However, in March 2020 they plan to unveil their first American-built bike and it will be powered by an electric motor.
It will join other American motorcycle manufacturers Harley-Davidson, Lightning Motorcycles and Zero Motorcycles in the race to win market share of this nascent market.
There is not much detail yet except the blurred image at the top of this page and this video on their Facebook page where they talk about electric bikes with another bike under a blanket in the background.
The photo and video show a light and basic street model with a sit-up-and-beg riding position, MX-style bars, upside down forks, bench seat, sprocket for chain drive, electric motor and battery forward of the footpegs and same-size road tyres front and back on spoked wheels.
We can’t see a clutch lever, so it could be twist-and-go, although they do talk about the use of a clutch on another electric bike in the Facebook video.
If it’s like their other product, it will be aimed at the bargain end of the market, not the top end like Harley, Lightning and Zero.
This is the official Cleveland CycleWerks announcement:
A New Concept in E-Mobility, to be released live to the world 03-20-2020 @ the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland Ohio.
This will be our first made in the USA product, which is exciting in itself.
This will be the first bike we have ever run pre-orders on, which will come soon. The project’s code name Falcon Rising represents our brand’s rise in the E vehicle space. It also brings a new chapter to our company, looking inward and local to grow globally. We have wanted to product bikes ourselves, here in Cleveland for 10 years. The time is now, and we are seizing the opportunity.
This vehicle represents 10 years of consumer insight, feedback from loyal customers, and a unique take on the market, that Cleveland has always had.
Rather than a return to the Roaring Twenties, this decade could see an abundance of electric vehicles creating a Whirring Twenties.
Let’s do the disadvantages first:
Expensive;
Limited range;
Dubious whole-of-life environmental impact;
Slow charging;
Scant charging infrastructure;
No common batteries across the industry; and
They lack soul.
There is also the unanswered vexing question of how the government will respond to diminishing fuel excise revenue as electric vehicles take over. Perhaps a new tax!
I certainly don’t see myself buying one this decade, even though the first six disadvantages will soon be diminished by advances in technology and production.
However, I do see 10 unexpected benefits from the Whirring Twenties.
Whirring Twenties
1 Quiet
Now most of us think this is a negative, but there are many instances where a quiet, whirring motor could be a benefit:
For a start, police and security guards will be able to sneak up on thieves;
Meanwhile, police would not be able to fine you for having a noisy exhaust;
It would also nullify the latest draconian laws to limit use of off-road motorcycles on your own property as is occurring in some states;
There would be fewer complaints from residents near racetracks which might save some from extinction;
You could easily sneak away early on a Sunday for a ride without disturbing your cranky neighbours or come home late without waking the family; and
Young people may like the fact that they can still hear their phone calls and music clearly while riding!
2 Cool runnings
Harley’s LiveWire electric motor is cool to the touch
Even though batteries and electric motors heat up, it is nothing compared with the heat radiating from an internal combustion engine.
I rode the Harley-Davidson LiveWire at the world launch last year in Portland, Oregon, through the forest and through town, yet I was still able to place my naked hand on the battery and motor without it being burnt.
It was only warm, not even hot.
That is a real boon for those commuters who usually fry in slow traffic on a summer’s day.
It would also spell the end of pipe burn for young kids and novice riders.
Motors and batteries can be just about any shape and designers don’t have to factor in ugly exhausts and chain/belt/shaft drives; they can simply make them direct drive.
5 Easy to ride
Most electric motorcycles will be twist-and-go with no clutch lever, shifter pedal or gears to change.
Once again, we crusty old riders think this sucks the charm and skill out of riding a motorbike, but it may also make them more palatable to younger riders who relish convenience.
Since they will be easier to learn to ride, getting your licence should be cheaper as you would need fewer lessons.
No clutch on the LiveWire
6 Lightning fast
If it’s speed you want, it’s speed you get with an electric motorcycle.
