Devon TRF Group Forum

Albert · Clubman A

Would you convert to an electric motorbike?

moe · Clubman B

not a chance,i won't even convert to 4stroke

jt · Powermonger!!

If I had a bit of land where I lived - yes

Blueray · Clubman A

Not for me 4hrs is only a half day ride , if a trail bike existed that could do 120 miles on one charge I could be tempted

Kleenex · Clubman B

I love the smell of two stroke in the morning

Jez · Clubman B

Might consider one for off road use only, but I think it would be suicidal to ride one on tarmac - loud pipes save lives!!!

russell11031967 · Devon's Best

Surely most of us bike riders are petrol heads, electric just wouldn't be the same smile

TTR · Powermonger!!

Ah - but an electric mountain bike opens up access to bridleways wink

Albert · Clubman A

A bit mixed then.

Blueray wrote:

"Not for me 4hrs is only a half day ride , if a trail bike existed that could do 120 miles on one charge I could be tempted"

Range always seems to be the downside with electric, but since with an elec bike range means weight 4 hours is probably just right for competition/events. You could always carry a second battery pack?

I imagine when elec bikes become more common, tailored battery pack size will become as common as oversized tanks are on our petrol machines.

Ive thought about elec mountain bikes too, but you need the pedals to stay legal and i can see that being a pain. Plus they strike me as pretty overpriced for what they are.

jt · Powermonger!!

Thought I would never get a FI bike as I like old school carbs - but now I have one I think it's ace - so never say never

jt · Powermonger!!

russell11031967 wrote:
Surely most of us bike riders are petrol heads, electric just wouldn't be the same

Never thought I would move to a fuel injected bike, but now I have one I find it's excellent - so never say never

Albert · Clubman A

jt wrote:
russell11031967 wrote:
Surely most of us bike riders are petrol heads, electric just wouldn't be the same
Never thought I would move to a fuel injected bike, but now I have one I find it's excellent - so never say never

It's funny i hated the idea of FI originally too, i suppose mostly because i felt i had finally got a handle on carbs. I don't have an FI bike yet but now see it as a plus rather than negative.

I guess im a petrol head too; i love the rumble of a happy motor, but loud bikes have always been a turn off for me and i definitely don't agree with the loud bikes save lives theory.

Im no expert, but suspect performance wise electric has the potential to dominate motorsport if some bright spark can figure out a way to store enough charge on them, i guess if that happens all petrol bikes will end up classics.

-- Edited by Albert on Friday 3rd of July 2015 10:47:37 AM

Bob Adams · Clubman A

TTR wrote:
Ah - but an electric mountain bike opens up access to bridleways

Yes, and they are getting very good indeed! Check this out

http://www.ktm-bikes.at/en/bikes/e-bike.html?action=bike_details&bike_id=4&cHash=599a872ffaed12c42fcc59bc1589849a

-- Edited by Bob Adams on Friday 3rd of July 2015 03:46:04 PM

RichT4 · Champion

I think they are too soon.

Lithium based batteries are good but have a lot of draw backs, capacity degradation for one - this happens with time regardless of use (10% a year for some types). Also Lithium batteries don't like being deeply discharged so if you really ring their necks you will be drastically reducing their life/capacity, and they aren't cheap to replace.

The next battery technology may be just around the corner, and when that happens it'll be game changer for sure, the future's bright..., the future's Graphene!

Read this if you want to be excited (or bored for 5 minutes wink )

...and yes, I'd have an electric motorcycle as soon as they are good enough. Though the mighty DRZ is a tough act to follow! biggrin

KronreifTrunkenpolzMattighofen · Devon's Best

RichT4 wrote:
I think they are too soon.

I disagree bud.

Swiss lakes have banned the internal combustion engine, so the marine industry are getting forced in E power. 6 Li-Ion batteries can power a ski boat at 60 knots for 6 hours, with a full recharge in 2 hours!

I think the technology is here, we just need to embrace it.

KTM E Bike for £2k on cycle to work scheme! Here

-- Edited by KronreifTrunkenpolzMattighofen on Friday 3rd of July 2015 05:43:38 PM

RichT4 · Champion

KronreifTrunkenpolzMattighofen wrote:
Swiss lakes have banned the internal combustion engine, so the marine industry are getting forced in E power. 6 Li-Ion batteries can power a ski boat at 60 knots for 6 hours, with a full recharge in 2 hours!

That's interesting stuff.

Do you have any long term owner reviews/feedback on how the battery packs are holding up?

However..., what you have detailed there is a new requirement making the old technology obsolete, but not a new technology replacing and old technology. wink

KronreifTrunkenpolzMattighofen · Devon's Best

Not yet, but we havent had a complaint in two years. That said, we operate a 80% discharge window, so the batteries should give 2000+ cycles. Any complaint and we remotely access the batteries via gprs and normally its user error - trying to recharge in 90 mins etc..

jt · Powermonger!!

Blimey - good shout Nick never shown any interest in our CTWS - I may now wink

RichT4 · Champion

Battery cost is the major draw back, for now.
Just out of interest, how much does that 6 batteries and motor setup cost?