Zero Engineering

Here is the "first electric hardtail chopper":

Swiss-based Bruno Forcella from Sine Cycles shares the ambition of all his fellow custom builders, to build something very different. Bored at the idea of always trying to best another builder’s amazing V-Twin creation, he went the way many others will go during the next decade. Building an electric custom bike from the ground up, using the current electric motorcycle manufacturers’ technology, but in a rigid chopper frame. A custom to be emissions free but still good looking, faithful to the classic chopper aesthetics...With no clutch to operate, gears to shift and full torque immediately available, this chopper has accelerations equal, if not better, to many gasoline powered motorcycles...no maintenance required...So, welcome to the future of motorcycling… Sine Cycles.

Just don't look right but then it will be the future, its funny they still put a fuel tank in its place but then could be a storage place for a battery charger, but how far can they travel on one charge???

Ashley

Not far at all...34 miles, but you can do 75 mph! Need a trailer full of batteries with solar panels set up in a sandwich board formation to get more than a half- hour of riding...but only on sunny days. Definitely a machine for fair weather riders!

YukoNorton said:

Not far at all...34 miles, but you can do 75 mph! Need a trailer full of batteries with solar panels set up in a sandwich board formation to get more than a half- hour of riding...but only on sunny days. Definitely a machine for fair weather riders!

Click to expand...

Sounds like a few of my Harley riding mates, only ride short distants, over 50 miles is to far and if there is any grey sky or rain clouds around they won't take the chance they might get there Harlies dirty or their arses wet, maybe a perfect bike for them .

Ashley

But with the quiet Zero chop, "a few of your mates" might need an electric 'harley sound' recording (which is synchronized with the throttle) so you could hear them coming,which would further reduce the range due to the electrical draw...

Talking of further reducing the range...

I found out recently that Tesla et al use the battery for the in car heater.

That may not be an issue in California, but in Northern Europe it is.

The heater on full HALVES the range of theses cars, I wonder if the salesmen make that clear ?

Anyway, we do digress slightly chaps, this thread was about Zero Engineering... a company that make Harley style, S&S powered, raw, minimalistic, hard tail bobbers.

About as far away as you can get from the wonders of modern electric vehicles !

I am glad I was born in 1941 and lived through an era when we had FUN.

You might be getting to old to have fun Alan, I just turned 59 the other day and still doing the things I did when I was 17, still riding my bikes as hard as ever, still hanging with my riding mates of 45 years and running away for a week or two when ever I want on the bikes without the wife and kids without answering to anyone, life is great for me and it will never change to the day I die.

Ashley

Personally I hate electric vehicles, they lack character in my opinion, I rather ride a pushbike instead. From an environmental point of view elec vehicles makes little sense either, considering generation and transport of electric power (coal fed power stations ?), the rectifiers for charging, not to mention the after 100 years of development still immature battery technology. The green movement seem to think that electricity comes from the little flowers, however the major source for elec power today comes from coal, gas and oil (at least here in Europe).
Electro motors are fine in your vacuum cleaner, washing machine, drill press, lathe, hair drier etc,
However, If electric motorcycles are the future, (which I doubt) then I am out.
It is ok for cars (heater fans and windshield wipers that is...)

I cannot even imagine racing an electric motorcycle. What would be the point, you might as well play computer games to get your jollies ? I don't have much interest in racing cars. However a while back some of the posers were racing Formula 5000s. They were monoposto with 5 litre V8s in the rear. 'Some things are so bad that they are good. How much humour would there be n racing an electric motorcycle, what would be the fun of it ? I think even drag-racing V8 cars would be better - and what is that about ?

If you were racing an electric motorcycle, how many ways could you exercise your mind to make it go faster ? What changes could you make to one using the lathe in your back shed ?