very small portion of riders. Give me a loud, boisterous v-twin any day over sometrhing that sounds like I should be shaving with it.
nobody says
Some day, engine noise and vibration will be as essential to a good ride as indigestion and gas is to a good dinner.
But as long as there are people are willing to preserve and operate old steam locomotives, then there will always be someone running a Harley running somewhere as well.
MadScience says
I’m looking forward to electric bikes running rampant. And anyone who watched the TTXGP, heard the bike scream past. Yeah, I could definitely enjoy the sound of an angry electric motor screaming under full current. Electric is an inherently simpler system and will be much easier to build and tune at home as well.
Of course, there is room for both. Most likely is a slow swing from one to the other. I would expect combustion bikes to hold the market until electrics are able to out perform them at every instance. Even then, there will be a market for something loud, slow, dirty, and complicated because so many people identify with that image.
Al says
It’s not about switching traditional riders over to electrics. Just like scooters, it’s about getting a whole new segment of people on bikes.
Chris says
There is something about engines rauciously breathing underneath me that does it. I don’t think the bike design or our society is there yet; to create that sought out bad a** image on an electric bike.
marshall says
I like the sound and feel of a gas motor, but if I’ve learned anything about motorcycle riders in my 3 short (but intense) years of riding, it’s that there are a million different types of motorcycle rider and they’re all drawn to bikes for different reasons. I think there’s a significant portion of riders who will be attracted to the sensation of riding an electric bike once they actually experience it (and once the bikes available are capable of high performance at a good value, which I admit may be a few years off).
I think I can speak for all the currently available electric bikes when I say they are not silent at anything but very low speeds. Once you get going, they sound kind of like a tie fighter from star wars, or a big electric drill. The high-pitched wine probably comes mostly from drive chain-on-sprocket impact.
Next time you’re cruising down a long slope at 60 mph, pull in the clutch for a couple seconds and let your engine just idle. You’ll hear a some wind, the sound of your tires on the road, maybe actually hear some of the sounds coming from the landscape around you instead of it all being drowned out by your own exhaust. If you can imagine being able to effortlessly accelerate under those conditions, maybe you’ve got an idea of what it would be like to ride a high-performance electric bike (perhaps fitted with a belt final drive).
Again, it won’t be for everyone. But I think people generally underestimate the NEW kind of appeal that these bikes will introduce. Personally, I’m into the understated performance thing. I would pay good money to be able to leave obnoxious kids on race-muffler sport bikes and grumpy old men on straight pipe Harleys alike in my dust – without making a big fuss about it.
Not hating on Harleys or sport bikes here – just attention-starved folks who want to bust everyone’s ear drums.
Bob in FL says
I would like an electric bike, but I couldn’t get anywhere with it. I live 35 mile from anywhere. Hopefully by they have the antimatter power source for for long range, they will be flying bikes like in STAR WARS.
James Bowman says
Well if the summers continue to cool as this one has maybe it will be electric snow mobiles instead, I ride my little Yamaha xt250 46 miles round trip to and from work and I am cold in August.
I personally think battery technology will be the final determining factor if the promises of energy density increase 3-10 times they will be very popular if not a slow increase gaining a limited market share in my opinion.
mark says
If “loud pipe save lives” then electric motorcycles are going to be real killers. Perhaps they will all have “downloadable real-life engine noises”? So that for $4.99 you can make your electric sound like an open-pipe HD extreme one moment, then a full-on MotoGP racer the next.
Of course, the sight (sound?) of an electric step-thru impersonating a Harley will be worth seeing.
QrazyQat says
If “loud pipe save lives†then electric motorcycles are going to be real killers. Perhaps they will all have “downloadable real-life engine noises�
But of course that’s nonsense. But the crowd that feels that way can always put playing cards in the spokes; it’s a time-honored classic, and with a couple of decks worth of playing cards in your spokes you can rest assured people will give you a wide berth on the highway… and the city streets… and the halls in your apartment… and pretty much anywhere else you show up. 🙂
Thiago says
I could go for an eletric bike, as long it had one of those Stuka sirens like they did back in WWII.
