Electric bikes are a joke

Putting aside for a moment that electric racing motorcycles are
about as exciting as watching astroturf grow, your electric bike articles were
short-circuited to say the least.  The best electric motor in the world may
be 94% efficient, but when you subtract the heat thrown off by the
controller and other losses, the efficiency drops to 80% or less.  The
electricity is generated in a plant which is about 40% efficient.  It's
then transmitted over the electric grid which is less than 85% efficient due
to losses.  Therefor, the net efficiency of an electric bike or car is
about 25%, very similar to a gasoline engine.

So the electric bikes might be "carrying" the equivalent of 1.3 gallons of
gas, but they've actually consumed the equivalent of 5 gallons to get around
the Isle of Man.  On that much gas, I could go around the Isle five times
wide open on a 250cc supermoto!  It will take 20 years to develop batteries
with enough energy density to make a practical electric motorcycle.

If we must participate in this green charade, let's use electricity to generate
hydrogen and have some explosively fast bikes!

Electric cars (and bikes) are a joke.  
They only exist due to fear and confusion about "global warming", a non-problem
if there ever was one.  Fear of carbon?  Get real.  A basic understanding of
meteorology and the atmosphere will show you that man has a negligible effect
on the climate--take the time to read about it--you will be amazed.  
Carbon is not evil, our food supply grows with it.  Global warming is not evil,
it just makes North Dakota more comfortable in the winter.  No I don't work
for an oil company, I'm just a person who has researched the carbon hype and
found it to be mostly a pack of lies.  

Not too sure about the climate-one thing it won't do is stay the same forever.  

As far as electric bikes not being exciting, a couple battery explosions will spice up the racing.

Joe  

I don't think the attraction of electrics is the efficiency but that you can ride for a penny a mile as far as fuel costs. Can you ride even a scooter for a penny a mile? Not that I've heard of. And what's more maintenance-free than an electric motor?
What's missing in the article about the Zero "S" is the life of the battery and the cost of its replacement. MOTORCYCLIST ought to have thought about asking about those questions which are as important as any other factor.
How about it? And looking at the Zero site you won't find those answers either.
 

I've been involved in electric bike development for nearly 20 years now and I think a lot of the posts here miss a bigger point;the technical challenge.
The fact that these rigs have issues, some might say is an opportunity.
Innovation, for me at least, is the second most fun part of motorcycling, riding being #1.
Replacing a fuel chip is NOT innovation. Adding a graphics kit is not innovation. The industry and perhaps society in general thrives on easy solutions to perceived problems.
I built an electric bike that we raced at the Isle of Man TTXGP. It was awesome. Every team struggling with their unique issues.The 'hot setup' was a big unknown. But all the teams learned a ton in a very short time.
Try making your own bike sometime, using new technology that requires a lot of thinking and tinkering, then maybe you'll understand the attraction.
The saddest part for me, is today the Chinese are kicking butt with battery technology, while Americans treat it like a political football instead of actually doing anything significant.  

"If we must participate in this green charade, let's use electricity to generate
hydrogen and have some explosively fast bikes!"


THANK YOU watt5!!  electric motorcycles....pffft.  

nostroke, what team were you a part of?

Did you guys see this video of the MotoCzysz e1pc on the dyno? This was 0-120 in 11 seconds with a 3 second roll on...
http://www.motoczysz.com/videos/e1_dyno2.html
http://www.motoczysz.com/club/?m=200905

I am really enjoying watching electric motorcycles find their place. 2009 ttxgp was awesome to follow over twitter, articles and video.

I think the most potential is in off road in urban areas. Little noise and no tail pipe emissions will open a lot of riding opportunities indoor and out.

Quantya is opening electric motorcycle parks "Quantya Parx" in Europe where you can rent a bike and ride. Maybe something like this will happen in the US eventually.  

I want super fast. Take an electric slot car. Take a 2-stroke little model airplane engine and line them up. Which would accelerate faster? For argument sake, you want equal weights of vehicles? Bigger electric motor? Just think the little slot car and the smallest engine in a practical sense. Hobbyeast kind of store parts.

If you could take a belt mechanism off the end of the crank of an OTTO-engine and somehow, could press the crank to stop, which do you think would have more torque? Stop an OTTO-cycle engine or an electric motor with the same HP rating (torque being the deciphering factor).

Could you hold on to that G-Force once you twist the wattage? I don't think eye could. Wheelie bike before the tire stem comes around again? That is some mean torque in my book.

Someone say it can be done! Or transfer your country's wealth to ride to you know whom.  

And if I live in a sunny southern state and charge my bike on solar panels?

Well, I am not going to argue that there are other causal issues that need to be addressed; however, those issue will not be addressed unless their is a demand for change.

Horseless carrages were not better than horses when they were first introduced but it did not stop progress. Do we have Ferrari, Ducati or any other "go-fast and far" personal transportation devices just because the first attempts sucked?

Also, there is another more important reason to invest in alternative powered vehicles and energy sources - we don't have to continue to be dependent on Middle East oil and Middle East issues. Sure, the USA gets most of its energy from Canada, Mexico and the US but this country has spent far too much money, caught up in terrible foreign affairs and continues to support Israel all in the name of US oil interests (and keeping USSR/RUSSIA out).

So, the sooner we can move to electric (efficient or not), the sooner we can say F---K You to the Middle East issues/countries and get back to some assemblance of self/partner sufficiency.  

I was with the Barefoot Motors team. We used a battery pack out of our stock ATV, nothing too fancy or spendy.
I'm glad to see something other than the boilerplate "electrics suck" out of this forum. I cut my teeth in Yamaha and Honda dealerships and understand why so many performance oriented bikers in general are leery of electrics. Most of the hype out there has more to do with stock values than anything.
There are some newer batteries out there that kick ass. There will surely be some surprises next year at the Isle of Man.
BTW, that course is waaay more knarly than our Daytona. Those guys run through small towns at the same speeds we rail the high banks of Daytona. Its a brutal test for electrics, which are struggling for power and range.I would prefer something like Sears or Laguna Seca.
The Motoczysx bike was gorgeous as a design exercise but really needed more track time to dial in as a racer. Same with Mission Motors. They both bit off more than they could chew, over-hyped their performance based on spreadsheets instead of asphalt. But I think they both will have great success now that the dust has settled and the race pressure is off. They both aimed high, which is commendable. But they both ate their share of crow on the Island.