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

[dpep]

I’m not saying I believe everything I see or read. How could you. Just posted the video to add food for thought. But it does make it difficult to believe that our “officials” know the answers and how best to achieve the desired result.

But it is not just our officials. It is also the top scientists and engineers working in governments, major universities, and multi-national corporations around the globe that are sharing this quest and making contributions to advance it.

Taken collectively I would tend to trust their conclusions over those rendered by Stossel.

Years ago I was a fan of Stossel. He had a piece on what exactly is happiness that I really enjoyed; I may still have a tape of it I recorded on VHS. But his schtick of low key negativity on whatever the subject got old over time. Stand-up comedians like Steven Wright and Don Rickles made good careers doing it but strictly to entertain without pretense they were seriously informing anyone.

[GS1150Pilot]

This stuff has changed A LOT. I've a neighbor who buys cars and fixes them up and resells them, including changing engines. He's told me these days many engines come out the bottom of the car, I've changed several car and truck motors and all them were lifted out the top. Back then there were appx. 4 elect wires to hook up, today he's always having to change wiring harnesses and plugs on wiring harnesses... really seems a lot more confusing than it yus'ta be... Also he bought a Ford pick-up a couple of weeks ago, crankcase was full of water, no doubt needed an eng. replacement. He told me later all it needed was a new water pump and a good flushing out. Ford has started designing some of their engines where a faulty water pump can leak water inside of the crankcase... Rekon what will happen if you don't find it soon enough???

1960's Mini Coopers are easier to drop from the bottom. You just drop the motor/transmission with the subframe. But you can take a Honda engine out with a hoist if you don't want to drop the subframe. I worked in a Honda shop in my early 20's, and the cars are not horrible to work on, even today.

[rphillips]

I couldn't doubt what you say. In my early 20's there were no Honda (cars) a nor mini coopers around my area to be driven nor worked on. We rarely saw anything other than Ford, Chrysler, or GM. Also as not horrible to work on, even today was mentioned. My wife's 14,000 mi., 2000 SS Camaro sits in my garage today with a bad fuel pump. No way I can afford a GM dealer, and few independents will even take on the job. To change that fuel pump today, remove exhaust system, remove rear differential, remove fuel tank, R/R $350 fuel pump, then put it all back together, as opposed to the old 1 hr job to R/R the $15 fuel pump on my old 1970 Chevelle SS or my bro.s 1977 Ford Ranger pick-up.

[wyly]

Also he bought a Ford pick-up a couple of weeks ago, crankcase was full of water, no doubt needed an eng. replacement. He told me later all it needed was a new water pump and a good flushing out. Ford has started designing some of their engines where a faulty water pump can leak water inside of the crankcase... Rekon what will happen if you don't find it soon enough???

But knowing it's history that the crankcase was full of water would you still be interested in buying it? I'd take a pass on that.

[wyly]

But it is not just our officials. It is also the top scientists and engineers working in governments, major universities, and multi-national corporations around the globe that are sharing this quest and making contributions to advance it.

Taken collectively I would tend to trust their conclusions over those rendered by Stossel.

Years ago I was a fan of Stossel. He had a piece on what exactly is happiness that I really enjoyed; I may still have a tape of it I recorded on VHS. But his schtick of low key negativity on whatever the subject got old over time. Stand-up comedians like Steven Wright and Don Rickles made good careers doing it but strictly to entertain without pretense they were seriously informing anyone.

And the biggest factor of all there's not just billions riding on this conversion to green energy but trillions. Manufacturers have a profit incentive to make it work, whenever there's a profit to be made things get done, those manufacturers that fall behind lose.

[rphillips]

I thought the same thing... But now knowing an engine was designed if the water pump went bad, it'd put water in the crankcase, would you be interested in buying it? I'd take a pass on that also.

[rphillips]

Maybe a little off topic, but maybe sort-of not. I've been wondering about Ford's news of losing on all EV's they sell. From everything I'm seeing Ford is losing either $66K or $35K on each EV they sell. Nearly every article I read says either one of those #'s or the other. Is that true? To brake even Ford needs to either reduce the mfg. cost of each EV by 35K or 66K, or raise the price of each EV by 35K or 66K, and I don't think any of us see that happening, and if it did Ford would still be getting no profit, just braking even. It may be crazy, but I can't keep from wondering if the govt., with their huge push for EV's might be is reimbursing Ford for all or part of these losses. How are Ford's profits still up 17% this yr if they're losing this much on each EV sold. Also it seems everybody is pushing for and expecting EV sales to go up. If Ford lost $3 billion this yr. on EV sales, Is Ford hoping to sell twice as many EV's next yr. so they can lose $6B instead of $3B as they did this yr.? Shouldn't we think Ford would want to reduce their losses instead of increasing them? Just don't make sense? So much just don't make sense.