Electric motors have peak torque as soon as you roll the throttle.
Consequently, most electric motorcycles will accelerate to 100km/h in about three seconds, which is faster than most supercars.
I tested this at the LiveWire and Victory Empulse TT launches and it’s easy to achieve. No need for a drag strip or any special launch controls. Just wind the throttle and hang on!
As for top speed, the Lightning LS-218 holds the land speed record for fastest production electric motorcycle in the world at 346km/h (218mph – hence the name) at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
Lightning record-holding electric race bike
7 Low maintenance
Maintenance expenses should be low as there is no chain/belt, no internal engine workings, no oil, etc.
Long-life brushless electric motors and batteries need no maintenance.
Even brake pads will need changing less frequently because regenerative braking from the motor means you use the conventional brakes less often.
Brembo brakes on the LiveWire
8 No mess
Scooters shielded their oily engines with panels so women wouldn’t get their skirts dirty while riding.
The same can be said for electric motorcycles, although they don’t need panels. There are simply no oily working bits to smear your clothes!
9 Slap for industry
So far, the electric motorcycle industry has been dominated by start-ups, not traditional motorcycle companies.
BMW Motorrad has filed a patent for a sidestand charger that looks like it belongs to an electric motorcycle, lending more weight to an electric future.
These patent applications seem to give a clear indication of BMW’s electrification plans.
However, BMW Motorrad boss Markus Schramm recently told US website Cycle World they would not have an electric motorcycle for at least another five years.
“In the urban environment, it is possible that there will be an electric BMW motorcycle in five years. In the touring, off-road, and sport segments, I am not sure that we will see them,” he is quoted as saying.
The Bavarian company already has an electric scooter, the C-Evolution.
BMW C evolution electric scooter
But these latest patent filings seem to show plans for an electric motorcycle, at least for the urban environment.
The sidestand charger system involves the stand slotting into a “puck” which is plugged into the AC mains.
It’s simply another way of connecting to a charger.
It would probably only be of use in your home as we cannot see this sort of infrastructure being rolled out in public places.
In 2017, BMW Group Australia boss Marc Werner said Australia needed tax incentives, import subsidies and/or charging infrastructure, but we don’t think he had a sidestand charger in mind at the time.
The only advantage we can see of a sidestand charger is that it might save you a couple of seconds where you would normally plug in the bike’s onboard charger.
However, the filing is important as it is another example of BMW getting serious about electric motorcycles.
There is no doubt that electric vehicles are fast with 100% of torque available from go, but this drag race between a Tesla Model 3 Performance and Zero SR/F is all a bit ho-hummm.
Pointless drag race
Apart from the lack of earth-shattering noise usually associated with a drag race, it’s a pretty pointless exercise.
We’re note sure why InsideEVs Italia chose the Tesla Model 3 and Zero SR/F.
They’re not even the world’s fastest electric car and bike.
That honour goes to Tesla’s Roadster and the Lightning LS-218. That might have been a better match-uo for drag race.
Lightning LS-218
Check out the tech specs comparison below for the Model 3 and SR/F.
If you really are enthused about straight-line drag speeds, you can see you get a lot more bang (or whirring whistle) for your buck from an electric motorcycle.
Mind you, the same goes for a traditional motorcycle over a conventional car!
A giant tablet-sized touchscreen on the first electric motorcycle from Nepal shows environmentally conscious riders how much fuel they are saving and their carbon offset.
The Project Zero from Yatri Motorcycles is expected to be released in March 2020, but there are no details on where it will be available.
There are also no details on how it calculates fuel savings and carbon offset without knowing the price of fuel and electricity as well as how power is generated in your region!
Made in Nepal
Surely this Nepal electric bike project won’t be called Zero as that name is already taken by the world’s leading electric motorcycle company!
Apart from fuel savings and carbon offset, the 17cm tablet instrument screen also shows Satnav and info such as top speed and average speed which could be self-incriminating if the police pull you over!