Now that would be awesome!
Schneegz says
“But do electrics appeal to the emotions the way the old internal combustion engine does?” ~ Paul Crowe
No, they don’t. A well-designed ICE feels like a living thing. It literally breathes, it has a kind of heart beat, and the sounds and vibrations it generates can range from soothing to exhilirating. Electric motors and battery packs, no matter how well designed, feel like nothing more than appliances; useful, efficient, but incapable of inspiring passion.
Of course, old timers probably said the same thing about the ICE in regards to horses and steam engines. Maybe someday, long after the ICE has been replaced and new generations grow up knowing nothing but electrics and fuel cells, they will feel the same kind of excitment about electric motors and battery packs as we do about a Ducati Testastretta, or a Chevy Big Block. However, I bet that those generations to come will still feel a sense of child-like awe and wonder when they confront their first ICE, just as I still do when I pet a particularly beautiful horse, or stand near a vintage steam locomotive as it begins to chug.
Todd8080 says
It’s sort of a moot point anyway. Electric motorcycles are a long, long way from being practical, due to limitations in battery technology.
My Harley can go nearly 200 miles before needing fuel, then it can be refueled in a couple of minutes.
Compare that to an electric bike that can go 40 to 80 miles before needing to recharge for several hours, assuming you can even find a place to plug in.
doug says
I’m open to see what happens in the next 15-20 years, but at the moment I find the look and “simplicity” of electrics very boring: i.e. there is not much to look at after the ride. That aspect of ownership would be sorely missed no matter how cool, quiet instant torque promises to be.
I realize there is beauty in simplicity, but electrics would do better if the motors and other components were on display*. Naked, liquid-cooled bikes (e.g. Moto Morini Corsaro 1200) have something beautiful to look at when the ride is done. Right now, electrics are not far from the equivalent of a 1980’s sedan, relatively speaking.
*not only could the parts themselves be attractive, but the realization of the reduced number of parts (emptiness) could also be part of the attraction, especially when batteries become smaller.
Other than that, I find the promise of algae fuel very intriguing, especially if the emissions in harnessing, transporting, and consuming is minimal. The mechanical chain reaction would still be part of the allure of running an i-c motor.
skadamo says
Hey Mark, have a look through brammofan.com. You will see Brammo already has built in speakers and will have a low speed sound. I have heard low speed sounds may be required by law.
Brammo sound contest:
http://www.reverbnation.com/brammosoundcontest
It’s not just Brammo; EV Tone sales:
http://EVtones.com/
Tin Man 2 says
People tend to forget the power in a gallon of gasoline, Thats why its still being used. This is the 3rd time in my lifetime that people have been told that we are running out of gas 1971,1983 and 2007. The electrics may someday get close to the utility of an IC engine, But I doubt if I will live to see it. Electrics may be usefull in an Urban enviroment,shifting the pollution out of the overcrowded cities to the Rural areas,thus allowing more people to live like Ants in an Ant hill.
mark says
@QrazyQat 08.24.09 at 12:48 pm
> Perhaps they will all have “downloadable real-life engine noises”?
But of course that’s nonsense.
Not so. Have a look at
http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13606446
To quote just a little:
“It is possible to create a different sound within a car from the one that is heard outside, says Colin Peachey, a chief engineer with Lotus. Manufacturers could create their own sounds according to how they perceive their models. Carmakers already take engine noises seriously enough to use acoustic engineers to tune exhaust pipes, especially for high-performance cars. Drivers of electric cars might in future even be able to select different engine sounds, and maybe download them like ringtones.”
Add a little electro-magnetic oscillator to get an authentic thrum or rock (45deg V-twin or 90deg? Just dial it in 🙂 ), and there you have your authentic “V-twin rider experience” sans smell, oil and all the rest of the messy stuff.
