Sorry, your 2015 Yamaha R1M is already a dinosaur. Lightning LS-218 is coming

[samgab]

This is the Lightning LS218 Superbike:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3DiAecsh_0&feature=youtu.be


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz1aTLBKIoQ

http://lightningmotorcycle.com/

It's been in prototype form for a while now.
Of course, when it's eventually available publicly, it'll make the R1M look cheap to purchase, but I think it's a glimpse of the way things are heading...

I own an electric car, and all that stuff about wanting the gears and shifting, to feel in control etc is just nonsense. Shiftable gearboxes are a work-around to a problem; the problem being the limited torque and power bands of liquid fuel powered engines, you need the multiples of gears to keep the torque and power close to the limited sweet spot. When you have full torque all the way through the extensive rev range, you just don't need the work-around of shiftable gear ratios.

I still want an R1M though. *sighs*

[Mike.Gayner]

Aaah electric bikes. The ultimate overpriced poser vehicle. Just enough range to get you to the nearest bar/cafe so you can show everyone how rich you are, and get home agian. Want to go for a decent ride around the Coro Loop or up the coast? Bring an overnight bag and make sure your hotel has somewhere you can plug in, because you're not doing it on a single charge.

And just to head off the impending comments - yes range might improve on a future generation of these things, which is hardly relevant to today's conversation. And we're many MANY years away from having a charging infrastructure in NZ, particularly in remove places where it may never happen.

Electric bikes are simply not practical yet. They're extremely expensive, have piss-poor range and are impractical/impossible to charge on the road.

edit: And just for perspective, you could buy two or three R1M's for the price of one of these first-gen ugly tacky pieces of dog shit.

[nodrog]

Cool, I've been looking for a bike I can hit the brakes in the middle of a U-turn on.

[Tazz]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cX-_eB8nkk

[Maha]

Cool, I've been looking for a bike I can hit the brakes in the middle of a U-turn on.

Now that is very very Dangerous, whip it good.

[EJK]

I heard that if you connect your iPhone to the USB port you can charge the bike off the phone.

[mossy1200]

I heard that if you connect your iPhone to the USB port you can charge the bike off the phone.

With 2 trolly bus arms you can charge it while riding around town.

[240]

Electric bikes ? umm no thats just wrong.Its a bit like a vegetarian pie, it has the name pie in it but it just ain't right.

[Brett]

Electric bikes ? umm no thats just wrong.Its a bit like a vegetarian pie, it has the name pie in it but it just ain't right.

We said that about Hybrid cars when the Prius was released. Now we're talking about Hybrids (using the term loosely) like the McLaren P1, Porsche 918 and La Ferrari. Progress is a very very very very good thing.

[James Deuce]

We said that about Hybrid cars when the Prius was released. Now we're talking about Hybrids (using the term loosely) like the McLaren P1, Porsche 918 and La Ferrari. Progress is a very very very very good thing.

The analogy does not work. Battery technology is stagnant and has been for some time. There are constant press releases claiming massive improvements in 5-10 years time but the last big jump was Lithium Ion batteries. There are incremental improvements for Li-Ion batteries in the works including changes in dipole material that will help the incremental improvement process, but the reality of battery powered vehicles is that they are suitable only for low average speed commuting, generally in an urban environment.

Hybrid vehicles are simply a "cheat" with onboard power plants to generate more battery charge and hybrids have benefited hugely from the recent explosion of Hybrid technologies employed by F1

[bogan]

Neat!

Electrics are certainly the way of the future, demolishing the current crop's performance specs just shows how close that future is.

[Brett]

The analogy does not work. Battery technology is stagnant and has been for some time. There are constant press releases claiming massive improvements in 5-10 years time but the last big jump was Lithium Ion batteries. There are incremental improvements for Li-Ion batteries in the works including changes in dipole material that will help the incremental improvement process, but the reality of battery powered vehicles is that they are suitable only for low average speed commuting, generally in an urban environment.

Hybrid vehicles are simply a "cheat" with onboard power plants to generate more battery charge and hybrids have benefited hugely from the recent explosion of Hybrid technologies employed by F1

I disagree. We need interest to be developed in these areas to allow off-shoots into others. The technology has a way of finding its way into other obscure applications. Also, I am not convinced that a MASSIVE break through in battery development won't occur making the options for electric vehicles much more feasible.

[Tazz]

Neat!

