When do you expect ev bikes to become practical road bikes.

[Cipher]

Good questions, Don. Things I would like to know myself. What I do know is all the bikes I listed weigh over 500lbs, with the Energica close to 600.

Well my k bike is 549 wet and handles like a dream. CofG is lowish.
my 550 is 420ish and is fiable but almost unpleasantly twitchy.

[wyly]

Maybe we fuss too much about weight, once rolling that weight tends to disappear. For an urban commuter light weight is convenient and desirable.

On the mountain roads I frequent my GS11150efe gets blown around by winds racing down the mountain sides and valleys. I've reduced the weight from it's previous wet 575 to 495ishwet and while easier to handle it does get pushed across lanes by wind gusts which is unsettling. My CBX at a wet 575ish lbs is definitely the more secure ride.

[Rob S.]

Harley Davidson used to advertise their weight as a plus. 'You won't get blown across the road by a semi hauling heffers.'

[wyly]

Just read an interesting article in wired.com about the ev auto industry. The Chinese ev market is booming they expect 70% of all new auto sales to ev by 2030. And the numbers are huge Chinese auto manufacturers are poised to become the worlds biggest auto builders and exporters of cars, and they're building quality products. BYD will overtake Tesla for units made this year. Tariffs are keeping Chinese products out of reach many of us US tariffs are protecting Tesla and other domestic makers from less expensive Chinese products. In the home market a BYD Atto 3 SUV sells for $20K, in the US I found it listed at $47K, it doesn't cost $27K to ship a car on a boat.

[argonsagas]

Harley Davidson used to advertise their weight as a plus. 'You won't get blown across the road by a semi hauling heffers.'

It depends on the type of wind.....
This link explains severe winds.

https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/wind/types/

These are not common, but they do happen and they really do provide an eye-opening moment.

I did not even know what it was called when I experienced a microburst near Peoria, Illinois.
It hit in an instant and was gone just as quick, but that moment is unforgettable.
In less than a second it blew me fifteen to twenty feet sideways and the semi I had just passed was blown out of the right lane and ended up directly behind me.
We were very fortunate as the median area was both wide and paved, so there was nothing to hit.

[dpep]

Just read an interesting article in wired.com about the ev auto industry. The Chinese ev market is booming they expect 70% of all new auto sales to ev by 2030. And the numbers are huge Chinese auto manufacturers are poised to become the worlds biggest auto builders and exporters of cars, and they're building quality products. BYD will overtake Tesla for units made this year. Tariffs are keeping Chinese products out of reach many of us US tariffs are protecting Tesla and other domestic makers from less expensive Chinese products. In the home market a BYD Atto 3 SUV sells for $20K, in the US I found it listed at $47K, it doesn't cost $27K to ship a car on a boat.

I read that article as well. I do not see any way China does not dominate the global passenger vehicle market eventually--within a decade would be my guess. When produced at scale in a basic configuration their EVs will be so much cheaper to buy and to maintain than anything the legacy western automakers will be offering--EV or ICE.

The automakers had plenty of time to prepare but their immediate financial incentive was always to focus resources and marketing on their ICE products through traditional dealer networks. The culture was never going to shift. I am thinking a future with a lot of mergers and a lot of competition for niche and boutique markets.

[argonsagas]

I read that article as well. I do not see any way China does not dominate the global passenger vehicle market eventually--within a decade would be my guess. When produced at scale in a basic configuration their EVs will be so much cheaper to buy and to maintain than anything the legacy western automakers will be offering--EV or ICE.

The automakers had plenty of time to prepare but their immediate financial incentive was always to focus resources and marketing on their ICE products through traditional dealer networks. The culture was never going to shift. I am thinking a future with a lot of mergers and a lot of competition for niche and boutique markets.

That is probably a fairly common opinion, but it ignores a hugely different reality called production costs.

Chinese employees earn a lot less than the wage levels here and, as we are seeing with the strike actions against Detroit's Big Three right now, employees here want shorter work weeks for same pay as before, but they also want 40% pay increases on top of that.

These demands are in ongoing negotiation, but it is obvious that huge wage increases for doing less work must inevitably push production costs much higher and simultaneously widen the competitive gap with China even more.

.

[argonsagas]

Not motorcycle-related, but a different use of EV technology.

https://news.yahoo.com/old-recycling-trucks-upcycled-evs-151449996.html

[wyly]

Well I have to admit I never saw this coming Hybrid cycles Ninja7.

I thought this will a waste of time but no, very promising, no range anxiety, non plugin, urban EV mode, and very quick, there's a lot of potential here. If Kawasaki is giving test rides to journalists can actual an production be far off? I may need to hold off buying a new bike I want to see how much $$$$ and when/if this Ninja7 will arrive.

https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/2024-kawasaki-ninja-7-hybrid-first-ride-review?pid=57432400498e548b7f4e3714&uhe=1e21ee4d7288489467e88b030e6b2fda&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10/28/2023_CT_Generic_CommonTread_Campaign&utm_term=Common%20Tread%20%7C%20Combined

[Rob S.]

I will have to finish reading this interesting article about this interesting bike later. When I got to "paddle shifters on left cluster" I had to stop.

'Paddle' shifters everywhere. When a neighbor offered to let me drive his new convertible Corvette, what was I going to do, say, "no thanks"?

And I suppose it's a good thing the electric Ninja even has a manual shift option. Next thing you know, there'll be paddle shifters on guitars. What's next? Dishwashers? Toilet seats?

[GS1150Pilot]

Modern vehicles with paddleshifters are quicker and more controllable than their stick shift predecessors.

[wyly]

I remember my oldest brother telling me about a bike he had back in the late fifties that had a stick to shift gears, don't know what it was. Now we have quick shifters, paddle shifters and EVs won't need a gear shift of any kind. Technical progress never ends.

[RichDesmond]

I remember my oldest brother telling me about a bike he had back in the late fifties that had a stick to shift gears, don't know what it was. Now we have quick shifters, paddle shifters and EVs won't need a gear shift of any kind. Technical progress never ends.

And I'm sure some old curmudgeons said anything with that new fangled hand clutch/foot shift system wasn't a real motorcycle, and they sure weren't going to ride one!!

[rphillips]

Remember the Vespa shifting, that was sure different for me.

[wyly]

My first motorized bike was a Velosolex, no gear selection about 15mph when engaged to front wheel. Okay when you had fuel once out of fuel you'd curse that 30lbs of dead weight hanging over the front wheel.