Erik Buell has had his share of ups and downs in the motorcycle business, but say what will, you can't say he isn't persistent, no matter how often his companies have hit hard times, he keeps coming back, but now he's taking a different road. Instead of designing around a Harley Davidson derivative engine or something built by Rotax, he's going all electric with FUELL. Well, to be precise, he and his partners are doing so, because Erik, serving as CTO, is one of three founders along with Fred Vasseur and Francois-Xavier Terny who is the CEO of the new company. They, along with a small team, have designed and are building an electric assist bicycle, the Fluid and an electric motorcycle, the Flow.
The FUELL Fluid, was launched through an Indiegogo campaign with expected early deliveries in late August/early September and further deliveries as parts arrive and the bikes are assembled. The "Pedelec" Fluid has variable pedal assistance and a range of approximately 125 miles of urban riding. Initial prices, at least for early backers on Indiegogo, are from $2749 to $3249 depending on the specific model, though prices are slated to rise very soon. Deliveries will be direct to the customer with some basic assembly required. They had a temporary showroom in NYC offering test rides to interested individuals and early backers. Reviews were very positive.
The FUELL Flow is an electric motorcycle, but like the Fluid, designed for the urban riding environment. Acceleration, as you would expect, is excellent, 0-60 mph in 2.7 seconds, though top speed is limited to 85 mph. Range is about 150 miles and recharging takes anywhere from 30 minutes to 10 hours depending on your specific charging arrangement. It has regenerative braking to extend range, though the primary influence there is your right wrist. The price is $10,995.
FUELL's vision:
Faced with saturated cities – pollution, traffic jams, noise – and the arrival of new regulations limiting internal combustion engines, the founding idea of FUELL is to offer a complete and unique selection of innovative, electric and attractive 2-wheelers to cover all the needs for urban “macro-mobility” – city journeys that require a personal vehicle to cover distances greater than 3 miles – and therefore replace cars and public transportation.
The Fluid:
The Flow:
In the urban environment for which these are designed, both the Fluid and Flow should do well if their performance and reliability are as promised. They look good, the specs are on target, the pricing is in range and if initial customers have a good experience there's every reason to believe they can gain a foothold in the e-bike marketplace. I'd like to see them succeed.
Specifications for the Fluid and Flow
Company web site: FUELL
Alan D Hoffmann says
Just a suggestion, synth engine sounds. An adjustable safety consideration to enhance ride experiance and warn others of your presence. You can make it part of an audio system.
John says
Alan, my thoughts exactly. Perhaps along with faux engine sounds options built in the electronics will be a camera so you can prove the pedestrian with earphones stepped off the curb right in front of you without looking, ha, ha.
Henry Lauenstein says
Agreed but make it super/rally csr sound!
Michael says
I feel sorry for the other two principals in the company. Buell may be persistent but in failure. Just because you can put gas in a swing arm doesn’t mean it’s innovative.
Paul Crowe says
We’ve had many very long discussions here on The Kneeslider about Buell, but for someone you call a failure, he sure did build a lot of motorcycles and it was Harley Davidson that pulled the plug and then prevented Erik from continuing the company on his own under the same name. While under Harley’s control, many decisions about the bikes he built were made by Harley not Erik. His restarts afterwards never really gained momentum, but the motorcycle business as a whole at the time was slow so he was facing strong headwinds.
I think these electrics are solid designs and I hope they do very well, but whatever happens, I always applaud someone who is willing to roll up his sleeves and get into the fray.
Craig Alberhasky says
Erik Buell always has been an innovator and had and has the cojones to put himself out there and do it where others critique and do nothing. I think the Fluid and Flow are outstanding and wish him and his partners all the success in the world. By the way, I own two Buell motorcycles and they both run great.
charlie says
It would be interesting to know what the rear wheel weighs with the motor there, and how that plays into the suspension compliance and handling. Damping a heavy weight in high speed (bump speed, not bike speed) events, like potholes, etc., that you’d find in city environment is difficult without upsetting the chassis and rider. The larger IoM of it at speed will play into the cornering, too, particularly with an unbalanced set, front to rear. The bike can feel “hinged”, turning in quickly (light front) and resisting change (heavy rear), I’m interested to see what the ride reports will say on those points.
Jimbo says
My exact curiosity! Seems a very bold decision.
On paper everything else looks great, it’s one of the first electric bikes I could actually see myself owning. Mind you, not being able to clutch something with the stated level of performance doesn’t leave me optimistic for wheelies 😉