Electrics are certainly the way of the future, demolishing the current crop's performance specs just shows how close that future is.

Yep. Not a bike but another boost to the electric take over:


http://www.bbc.com/autos/story/20150706-rhys-millens-1368bhp-ev-conquers-pikes-peak

And a Kiwi driver to boot!

Don't know if I will ever love an electric as much as a gas or diesel vehicle, but they're getting more and more practical every year.

[mossy1200]

How quick we forget what happened to the popo bike in ChCh that had to much electrickasity.

[James Deuce]

I disagree. We need interest to be developed in these areas to allow off-shoots into others. The technology has a way of finding its way into other obscure applications. Also, I am not convinced that a MASSIVE break through in battery development won't occur making the options for electric vehicles much more feasible.

Don't make me start posting links about the limits of current and foreseeable battery technology. There is massive hype about their current capability that doesn't match real-world capability. Batteries are the wrong kind of tech for just about everything they are used for, they're expensive, and they simply move the pollution back down the electricity generation chain. Do not talk about Li-Ion batteries capacity to generate heat and what happens if their casing ruptures. Or how we casually dispose of them in landfills.

There have been bigger advances in wind power generation and solar panel capability and longevity in the last 5 years that make the gains in battery technology look like the slow crawl it has been.

What's improved is the machinery around the battery technology, such as electric bikes and cars. They're better at utilising the available power and better at packaging more batteries in a smaller space and keeping them cool but they move into the law of diminishing returns the same way their less efficient predecessors do. They're heavy, slow over short to medium distance and HEAVY. Despite all the "advances" of the last 10 years the max usable range of an electric vehicle is still only about 70kms, if you use it the way you use your current IC powered vehicle. They are not viable replacements for petrochemical powered vehicles yet and hybrids and battery powered vehicles are built on the backs of 6 year old children extracting rare earth elements from ancient clay with a teaspoon.

Flexible power sources that don't involve explosively extracting the energy from a source don't exist yet. Look back at articles making claims about where battery tech will be in 5 years from 2010. Nowhere near those claims yet.

[bogan]

Don't make me start posting links about the limits of current and foreseeable battery technology.

Try reading em as well, your info is about 5-10 years out of date...

Or to put it simply, why now for the LS218?

[gammaguy]

Hear about a guy riding an electric bike getting pulled over by the cops?

seems they had to let him go,they didnt know what to charge him with......

[mossy1200]

Changes in the NZ electrical regulations for working on extra low voltage means you wont be able to work on your electric bike at home. No checking your valve timing or doing your own oil changes.

[240]

In last weeks Dom post was an article showing that sales of hybrids in the U.S. have plummeted last year as new petrol engines are so efficient.Hybrids will be a flash in the pan it's already happening

[240]

This is the Lightning LS218 Superbike:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3DiAecsh_0&feature=youtu.be


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz1aTLBKIoQ

http://lightningmotorcycle.com/

It's been in prototype form for a while now.
Of course, when it's eventually available publicly, it'll make the R1M look cheap to purchase, but I think it's a glimpse of the way things are heading...

I own an electric car, and all that stuff about wanting the gears and shifting, to feel in control etc is just nonsense. Shiftable gearboxes are a work-around to a problem; the problem being the limited torque and power bands of liquid fuel powered engines, you need the multiples of gears to keep the torque and power close to the limited sweet spot. When you have full torque all the way through the extensive rev range, you just don't need the work-around of shiftable gear ratios.

I still want an R1M though. *sighs*
Sorry man but the minute someone states they own electric car it's all down hill from there,it's kinda like taking advice on cooking meat from a vegetarian.Some things ain't meant to be said by a bloke

[bogan]

Sorry man but the minute someone states they own electric car it's all down hill from there,it's kinda like taking advice on cooking meat from a vegetarian.Some things ain't meant to be said by a bloke

Just what part of 'fastest production motorcycle' strikes you as not something a bloke should fuck around with? :laugh:

[AllanB]

wrrr wrrr wrrr yawn.

I look forward to being corrected in 2019 when I post purchasing my amazing review on my new electric ride ......

