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Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:45 pm
by Scootabout
By the way, Santa kindly dropped one of
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/electric- ... rget%20300these off early for me.
For urban use, they're brill.
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:57 pm
by The Spin Doctor
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 2:46 pm
by weeksy
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:38 pm
by Le_Fromage_Grande
Would you pay £12.5K for a lardy SV650 that has to be charged overnight between rides?
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:44 pm
by weeksy
Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:38 pm
Would you pay £12.5K for a lardy SV650 that has to be charged overnight between rides?
No, but i don't believe i'm their target market.
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:22 pm
by G.P
0I think the first Leccy motorcycle I get will be a groovy little trailie for going to the shops (pub) and playing with on the ridgeway.
like a stage 2 eMTB but without bothering with Pedals

Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:33 pm
by Le_Fromage_Grande
Given the rights of way laws in England and Wales you'd be better off with an EMTB, you could have a derestrictor for when you want to use it on "private" land and go faster.
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 6:51 pm
by Dodgy69
Thankfully, I won't need to worry about these at my age.
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 10:15 pm
by Scootabout
Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:38 pm
Would you pay £12.5K for a lardy SV650 that has to be charged overnight between rides?
But if you assume the variable element of the running cost is 2.5p per mile plus 1p for the belt wear plus 3p for tyres, whereas the SV would be maybe 12p per mile more than that, it starts to look more comparable. Break-even would be after about 50,000 miles, I think. I'm assuming fixed costs would be the same.
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 10:29 pm
by Horse
Scootabout wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 10:15 pm
But if you assume the variable element of the running cost is 2.5p per mile plus 1p for the belt wear plus 3p for tyres, whereas the SV would be maybe 12p per mile more than that, it starts to look more comparable. Break-even would be after about 50,000 miles, I think. I'm assuming fixed costs would be the same.
Servicing costs would be a tad lower too.
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 6:43 am
by A_morti
Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:38 pm
Would you pay £12.5K for a lardy SV650 that has to be charged overnight between rides?
It's lighter than an sv650.
And yes, I would.
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 9:21 am
by Le_Fromage_Grande
A_morti wrote: Fri Dec 18, 2020 6:43 am
Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:38 pm
Would you pay £12.5K for a lardy SV650 that has to be charged overnight between rides?
It's lighter than an sv650.
And yes, I would.
It weighs 190kg, I think an SV is about 170
And on the running costs thing, if break even mileage is 50,000 miles, that's going to take a long time
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 9:52 am
by Mr. Dazzle
Dry weight of an SV is 170kg, kerb weight is 190kg like the Zero.
Edit. Zeros website says 142kg kerb for the S...so much lighter than an SV650.
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 10:23 am
by Le_Fromage_Grande
I got the 190 from the MCN report - should've known better
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 10:30 am
by Mr. Dazzle
I reckon in any other context a 60bhp bike which weighs 140kg would have people all over it. Consider that the Duke 390 everyone loves is 10kg heavier and 15bhp less powerful. The leccy bike will be far gruntier too.
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:01 am
by Le_Fromage_Grande
My Husqvarna 610 weighed about 140KG and made about 50BHP, it was great fun, with an electric motor you should be able to adjust the torque curve to whatever you want (within reason)
The only problems I see with the electric bike are price (it's easily twice what I'd be willing to pay for it) and refuelling, most supermotos only have ranges of about 60 miles, so this would be fine, but recharge time needs to be 30 minutes maximum.
If all the motorcycle manufacturers got together and came up with a common battery you could stop at a filling station and exchange the flat battery for a fully charged one (a similar process to gas bottles) and then the recharging problem would be solved.
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:08 am
by A_morti
Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Fri Dec 18, 2020 9:21 am
A_morti wrote: Fri Dec 18, 2020 6:43 am
Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:38 pm
Would you pay £12.5K for a lardy SV650 that has to be charged overnight between rides?
It's lighter than an sv650.
And yes, I would.
It weighs 190kg, I think an SV is about 170
And on the running costs thing, if break even mileage is 50,000 miles, that's going to take a long time
Dry weight of the Zero is a claimed 142kg. I guess you have to add fork fluid and brake fluid to that and probably get to around 145kg.
Apparently Suzuki claim 197kg wet for the SV with ABS. That has to include engine oil, coolant, battery acid, fuel, fork oil, brake fluid, etc.
50kg is a really big difference.
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:10 am
by A_morti
Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:01 am
If all the motorcycle manufacturers got together and came up with a common battery you could stop at a filling station and exchange the flat battery for a fully charged one (a similar process to gas bottles) and then the recharging problem would be solved.
www.electrek.co/2020/09/04/honda-yamaha ... eries/amp/
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:34 am
by Rockburner
Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Fri Dec 18, 2020 9:21 am
A_morti wrote: Fri Dec 18, 2020 6:43 am
Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:38 pm
Would you pay £12.5K for a lardy SV650 that has to be charged overnight between rides?
It's lighter than an sv650.
And yes, I would.
It weighs 190kg, I think an SV is about 170
And on the running costs thing, if break even mileage is 50,000 miles, that's going to take a long time
5 years -ish? How long do people normally keep commuting bikes?
Because that's what this is - a commute bike, there's little point (at the moment) in buying a leccy bike for 'fun'*, but for saving money over the life of a commuting bike they're ideal (regular journey of known length, charged overnight etc). I'm basically waiting for these things to start appearing on the 2nd hand market**.
* opinions vary.
** - well - I was. Pandemic inspired working from home has changed commuting requirements somewhat.
Re: Electric bikes, the next step
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:38 am
by Rockburner
Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:01 am
If all the motorcycle manufacturers got together and came up with a common battery you could stop at a filling station and exchange the flat battery for a fully charged one (a similar process to gas bottles) and then the recharging problem would be solved.
It's not a new idea, and it has been proposed, and I believe some are already going down this road.
The only real issue with it as an idea is that battery tech is changing so fast, as soon as you brought out that kind of infrastructure to the public, it'd be 2 generations out of date. Petrol hasn't changed (fundamentally) in nearly 100 years.