Is electric the biking future?

[Lee337]

I had the opportunity or misfortune, depending on your view to ride an electric bike today. No, not a Zero, a Super Socco. I know, I hadn't heard of them either.

This is probably because their range of bike is basically limited to 125cc equivalent machines, both bike & scooter variants. I had a go on both.

Let me explain. This weekend was the last MCN Festival of motorcycling at the East of England showground. The last because 90% of the showground has been sold off for housing.

Anyway, back to bikes. A few of the manufacturers were using the local IAM riders to lead the bikes on test rides. I was allocated the Super Socco bikes.

First impression is they're OK for commuting short distances and that really is the only positive. . Actually that's not strictly true. I quite like the instant torque & the twist & go riding. Not so good is the 42mph top speed I first encountered on the scooter. The bike was a little better, topping out at 55mph. Handling of both bikes I rode was poor, especially the scooter and watching the battery indicator dropping did produce a little range anxiety. Both bikes range wasn't much more than 30 miles on a good day. Luckily the route we used was only 9 miles.

Both bikes made my back ache even on a short journey.

One other observation was unlike the Zero, which has a rear foot brake, the Socco has the rear brake where you would usually find a clutch.

To be fair, the Zero is pretty good and at a push I'd not object to having one as a commuter, but I don't think electric is quite there yet.

I was talking to the rep about the front & rear brake & suddenly it made sense. The target audience is 17 year old who have previously only ridden pushbike.

[London_Phil]

I would buy a small electric bike for London travel, looked at Maeving, Super Soco etc, but they are toys really.

[Sin_Tiger]

I would buy a small electric bike for London travel, looked at Maeving, Super Soco etc, but they are toys really.

Never got to the point of test riding one for just that reason, quality of cycle parts left me feeling I could buy better in Halfrauds and that's saying something.

Big brand names are just stupidly (unjustifiably I feel) expensive for what they are. I sat down and added up the components that I would need to build / convert a used bike with the target of 90 mph & 100 mile range and came up with a figure of around £6000 and that's including a complete refurb of all the cycle parts.

Disclaimer - I haven't actually done it so the above is hypothetical to say the least and doesn't include labour 

[London_Phil]

Mostly agree with that Sin.
During lockdown, I bought a Mid motor kit for my bicycle, and in order to keep within the law, ordered a 250W kit. Factoring in the bike cost (2nd hand) it totalled out at nearly a grand, and is basic at best. I added a throttle, as I am now fighting the extra weight (mine and the bikes..lol)
I am quite interested in the whole electric vehicle thing. I don't think they are planet savours, when you factor in total life cycle, mining of lithium etc.
There was an episode of Vintage Voltage where they convert a RE, (S1-E5)  and I have to say it looks good, but the whole Charging infrastructure, especially in the UK just doesn't add up.
Still fascinating though.

[Sin_Tiger]

Absolutely 

I just do not get why in the UK there don't seem to be standards anymore, it's something we used to do well. Every manufacturer seems to do what they like, similarly the energy suppliers. Currently I would only look at an EV on a home round trip basis.

[Lee337]

I toyed with the idea of an electric bike a couple of years ago on the basis I would likely end up with a 36 mile round commute to work. I was planning on taking my Civil Service pension (no, it's not that much) and with a full time job as well, an electric bike was just within my grasp.

I was looking at a Zero but at £15k for a new one and around £8k second hand, I couldn't make it work financially. I'm purposely excluding wear & tear and consumables such as tyres, brake pads & chain/sprocket, taking into account no fuel cost and no tax for an electric bike I probably could save myself around £1100 per year if I used the Zero solely for commuting come rain or shine. This is based on 7500 annual commuter miles on my Tiger 800. So, my break even point would be in 9 years new and around 3 years 2nd hand, which to be fair isn't too bad (probably a little longer if I included the increase in my electric bill). I'm fairly certain the battery would last that long on a new Zero, but a 2nd hand one, who knows? Last time I looked a replacement battery was around £5000 and lasts around 1200 charging cycles. It does have a 5-year warranty though.

The environmental damage done in extracting processing and manufacture of the batteries concerns me and I feel pretty confident that if I crunched the lifetime carbon footprint numbers between a Zero and my 9 year old tiger over the vehicle lifetime, the Tiger would be more environmentally friendly, unless I use only green energy to charge, but I don't think the electricity suppliers have worked out a way yet of splitting the supply into 'green' and 'non green' yet.

It's a moot point anyway as I work from home, so no commuting necessary. AND I'd feel obliged to have the Tiger anyway for my riding pleasure, touring & twisties and who wants a second bike anyway?


Oh, wait a minute...