New bike

[hank43]

Just received an email from HD. New model coming out in August 2019. 0-60 3.5 seconds. No clutch. No shifting. 110 mile range. It's electric.

Wonder how that will go over ......

https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/m ... dium=email

So lets see, from my house to Sturgis it's 1279 miles. Divide that by 110 miles per charge=11.62 charges. Each charge takes 8 hrs X 11.62= 93.02 hours to charge
add that to the time to get there at 70 mph=18.27 hrs, plus 93.02 hrs to charge batteries=111.29 hours. If you rode this straight thru, it would take you 111.29 hrs to go 1279 miles. That's 4.64 days of travel, compared to 18.27 hrs if you could do it non stop. But hey! check out the gas mileage!

Oh yeah, 1279 miles in complete silence.....
except for that screaming in your head, when you realize you spent $29,000 .........

Gas engine: 18.27 hrs TT
Battery motor: 111.29 hrs TT
hank

[cranky]

... I listened to a new HD electric for @3secs... it was loud as hell!!! Had a nasty
whine!!! Supposed to warn folks, I guess.... loud pipe replacement???!!!! GBG

[cushman eagle]

I have been wondering if electric vehicles have as short of battery life as our battery tools in our shop?
We have been disappointed with having tools we cannot use because of junk batteries,and the cost of the replacements are near the cost of the tools.

[hank43]

Battery technology has been improving over the years, I still have one of the original Makita drills with the rechargeable ni-cad batteries, lower voltage, lower battery life too. My latest Ryobi tools have 18 volt lythium batteries, last longer, weigh less, charge faster. But still, nothing beats my old plug into the 120 volt wall plug 3/8" drill motor, it is unstoppable no matter what I am drilling.
I have relatives and friends that all own electric/hybrid cars, all of them say it just isn't worth the money to use battery power. Same goes for solar. My brother invested several grand on a solar system, only to learn that in the first power outage, the solar is auto shut off, to prevent back feeding into the power grid. He thought of going completely off the grid, with battery backup (a solar wall) only to learn that he STILL has to pay a monthly fee to PG&E, the company that recently burnt down an entire city in California due to poor maintenance of their power lines. Look up Paradise, California, 2018.
Harley Electric test ride - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyJr8BoklC0
Gas is still king in my book.......

hank

[cranky]

... interesting link... he said it was quiet, the short link I watched it was not quiet!!!

I know on electric vehicles, the made the manufacturers produce a "warning" noise...
guess I'll hafta go listen for myself.....if / when I get curious... GBG ... still
have my ol' buggy whip.... GBG

[Thud300]

Yep, newer Chevy Volts and Bolts have a 'sound generator' to warn nearby pedestrians of the car's oncoming presence. Kinda spoils part of the electric appeal if you ask me.

As for the electric Harley, no thanks.

[Me Again]

Nice thing about these is that you not only reduce noise pollution but for the average Hardly rider it only needs to be charged every couple of years

[hank43]

Jeeze, when I was a kid I used to use a playing card and a clothespin on the front forks to make the noise....one on the rear too, if it was to make noise like my brothers Harley!

hank

[hank43]

Seems HD was not really the originator of the electric.....Compare this Austrian specs to the HD!

https://www.netflix.com/watch/81025181? ... 412f7_ROOT

hank

[ekap1200]

I have been wondering if electric vehicles have as short of battery life as our battery tools in our shop?
We have been disappointed with having tools we cannot use because of junk batteries,and the cost of the replacements are near the cost of the tools.

Really the battery costs more than the drill, I have a dewalt that needed a battery . We ordered a refubished drill with 2 new batteries and a new charger but in a soft case not the blow molded box. What a deal. Looked like brand new. So now I have the old drill with a new battery and a newly rebuilt one with a brand new battery for less than it would have cost to purchase 1 new battery. And still have 1 battery that was still working . Worked out well for us. both drills with a battery and one spare.

As for the battery powered M/C's. Unless they can do at least 600 per day, it just would not work for guys like us.
Maybe the zip-code bar-hopper guys , but not the serious riders. Maybe as a second bike to go back and forth to work it may work, as I do only 9.5 miles a day back and forth to work. I will stick with polluting the atmosphere......
Gene Kap.

[hank43]

Not even 9.5 miles a day back and forth to work Gene, these guys want $29,000+ for a battery bike, and that is the MSRP quoted from the HD factory! Ever try to buy a HD for MSRP? I tried (before I gained my senses and got the Kawasaki) and got laughed out of the dealership! The salesman actually told wife and I that we would NEVER get a new HD for MSRP.
First they start with $2000.00 dealer markup, then they want to sell you a stage 1, stage 2, and eventually a stage 3 upgrade. Getting all 3 stages makes the bike almost as good as our Kaws! I actually purchased a FLHTCU with everything (well, everything I got for 17,000 on the Kaw) and signed papers at pick up for an out the door price of $36,900, Then, after being insulted the second time by the sales jerk, tore up the contract, and went out and got the Kaw. the same day. The second insult was when I asked the sales jerk about the rusty tour pac hinges. He informed me that all the tour pacs were that way, and it was no big deal. In this case, it was a $36,900 "big deal".

