"With regard to electric vehicles, I am all for them because most of the incremental electricity needed to run those vehicles will come from gas-fired electric generation. However, I do not believe it is wise for America to substitute dependence on foreign oil for dependence on Chinese batteries." Aubrey McClendon

Time to Ride || ZERO MOTORCYCLES

Anyone ridden one of these?

Eat, Drink and ride like the wind
xfiltrate

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Motorcycle Parking Buenos Aires, Argentina
www.xfiltrate.com

Hi Ed. Whether or not most of the electricity for electric bikes / cars (any trucks yet?) comes from gas fired power stations at the moment I suspect it'll come from photovoltaic sources in the not too distant future. The number of solar farms going up across the US really surprised me when we were touring around the east coast / Canada a few weeks back. People are putting them up in their back gardens/ yards everywhere. If the promised Tesla electric roof tiles actually work (and the price comes down) there will be a lot of people with personal power to feed into the grid for credit / charge vehicles etc.

As fuel is so cheap in the US the incentive to dump gas and drive electric won't probably be price. In fact in the US I'm not sure what it will be. I'm not aware of any of the Euro style pollution restrictions on personal vehicles (as opposed to commercial ones) entering city centres that seem to be aimed (in my opinion) at pushing people towards electric power. Unless there's some hyped up by the media and pounced upon by politicians scare story about, well, I don't know, maybe vehicle emissions are lowering the nation's I.Q. or something ( you might have had that one already), I don't know why the average mid westerner would get rid of his V8 Dodge Ram / F150 and buy a Chevy E-Z glide electric.

Part of the problem with electric vehicles is that they face a chicken or egg dilemma. Without a network of recharging points you're restricted to a fairly small radius from your home. I notice a few recharging points springing up around here in the UK and in some supermarket car parks in the US but woefully few - one or two power points in a 1000 vehicle car park. And it's not as if you can charge and go. Instead of 5 mins for gas you're plugged in and blocking the socket for 5 hrs. Would you really pay a premium for a vehicle - car or bike, where, if you go beyond half your pathetically small power radius, you have to take a chance on finding a free power point to get home. Most of these sockets are installed to demonstrate "green" credentials rather than to be of practical use and I suspect of the money for them comes from the organisation's (whatever it is) marketing budget.

The Bike Zero you linked to may be ok if it's bought by Starbucks cruisers as there's loads of those so you wouldn't have to ride far but, again in the US, "if it ain't Harley it ain't sh*t" so its market is likely to be limited. The electric sports bike may represent a gap in the market but whether there's a market in the gap with current technology and / or incentives is another matter. I've never ridden one but the bloke that runs my local Land Rover centre is a bike nut and a year or two back he bought himself a basic model electric bike (not sure of the brand) to play with. Motors etc have come and gone as he's looked at getting more power out of it and last time I saw him it was a good 30mph faster than when he bought it. Battery life, of course, has plummeted and now he only uses it for the two mile (each way) trip to the local supermarket to buy his lunch. He does get there quickly though! To go home he still uses his Dakar look-alike V8 L.R. That just about some up the state of the market at the moment. It's all a bit like computers in the 1970's - big on hype, short on performance and with no connectivity.

backofbeyond, I agree with your analysis - so I am focusing on one particular comment.

IMHO: obvious to me... many Harley owners need to be worshipped - why else would a sidewards glance, as a Harley overtakes you, reveal a rider almost prone with outstretched arms configured Christlike while crucified. Some Harley riders ride with throttle and clutch positioned well above their heads. Perhaps telling the world how persecuted they feel?

I have a little game I play whenever I can, and it is very often here in Flagstaff along Route 66....
I enjoy riding my KLR 650, my NX400 Honda or my G650-gs BMW (depending on what continent I'm on) each with 30 plus country flags on the panniers, into the midst of the Harley riders as they mount or dismount and pass out my business cards. (see card below)
Then, I offhandedly ask : "Any of you boys ever ride to Argentina, I will park your Harleys for a substantial discount."knowing for sure half the group have not a clue where Argentina is...

Most look dumbfounded, some trying to figure out where Argentina is, others knowing full well that all their horsepower and their worshipability (new word) has just been usurped by this older gentleman wearing a Shoei helmet, and flag stickers from every country of the world - and probably best not to be messed with!

One, usually the obvious group leader, after studying my card for way too long....... always asks the question - "Do you rent motorcycles? "No, way too much liability." I reply, "but, I will park yours if you can get there..."

Then, I ride off into the foreign sunset - as the Harley riders shake their heads in wonderment.

Eat, Drink and discover the real sh*t

xfiltrate

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__________________
Motorcycle Parking Buenos Aires, Argentina
www.xfiltrate.com