[RichDesmond]

Maybe a little off topic, but maybe sort-of not. I've been wondering about Ford's news of losing on all EV's they sell. From everything I'm seeing Ford is losing either $66K or $35K on each EV they sell. Nearly every article I read says either one of those #'s or the other. Is that true? To brake even Ford needs to either reduce the mfg. cost of each EV by 35K or 66K, or raise the price of each EV by 35K or 66K, and I don't think any of us see that happening, and if it did Ford would still be getting no profit, just braking even. It may be crazy, but I can't keep from wondering if the govt., with their huge push for EV's might be is reimbursing Ford for all or part of these losses. How are Ford's profits still up 17% this yr if they're losing this much on each EV sold. Also it seems everybody is pushing for and expecting EV sales to go up. If Ford lost $3 billion this yr. on EV sales, Is Ford hoping to sell twice as many EV's next yr. so they can lose $6B instead of $3B as they did this yr.? Shouldn't we think Ford would want to reduce their losses instead of increasing them? Just don't make sense? So much just don't make sense.

I would take those numbers with a grain of salt. It sounds like they are including all the EV R&D they've done in the "cost" of each vehicle. Since they haven't sold a bunch of EVs yet, each one gets assigned a large R&D number. If you did the same sort of accounting for the Model T I'm sure Henry lost a ton of money on the first few thousand.

What really matters in the long run is the variable cost, i.e. how much is the cost of production for each EV. We don't know those numbers, so we really don't know how much profit or loss there really is in the EVs.
Given what GM did the other day with stock buy backs and dividend increased, I don't think the automakers are hurting.

[dorkburger]

Not bike related but definitely interesting and impressive work from a young dude.

https://youtu.be/ROtRiO5rECk?si=cCvkfFmG5wu1ohAX

[GS1150Pilot]

Super cool, Glen!

[wyly]

Not bike related but definitely interesting and impressive work from a young dude.


https://youtu.be/ROtRiO5rECk?si=cCvkfFmG5wu1ohAX

it's relatable, Kawasaki has Ninja hybrid I expect it'll be on sale next year.

[rphillips]

He seems to be designing more for the customer than the dealer. Put together from mostly relatively available parts... Imagine how nice it would be to never need to go to a dealer for parts.

[dpep]

Not bike related but definitely interesting and impressive work from a young dude.


https://youtu.be/ROtRiO5rECk?si=cCvkfFmG5wu1ohAX

Super interesting. I watched the whole damn thing. I am impressed with just how practical and well thought out the product is. Ten guys working in a dirt floor Quonset hut for a year produce a truck that outperforms what the major auto & truck makers have taken years to develop. Their secret isn't some new breakthrough technology. They used existing parts and technology in the most optimal ways.

How many small groups of smart people are as we speak working in Quonset huts and garages and tents around the world on production or development of EVs or or some aspect of them? Electric motors for propulsion puts so many more people in the game.
.
p.s, I am curious though as to how that Sherman tank got hauled to the demo site.

[GS1150Pilot]

Super interesting. I watched the whole damn thing. I am impressed with just how practical and well thought out the product is. Ten guys working in a dirt floor Quonset hut for a year produce a truck that outperforms what the major auto & truck makers have taken years to develop. Their secret isn't some new breakthrough technology. They used existing parts and technology in the most optimal ways.

How many small groups of smart people are as we speak working in Quonset huts and garages and tents around the world on production or development of EVs or or some aspect of them? Electric motors for propulsion puts so many more people in the game.
.
p.s, I am curious though as to how that Sherman tank got hauled to the demo site.

Of course, that kind of ingenuity and a resultingly amazing product is nothing new, as I think of Ferdinand Porsche, Preston Tucker, Carroll Shelby, etc.. Perhaps electric motors put more people in the game (hard to say yet), but man has always wanted to tinker with what is on his quest for what might be.

[wyly]

Super interesting. I watched the whole damn thing. I am impressed with just how practical and well thought out the product is. Ten guys working in a dirt floor Quonset hut for a year produce a truck that outperforms what the major auto & truck makers have taken years to develop. Their secret isn't some new breakthrough technology. They used existing parts and technology in the most optimal ways.

How many small groups of smart people are as we speak working in Quonset huts and garages and tents around the world on production or development of EVs or or some aspect of them? Electric motors for propulsion puts so many more people in the game.
.
p.s, I am curious though as to how that Sherman tank got hauled to the demo site.

I was surprised and impressed that a lifelong gearhead trucker has environmental concerns as his motivation, it's contrary to the stereotypical image of a trucker that I had. I think I've seen too many videos of truckers rolling coal.