Doug K says
In time a new generation of riders who grow up only with electric bikes will find them wonderful in ways we might not even know about or would understand now. A few old holdover retro grouches or lovers of mechanical things past will gather at “Internal Combustion Parks” to see an old motorcycle actually run or a Ferrari drive about just as steam train enthusiasts do now. No one in the future will want to go back to a world dominated by such engines just as we would not want to go back to the horse and buggy age before cars and trucks.
I would suggest that the transportation world of the future won’t be better or worse for the loss of the internal combustion engine, just different. Besides, a combination of GPS navigation, on-board control systems, vehicle-to-vehicle networking, and government road monitoring will leave you little control over your electric bike anyway.
PaulN says
Dude, my gaydar is on TILT. Electric bikes are fine, but no one will ever associate tough guys with a motorcycle that plugs into a wall. Sorry.
coho says
Obviously PaulN has never seen Akira.
Steve says
There are lots of reasons for motorcycles. Some people kinda like to ride but only ride when they can go eat. Some ride to be closer to the elements, some ride because they like the feel of a motorcycle. I am sure some will like electric motorcycles but it will take the newer generations to accept the change in large numbers.
nobody says
After the earth cooled but before the end of the age of dinosaurs, Manly Man rode Sportsters. Then new species emerged – Girly Man and a previously unknown species identified as the CB750 that was faster than the Sportster, but didn’t vibrate as much or make as much noise and all around more sophisticted and refined. Manly Man said that Girly Man weren’t real bikers – real bikers don’t want no sophisamication or any of that refined appliance feel no way, man.
But while the Sportster stayed on as a living fossil for Manly Man living fossils, the CB went extinct as ever more evolved species dominated Girly Man motosphere. Then a new species came upon the era – the electric bike. It didn’t vibrate as much or make as much noise as the typical CBR specimen Girly Man bike of that era.
While some claim that Girly Man was the superior species, it soon came clear that they were too preoccupied with style and image to compete with an emerging species that was more concerned with performance and function. Girly Man said that, like, they don’t want no sophistamication or any of that refined appliance feel no way, LOL dude. Then, as the new species of high performance riders rode electric bikes that quickly evolved into a distinctly different and now superior species, Girly Man and their bikes went extinct.
Yet the living fossils continued to roam the earth for another epoch………
JoeKing says
Rejoice motorcycle lovers, electric scooters will NEVER replace ICE’s. The rapidly(?) developing battery technology hasn’t developed anywhere near practicality, let-alone to a point where anyone but a rabid (misguided) environmentalist would actually consider one.
Batteries are a dead-end & until they repeal the law of diminishing returns, the unwitting taxpayer will continue throwing $billions at this technological boondogle as they have been doing for the last 20+ years… only to reach 1/30 the energy of gasoline.
Further, to market these silly toys to “motorcyclists” will prove these company’s well deserved end. These device’s sole purpose is the same as a Prius…a statement of moral superiority & environmental correctness of its owner; and if anyone thinks THATS a reason to buy a motorcycle….they are delusional.
No Doug K, 10 years from now electric vehicles will be in museums…as testaments to inefficiency, waste & bad marketing.
David says
If you don’t understand why the ICE replaced horses and steam engines you wont understand that electric replacing ICE is not the natural progression. Electric motors are the equivalent of the horse and steam engine. Electric vehicle’s have just now surpassed the efficiencies of a cowboys horse in 1860 when horses worked for a living. Steam engines are marvelous stationary power sources just like electric motors. ICE freed people in a way that some people cannot stand or understand. Freedom haters have been trying to regulate them out of existence every since. JoeKing points out those annoying laws of physics There are no free lunches. Wistful dreaming and hand wringing will not make batteries defy the laws of physics
Billy B. Tso says
wow, all this banter for batteries…lets just wait and see before we all get excited about an electric future…will all depend on whether we run out of fuel or not really…the polution point of ICE’s won’t carry. An odd comparison, but just think about the cigarettes; they’re proven to kill you and are addictive, yet the government won’t ban them or even regulate the use of nicotine…why because too much money is involved, lives mean little…sure they’ll give you ‘warnings’ but really nothing else…people, electric is a utopian dream…it’ll only at most run side by side with ICE’s….although the day you see HD develope an electric HD, i might need to retract the above, ha!
