Should You Consider an Electric Motorcycle?

Years ago, a very successful friend of my father bought one of the very first high definition large flat screen televisions. He paid $10,000.00 for it. The last tv I bought was higher definition, equal size, and thinner. It was less than $500.00. Let me know when we get there and I'll get an EV. If I can still ride at that point.

EV motorbike demand largely exists in the form of electrified street bicycles used to get around without a licence or many other costs.

I mean, price is by far the largest factor for me. Not many choices in that $5000 sweet spot, and the choices that do exist have a few issues. Bring costs down and I’ll be on board 100%. I live in an area where I’d be doing 100% city driving, including narrow downtown roads and outer 2 lane suburban roads and for me, an electric bike is right up my alley.

Unless I hear a reliable solid state battery is in production, electric motorcycles are simply not on my radar.

I’d love an electric motorcycle for commuting to work. It wouldn’t replace my ICE bike because of the lack of range and recharging time.

Great discussion, fellas. Range and price sucks for now - I agree. Thankfully there are plenty of used electric models that ARE NOT reflecting the current economy, unlike cars - you can find a really sweet deal on a used electric motorcycle for much less than a new one. The biggest misconception with electrics is the charging nature - you don't have to fill all the way up to keep going when using DC fast charging. I rode 175 miles yesterday and only had to stop for 15 minutes - which was about how long it took me to walk into the Sheetz station, wizz, wait in line to buy some water, and then come back to the bike. Also, imagine a gasoline fairy that sneaks into your house and refills your motorcycle while you're sleeping - the magic of waking up to a full tank. This is what slow charging overnight feels like with an electric 🤣

I would have a hard time swapping my Triumph Speed Twin for anything electric, but if I was in the market for SCOOTERS I think electric now makes way more sense than ICE.

I appreciate your honest view on it. You kept it unbiased and truly appreciate it, more ice guys need y’all’s approach.

I have many motos, if that eHD was reasonable I would want one, the torque is real

MY dad used to ride years ago but stopped riding due to life events. We both imported electric motorcycles for about 6k each...and wow the wait was worth it! It's my first motorcycle but we both love them. And these bikes use the same parts a DIYer would use so nothing is locked, its easily serviceable, and honestly the electrical bit is simple. We actually got a motor controller programmer for about $20 and found out we could enable regen (something that wasnt even offered) and we can add a switch to get cruise control! we get about 90mi of range. our recent tripped we stopped, plugged in to some outlets to get some extra charge, and went and had a drink and rested our sore butts! It's honestly so nice. This winter I'm going to be cracking open the battery and adding more cells to extend the range, and add a faster charger so I can use those fast chargers too.

For me, range, charge time, and price kill it for me. I think I could get over the other stuff with time. Sure electric bikes are pushing higher and higher ranges, but the charge time isn't there. In the case of a livewire, stopping for 40mins-1 hour every 75-100 miles? That sounds awful, and that also assumes you run it completely dead before every time you charge and just coast into the charging station at 0% which isn't realistic.

11:44 If that's the case, then you'd like to keep tabs on the Ultraviolette f77 motorcycle in India. 100 mph, 100+ miles of real world range, removable cells and KTM Duke 390 money.

When I rode a LiveWire it felt like a transcendent form of motorcycling. I don’t see it as a replacement for the ICE until batteries go solid state and electrical infrastructure can support it, but it sure was different in it’s own interesting way. I can see it being in the city where speeds are low for max mileage and power is everywhere.

Great video! Lol I’m about to watch it now

I actually got a livewire one as my first bike about 5 months ago. It delivers exactly what the guys are talking about in the video, very little maintenance, low fuel cost, and it's so easy to operate. I'd say it would be a perfect beginner bike if didn't have that supersport bike price tag. (even supersports don't cost as much)

I have the live wire just recently got it too. I love it. Sometimes I’m in Austin so hope I run into Yammie here soon. Definitely saved me monies in the gas department. I have about 2800 miles on it and have yet to fork over them buckaroos per mile.

The tube amp comparison is perfect.

Brilliant analogy "a smooth polished ball" i.e. it can't be polished or smoothed or made any more spherical. Whatever improvements made would be diminishing returns and undetectable. I like it. I agree with the observation "they all look the same at the moment". I wonder how they will differentiate themselves in the future. An electric motor is an electric motor. A cylindrical, highly efficient thing that makes a shaft rotate. None of the personality of the thousands of different engine designs but stupidly easy to own.

Thank you guys so much for exploring more into electric bikes!! There’s so little info available comparable to ICE engines and trying to determine the best beginner electric bike is so frustrating with blatantly wrong info on some of the electric bike specs out there.

The LiveWire is one of the best looking EV bikes. It just needs to be a quarter to half the currenr price, way faster charging, and a lot more range.