Motorcycles
Harley-Davidson LiveWire Buyers to Get Free Charging
Harley-Davidson is betting big on a future beyond the Baby Boomers, and its new LiveWire electric motorcycle is leading the charge (see what I did there?). Whether or not the bike will be a commercial success is something that remains to be seen, of course– but it just got a big boost in the form of a partnership with Electrify America that will give electric Harley buyers something pretty cool: free charging. “At Harley-Davidson, we are taking significant steps to lead in the electrification of motorcycling, including supporting the development of global charging infrastructure … including having access to complimentary charging on Electrify America’s growing network.” says Luke Mansfield, vice president and chief strategy officer for Harley-Davidson. That “g...
Curtiss Zeus is a Stunning, V8 Electric Motorcycle
If you haven’t heard of Curtiss Motorcycles before, get wise– because these guys are building custom electric motorcycles that are the spiritual successors to choppers and cafe racers, but with (what I’ll call) a greater respect for technology. They are every bit the real deal, and their latest blood, sweat, and gears-based proof of that fact is the bike you see here: Zeus. Curtiss Motorcycles has been working closely with Zero motorcycles to build this stunning machine and put it into limited production, and is currently taking $1000 deposits on the Zeus. The hope is that the bike’s unique styling and high-quality materials will help the company pursue its stated mission to “create sustainable, desirable, intergenerational, mean, clean, and green future-proof...
Indian Motorcycle Company ReVolt Reveals new 150cc Class Electric Motorcycle
Rahul Sharma is a busy man. When he’s not serving as the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Product Strategy and Channel Sales for Micromax, the tenth-largest cellphone company in the world, he is hard at work bringing the latest in electric motorcycle technology to the masses. According to Sharma, ReVolt Motorbikes aims “to make personal mobility practical, affordable, and sustainable.” ReVolt’s latest offering, the RV400, appears to do exactly that. The 150cc class electric motorcycle features a top speed of about 53 mph, making it perfect for urban travel and trips on smaller highways. This compact electric powerhouse can also achieve a distance of up to 97 miles on a single charge, and offers other exciting features such as keyless startup and GPS...
Video: Harley LiveWire and the Sound of Silence
The embattled Harley-Davidson motorcycle company has been pushing hard to reinvent itself in recent years, with sporty new products and new marketing campaigns that target a younger, more more modern, more genteel demographic. Its most publicized and expensive attempt to get people to think of Harley as a modern company, though, is undoubtedly the LiveWire electric motorcycle. It is massively important, and its success represents nothing less than the survival of an independent HD– which begs the important question: how does the LiveWire sound? Yes, I know it’s silly to talk about how important an electric motorcycle’s sound is. Still, this is Harley-Davidson we’re talking about. Remember that, “for decades, the sound of a Harley-Davidson was at least as impor...
Husqvarna Releases its First-ever Electric Motorcycle
It may not be setting the world on fire with a high-output, super go-fast electric motor like Honda Mugen or Zero, but Swedish motorcycle builder Husqvarna has just launched its first all-electric motorcycle. It’s called the Husqvarna EE 5, and it’s designed for young riders taking their first steps rides into an electrified, two-wheeled future that, Husqvarna hopes, will have them coming back to the brand for a lifetime of purchases. Husqvarna is targeting the 50cc class of bikes currently dominated by Honda’s CRF50F and Yamaha’s TTR50– but the Swedish bike is very much targeting the high end of that class with 35 mm WP XACT forks that offer 205 mm of travel up front paired to a single, fully-adjustable rear shock (also from WP) to ensure exceptional damping ...
FutureVision: BMW Reveals Vision DC Roadster Concept
“The boxer engine is the heart of BMW Motorrad,” explains Edgar Heinrich, head of design at BMW Motorrad. “But BMW Motorrad stands for visionary zero-emissions vehicle concepts, too. In view of this, one question that arises is: what would happen if we were to replace the boxer engine with an electric motor and the required battery?” The end result of that thought exercise the bike you see here. Meet the BMW Vision DC Roadster Concept. BMW has been pushing its electric “i” brand of cars with great success in recent years, and their big C electric scooter is among the best bikes in the business. It’s still a scooter-style riding position, though, and some people just have to have that “motorcycle feel”, whether that’s born of mecha...