[samgab]

Sorry man but the minute someone states they own electric car it's all down hill from there,it's kinda like taking advice on cooking meat from a vegetarian.Some things ain't meant to be said by a bloke

's all good, as I also own a Gixxer, so I think things all even out in the end. :)

[240]

Just what part of 'fastest production motorcycle' strikes you as not something a bloke should fuck around with? :laugh:

As a "true " motorcyclist does speed mean all to you? if that's the case no one would ride cruisers ! Are you a "true motorcyclist" or a ps4 player?:killingme:killingme

[bogan]

As a "true " motorcyclist does speed mean all to you? if that's the case no one would ride cruisers ! Are you a "true motorcyclist" or a ps4 player?:killingme:killingme

I don't ride a cruiser though.

Two wheels, a motor, and highway capable makes a motorcyclist in my book.

[manxkiwi]

They should take that race bike to the TT. See how it goes against the Mugen.

I heard a while back about a crowd working on organic capacitors. Sorry don't have a name or link. But by the sounds of it, IF they can develop it a bit more, it would be the quantum leap in battery technology that many are hoping/waiting for.

Personally I quite like the 'leccy bikes. They're certainly quick. I think I'd like a 'leccy trials bike, that sounds like a bit of me.

[TheDemonLord]

They should take that race bike to the TT. See how it goes against the Mugen.

I heard a while back about a crowd working on organic capacitors. Sorry don't have a name or link. But by the sounds of it, IF they can develop it a bit more, it would be the quantum leap in battery technology that many are hoping/waiting for.

Personally I quite like the 'leccy bikes. They're certainly quick. I think I'd like a 'leccy trials bike, that sounds like a bit of me.

Is it wrong that the only reason I wouldn't be interested in an Electric bike (that had the same performance and refuelling times as my current bike) is because it doesn't make a manly noise?

[bogan]

Is it wrong that the only reason I wouldn't be interested in an Electric bike (that had the same performance and refuelling times as my current bike) is because it doesn't make a manly noise?

Only if you didn't give it a hoon just to make sure :bleh:

[Tazz]

Do you mean with the regulation changes we will not be able to put batteries in a torch or charge our car batteries ourselves? I had the belief that the regulations were actually relaxed some years ago allowing homeowners to do even limited mains work on their own property.

You can't even buy the parts that go fizz bang on a vacuum cleaner without an electrical ticket.

[98tls]

Love to say :banana:Wahoooo but hey i shook my head when they started talking traction control.

[jonbuoy]

As a "true " motorcyclist does speed mean all to you? if that's the case no one would ride cruisers ! Are you a "true motorcyclist" or a ps4 player?:killingme:killingme

The older generation might think that way but the new riders won´t be so obsessed with IC engines - or even controlling their own vehicles.

[smmudd83_1999]

There's a lot of people here that would claim more expertise in this matter than I. And clearly this topic has stirred the pot on both sides of the argument.

Pros.
The nay sayers are always on about range, range, range. But to be fair, anybody buying one of these is under no illusions that they're buying one to do NI to SI touring astride it.
As for battery weight - it's a moot point as the bikes barely weigh more than their IC counterparts.
In this country, the green credentials are high as we have very clean energy production.
Performance-wise, even the lesser Zero SR sounds like a hoot at half the price of this machine - and makes 106lb.ft of constant torque (apart from when setting off from 0rpm for obvious reasons).
And EC motors will make servicing a cinch - just final drive, forks, brakes and tyres to look over. Being EC there are no brushes/contacts to wear out or windings to overheat. The only mechanical part that COULD wear is shaft bearings - but with less loading on them axially then an IC engine when are they ever going to wear out?
And as much as I love my Guzzi for it's shear noise and shear mechanical-contraption feel, there is probably a hidden boon for the zen-like experience of riding with much reduced noise.

Cons.
I wonder what happens to LiFePo batteries after 400k kms? How much of their original charge do they hold and how recyclable are they? I imagine if they go into landfill they are quite toxic to the earth.
How much rare earth material is there to mine? If we all made demands for more of these cells is there enough of it in the earth readily available to mine safely? Doesn't this cost the earth something?
Would dealers be missing out on their servicing department incomes by only having consumables to look after? Don't dealers rely on servicing revenue? If you were in business would you be keen to sell a bike that doesn't ever really need servicing?
If we all rode electric motasickles and drove electric tin tops, can the grid support that?

To my mind, these are the real challenges of E-mcycles. Charging issues aside we'd just have to change our habits. Having said that, I would still have to hold onto my old 2 valve pushrod transverse air cooled twin for different uses/moods/long distance work. And how green is it to be a consumer of two motorcycles? - saving an old one from the scrap heap has some green credentials too.