[tigranbs]

EV motorcycles are a huge struggle! I have been riding motorcycles pretty much my whole adult life, but after trying electric bikes a few times while in the EU, I felt they were like toys. Honestly, how can you ride a motorcycle that sounds like a kitchen blender? FYI: I understand they are more efficient and faster, but a motorcycle is not about efficiency; it's more about a hobby, fun. In the EU market, it is mostly deliveries because cities are built for them.

[givemeethekeys]

EBikes are quiet and awesome. People who like loud bikes and loud cars are, thankfully an extreme minority where I live.

[cptskippy]

The Venn Diagram of people who ride motorcycles purely for entertainment, and people who like to annoy others by being loud and obnoxious is just a circle.

[tzs]

First, that is wrong because Venn diagrams don't work the way you think they do.

Second, even if they did work they way they think they do it would still be wrong. :-)

Venn diagrams show all possible inclusion/exclusion relations between the sets they are showing. A Venn diagram of two sets is always two circles that partly overlap.

Even if the way they worked is that you could omit regions that are empty and redraw the remaining regions to be circular, it doesn't help because ending up with a single circle with both sets in it would mean you are asserting the the two sets are equal.

That is clearly false because pretty much everyone can name someone who likes to annoy people by being loud and obnoxious but does not ride a motorcycle.

[cptskippy]

That was a lot of exposition to refute what was clearly a joke.

[cptskippy]

> ...after trying electric bikes... I felt they were like toys.

> ...a motorcycle...it's more about a hobby, fun.

I don't think you have successfully articulated why EV motorcycles are a struggle. If anything you've created further confusion.

[mynameisash]

> a motorcycle is not about efficiency; it's more about a hobby, fun.

It's also about fun, but for me, it's definitely about efficiency. My 600cc gets 50mpg versus 31 for my Honda Fit.

98% of my 30k+ miles on my bike are commuting miles. Bonus efficiencies: better parking, HOV lanes.

[inerte]

In Brazil it's for deliveries but also to avoid traffic, and a cheaper way to get around in more remote areas (people traded their horses for motorcycles!). Only rich people buy motorcycles because it's fun.

[kevin061]

I like when my vehicles take me from A to B safely. If they are also quiet, offer a smooth ride, and are easy to refill/recharge, then even better.

[mmooss]

That's a response to any innovation - it's not like the old thing. There are always trade-offs that someone can point to. At the slowest adoption rate, over time people will grow up using the new thing, which becomes their old thing (until they say the same thing about something else 30 years from now).

[HPsquared]

For many it's about traffic and parking. At least for the moped / scooter riders.

[nickthegreek]

One the primary reasons I have a vespa is that in my big city you are allowed to park them for free on the sidewalk as long as you are not blocking the main flow of traffic. Never having to worry about parking gets me out and about when I never would have due to the headache before. It is so convenient and the gas mileage is nuts.

[gwbas1c]

> Honestly, how can you ride a motorcycle that sounds like a kitchen blender?

All the more reason to aggressively ban gas motorcycles.

FWIW: Harley designed a "loud" drivetrain for electric motorcycles so they can have a distinctive sound when they switch over.

[nicoburns]

On the other hand, I would never ever consider a traditional motocycle (partly becuase they are so noisy). But an EV one is very appealing. Exactly because it's more efficient and practical.

[mikestew]

On the other hand, I would never ever consider a traditional motocycle (partly because they are so noisy).

They don’t come that way, jackasses modify them. My large displacement BMW is louder than our ICE car, sure, but you probably won’t notice it sitting next to you at a stoplight. And yet it still has enough power to smoke just about any car that doesn’t cost deep in six figures.

[baseballdork]

Are they faster? I guess at some point it comes down to gearing, but a liter bike is hitting 300km/h and has more than enough torque to loop you from standing still. I'm not sure what an electric motor adds here for hobbyists or speed demons.

[korse]

They aren't faster in the cases I know of. As an example, the Isle of Man TT Zero was discontinued partially because 2008 predictions of electric bikes reaching parity with gas by 2025 didn't pan out.

Even for small stuff, a minibike with a 212cc 4-stroke can have comparable performance to something like a Cake or Surron and is a fraction of the cost.

Personally I think the electric motorcycle market should try and max performance versus weight. Perhaps something pedal assisted that could hit 60 mph without too much fuss but light enough that it could be shouldered up a few flights of stairs. Range can be low, as in 10-15 miles per charge max but balanced by swappable battery packs.

[Retric]

ICE engines lose power when changing gears, so they aren’t strictly grip limited.

[baseballdork]

Sure, but when you can get to 90mph in first gear, does that matter?

[Retric]

Little point to owning a bike like that if you only ever go to 90mph. Transmissions with correctly calibrated gear ratios to the normal use case are useful things for ICE engines.

[baseballdork]

But how many EV bikes can even hit 90?

[Retric]

The fast ones can which is the only thing that matters in this comparison. Just as there are plenty of slow ICE bikes, but again they aren’t part of this comparison either, this is about 200+MPH bikes like the Lightning LS-218 vs Ducati Panigale R etc.

[somerandomqaguy]

They shine best I think as alternatives to the 50cc segment; 60kph max with round trip taking 5km to 10km. At that point the limitations aren't a big deal. Anything beyond that's... iffy.

[xnx]

> but a motorcycle is not about efficiency; it's more about a hobby, fun.

Torque is fun