In the years since, I have seen the problems other friends I know who have HD's have had.....Overheating, engine lock ups, brake issues etc.
I gotta admit, I had some second thoughts about the Kaw, the volcano-like heat off the engine, the crappy gas mileage, lack of power, but all that went away with the reflash.
Yeah, I know, I probably could have had that same reflash done to the HD, but that bike was over twice the $ that I had in the Kaw.

hank

[hank43]

Nice thing about these is that you not only reduce noise pollution but for the average Hardly rider it only needs to be charged every couple of years

Wonder what that costs? That Austrian bike below ad says the batteries can be pulled out at end of life, then used as a solar storage plant! Now, that's thinking!

hank

[cushman eagle]

I have been wondering if electric vehicles have as short of battery life as our battery tools in our shop?
We have been disappointed with having tools we cannot use because of junk batteries,and the cost of the replacements are near the cost of the tools.

Really the battery costs more than the drill, I have a dewalt that needed a battery . We ordered a refubished drill with 2 new batteries and a new charger but in a soft case not the blow molded box. What a deal. Looked like brand new. So now I have the old drill with a new battery and a newly rebuilt one with a brand new battery for less than it would have cost to purchase 1 new battery. And still have 1 battery that was still working . Worked out well for us. both drills with a battery and one spare.

As for the battery powered M/C's. Unless they can do at least 600 per day, it just would not work for guys like us.
Maybe the zip-code bar-hopper guys , but not the serious riders. Maybe as a second bike to go back and forth to work it may work, as I do only 9.5 miles a day back and forth to work. I will stick with polluting the atmosphere......
Gene Kap.

It would be interesting to know the real life battery replacement cost and recharge cost per mile over the life of the bike,
and I mean the 20 year life,such as my bike already has !

[hank43]

This rechargeable battery thing? I'm beginning to think it was something dreamed up by the same people that brought us ink-jet printers - Frys is a popular electronics store in California, and it was not so long ago that they were selling ink-jet printers for less than $10. The ink cartridges cost about $30. And, the black ink cartridge, the one most often used, was a part of the color cartridges, and when it ran out, the printer would not print. I have a Dell ink jet printer/copier/fax machine at work that right now has a dead black cartridge in it, rendering the printer unusable. Instead, we use the 12 year old Brother laser jet.

A few years back, i bit the bullet and got a nice dependable laser jet printer by HP. Sure, that ink cartridge cost about $65.00, but it lasts 2 years or more, I've never had the urge to throw the printer across the room. It never fails to print. A couple years ago, I bought a Brother COLOR ink jet printer. Slowest printer I have ever owned, has 4 cartridges in it, and costs about $200 to replace them all. What a waste!

hank43

[HMB Don]

I have an old Snap-on 3/8 electric Impact and a 3/8 electric drill. I bought both of these in the late nineties. In 2005 I bought two new batteries cost was $160.00 no problem I thought when I retired in 2008 I won't be using them much. Wrong I use both all the time, in late 2017 the batterys wouldn't charge, when I went online Snap-on doesn't sell these batteries anymore. I went online and found a company that would rebuild this batteries for $100.00. I sent my old batteries and in 2 weeks they arrived back. They have more power and will last longer on a charge.

About the electric motorcycles. Look for an article on a road test of a Zero motorcycle. They left Scotts Valley and rode to NV to highway 395 then north to Bridgeport. Then back to the SF. About 500 miles in two days, yes it was equipped with extra batteries and chargers. It's coming, I've watched the electric motorcycles, road race at Laguna Seca. They get up to 130 mph, they also make a lot of noise, they are also water cooled.

Electric cars, I've now lived with a plug-in Hybrid with a range extender (which is a 1.3 liter 4 cyl. engine). This is not mine but Trisha's, I get to wash, and make sure it always runs properly. The electric range is only 40 to 50 miles, it depends on the outside temp. For around town as retirees this is perfect, when we are in town we never buy gas. If we travel 40 miles in the morning on errands when we get home just plug it in and in 3 hours it's fully charged. I've installed a 32 amp charger in the garage, I had to have 240v wiring installed with a 50 amp circuit breaker. This has all cut the cost to charge the car. We've used it for two cross country trips, it has no problems climbing the mountains in Colo. or maintain 80 mph on those interstates out west. The ODO now displays 40,000 miles. When Trisha was working it was twenty miles to work so she would do the round trip on electric power.

[Thud300]

Sounds like a Chevy Volt you are describing, they're awesome. Best of both worlds if you want to go electric but need the extra range. Even running on the "ICE" (Internal Combustion Engine) they can get well over 40 mpg. Sadly, their production is about to come to an end.

[hank43]

Quote:....."About the electric motorcycles. Look for an article on a road test of a Zero motorcycle. They left Scotts Valley and rode to NV to highway 395 then north to Bridgeport. Then back to the SF. About 500 miles in two days, yes it was equipped with extra batteries and chargers. It's coming, I've watched the electric motorcycles, road race at Laguna Seca. They get up to 130 mph, they also make a lot of noise, they are also water cooled....."

I agree with you Don, We went to the casino at Topaz lake and I noted that they were installing charge stations, last place I worked before retiring had charge stations, some of the department stores in Sac have charging stations. I will never own an electric car, too expensive, and like home solar installations, long time payback for what they cost, and unless they have ICE backup like Trisha's , really short range. Murphy, the Wife's niece (whom you've met, used to live in Pacifica), has a KIA battery car and likes it, because it has ICE backup. Her husband has a Toyota Prius I think....
BTW, sent you a PM.....

hank43

[hank43]

Here is another review of the ZERO electric motorcycle, 6 days and 891 miles.
https://ridermagazine.com/2017/05/12/ze ... tour-test/

I wonder, what would keep a guy from adding another battery pack on a trailer hitch shelf, to double the range to say, 400 miles per charge? All of these reviews are with a single rider, how much more stress does a passenger add to these bikes? What is their equiv. HP rating? What is their weight rating?

Hank43