Carbon offset
Speed
Satnav
The other interesting aspect of the bike is that it can fully recharge in two hours from a normal mains outlet.
That’s still slow compared with fuelling a conventional bike, but it’s substantially faster than any other electric motorcycle.
Most other electric bikes require special DC fast-charger connections to charge only to 80% in about that time.
Yatri Motorcycles don’t say how it is done, but they do say it will have 230km of range and 30kW of power.
They also haven’t specified if that range is city or highway or whether they have regenerative braking.
NAWA Technologies has revealed an electric café racer with a hubless rear-wheel motor and world-first ‘hybrid’ battery system, combining next-gen ultracapacitors with a lithium-ion battery.
They say it is the first time an electric motorbike has used ultracapacitors.
Nawa claim it is 25% lighter, 10 times more powerful, with five times more energy.
NAWA claims their regenerative braking re-uses 80% of the energy otherwise lost while lithium-ion batteries can only re-use 30%.
Here is how it works
NAWA’s carbon-based ultracapacitors charge and discharge in seconds and are capable of picking up energy from regenerative braking and supplying it back to an electric motor very quickly.
They can do this millions of times over without degradation, offering fast energy transfer, unlike lithium-ion.
NAWA claim the hybrid ultracapacitor battery system can reduce the size of a lithium-ion battery by up to half, or extend the range by up to double, or a manufacturer’s preferred combination of size, weight and range.
The NAWACap ultracapacitor pack recharges in just two minutes and the entire battery can be charged to 80% in one hour from a home supply.
Lightweight racer
The NAWA Racer concept’s pack only weighs 10kg which makes it ideal for use in a motorcycle.
Together with the bike’s carbon frame, it weighs only 150kg.
It is driven by a hubless rim motor in the rear wheel with 75kW of power for a 0-100km/h rate of less than three seconds which is fairly typical of most electric motorcycles.
Hubless rear wheel motor
NAWA Racer’s NAWACap pack can be removed and swapped for different levels of performance. There are also Race and Eco modes for more speed or extra range.
Other features are LED lighting, painted aluminium and copper, anodised matte black suspension forks and nubuck leather saddle in vintage camel.
The Tarform electric motorcycle is claimed to be more environmentally sound as it uses non-toxic, biomaterials such as flax for body panels and pineapple material in the seat.
Not sure if we would like sitting on the rough end of the pineapple, but at least Taras Kravtchouk, the New York founder of the Tarform electric motorcycle is considering environmental impact.
Some critics say electric vehicles are not environmentally sound because of the emissions involved in extracting the precious metals for the batteries and the toxicity of recycling material at the end of the battery’s life.
Evolution in extraction, manufacturing and recycling processes is reducing those impacts with less use of materials such as cobalt and increasing use of repurposed lithium-ion batteries.
However, the jury is still out on the real impact of EVs.
Reports about the whole-of-life impact of electric vehicles compared with internal-combustion-engine vehicles vary substantially.
Pineapple express
Taras hopes to improve the whole-of-life environmental impact by using biomaterials in the construction of his bike, such as pineapple in the seating.
He also claims materials have been “ethically” sourced.
Other components are not permanently glued or bonded, making upgrades and repairs easy.
Taras says his goal is to use fully recyclable materials and no petroleum-based products.
“At Tarform we treasure the freedom to ride in nature and feel responsibility to build vehicles that do no harm to our environment,” he says.
The Founder Edition, unveiled this month, starts at $US32,000 (about $A46,700). Subsequent models should cost less.
The Tarform is powered by an electric motor that drives the rear wheel via a roller chain and has just 160km of range.
Taras hopes to make it safer by including sensors and artificial-intelligence connectivity to warn riders of nearby vehicles and alert to impending collisions.
Now they are looking to take their charging system to market.
Lead researcher at the uni’s School of Engineering, Dr Seyedfoad Taghizadeh, tells us their bidirectional charger would suit electric motorcycles as well as other electric vehicles.
