What are your feelings on electric bikes? My thinking is that anything capable of wrestling power from the oil barons has to be a good thing. But on friday I came across a bike that has changed my perception completely. The is the Agility Saietta, a London-built bike with some seriously good stats. View attachment 3119 I first saw this bike at the NEC two years ago, but on friday I met the CEO of the company out for a spin on their test mule, and we chatted a while. Two bikes are available; the S version with 45hp, 0-60 in 5 secs and a range of 50 miles for just shy of £10k; and the R version with 91hp, 0-60 in 4 secs, 115mph top speed and 100+mile range for £14k. Most impressive stat is the weight, with the S coming in at 150kg and the R at 200kg, a massive improvement on most EV's. There's also an in-built 'reserve' power supply of approx 20 miles so you aren't left stranded with dead batteries. I chatted to Lawrence Marazzi, the company boss, for some time. He revealed that Brammo (a big american EV company) had courted his company with a view to a technical partnership, but he had turned them down as he believes his product is far better. Bold, but I'm inclined to agree with him. Looking at the bike close up (and this a high mileage test mule) the build quality is clear to see. The chassis comprises a carbon fibre box holding the batteries, to which is bolted a substantial looking aluminium girder front fork and heavily braced swingarm. Brembo brakes all round and high end suspension, together with that light weight make for a very agile package. Lawrence likened the handling to that of an Aprilia RS250, and certainly just looking at it you can see that a great amount of thought has gone into making this bike handle. The quality of welding on the fork, swingarm and subframe is superb, and the bodywork and seat very well made. The bikes are expensive, no doubt, but it looks a quality package. Looks are subjective. I first saw the bike at the NEC 2 years ago, and the chrome model looked pretty gopping to me, but the black bike I saw on friday looked much better. Hey, it's a different type of bike so it should look different. And it's certainly not as ugly as a Versys 1000... I have to say I was very impressed, so much so I've emailed them to arrange a test ride. I don't think electric bikes are the future, not yet anyway, but they are now becoming a viable alternative for the sunday morning mob.
Theres a good spread in this months Performance Bikes about the Mugen electric bike built for the TT, electric bikes are certainly coming along. I look forward to seeing where they'll be in a couple of years!
Absolutely hate them with a vengance and personally I'd rather walk when petrol runs out. The utter hypocracy involved makes me mad. They are expensive to build, eco unfriendly in terms of materials used and recycling, are run on coal or other forms of energy to recharge them. They have a pitiful range,dont smell like motorcycles should and dont sound like motorcycles either. YUK Oh yea forgot to mention they are lardy too. Mugen racing bike weighing 260kg , hilarious.
If they can get the batteries sorted re: longer range/lighter then Im sure a lot of people would make the change! My other concern is the silence... no buying loud cans for this one, you could whistle up behind people without a sound??! Filtering would be interesting... Need one of those motorcycle-sound twistgrip jobbers they have for kids bikes!
I'm not against them in principle. The range issues obviously need sorting as does the pricing. Just wondering how long before we hear: "Sorry mate, didn't hear you." Personally I believe hydrogen to be the future. At the moment all the electric stuff is still a little Clive Sinclair for my liking, not to say it'll always be that way though.
If that's the kind of thing on offer when the hydrocarbons run out then that is what I'll be riding, couldn't live without a bike regardless of power source.
I lied about the torque, it's 'only' 127nm... As for the sound, 470four, you can download any sound you like to the bike via your smart phone! I'd have 'Ride of the Valkyries', I think Technically the bikes are spot on, the chassis technology on this bike is as good as any top line sportsbike, and the electronic control gear is already fully established, wheelie control and traction control come as standard on this bike. It's just battery technology holding them back. But you have to remember that battery technology is being improved at a dramatically fast rate, and with R&D departments from every major consumer electronics company working on battery life and charging rates, that technology is going to evolve far quicker than any other 'green' option. I wonder if they could fit a small generator in there to charge the batteries on the move..?
Instead of Brembo's, use generators as brakes, their output can be used for on the go recharging, a la Toyota Prius et al.
Bearing in mind that even electric cars only currently have a range of around 100 miles before needing a recharge and the TT bikes take 8 hours to recharge then they have a long long way to go before they are in anyway viable.
I've got a test ride lined up on the Agility after a chance meeting with their designer. Should be quite a contrast, the lack of noise will certainly take some getting used to and traffic will no longer part 100 yards ahead...
That looks like one of those Attack of the clones things ... pre Stormtrooper in Starwars or a horse. I was watching the little electric bikes at the MCN show in London. I couldn't cope with no noise ... They have no soul
As said before, you can download and install any noise you like on these bikes. The designer reckoned a hemi V8 sound was the most popular choice. You could have lots of fun in places with a high pensioner count by downloading the sound of a doodlebug...
It takes energy to drive any bike. Petrol comes from oil which was cheap and plentiful, it isn't any more. Electricity has to be generated, which is inefficient. Windmills generate great profits for the landowners in subsidies which we all pay for. Hydrogen must also be generated, which is also inefficent, it is also difficult and dangerous to store. EVs represent an interesting technical development but there are some fundamental problems relating to the basic physics that are being ignored, for a variety of reason. Oil, which represents sunlight collected and stored over millions of years, is a finite resource that is becoming harder to find and more difficult produce. There is no cheap source of abundent energy just around the corner waiting to be unlocked (with the possible exception of thorium). Nice bike though.
