BMWAG are charged to be plugging into the latest craze with what could be our future, whether you're amped up about it or not, it does follow a familiar styling pattern to some of us. It remains to be seen if it'll be taken up by sportsridErs, tourErs and tradiEs alike.

Here, Malaysian website BikesRepublic.com bring us the nEws.

BMW Motorrad BrickE

Why does it need to be so ugly?

Probably great for commuting, touring not so much until they find a way to get good range and can do an ELECTRO-BUTT SS1K.

That looks crude by BMW standards but I'm sure they will get it right (compare to the E concept bike).  I'm hoping that the E bikes are fully evolved by the time the arthritis takes over my clutch hand. 

Woodie wrote:That looks crude by BMW standards but I'm sure they will get it right (compare to the E concept bike).  

Reckon it's a bare naked prototype. 
Didn't they have a hit or two on Canadian radio coupla decades back?

Read the link to the end.
It will just remain another sterile prototype, due to the lack of interest of the market and the lack of infrastructures. Electric bikes meet customers for short range commuters only.

Ah yes, The Bare Naked Ladies    Still around and there are some great videos of recent stuff on the 'Tube if you like vintage gear and home studios.

There have been hints at next gen battery technology of various kinds and when one of these proves good I think the range issues will be solved for most of us.  This was reported yesterday here in Canada,  Electric Beaver, so hopefully tour worthy motorcycles will not be too long in coming.

That's bloody heavy for a fairingless bike!!

(checks the date)

Two Wheels Better wrote:BMWAG are charged to be plugging into the latest craze with what could be our future, whether you're amped up about it or not, it does follow a familiar styling pattern to some of us. It remains to be seen if it'll be taken up by sportsridErs, tourErs and tradiEs alike.

Here, Malaysian website BikesRepublic.com bring us the nEws.

BMW Motorrad BrickE

I test-rode a Zero SR the other year, and was surprised & impressed by its rheostat-like power delivery. When one adds the loss of about 90% of the usual maintenance, these things start to look interesting. Of course, a 100-mile range limit at higher speeds is still insufficient.

I read an article recently that Ewen McGregor and Charlie are filming a "Long Way Up" documentary riding electric bikes.  Or is this old news?  I try not to crawl out of my cave too often...

I have an electric car and once you've driven one you have to be convinced to go back to old-tech petrol.  I imagine it will be the same with bikes.

nvboy

Apparently they just made it to LA and the end of the trip.  I guess it will all go to the video editing facility now.  They used electric support trucks as well.

Their e-ride from Ushuaia (tip o' South America) to LA was done on HD's new Livewire, unfortunately not the GS-derived, petrol-powered Pan America soon to be released. The had a Rivian e-truck (and occasionally used local's generators) to charge the bikes with and did the job in 90 days.

Two Wheels Better wrote:Their e-ride from Ushuaia (tip o' South America) to LA was done on HD's new Livewire, unfortunately not the GS-derived, petrol-powered Pan America soon to be released. The had a Rivian e-truck (and occasionally used local's generators) to charge the bikes with and did the job in 90 days.

That's pretty impressive.  By my calculations that amounts to a bit less than 100 miles a day.  At that rate my annual skeedaddles out west would take a bit more than ten weeks as opposed to the three that it takes me now. 

While I won't be spending $250 on gas for the trip I get to spend an extra $5000 on living expenses(meals, lodging, sightseeing).  On the plus side, I will get to spend a lot more time seeing things along the way.

I think this electric thing still has a way to go before it becomes viable for Iron Butt touring.

Word has it they only started to manage a still relatively low 300 miles per day once they reached New Mexico, due to the network of quick-charging stations throughout the States. I am very curious about e-bikes but agree it'll be some time before I can ride one all day long at the typical distances I cover on my K1300GT or K100RS.

and then theres the question of what to do with all the dead batteries , at the moment they burn them or dump them in landfill . doesnt sound so environmentally friendly to me .

Horses for courses. In a world where things so quickly and pointlessly become adversarial, it's a 'electric versus petrol' argument. With no winners.
Electric for urban - ban hydrocarbons in the cities. Petrol for the longer stuff. Do both, it's not perfect but it is a good step.

Chris, the problem is that the electrical proponents start off by saying the internal combustion engine is evil and destroying the world and that the electric vehicle(or public transit) was given to us by a loving master to save us all from our selfish carbon burning selves.

When we don't do what the enviros wish and flock to the urban trolleys and electric vehicles they call us selfish, evil destroyers of THEIR world. In my book that is not exactly the best way to convince people to see your point of view. The next phase will be to get government to mandate the use of electric vehicles(we are just on the cusp of that) followed closely by the outright banning of the internal combustion engine.

The future that the people who run things have in mind looks pretty bleak to me. The rate of change is accelerating and I'm giving fossil fuels 10, maybe 15 years. Fortunately, the odds are pretty good that I'll either be at room temperature, or worse, an incoherent drooling octogenarian by then, so it really won't matter to me. As for the younger among us, I sincerely wish them good luck.

We now have Zero from California, and soon Energica from Italy, at the shop to go with BMW  and Ducati. They're fast, silent but for the wind and tyre noise, good handling & though styling is subjective, good-looking, but have a lot of plastic panels on them, just like Beemers. Choices. I suspect it'll be that way for a while yet.

It is an odd feeling to reach for a non-existent clutch lever only to grab air...

Would like to see manufactures focus more on hy-bred and get the best of both engine/motor. I rode a Zero once (when they first hit the market) was very odd but fun but ran out of juice to fast would have bin great if a small engine could have extended the ride.

caveman wrote:Would like to see manufactures focus more on hy-bred and get the best of both engine/motor. I rode a Zero once (when they first hit the market) was very odd but fun but ran out of juice to fast would have bin great if a small engine could have extended the ride.

Packaging. It's one thing in a car, but between two wheels, it's entirely another. Where you gunna put it and what it requires at a minimum to fuel, ingest and expel?

The new Zero motos still only go 110 to nearly 200 miles. That doesn't quite work in Western Australia or up the guts between Adelaide and Darwin, or most of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma or the Road of Bones in Siberia.

For a couple years I've been thinking of applying for a government grant to investigate a wind powered motor vehicle, possibly a two wheeler.

With a large windmill rising above the pillion, it could generate enough power from the airflow as the bike is moving to power the bike's electric motors. I would think the project should be worth at least a half million dollars. It's just the kind of thing the New Green Deal is looking for.

I should contact AOC, I bet she'd go for it.