Planning a trip around the world with an electric motorcycle
 

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum but I think it will be really helpful in planning our motortrip around the world!!

In about one and a half year we want to travel around the world with an electric motorcycle and a team of 30 students. We will be travelling starting in Europe via Saudi Arabie to China, then from the United States to Brazil. Right now I'm looking for as much information as possbile about this adventure.

The information I'm looking for is about:
- Is it safe and possible to sleep with 30 people in tents next to the road?
- How long can you last on a bike in one go without losing concentration or being exhausted? (we would like to be as fast as possible) How often and when do need to take a break?
- What do we have to take into account when you want to pass the border with such a large team?
- How do you plan your route?
- What kind of roads can we expect when traveling through so many different countries?
- What kind of extra trainings do we need and do we need additional driver licences (Permit from the Netherlands)?

Any information on one of these topics or anything that might help us is great!

Hi Noodweer

Firstly wow, what i great idea, i really hope you get it off the ground, but i would not have thought it would be easy to ride electric around the world, all the best to you

For some of your points
How long can you last on a bike in one go without losing concentration or being exhausted? (we would like to be as fast as possible) How often and when do need to take a break?

That depends on the individuals, some people are quite happy riding for hours in one go, hanging their legs and moving in the seat as they ride, the most I have done is about 3 hours then and a 30 min break before going again. With there being so many of you you will have to ride to the weakest person. As for concentration, if there is a lot to see whilst on the road i find its better for me, others may have different views, but on long motorway/autobahn rides I find i get bored quickly.

How do you plan your route?

Start of with the basics first, i.e.Timescale (how long are you doing the trip for?) which countries you are going to do in what order, once that is sorted you will also need to know how you are going to get from continent to continent, fly, ship?
Once you start getting this together you will need to take in to the equation how often you will need to charge the batteries and where you want to be stopping on a night.
Then places where you may want to visit, i.e.. The Golden Gate bridge, The Terracotta Army, Rio, etc etc
Mapping, paper is good as well as GPS/Sat Nav

What kind of roads can we expect when traveling through so many different countries?

In the countries you have mentioned you could if you wanted cover all manner of roads, Tarmac (normal road), Gravel, Dirt plus others maybe, it would depend on where you want to go exactly. Some roads will be easy going and other hard depending on the experience of the team/individual

What kind of extra trainings do we need and do we need additional driver licences (Permit from the Netherlands)?

Not knowing the level of your team?!
First Aid I would say is a must, basic mechanics course, unless you are taking one with you, again depending on where you want to go, MIRA (Medicine in Remote Areas) would be useful but not a must. A basic survival course again is useful but not a must. Basic map reading course, you will probably get more of others

Is it safe and possible to sleep with 30 people in tents next to the road?

IMO I would not do that but look for proper sites or get well away from the road

Another thing to think of when planning is VISA's for everyone


I hope this as been a little help, others will give you more info hopefully

Good luck
Wayne

Hi Lonerider, thank you for your response! Right now we are still in the start up phase, so all the information we get is helpfull. We still need to figure out all the things we need to take into account for such a trip.
Besides this site and forum, do you know some other similar sources where we could find information regarding travelling with a motorcycle?
Thanks in advance!

Hi
There is this site but IMO its more US orientated....ADVrider - Powered by vBulletin

There is also this site for SE Asia but very much ExPat orientated......Ride Asia Motorcycle Forum

I much prefer this site TBH, but if you Google adventure motorcycle riding or words to that effect you will get more, the two above are just some of the ones I have looked at

Wayne

Most answers are HERE on HUBB regards route planning, crossing borders and much more. Buy the HUBB DVD and read read read everything you can.

I have a few questions:
1. Why electric bikes? (elec. bicycles or motor bikes?)
2. Why 30 students? Who is paying?
3. Why are you doing this?
4. Are you running a FOR PROFIT tour? What is cost to the students? :innocent:

Guiding 30 students, none of whom know how to ride motorbikes, could be
a big challenge. To do it safely, ALL students would need proper training and TIME riding a bike. The FACT is novice riders fall down ... a lot.

Elec. bikes are EXPENSIVE and have limited range. It's a new area of technology and really in it's infancy. Elec. Bikes cost $10K USD on average.

Distance before re-charge varies ... roughly 70 kms to 150 kms. Quality elec. bikes are fast enough but won't go too far.

1. As with any big expedition ... you would need a very good "Advance Team" who ride ahead of the main group "fixing" and arrange camping or housing, food, power (to re-charge) and Medical help, Visas, shipments and mechanical repairs. IMO, it would need to be run sort of like a military operation. The better the advance team (fixers) the easier things will be.

2. You will need at least one big Sprinter Van (Mercedes) to carry spare parts, Tools, food, camping gear and act as an Ambulance. A doctor would be a must, IMO. Also, a full time mechanic will be kept busy.

There is lots more to consider ... this is only very basic plan.

Good planning. :welcome:

Costs?

China is expensive due to the required guides with the vehicle/s.
Shipping large vehicles is expensive - keep the vehicle size down such that they fit inside a standard shipping container.
The more people you have - the more costs you have. Think about the time too. You might do something like a smaller number of people - but they do a section of the trip and then you swap the people over, thus everyone supports the trip but you only have a smaller number of people there on the journey. This also means you have a large base of people at 'home' who can be called on for parts, information and ideas if trouble strikes.

Plan - battery/electricity
I assume you'll be taking a portable generator to charge the bike in remote areas. And a spare battery pack for it - you might be able to recharge that from one of your support vehicles while traveling. Then you might be able to swap the discharged battery for the charged one - thus keep moving to gain travel range.

