I thought it would be interesting to see the views of the EVO clan on this new electric bike.

I enjoy watching Jay Leno's reviews of various vehicles, here's the review of the Project Lightning.


I drive a hybrid commuter car to work, I save a ton of money on tolls (they ride free in express lanes in FL) and would drive a Tesla if I could afford it. I think electric cars are the way of the future for commuters.

But I cannot imagine using an electric motorcycle. The sound of the bike is ½ of the fun of it to me.

 

Whatever the appeal is of this thing, its completely lost on me.

 

On board charging with cord would be essential imho. Pretty cool. I like how TD wouldn't be able to mess with it either.

 

I look forward to the day when these are able to go all day or at least 500 miles on a charge or even recharge via solar while riding. Then they will be an awesome viable solution to commuting and all around riding. Would I give up the shovel or evo to own one? Heck NO! Would I park it right between em in the garage? Heck YES! If it could go all day, and do roll on wheelies at 60-80mph I might have a serious dilemma figuring out how to NOT get one. Until then, i'll keep ridin what I got....just my .02

 

Personally I think the biggest appeal and the reason they did it is to get press as a cutting edge company. They got articles in the NY Times and Wall Street Journal and investors read them....that press is very valuable indeed.

I agree with you, on board charging is essential.

On TD...lol...frankly I think it's cool he's out wrenching and modding. I always respect a guy who will spin his own wrenches.

 

Pretty sure they will have a Screaming Eagle high performance amature for it. Wonder what it will cost for a new battery when it comes time. Been wondering about that for the electric cars also. Jay mentioned that we screamed when Harley went to over head valves. I still miss my 1942 "45" Flat Head.

 

Why not an on board generator to recharge while discharging?

 

The motor provides that regeneration. Prius guys learn for max mileage you avoid using the service brakes - you can press the pedal and get regen which charges the battery to a certain point, but if you go past that point on the pedal it's using the service brakes. The game for max mileage is to not accelerate nor stop...just keep the momentum going. I played the game for a while, in the Prius world, a 600 mile tank (the tanks are 10 gallons) is like getting a 10 second time slip in a Vette. I got mine but couldn't drive that slow for long. lol

 

I hear ya Joe. At least he is trying.....

 

Batteries for Prius's used to be thousands. Now they can be had for hundreds. Refurbs. This bike with a 200 mile range would sell pretty well, I'd imagine.