HD will make the rotor just a shade out of balance so the bike will have 'that' vibration the Harley riders have to have...

 

Electric Harley, No. Not sure what Harley's thinking here. Just can't see how this is a good business decision. Guess we will see how it turns out.

A bit off topic, I'd love to have an electric bicycle. I live in a beach community and the thought of having an electric motor help me cruise down the strand on a sunny day has always crossed my mind.

 

Some of the electric bikes are cool. I imagine you’ve seen the Copenhagen Wheel...

https://content.superpedestrian.com/...penhagen-wheel

 

I'm not up for electric cars or bikes just yet. They just don't have the range for me.

 

That's really cool!! The price is scary.

 

I thought I'd never cotton to the idea of an electric motorcycle - I want to shift, dammit, and I want to hear that engine/exhaust note, and I'm not worried about emissions, and.....then I went and test rode a Zero a few years ago.

Pretty much the best motorcycle test ride I've ever done.

Once they solve range, recharge time, and cost to the point of rough equivalence with an ICE motorcycle it will be game over for the dino burners. Those of us who love the ICE bikes will be the dinosaurs and slowly fade away.

That Zero ride kindled my interest in electric vehicles and led, in a series of steps, to our recent purchase of a Chevy Bolt (all electric). It's got decent range (238 miles), can add 80 miles of charge in half an hour, and, after tax breaks, is not much more than an equivalent ICE car. And, after those shortcomings, it's better than gas in pretty much every other area.

Protest all you want, rationalize all you want, force them to pry the gas nozzle from your cold, dead fingers, but electric vehicles are the future.

A quality, well-engineered electric Harley with good range, good recharge times, and a good price? I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

I won't be selling my current stable of gas bikes, but I'd love to add an electric.

 

Thanks for that account! It's especially great to hear from someone who's ridden a zero. I'll definitely test ride one if I get the chance.

Like you, the ICE Breakout is staying put, but with the right look, and the improvements that you mentioned, I could be tempted to add a horse to the stable.

 

I drive hybrid cars for over a decade but would never remotely consider a pure electric vehicle unless it has a range of 500 miles and could be recharged as fast as I can pull into a gas station and fill up.

I can see them in large metropolitan areas for commuting but not for open road touring which is my thing.

There will always be the range problem and recharging time issue. All of the elements on the periodic table are know as is their potential. There will be no miracle battery in the future.

Hybrids have been around for decades and have worked great for trains. The diesel engine is just for the juice to power the electric motors. I have a Sonata SE hybrid and get 52 to 55 mpg with a range of well over 600 miles. That is the true future. Outside of town hybrid intown electric.

Hydrogen is the better bet or tiny nuclear generators but not batteries.

 

Good ol Jerry Brown is talking about banning the internal combustion engine in California. I'm willing to bet they will ban, at a minimum, the sale of internal combustion vehicles within 10 years. So, if you live in California you may not have a choice if you still want to be on two wheels. The nutcases running the city of Seattle are also talking about banning the internal combustion engine during rush hours by 2020.

From Bloomberg: The internal combustion engine’s days may be numbered in California, where officials are mulling whether a ban on sales of polluting autos is needed to achieve long-term targets for cleaner air.

Governor Jerry Brown has expressed an interest in barring the sale of vehicles powered by internal-combustion engines, Mary Nichols, chairman of the California Air Resources Board, said in an interview Friday at Bloomberg headquarters in New York.

Brown, one of the most outspoken elected official in the U.S. about the need for policies to combat climate change, would be replicating similar moves by China, France and the U.K.

 

I would buy one. I currently own a Chevy Volt so I have some experience with EVs. However the problem I have with nearly all motorcycle EVs besides the range is lack of storage options.

meaning, if you want me to buy one put saddle bags on it so I can commute with it. i am not backpacking to work on a motorcycle. no. I also want somewhere to toss my rain suit or groceries/dinner on the way home.