Tank Slap - Motorcycle Forum

Now we are getting somewhere

[video]https://youtu.be/QeGONkq4ymc[/video]

The bike industry will have to follow the car industry and make electric bikes look futuristic. Once you make the previous generation vehicles look old, they will become redundant.

As electric cars become more commonplace it will mean there are less petrol stations, which will in turn make riding petrol powered bikes very difficult.

That looks good. Range and cost are the only factors putting me off an electric bike.

Yep. Looks pretty decent.

I doubt there's going to be any fewer petrol stations for a long time. There'll be more electric vehicles, but they'll still be a drop in the bucket. And numbers of petrol/diesel cars are still going to grow and keep pace alongside population growth.

Car sales are pretty low in the UK at the moment. I don't see that changing in the near future. Motoring is very expensive now, especially if you're under 30.

it does look pretty good but how long before you need to replace the batteries and its still very heavy .
If what I have read is correct and viable for mass production aluminium fuel cells are the way forward , lightweight ,very compact , recyclable/rechargeable and a 1500 mile range in a car . I imagine a motorcycle utilising that technology would be considerably lighter with a much greater range and probably better handling due to its light weight and compactness , the fuel cells are apparently 9 times the energy density of a lithium-ion battery .

https://cleantechnica.com/2019/10/20/uk ... is-garage/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... ng-it.html

Kwacky wrote:That looks good. Range and cost are the only factors putting me off an electric bike.

It's advertised with a 200+ mile range (throws large pinch of salt)

@Jack the batteries seem to be lasting a lot longer than expected. Our Outlander was badged to have a 5 year life before the batteries feel below threshold (something like 80% capacity) it's now over 6 years old with 60k on the clock and the batteries are in really good shape.

I know the MY newer than mine they increased the battery warranty by 2 years ago that's got to be a good sign. They also changed the battery design to be more modular to aid partial replacement.

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D41 wrote:Yep. Looks pretty decent.

I doubt there's going to be any fewer petrol stations for a long time. There'll be more electric vehicles, but they'll still be a drop in the bucket. And numbers of petrol/diesel cars are still going to grow and keep pace alongside population growth.

I reckon within three years, 90% of company cars purchased will be all electric. The tax rules from 5 April make it stupid to do otherwise.

Hmmm....it seems that the number of petrol stations in the UK is down from over 40,000 in the '60s, to less than 8500 today..!!

There are loads of old unused independent petrol stations scattered about the country.

They were killed off by the big companies.

Yeah,.....reading that stat. got me reminiscing a bit, and I remember now all the old stations by my old house (we lived on the old A-1) gradually disappearing during the 70s & 80s. There used to be half a dozen or more....I don't think there's any left now.

They're pushing for people to have tesla company cars at my work. But I know some are refusing them as they do large mileages. Although I heard if you have one and are planning a holiday in the car of a lot of miles, they will hire you a car to cover your holiday.

Lol.

Kwacky wrote:That looks good. ...

Really.???

duke63 wrote:The bike industry will have to follow the car industry and make electric bikes look futuristic. Once you make the previous generation vehicles look old, they will become redundant.

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, that Damon does not fulfil the criteria imho.:
To make it "newer & better" they need to do more than a few angular plastic mouldings.
For instance the thing is chain drive ffs.!! -If there's one thing that can be lost without protest from enthusiastic owners it has to be that.? -Surely locating the drive system within the wheel hubs (yes, both front & rear could be driven, and therefore regeneratively braked) would reduce the unsprung weight.
It needs someone with some nouse to design it "as would be best", not just take the existing ICE design concept & swap the power unit.

All other things being equal, a chain drive can be over 98% efficient. On top of that, a chain-drive is also very light. The downside is that regular upkeep is fairly crucial.

Shaft-drive on a bike has a few advantages...easier maintenance being one of them. But the benefits get lost on a high-power bike when the power has to make that 90-degree turn at the rear axle....the transfer is just too much for a bevel-gear (or whatever it's called) to handle...those two gears would be shredded in no time.
Look at BMWs...the big mile-eating touring bikes are nearly always shaft-drive....mainly for ease-of-use. But the sportbikes are always chain-drive, purely for performance.

I think St Marks was more leaning towards the drive motors being in the hubs, not a shaft drive.

kiwikrasher wrote:I think St Marks was more leaning towards the drive motors being in the hubs, not a shaft drive.

Precisely mate.

D41 wrote:All other things being equal, a chain drive can be over 98% efficient..

I would dispute that any power transmission could be that efficient, let alone an open chain & sprockets setup.?
As Kiwi said, I was suggesting that having the wheel & power source as one entity (could ? ) obviate any need for power transmission (as well as many other potential improvements).

I suspect at this stage of electric bike development that a chain and sprocket is a lot cheaper and lighter than hub or shaft drive.

@StMarks you always have good comments but I'm confused how adding the driver into thr hub will reduced unsprung weight? Surely the opposite would happen and it would increase as you putting heavy drive equipment into the unsprung part of the bike. Also sticking alot of the weight fore and aft seems the wrong thing to do from a design point of view. Surely mass should be centralizsed and located as low as possible or have I missed something.

Oh and I think it looks crap with a long way to go before I could evenly be remotely interested, however I do agree it's a start and wish them success

StMarks wrote:

D41 wrote:All other things being equal, a chain drive can be over 98% efficient..

I would dispute that any power transmission could be that efficient, let alone an open chain & sprockets setup.?
As Kiwi said, I was suggesting that having the wheel & power source as one entity (could ? ) obviate any need for power transmission (as well as many other potential improvements).

Yep, they really are that good....provided they're taken care of....if they're not then that number will drop off pretty sharpish. It's the main reason why the Lycra-crowd will get obsessed with "bottom-bracket stiffness" on bicycles, as with those that flex, some of the energy "at the cranks" will end up dissipating back into the frame. Ti frames in particular...less with steel, much less with 6061, 7075, etc.

Kwacky wrote:I suspect at this stage of electric bike development that a chain and sprocket is a lot cheaper and lighter than hub or shaft drive..

Blade wrote:....but I'm confused how adding the driver into thr hub will reduced unsprung weight?

My bad, I should have written "sprung weight". ( Shoots down your "always good comments" theory )
Fwiw I'm proposing that the wheel should be the "motor" itself.? -All electric motors (afik) have two basic components, the Armature & the Stator which rotate in relation to each other.
One would be attached to the vehicle, the other would be the rotating wheel.
By placing the drive systems there (where they are supported by the wheel on the ground) you are thereby freeing up all that weight on the suspended chassis.