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Smudgie Buggler posted:A cafe racer from the twenties, eh? It's a niche thing, you've probably never heard about it before.
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Aug 25, 2014 19:57
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| # ? May 5, 2024 16:08 |
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I picked up on that too, but I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt and assumed that they meant "like a cafe-racer, if it was built in the 1920s". Probably not what they meant.
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Aug 26, 2014 04:49
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Cafe racer just means old fashioned bike guys, d'uh. (I assume they meant board track racer, which it does a little)
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Aug 26, 2014 09:24
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Brammo offering pretty massive discounts on their models for end of summer sale: http://www.brammo.com/us-incentives/ I'm actually pretty drat tempted, it'd be cool if it could handle my mostly highway / city commute of 54 miles.
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Aug 27, 2014 19:43
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double post
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Aug 27, 2014 19:55
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Aw man. That Inertia would be a perfect bike to satisfy my >10 mile commute. Holy crap. If I had a bit more scratch I'd totally go in on that deal. Ah well. It only means that prices will drop the longer I wait, right?
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Aug 27, 2014 21:34
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Once again student loans ruin my dreams of ever buying anything of value. That 2013 Empulse is such a sweet deal.
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Aug 27, 2014 23:42
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Just caught this on an Austrian news site, don't know if they were meant to disclose it: http://www.nachrichten.at/anzeigen/motormarkt/motor/Lautlos-durch-den-tiefen-Gatsch;art111,1487949 Google Translate posted:After a brief instruction, in which the simple handling (instead of manual transmission is either the "light", "medium" or "Speedy" stage set) is explained, we go with the KTM Freeride E. Going to be looking seriously at the Freeride and the Zero FX 5.7 next year. Time to start saving...
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Sep 8, 2014 12:51
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€11k for a Freeride? Nope.
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Sep 8, 2014 20:24
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Nidhg00670000 posted:€11k for a Freeride? Nope. This is what you pay for an oil change + a new rear tire mounted in Norway so I'm going yup.
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Sep 8, 2014 23:10
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Nidhg00670000 posted:€11k for a Freeride? Nope. Yeah, it's a glorified mountainbike, that's just way above anything reasonable.
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Sep 9, 2014 01:01
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I can't find it listed, but Search sucks: http://lightningmotorcycle.com/ 200hp, 218mp/h top speed and 100 mile range per charge. Base model starts at $39,000USD. If I had the cash... It'd be a hard toss-up between that and a couple of petrol thous for actual usability and fun. Certainly is impressive sounding at least.
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Sep 9, 2014 05:36
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Barnsy posted:Yeah, it's a glorified mountainbike, that's just way above anything reasonable. So are basically all light MX bikes, and they still run around €9k... Taking the fuel/maintenance savings into account over three years of use versus my normal KTM (around €2.5k at a conservative estimate), the cost of ownership would be the same or lower for me. It's lighter by over 30kg, and needs far less regular maintenance. The Zero FX would work out cheaper, but my nearest dealer for Zero is a flight or boat away and not a dedicated motorcycle dealer. Range is a complete non-issue for me, my commute is only 6 miles and I live on an island 9 miles long. Ola posted:This is what you pay for an oil change + a new rear tire mounted in Norway so I'm going yup. Do you get the same tax incentives on bikes as you do cars in Norway?
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Sep 9, 2014 11:54
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ReelBigLizard posted:
Yes we do. And €11K is the same as you'd pay for a new CB500X (including taxes), so if your commute was in range and/or you had some land you could have fun on it would actually be a pretty good choice. I think that €11K also includes EU VAT, so the price might be lower still.
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Sep 9, 2014 12:17
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This kinda slipped under the radar, but Jay Leno took a test ride on the LiveWire a month ago. The actual ride starts about 13 minutes in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyJr8BoklC0
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Sep 9, 2014 15:03
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It's strange how many times marketing people say "so" these days. So all sentences begin with "so", so it sounds a bit so and so to me. But that was a good video and it still boggles the mind that HD did that, I can't applaud them enough. Is the production one happening still?
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Sep 9, 2014 18:29
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Ola posted:It's strange how many times marketing people say "so" these days. So all sentences begin with "so",
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Sep 10, 2014 02:20
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That drat "So," thing is even specifically called out in the forum rules. Some cursory googling suggests it's all Mark Zuckerberg's fault.
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Sep 10, 2014 03:40
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Ola posted:It's strange how many times marketing people say "so" these days. So all sentences begin with "so", so it sounds a bit so and so to me. I thought that was a speech thing that americans 'did'. Like canadians say "eh" and americans love starting a sentence with "so..".
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Sep 10, 2014 13:49
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Maybe they get trained into it for interviews so that editing their broken-rear end sentences together is easier to do. Some people will get off on tangents unrelated to the question they were asked, and if you're doing a fluff piece and trying to make the interviewee not look like a stuttering retard, the break a 'so' provides probably helps the editor quite a bit.
