by The Bear, President and Founder of Old Bike Barn
How long will it be before motorcycles run without gas? It’s a question for the ages, or the engineers. Now that cars and trucks are scaling back fuel usage and converting to electric power, don’t kid yourself, motorcycles won’t be far behind. There will always be a place for the classics, mind you, just the same as there’ll always be a place for classic cars – though perhaps alternative fuels will allow us to retain the internal-combustion engine without using fossil fuels.
For the moment, there’s a heavy emphasis on electric power, and what can be accomplished with the new generation of electric motors. There are plenty of examples of home-built and independent production electric motorcycles on the internet and at small dealers nationwide, but they all seem to lack the refinement necessary for mass production. At best, many of these are little more than science projects. However, there are a small handful of companies, including one major motorcycle company, with their eye on the future – creating highway-legal motorcycles powered only with electricity.
There’s going to be some diehards, particularly in the “Loud pipes save lives” front who tell you that gasoline motorcycles will never die, that there’s no replacement for the power that an internal-combustion engine produces. I was anti electric bike at first myself, but we would be foolish not to accept the way things are headed. For now it’s just another growing part of our sport, and I have to support anything on 2 wheels!
There were many non-believers when the new breed of inline four-cylinder engines was poised to dethrone the almighty V8 in the nineties. Never, they said, would a 4-banger be able to produce the power of a V8. Those people are currently eating their words, regardless of whether they’ll admit to it or not. Take for example the new generation 2009 Camaro V6 engine, which produces 300 horses, and delivers passable fuel economy for that power range. Just a handful of years ago, the 300-horsepower fuel-efficient V8 engine was a technological breakthrough in a production automobile. Electrics have the capacity to follow that same technological advancement once motorcyclists begin to embrace these noiseless motorcycles, and they become available in cooler configurations than just scooters.
Once you get past the “cordless drill on steroids” acceleration noise, there’s quite a bit to like about electrics in motorcycles. For one, the torque of an electric motor is seamless, and acceleration picks up like a maglev train. We’re not talking golf carts here, after all. Recently, the “Killabike,” an all-electric drag bike, ripped through the quarter mile at 155 miles per hour. (That was, of course, before the inventor tried to show off at a media event – that video’s on YouTube, if you’re interested. To paraphrase a Honda ad slogan, “Stupid hurts.”)
Speaking of Honda, by all outward public appearances it will be Honda itself who looks to be first to market with a viable production electric motorcycle (in 2011 or 2012). That in itself seems appropriate, given the advancements that Honda has committed itself to in the last twenty years. Have you seen the DN-01 automatic motorcycle yet? It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to visualize that bike with an electric motor. The only hurdles that need to be overcome are the range of the batteries, road safety, and rider preconceptions of electric power. What sounds like science fiction now, will surely be a reality in two or three years.
I‘ll embrace the future, because I like all things that go fast, and we do need to start thinking about not filling the air with exhaust every waking moment of the day. That being said, I have a feeling I’ll never feel quite the same about these new machines. Rest assured that my garage will remain stocked with vintage bikes, and Old Bike Barn will continue to stock parts for the older motorcycles. In the words of Charlton Heston with reference to firearms… from my cold dead hands they can pull my gas burning motorcycles. That being said, you can also be sure we will be among the first to try and support the electric scene with products for electric riders as they become available. Sometimes it’s ok to have your cake and eat it too.
This article also appears in the RushPRnews newsroom & on Digg
How about horse drawn motorcycles. They run on grass and when it breaks down you can use the horse home. Electric motorcycles run on coal and will account for a lot of nasty polition with improper disposal of lead, acid and other nasty chemicals. Let’s not all jump on the bwne wagon and decide it’s green and smart just yet. It may never be.
I am still messing with an engine glitch from my starter bike. that said, If I had an older classic or vintage bike, that I was going to put 2-4 K into to restore, versus getting an electric Power plant for the same $$ or less, and getting the tax break for a conversion vehicle (I believe it’s 2K) that might be something many would consider. I wonder if there are suppliers out there for
Electric motorcycle engines!
What about the new postie bikes (Honda CT110) in Australia and NZ that will be hydrogen powered?
I’m not to crazy about the idea but why not as long as I can still ride my 72 CB750 Chopper and my 64 TR6R chopper on any day of the week. Let em build what ever they want when I was kid I’d palyed with magnets and thought that if they were put in a certen order they would make energy then I found out some did in the 50′s made a magnet motor that produced power with out anything helping it. It just ran on its own so when ever our engeners along with other’s who are in power get there act together they could make a generator to recharge batterys. Let’s say while the rider is at work for an 8hr shift get back on there electric bike and ride home. The technology to this has been sitting on somebodys company shelves for a long time its just a matter of time befor its released and put to practial use but for the time being I’ll just keep twisting the throttle on my open pipe’d chop’s disturbing everyone with in mile till they pry my cold dead hands from my chopper!!
GODBLESS AMERICA MADDOG
The problem with electric, aside from the range and charge time, is that the pollution is still produced somewhere down the line. It’s not coming out your tailpipe but imagine all the coal-fired, oil-fired and nuclear plants that would have to be built to meet demand for electric power if everyone switched to electric vehicles. Maybe compressed air is a better solution. Internal combustion engines can easily be converted to this system. I saw a prototype that had a compressed air tank about the size of a medium motorcycle gas tank. It was good for 120 miles and can be refilled at any gas station air pump.
Check out the GPR at: http://www.electricmotorsport.com
and the Zero at: http://www.zeromotorcycles.com
and the Enertia at: http://www.enertiabike.com
and Electric Scooters for Kids: http://www.kidsbikesntrikes.com
All need a bit more range I think, but are coming along.
Electric bikes are here, now. They can go very vary fast (no, not as fast yet as the fuelies that have a hundred years of engine development under them, but dangerously close.)
Looking at the most recent Isle of Mann Green GP you can see that electric bikes made by small tie shops are already 9/10th’s as good.
Factor in the additional fact that most bike gearboxes are able to be shifted when under no load, and you quickly realise that mating an electric motor to a gearbox will produce phenomenal results, and shifting will be clutchless (somethign some of us do to upshift, right now). So the actions and behaviors are more similar than in a car.
I have about 2000$ in my project bike (bought the tires here, even!)that will be/is completely capable of getting me to work and back and companies with more money then me are selling bikes with about the same power as a 250 (70+mph highway)for about 8000$
This market will blossom, and faster than cars.
Imagine a bike with torque at every rpm and zero oil/fluid changes, no clutch replacements, no rusted tanks, clogged carbs, scraped exhausts…and it’s fueled up by your garage outlet.
The only think i’m going to miss is the exhaust pipe, really. But only because they look so good. Sound…well electric bikes sound like the speeder bikes from star wars, and that sound is AWESOME>
Hi,
I ride an electric scooter to work and I bought mine from http://www.elecbikeco.com I absolutely love it… once I get to work I recharge it and ride home.
Thanks
Ahmet
This is all awesome, but if your primary business is providing parts for old bikes, how about someone answering the phone at your place of business, or responding to customer inquiries online? Spend less time blogging about the future of motorcycling and more time dealing with the obviously profound insufficiencies of Old Bike Barn’s “service”.
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[...] while back, I asked how long it would be before motorcycles ran without gas. After all, everyone’s talking about reducing their carbon footprint these days. Electric car [...]
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