“We have built the laboratory prototype of the device, and currently working to reduce its size to be acceptable for commercialisation,” the Doc says.
“The size of the device can be reduced to be applied for both cars and motorbikes, although this requires financial support from an investor/manufacturer.”
Power grid issues
Power back to the grid
One of the biggest concerns about mandating a proportion of new vehicles as electric is the load they might have on an already overstretched power grid.
However, Dr Taghizadeh points out that this charger would have the opposite effect and a actually support the electricity grid.
“Our charger creates less anxiety on the power network than existing systems,” he says.
In some ways it is like the Nissan Leaf electric car charger that puts power back into the grid and only charges when there is low load on the grid.
If there were a lot of these electric vehicles putting power back into the grid during early evening peak load times, it would prevent brownouts.
“It means that for houses that rely on batteries for storage, the fully charged vehicle is also capable of feeding power in the other direction, thus becoming a back-up system,” the Doc says.
“Furthermore, while the device is used for charging/discharging the electric vehicle at home, it is capable of improving the power quality of the local power grid (household grid) via reducing the harmonics and improving the voltage profile of the local grid.
“The device uses an advanced control system which minimises the output transients of the chargers operation.”
But the Tacita T-Race Rally won’t be competing in the 7500km rally, 75% of which will be in power-sapping sand. How could it with just 220km of range in eco mode!
Instead, the bike will be on show at the podium on 4 January 2020 and select events along the way.
It will also take part in the non-competitive 20km Qiddiyah Grand Prix on the final day of the rally on 17 January 2020.
Hardly a great promo for electric bike range!
Tacita electrics
Tacita has two electric T-Cruise cruiser models launched in 2017 costing about $20,000 to $A42,500, depending on battery size.
Tacita T-Cruise electric cruiser
Their T-Race series consists of the Enduro, Motard, Cross and now Rally costing up to $37,000 for the 44kW/100Nm motor with an 18kWh battery pack.
The T-Race Rally is the first and only electric motorcycle to race in the African desert when a prototype competed in the 2012 Merzouga Rally in Morocco.
Tacita will also have its solar-powered recharging trailer on show at the rally.
Tacita T-Race Rally tech specs
Electric motor: PMAC
Mappings: Eco and Sport
Transmission: 5 speed gearbox with hydraulic clutch
Cooling system: liquid type, with circuits for electric motor and controller
Battery life: 370.000 km or over 2000 cycles to 80% initial capacity.
Batteries warranty: five years
Max power: 34 and 44kW optional motor with 85Nm/27kW standard motor with 60Nm torque or 11kW with 60Nm
Max rpm: 8000
Wheelbase: 1490mm
Chassis: single-shell frame split in chrome-molybdenum
Clearance: 330mm
Front suspension: upside-down telescopic hydraulic fork with advanced axle 46mm diameter; 300mm travel
Rear suspension: progressive link with fully adjustable suspension unit; 280mm travel
Front wheel: 1.60 x 21″ – tyre 90/90-21
Front brake: floating disk 300 mm diameter with Brembo calyper and master cylinder
Rear wheel: 2.15 x 18″ tyre 140/80-18
Rear brake: 220 mm
Regenerative braking: 2 maps of engine brake. No engine brake (2-stroke engine style) and regenerative braking (4-stroke engine style)
Reverse: finally the reverse for the offroad (and city) use !!! Easy to maneuver in every situation.
Body: polyamide reinforced Kevlar
Range: 220 km in the Tacita Range Method + reserve power
Reserve Power: automatically activated at 5 % of remaining charge, reducing performance to reach the nearest charging point.
Charger: integrated on-board 10A/16A to be used with standard sockets.
Charging time: 3 hours with the 16A charging power. 5 hours from “reserve power” level to 80% at 220 V with the on-board charger from any socket
2020 Dakar Rally
Dakar organiser ASO has signed a five-year deal from 2020 with the tainted nation criticised for human rights violations including the murder of American newspaper reporter Jamal Khashoggi.