FREEMAN says
Maybe rather than trying to paint yourself as something you are not, you should just enjoy your ride and the road it takes you down. Those that choose a motorcycle based on an image alone are just begging for attention.
Jim says
“Dude, my gaydar is on TILT. Electric bikes are fine, but no one will ever associate tough guys with a motorcycle that plugs into a wall.”
I don’t know, riding past the local dirty book store the other day, a notorious glory hole haven, there were a couple of Harleys parked out front.
Azzy says
One of the things I dont much like about the electric bike is it seems to further push me out of the equation. On my current motorcycle, I stil have to shift, I still have to keep it at an RPM comfortable for me and the bike, i still have to look at the trip meter for when I should think about getting gas.
Even on my wife’s Hondamatic, I feel disconnected somehow, and it does not seem as fun. When i arrive on my Suzuki… I feel like I accomplished something getting there.
Adam Fred says
1. TRON TRON TRON TRON TRON
LIGHTCYCLE LIGHTCYCLE LIGHTCYCLE LIGHTCYCLE LIGHTCYCLE
2. AKIRA AKIRA AKIRA AKIRA AKIRA
POWERBIKE POWERBIKE POWERBIKE POWERBIKE POWERBIKE
Electric bikes – might be cool one day.
Ric Taylor says
Greetings. We stand at the crossroads of motorcycle innovation! It is like the replacing of the horse with the horseless carriage (i.e., motorcycle). Surely, there are a few “bugs” to work out initially. Just as surely, the technology will improve as we go along. If we support these innovations now, they will only go forward more rapidly.
What a great time to ride! GOD Bless!
arthur says
rather interesting to read everybodys views the coming of electric motorcycles, ,some say it wont happen for years to come ,better think again guys ,it will be here sooner than you think,much sooner ,in china electric scooters have been around for years ,sure nothing to write home about ,i have riden them when on holidays there, a fun ride ,they also have[ lpg powered scooters there as well,maybe thats something you have never heard of ] ,ok so your going to say ,they are not real motorbikes true .. myself i have had several motorbikes many trailbikes over the years and a couple of road bikes,still have a trailbike ,and i have a 600cc yamaha powered race car .really dont think i would like to see my race car powered by a electric bike engine ,but with the advancements in batteries and electric motors ,electric motorbikes will be come faster.lighter and travel longer distances,with on board charging sytems ,it will be interesing to see how much it would cost to repair these bikes,replace batteries ,motors etc ,maybe be cheaper with bulk production,coming from say china or taiwan ,who knows ,i have seen some of the electric style motor bikes shown on the web ,they do look cool .verycool.
for me if i could get a electric motor bike at normal motorbike prices then i would have one as a work commuter and fun , as well as a normal motor bike ,have the best of both worlds i feel ,for all you diehard engine powered motocylce riders ,these bikes will be around four years to come so no need to worry .
but have a think about this, when you son comes home on a electric powered motorbike and parks it in the garage,you laugh,gggrrrr he says, want to have a drag race dad ,then he blows you away at the start ,have you see the electric drag bike on this website ,seen how fast that sucker goes.i guess it just depends on what you like ,and really how can any one judge on a electric motor bike untill they have riden a good one ,there is room for both style of motor bikes and i for one say lets see come ,so just enjoy riding your motorbikes
z says
electric is for wimps give me a 69 pan head and ill go to my clan meeting “/, “/,