Sportsters No More?

[John Harper]

With the huge number of electric bicycles I see almost everywhere lately, having a top notch electric motorcycle seems the obvious future. If it can go 200 miles on a charge, that's probably more than most of us ride on any given day anyway. If you can only ride 600-1000 miles at a time, then an electric motorcycle may not be your best option at the present time. But, I'd assume most of could handle a range of 200 miles pretty easily. We ride Sportsters, not long haul Baggers.

John

[Whitewalls]

California, Washington and Oregon have already passed legislation requiring that all new vehicles sold starting in 2035 must be electric. There are currently no exemptions mentioned for motorcycles. I'm sure many more States will follow.
So in about 13 years the HD showroom might look quite interesting to say the least.

[rejeanprimeau]

Originally Posted by Whitewalls

California, Washington and Oregon have already passed legislation requiring that all new vehicles sold starting in 2035 must be electric. There are currently no exemptions mentioned for motorcycles. I'm sure many more States will follow.
So in about 13 years the HD showroom might look quite interesting to say the least.

Cannot wait to see those baggers with enough electric to light New-York.
They will double the trunk size as wide as an old Vega.

[John Harper]

Originally Posted by Brad

There haven't been any real Sportsters since:

(pick one)

• The introduction of the Evo
• The introduction of the rubbermount
• The introduction of EFI
• Whatever the next phase is...

My $0.02 is that we will see a new Sportster badged bike with the Revolution engine in 2022. Then again, I missed it with my prediction of a 600cc Buell blast replacement so what do I know....

Evo's just used modern metallurgy and production, it's still a 4 cam, pushrod valved, air/oil cooled engine. Rubbermounts, I agree are lame. EFI, although I have a carb bike, they are infinitely more tunable and a definite improvement.

Whatever the next phase is... Don't fear the future is all I can say. I see Teslas and electric bicycles everywhere.

How about an electric high performance Sportster? The Buzzster? Shockster? Joltster? Zapster? Maybe Voltster?

John

[Bigshankhank]

Originally Posted by John Harper

Evo's just used modern metallurgy and production, it's still a 4 cam, pushrod valved, air/oil cooled engine. Rubbermounts, I agree are lame. EFI, although I have a carb bike, they are infinitely more tunable and a definite improvement.

Whatever the next phase is... Don't fear the future is all I can say. I see Teslas and electric bicycles everywhere.

How about an electric high performance Sportster? The Buzzster? Shockster? Joltster? Zapster? Maybe Voltster?

John

Same, I'm excited for this future. As much as I love the Sportsters that Ive owned and that I currently have, the future will eliminate internal combustion engines and I'm cool with that.

[AZbiker]

Originally Posted by Bigshankhank

Same, I'm excited for this future. As much as I love the Sportsters that Ive owned and that I currently have, the future will eliminate internal combustion engines and I'm cool with that.

I am going to miss being able to ride 2 hours, fill up, and ride 2 more hours.

The barhoppers and poker run riders won't notice any difference though.

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

[Tomcatt]

Originally Posted by Bigshankhank

Same, I'm excited for this future. As much as I love the Sportsters that Ive owned and that I currently have, the future will eliminate internal combustion engines and I'm cool with that.

Ever travel any distance? Think you want to in the future?

The problem is energy density. Per pound, gasoline carries a lot of energy compared to batteries and is much less bulky. That's why it's useful. Electric motorcycles don't go very far and require a lot of time charging before you can continue. Electric cars are similarly lacking.

Ever watched Formula E auto racing? Pit stops are literally a car change, and even then they're limiting their performance to extend run times. It's still pretty boring, kinda like Formula 4 with restrictor plates added. Power management is a big deal because of the batteries' limitations.

Then there's the fact the batteries come from China. The EPA has regulated their manufacture out of the US.

[Steve9]

All that is true, but will change somewhat with technology.

How much and how soon is the question.

I'll be gas-propelled until I die.

[Crusty]

Originally Posted by Steve9

I'll be gas-propelled until I die.

Yah; Me too. Here; pull my finger....

[Bigshankhank]

Originally Posted by Tomcatt

Ever travel any distance? Think you want to in the future?

The problem is energy density. Per pound, gasoline carries a lot of energy compared to batteries and is much less bulky. That's why it's useful. Electric motorcycles don't go very far and require a lot of time charging before you can continue. Electric cars are similarly lacking.

If batteries can power the machine 100-120 miles then they are comparable to a Sportster. A consortium of bike makers have agreed to begin homogenizing battery design in order to simply them and make the swappable which means pulling into a recharge station and simply pop out/pop in your batteries and you are back on the road. The infrastructure isn't full developed yet but it is moving in the direction.

Originally Posted by Tomcatt

Then there's the fact the batteries come from China. The EPA has regulated their manufacture out of the US.

The EPA has merely set in place standards for safety and compliance that would make them expensive to build. They absolutely can be made here but rather than do it safely and support American manufacturing, companies have farmed out their manufacture to foreign countries with more lax safety standards.