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Sep 11, 2014 03:53
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MonkeyNutZ posted:Some cursory googling suggests it's all Mark Zuckerberg's fault.
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Sep 11, 2014 06:53
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Collateral Damage posted:This kinda slipped under the radar, but Jay Leno took a test ride on the LiveWire a month ago. The actual ride starts about 13 minutes in. I just got my email from Harley, I'm taking a test ride next week in Baltimore. Will report back.
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Sep 11, 2014 15:06
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ought ten posted:I just got my email from Harley, I'm taking a test ride next week in Baltimore. Will report back. I rode one last weekend in kansas city. It was a blast. It felt very quick accelerating to me - I was only able to full throttle it a few times but I said "oh poo poo" out loud each time while giggling. It is surprisingly small in person which makes sense as they have to focus on the weight obviously. It felt great though and seemed to handle fine during the limited ride I got. The other guys in my group all finished with big goofy smiles on their faces and were excitedly sating they would buy one now if available. Obviously the range sucks at the moment - especially in the performance mode option - 25 miles / charge - but it was still a fun ride and I could see myself getting one in like the 4th generation after the range has been improved and any bugs found and worked out. I didn't grab any great pictures but here's one basic shot. 
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Sep 12, 2014 21:01
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Awesome, now I'm even more excited. I was on the phone today with a guy who does solar to hydrogen talking about some developments and something about electrics came up so I mentioned I'm riding the livewire next week. He says that's cool, but you really need to try the Brammo, and suddenly we're both at half-mast talking 60 ft-lbs from 0 mph. Said when he pulled out of the dealer's lot the first thing he did was lift the front, and the salesman is running after him yelling. Anyway, I can't wait to try an electric bike. Hopefully the first of many I get to ride.
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Sep 12, 2014 22:20
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Having ridden the Brammo Empulse R, the last thing it does is lift the front. Enertia might be different. It's a marvelous bike though. I thought it was going to be a cute novelty but I immediately liked it after getting on.
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Sep 12, 2014 22:32
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Yeah that guy is full of crap, unless there was a giant ramp out front of the dealer. The bike is pretty much specifically designed to roll on the power too slowly to wheelie, so you can pin it from a stop and it doesn't backflip.
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Sep 14, 2014 12:07
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Yeah, who knows. He's an older guy and I don't think he was trying to impress me with his wheeliez skillzz. I'm guessing now the front end just lightened a lot more and more quickly then he's used to.
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Sep 15, 2014 18:33
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ought ten posted:Yeah, who knows. He's an older guy and I don't think he was trying to impress me with his wheeliez skillzz. I'm guessing now the front end just lightened a lot more and more quickly then he's used to. Like, don't get me wrong - the bike is loving STUPID fast off the line. When you can tune the motor and power delivery to make sure it maximizes power right at the sweet spot before wheelies start to happen minus about 10%, you get some pretty insane acceleration. But wheelies are tough on an electric. I can match "casually pinning it off the line" on the Brammo on the 1290 if I don't get all fouled up in the electronics, but the ease of launching on the Brammo is unparalleled. 0-30 it's loving fast. Z3n fucked around with this message at 01:58 on Sep 17, 2014 |
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Sep 17, 2014 01:40
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Is anyone tracking on the "Bolt Motorbikes" piece that's supposedly in pre-order? Scrolling down and seeing someone on it, it still looks to be more bicycle-like than moped-like in size and posture. Their website is pretty unhelpful, mostly just a couple of pics, some marketing verbiage, and an FAQ which doesn't mention price in the slightest but repeatedly notes that they're legally required to tell you it does 20mph but it has an "off road mode" with does 35. 
TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 16:24 on Sep 18, 2014 |
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Sep 18, 2014 15:56
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Big Dumb U-Shaped Frame is not a flattering look.TapTheForwardAssist posted:I don't think you are, but somehow by your cadence I keep thinking you're riffing on an Animal House quote. 
Frosty- fucked around with this message at 19:00 on Sep 18, 2014 |
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Sep 18, 2014 17:28
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Frosty- posted:Big Dumb U-Shaped Frame is not a flattering look. I don't think you are, but somehow by your cadence I keep thinking you're riffing on an Animal House quote. I'm less concerned about the frame; if anything messes up the lines it's the big blocky battery-pack. Overall I kinda like it, but as presumably a botique item it'll be one of those $7-10k dealies like that retro Dutch thingy. I'm not quite sure why all the cheapish e-bikes that other countries have aren't really knocking around the US. Down here in Bogota there are a few dozen major shops specializing in e-bikes, and I see electrics out and about every single day. Mostly the scooter-style ones (some standard ICE size, others these narrow little ones with front-baskets), and a small scattering of bicycle-framed ones. They're legally bicycles here, so the license-plate just says "e-bicicleta", no helmet requirement (and in Colombia a moto helmet must have a stencil matching your license-plate on the back), and they're allowed to ride in the bicycle lanes.  Is it just some cultural thing where Americans aren't excited enough about e-bikes to support a robust economy, or some kind of legal thing, or what? I presume the e-scooters here are all Chinese and probably not great quality; Colombia doesn't even build ICE motos, they just import Chinese parts and assemble AKT gas bikes here. But a lot of the electrics are like $800 new, so that would explain the popularity. It seems like the only electrics worldwide are Chinese crap, or pricey micro-botique stuff lovingly polished by hand by someone with an MA in PoliSci from University of Rotterdam.