Kanichi Fujiwara of Japan did a trip by electric scooter a few years ago. From what I hear, you will definitely need a support vehicle of some sort. In his case, he had a partner on a gasoline powered bike who could go ahead and charge batteries in very rural areas where it was hard to find someplace to charge up (Nullarbor Plain, Australia). You may find someone in the countryside willing to let one person charge a battery, but charging 30 batteries would be a challenge. A flexible schedule and a good support team are a must!

The Zero S electric bike is s superb one with 200kms per charge and with an extra battery 400 kms a day one can do at too speed of 120 kms. The charhing time is not more than an hour n a half. I rode them in Amsterdam on my way to Uk from India on an Enfield last year. Damn good bikes.

Yes I agree it has to be a military like operation. Perfect planning and timing will be the key. If you can charge with a generator then a major headache is thro. The first step to planning is consideration of the weather. Doing your own country or a neighbouring one would be a trail worth every dime. It would be a wonderful venture for sure with Discipline the most important factor. Its so exciting and wish you and your team all success. If you do come to India can coordinate well for the kids.

First of all, thanks guys for the responses so far!!

I think it is useful to give some more details about our trip:

@mollydog
1. the challenge we face is to make an electric vehicle; we choose a motorcycle and we will build it ourselves.
2. 30 students, because that's the amount of people we think we need for this project to work. We need to build the bike, need to plan everything and need to look for sponsors
3. we are doing this because we want to promote electric vehicles. By travelling around the world, we want to show that electric driving is possible.
4. No, our goal is not to make profit, but to promote electric driving. The costs for the students is the work they do for the project; so we need funding also

The suggestion given about travelling like a military operation is indeed how we think we will be doing it. Important to know is that we won't be traveling with 30 motorcycles. The goal is to run at least 1 motorcycle and driver, who will be traveling the whole trip. The rest of the team will be there for support, and thus likely in cars. (We are still figuring out what kind of vehicles we want to bring and how many, we also need to sleep and this will be probably in tents next to the road...)

And yes! The HU site is indeed very helful!! The reason we started on this forum is to start a discussion about our specific trip. We know we have to take into account a lot of different things and we don't want to miss any information. So every comment will be considered and was very helpful so far!

Hi Kayjay,
Yes we will very likely be traveling through India! Is it perhaps possible that you can give some information about traveling through India? Everything you think we need to know is welcome of course :)

For example, we are very curious to know if there are any additional requirements we need to take into account for building the motorcycle.

Furthermore, what is the best option for sleeping in India? Taking into consideration we want to be traveling as fast as possible and we are with 30 people. Is it safe to sleep next to the road in tents, or do we need to look for other solutions?

Thank you!

:thumbup1:
Since you need sponsors to pay ... Perhaps approach one of several serious elec. vehicle manufacturers ... either Car or Bike: IE: Zero, Mission, Tesla, Nissan, Honda, BMW and others.

All are invested in elec. vehicles. Tesla, Nissan, BMW and Honda all have CASH to sponsor such a project and are very supportive in promoting Elec. vehicles. Perhaps you could work on the design and production Side By Side? In partnership with one of these manufactures on designing and building your bike?

You could do it your self ... but partnering with a big manufacturer could:
1. Help with financing of project
2. Provide experience and expertise in the design/production
3. Allow the use of latest proprietary break through technologies.
4. Provide excellent educational opportunity of "Hands On" experience for your students.
Anyway, just an idea. :innocent:

This is very good ... bier
but you already are not the first to cross continents on elec. bikes/scooters. But 100% worth while. GO FOR IT! :thumbup1:
Others are doing it now or have done it.

I'm glad to hear this, so many are simply out to make a "quick buck" off the latest fad. :D:D

All good!
I would build at least two bikes ... that way you would have a complete, spare bike. Also, perhaps divide your group into 3 groups, 10 people each?

Each group would cover a specific section of the world, work in rotation. One group could work in advance of the bike/Mini Bus. All would rotate every month or so.

With 10 per group, all could fit in ONE Mini Bus. Your spare bike could hang on rear rack with generator/parts. The Mini Bus could be Dual or Triple Fuel type vehicle: Diesel, Natural Gas/Propane, Electric, switchable.

The other two groups would be resting or working ahead to prepare for arrival of the bike/Mini bus. This would save HUGE money on Carnet and freight costs ... only ONE support vehicle to deal with. (of course advance group would need some sort of vehicles too)

I would not sleep on side of the road in India. Hostels/Hotels are SO CHEAP, not worth hassle to camp. Camping takes (and wastes) a lot of riding time, especially for a BIG GROUP. If route is planned carefully and stays on schedule, you could arrive in a town every day. (mostly) Your advance group would have EVERYTHING waiting, including food. :thumbup1:

Camping could be done when you have IDEAL location, and TIME, (not the side of a road ... No one would be able to sleep) All the best!

bier :scooter: bier

So you might end up with promoting electric vehicles by burning tons of fossil fuels in your generator(s) and cars?
Some people might think that you prove the opposite of what you like:nono:

If the single support vehicle breaks down? The trips delayed.
The suggestion of two bikes is good, and should be extended to the support vehicleS. Two support vehicles would be good.

And keep the number of people at any one time down to say 10. The rest can stay at home, do a change over of say 5 people from time to time - thus you have involvement of everyone and they are not away for a very long time (which is hard to organize for most people).

Incredible India is very beautiful and cheap. Hospitality is in the genes. Cheap clean places to stay. Also many who would accomodate the teams in which I can help coordinate. India is wonderful as we have 28 states all different from each other like 28 different countries in culture food customs language looks... even fir Indians to travel in India is very exciting. The roads are good all over the national network and so is the communication. Camping is not worth it as there are no specific zones for it. Its a hot country so camping if a must can be only during winters here.

Come to India