Food for thought ........

Motorcyclists are becoming a minority-minority group in the UK and if the shrinkage of those getting motorcycle licences and buying motorcycles continues, over a couple of decades we will have disappeared from the roads, in any case. The rigmarole of the licencing system for motorcycles is one that is far harder to obtain than for 4 wheeled vehicles, and that seems to have been deliberate on government's part.
 
I’m sure to get slagged for suggesting this but e-bikes are motorcycles too and are a gateway to more powerful machines. Honda has just announced plans for an extensive line of electric motorcycles as part of a plan to sell millions in the next ten years. Just like in four wheeled vehicles going electric does not mean the end of driving pleasure.IMG_0207.jpeg
Honda has built a new factory to make solid state batteries with no rare earths like lithium. These are lighter, have greater capacity, are much less flammable and charge much faster than current technology.

As for the death of traditional bikes, that may be a bit exaggerated. BMW have just announced the highest sales of motorcycles in their entire history: over 210,000 machines.
 
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I have been watching a bloke on Utube travelling around the world on an E-Bike, the number of E Skooters in India made locally is huge. The biggest issue he has is the lack of standardisation of chargers and the plugs they run. Although he just announced the bearings in his engine are roaring and apparently unfixable at 65,000ks.
 
If you want to get my take on the guy asking what plans the government has to ban all petrol and diesel motorcycles ........... ( Lord Truscott ) ........ then see my comments on You Tube ...........

Basically , this is an ex Labour Party political organiser and Trade and Industry minister who ....... works and lobbies on behalf of fossil fuel companies ....... has allegedly tried to make amendments to a government bill on behalf of one his clients in return for a £ 72,000 fee ...... buys large shares in petroleum companies ...... says coal should continue to fuel power stations ...... who in 2009 allegedly classified his small unoccupied flat in Bath as his main residence so he could then claim £125,000 of public money as a subsidy against his £ 700,000 Mayfair flat .......

....... but at the same time questions pollution levels in city centres , asks if diesel buses should be banned , wants a blitz on E- Bike use , and asks the government what plans it has to ban petrol motorcycles ........

........ and then questions whether a nuclear war with Russia would necessarily result in an " unwelcome outcome " ..........

He currently sits as an unaffiliated member of the House of Lords , having been elevated to a peerage by PM Tony Blair back in 2004 ..........

Truscott " resigned " from the Labour Party in 2009 , the year the Sunday Times first raised the allegations against him , and three other Labour peers , regarding accepting money from companies in order to amend government bills in a way which would benefit those companies .

What a guy .............



The main point being made in the MAG video of course , is that once new petrol bikes are banned from being sold ..... then that makes it far easier to call for a ban on the use of all existing petrol bikes as well ...... ( that`s your Laverda , btw ) ........... It`s the next logical step , after all .......

As Colin Brown says ......... Who wants any further government interference in the sort of motorcycle I want to buy , and the sort of motorcycle I want to ride ?

I sometimes get the feeling some are not really particularly bothered about that ........ you`ve always got the car , have`nt you ? ...........


Of course , being charitable .... It could just be a badly worded inquiry as to whether motorcycles will be treated in the same manner as cars when it comes to the 2030 / 5 ban ........... motorcycles are never considered as a legitimate , separate form of transport when it comes to government announcements , always being lumped together with cars ........... but being charitable always suggests a degree of naivety ...... so always assume the worst ............
 
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Steve G. said:
Good luck!!
Wonder how the third world feels about that?
Click to expand...
This question about a possible petrol motorcycle ban ..... ( all motorcycles , new and old ) ...... would only apply to the UK .........

We here in the UK have to be ...... " World leaders in the transition to Net Zero " ...... ( copyright Ed Milliband and the Labour Party ) .........

It`s " unstoppable " , apparently .........
 
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Electric motorcycle is the same as laser shotgun shooting, watching anything with the sound off, that feeling you get when the bike coasts to a halt when you run out of fuel…E- bikes go from A to B but that isn’t what it’s about, you all ride Laverdas , How much of the attraction is the noise? Would you ride a Jota if it sounded like a Dyson? I went in my first E car yesterday ( son got it as a hire car) even he said it’s Erie .
I think the future of Petrol engined vehicles is a combined Classic Car, truck, Motorcycle lobby rather like the NRA in the US that have some clout.
 
Exmoor beast said:
Electric motorcycle is the same as laser shotgun shooting, watching anything with the sound off, that feeling you get when the bike coasts to a halt when you run out of fuel…E- bikes go from A to B but that isn’t what it’s about, you all ride Laverdas , How much of the attraction is the noise? Would you ride a Jota if it sounded like a Dyson? I went in my first E car yesterday ( son got it as a hire car) even he said it’s Erie .
I think the future of Petrol engined vehicles is a combined Classic Car, truck, Motorcycle lobby rather like the NRA in the US that have some clout.
Click to expand...
I have my BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle = e-car) for almost 3 1/2 years now. Allthough there is a big lobby promoting they are shit, they do not last long, they burn all of a sudden, you can not drive them long distance, recharging does take way to long etc. etc. etc. - I found non of that true.