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Sep 18, 2014 18:16
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I think the problem price-wise is that Americans expect to make $30/hr to weld and assemble their products There are lots of cool projects out there but they cost $2k+ and the market is too small for that. Look at the Motoped (in its electrical versions). Very cool ideas but in such small quantities its too expensive, and motorized bicycles aren't popular enough to support economies of scale. I'd love one, but I live in a bedroom community and need to commute to the nearby (30km away) city at highways speeds a few times a week to do stuff. Public transit between the two is basically non-existent. If I still lived in the city, I think I'd have one for sure. But out here it just isn't practical.
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Sep 18, 2014 19:56
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Electric bicycles are catching on in Norway as well. They're more assisted by battery than powered by it, but it's a nice boost to those who thing the commute is just a bit too much of a workout on a regular bike. There are strict limits to what defines it as a bike and when you have to register it as a moped and have insurance. I wouldn't bother, I just walk to work, but it does show how flexible electric propulsion can be. What about an electric pram which takes zero effort to push uphill, even if it's carrying the twins and a weekend's worth of shopping?
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Sep 18, 2014 21:50
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Ola posted:Electric bicycles are catching on in Norway as well. Ah, the old-person bike. I might be biased because I live in flatland, but no self respecting able bodied human would ride that. Although they are getting more inconspicuous, so maybe I have been fooled?
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Sep 18, 2014 22:03
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Flatland does simplify the physics of commuting. I would ride the hell out of that, it's futuristic, zoomy and clever, yet sort of retro, green, dad-comfortable and lagom.
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Sep 18, 2014 22:24
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KARMA! posted:Ah, the old-person bike. I might be biased because I live in flatland, but no self respecting able bodied human would ride that.
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Sep 19, 2014 08:25
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Many of those electric bicycles now have dual modes; a pedal assist and also just a straight up throttle like a motorcycle. Some of them can get going around 24 mph on flat ground, even the fat bikes which have 3-4 inch tires. That's a pretty decent option for a city commuter.
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Sep 19, 2014 11:40
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DrakeriderCa posted:I think the problem price-wise is that Americans expect to make $30/hr to weld and assemble their products Really? Doesn't seem like most people doing basic assembly are making $60k/yr...
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Sep 19, 2014 18:08
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Quick review of the Livewire because I'm on my phone and on the road. It was great. It's my first electric so I have no reference points besides ICE bikes. Power delivery was smooth and consistent. We went out in a group of 4 with a leader, sweeper and cop escort on public roads. Not a great way to get a feel for what it can do, but it was eminently rideable. Weight was something like 490 I think the tech said, and it felt very light and nimble. Ergos were fine, maybe a little more sporty than a ninja 500. Mirrors were terrible, couldn't see poo poo, but so what. I didn't get a chance to pin it, but some quick rolling on definitely showed it had some punch. The regen feels a bit strange, but not much more than engine braking my DRZ. The biggest thing was i didn't miss the clutch at all. Don't get me wrong, I love shifting and take pleasure in doing it well. But it was plenty of fun without it, especially because I was happy to be able to pay attention to everything else. Not having to mess with the clutch when rolling up to a stop was great, and not having to play with it while inching forward at a light was a pleasure. The tech I talked to said it gets 60 miles on a charge now. They're going to do an international show and tell next year and another round in the US the year after, so production wouldn't happen sooner than three years from now, if at all. HD's hoping that by then, battery technology will have improved. A guy in the group after mine had a prosthetic left arm, which is a cool reason to ride electric. Everyone else except for me was a stereotypical Harley rider of some flavor. The reps were keen to pull me aside after for an in depth survey about the experience. Overall, I dug it. I definitely hope Harley takes these to production.
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Sep 19, 2014 19:02
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KARMA! posted:Ah, the old-person bike. I might be biased because I live in flatland, but no self respecting able bodied human would ride that. When I look at videos of countries with bicycle infrastructure that have more than .01% of the population riding bikes for work/commuting they ride bikes shaped like that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0cFOubQ5I
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Sep 19, 2014 20:47
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