The Muslim nation also has a poor record on its treatment of women which could have been an issue with the rally organisers as many women now compete.
The rally was moved from Africa to South America in 2009 after threats of terrorism in Mauritania forced the cancellation of the 2008.
It has since been held in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru, but this year was run in Peru only after the other countries failed to reach an agreement with the organisers.
It is believe a bidding war followed with Saudi Arabia, Chile and South Africa with the event eventually going to the highest bidder.
The oil-rich country reportedly offered the ASO $15 million per year, compared with $3 million proposed by Chile for 2020.
Saudi Arabia features 2.25 million square kilometres of desert, plus the Asir mountains where temperatures range from -2 to 30 degrees Celsius in January.
Organisers hope to include other Mid-East countries such as Oman, Jordan, United Arab Emirates and Egypt in following years.
No Aussie Dakar
It is a shame that Australia was not considered.
We contacted the Federal Sports Minister’s office and Motorcycling Australia to find out if they had considered a bid but received no response from the Minister’s office.
Motorcycling Australia Events Manager – Off-Road Matthew Falvo confirmed they had not been approached about running the Dakar Rally in Australia.
Toby wins his sixth Finke Desert Race in 2018
However, Australia’s first Dakar winner, Toby Price, who won his second rally this year will be well suited to the Saudi terrain.
Toby, who is also the first Aussie to win the Cross Country Rally World Championship, won the Rally du Maroc in the Sahara dunes of Morocco last year.
His 2018 championship also included rounds in the Middle East dunes in Qatar and Abu Dhabi .
Toby is also the king of the Aussie sands, scoring a record sixth victory in the Finke Desert Race last year.
BMW Motorrad has been toying with the idea of an electric motorcycle for some time and has now revealed the working E-Power Roadster prototype at a small media event.
For now it’s called the E-Power Roadster and it is the first time an electric BMW motorcycle has been ridden by journalists.
However, it’s still a long way from production. Thank god! At the moment it looks hideous and heavy!
This hefty 289kg prototype seems to have been built just to show journalists that they can make an electric motorcycle.
The Bavarian company has been making their electric C-Evolution scooter for some years now, but this is their first working electric motorcycle prototype.
This E-Power Roadster is made up of existing BMW models with the front end from an S 1000 R and the rear from a R 1200 RS.
Bulky prototype
The small media event follows the recent release of a patent drawing that has little resemblance to the bulky prototype.
Patent drawing
BMW as also unveiled several electric concepts over the past few years:the boxer-style Vision DC Roadster unveiled in June 2019, the Concept Link electric scooter and the electric S 1000 RR concept called the eRR.
Vision DC Roadster
Concept Link
BMW eRR electric sports bike
E-Power Roadster
The E-Power Roadster is powered by a 13kW battery and a 101kW/199Nm electric motor from a 7 Series car.
Despite its 289kg of bulk, BMW claims the bike will dart to 100km/h in 2.9 seconds which is 0.1 seconds faster than Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire.
They also claim it can be fast charged at 5km of range every minute which means 20 minutes for a 100km charge.
Despite its bulk, maximum range seems to be only about 160km and we’re not sure wether that is on the highway or in the city.
BMW hasn’t provided a lot of technical detail, but it compares with Harley’s 152km (highway) and 235km (city range).
However, neither is anywhere near Energica’s claimed 400km.
BMW Motorrad boss Christoph Lischka says they will only produce the bike if they can get close to 300km of range.
In 2018, BMW Motorrad managing director Stephan Schaller said electric motorcycles were “not in their immediate future”.
In 2017, BMW Group Australia boss Marc Werner said Australia was not ready yet for electric motorcycles and scooters.
He said we needed tax incentives, import subsidies and/or charging infrastructure to catch up with the rest of the world on low-emissions vehicles.
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