Retrotastic: Meet the Regent Electric Motorcycle
As far as motorcycles are concerned, the 70s are definitely coming back, from Honda’s new, neo-cafe styling school to Suzuki’s reborn Katana. The future, meanwhile, remains stubbornly electric. As such, it was only a matter of time before some enterprising young minds married that classic, UJM look to a more modern electric powertrain, right? Right– and it was Regent who seems to have got there first. Based in Sweden, Regent is hoping their bike’s clean, fuss-free, and classic UJM styling will help them become a sort of retro-Zero in Europe. They seem to be doing pretty well getting at it, too. As I write this, they’ve already pre-sold 78 of the 100 bikes they hope to build on their initial run, with articles on sites like this one and Electrek doing nothing t...
Wow! ExoDyne Electric Motorcycle is a Singular Vision
Veterinarians are amazing people, if you think about it. They have to know pretty much everything your doctor has to know, but they know it for like, cats, dogs, horses– maybe turtles. How do you ask a turtle if its tummy hurts, you know? Taken in that context, it’s probably no surprise that the wild, stressed-battery ExoDyne electric motorcycle shown here is the work of a veterinary surgeon. Specifically, a veterinary surgeon named Alan Cross. That’s right, gang. This bike– which certainly looks like it was the product of a team of engineers and fabricators– was the work of one guy. It’s an incredible build, too, with a Suzuki-sourced suspension bits carrying some fairly exotic Brembo braking components welded into lightweight subframes. The suspension ...
The 11 Best Fuel Efficient Motorcycles You Can Buy in 2019
It’s getting dark pretty early, these days– and the air is getting colder. For many, it’s time to put their bikes up for the season. For others, further south, it’s finally cool enough to start putting serious miles on them again. For nearly all motorcyclists, however, the winter is special for another reason: the new bikes are out! With new bikes come new lists. As such, it’s time for Gas 2 to once again put together our annual list of the Best Fuel Efficient Motorcycles you can buy. This list, like the others, is divided into categories, and the “winner” is selected for wildly arbitrary reasons based impressions gathered in 20+ years of riding experience as much as it is for its “green” cred. So, check out our choices, below, then tel...
Kawasaki Could be Building the Fastest Electric Motorcycle Ever
Since the days of ZX-11 back in the 1990s, Kawasaki has been famous for building the biggest, baddest motorcycles around. Sure, Honda and Suzuki stole Kawi’s thunder with the Blackbird and Hayabusa, respectively– but line either of those up alongside the latest Kawasaki H2 and see what bikes pulls ahead. Keep that in mind, then, as I tell you the following: Kawasaki has patented a unique, oil and liquid cooled radiator system purpose-built for electric bikes. The implications for the electric motorcycle market are potentially staggering, considering that even the ultra-quick Energica Ego and big voltage Zero models can make do with “just” air cooling. Heck– Kawasaki’s EV cooling system seems more complicated than Tesla’s, and the assumption is that...
Report: Record Number of Households Own a Motorcycle
A new report from the Motorcycle Industry Council found that 8% of US households had a motorcycle in 2018, according to their polling data. That’s big news for motorcyclists, because it’s the highest percentage ever recorded by the MIC. The household penetration numbers have always been among the most important figures to us,” said MIC President and CEO Tim Buche. “We’re certainly happy to see more homes that have a motorcycle. Riders who talk about motorcycling to friends and neighbors help to inspire people who don’t yet ride.” The is even more good news for the industry in the report. The total number of motorcycle owners seems to have reached record levels, too, with 13,158,100 motorcycles currently registered in the US. That number reflects an is an increase of roughly 2.5...
Harley is in Trouble — Buyers are Getting Too Old to Ride
Harley-Davidson is in trouble. If you don’t understand how much trouble it’s in, consider that the company just launched– to much fanfare!– an all-electric motorcycle that offers less power and half the range of its nearest competitor, yet is priced 300% higher. Next, realize that that is Harley’s best hope for the future. What happened? Well, we could talk about Harley’s carefully crafted, corporate-sponsored cult following. We could talk about a culture of denigrating women and promoting a toxic brand of masculinity that toyed with a number of repressed, homoerotic themes. We could even skip all that, and just talk about the fact that Harley has always built kinda shitty bikes– but the problem isn’t any of those things. Not obviously, anywa...