I covered 24.000km the first year, doing trips of 600km or more. We have people in our community that pulled a boat trailer down to Portugal's south coast from Germany (2.300km) for vacation. EV's actually statistically burn less often than fuel operated cars. Charging on a super charger takes currently between 15 and 20 Minutes. However, that's every 400km, which is when I need a brake for pieing and having a coffey anyway and very often, the car calls me back as it's charged bevore I finished my coffee...

finding a charger has never been a problem to me when I was traveling, there are currently by far (!!) more public chargers than gas-stations (for every gas station in germany, there is at least 10 chargers; number is rapidly growing by roughly 15% every year)

Currently, the bikes available though do have their limitations (range mainly, recharging speed, weight). This will change over the years.

There is nothing wrong with having a hobby car or bike that's petrol driven. For the daily driver, my decission was to go EV for several reasons:

-less parts that need replacement every once in a while
-almost no service costs
-recharging possibility at home (can you fuel your car up at home over night?)
-way cheaper costs per 100km
-way cheaper overall cost
-more relaxed driving (silent, smooth)

But that's me and my decission. Each to their own, please!

BTW: there is a bann for fuel driven cars coming from the EU starting in 2030 or 2035 (not sure). Current German government (though green party is involved...) has stoped that for germany and allows fuel driven cars, if they can use e-fuels. Problem though will be that if all EU countries go electric - where do your get your e-fuel when you go on vacation or business-trip to other countries than Germany...? ;-)
 
I’ll happily ride an electric powered bike, but I don’t understand the thinking behind the styling of many of the current crop of bikes on the market, they are just plain ugly when I dont see why they need to be.
I’m also hoping there will be a market for low/zero carbon/carbon neutral synthetic fuels to run my old Laverda on, although with Trump and Putin in power, petrol is going to be around for quite a few more years yet and will probably see out my riding career.
 
Have you seen this?

www.mcnews.com.au

Kawasaki's electric Ninja e-1 and Z e-1 have arrived in Australia

Kawasaki describes the Ninja e-1 and Z e-1 as comparable to 125cc motorcycles, a comparison reflected in their respective top speeds of 88 km/h and 85 km/h. However there's a bit more to the story.
www.mcnews.com.au www.mcnews.com.au

Clearly not a replacement for your Laverda, but it does look like a motorcycle. Just wish for a bit more performance and range...

cheers,

bazzee
 
Have had battery car for 3.5 years, 40k miles. Zero servicing in that period. Charge overnight at home, price per mile about one fifth of petrol or diesel. So easy to drive, particularly around town, almost one pedal driving. But I’m not a car freak, they are transport, so the above works for me. I can’t wait until cars are autonomous.

Have had the use of a Zero electric bike. Lovely power delivery, but it just doesn’t hit that spot where you feel man and machine in tune. Real or imagined, that is part of riding a motorcycle for me. And their range is a real problem, you’ve got to start thinking about range/charge very soon into your ride.
 
I think that e-bikes are not for the old fashoned rider as we are. Their design targets the new generation that comes up, who built their taste by playing Playstation or other video games. Even with the BEV's, people are split regarding the styling. I personally enjoy both, the old world of my 944 Porsche and the new world of a minimalistic cockpit of my Tesla. Same is for bikes, I like the classic style of my Laverdas but also enjoy what looks like it's coming from a StarWars or StarTrack Movie... Remember the bikes in Battleship Galactica? :) Man, what would I have given for having one when I first saw them.. Do look ugly, I agree, but they were able to fly... :love: Oh - and they had the invisible mode!

 
Moto-e is pretty exciting to watch, although the cambelt-ish whine is less entertaining than the noise of a race tuned engine, the performance seems pretty good.
 
E Bikes, well after having test rides on several different bikes, I feel they have no soul. Yes, even the Harley 'Live Wire', which has about as much Harley soul as a Vespa, the Vespa has more.
I remember sitting astride the JOTA at a traffic light on my way north to the Laguna Moto GP, it was a cold dry crisp morning and I could see my breath, the lumpy idle of the triple reminded me how good this ride was about to become, 2 more turns and on Highway 1. Before pulling away from the light came the sound of a Ducati V-twin and then the rat-tat-tat sound of its dry clutch, then a couple of Gixsers the soundtrack of motorcycling.
Later on at the Ragged Point car park you sit and listen to riders in the distance crack open the throttle upshift then a blip and downshift and you try to guess the bike before it appears out of the trees, you think correct every time if it is a Harley. We all know these places.
With the hum of the multi-pole motor and the whine of the belts, you do not even hear an E-Bike until it is on top of you, no dramatic roar from pipes at the press of the started button or jump on the Kickstarter, remember those?
Well Trump has done one thing right so far and that is a reversal of the Electric Vehicle Mandate, so we will still have a choice, I'm not sure of the mandate included motorcycles.
 
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