ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Stonewolf on March 17, 2024, 08:27:17 PM
-
Anyone else looking at the state of the market at the moment and feeling like there's nothing exciting happening?
The finance on my Ribelle is up at the end of this year and I'd like to trade it in (something new for me, a great second hand deal for someone else) and while another, newer, Ribelle would be nice it's sort of sad that that's looking like the only option. I'm hoping this year brings some new options to market.
The S2 was a great entry into the market but by the time it came out it felt like it'd been around for years already and it doesn't exactly scratch the same itch (never mind the cost/quality issues with it). Energica have been super focused on Experia production and I'd really hope they'll break out and drop something exciting this year. Zero seem to be trying to weather the financial storms atm, and Kawasaki's lacklustre efforts aside legacy still seems totally uninterested.
-
Money is tight this year due to high interest rates and investors are looking at other opportunities other than electric motorcycles, the sales of which are not exactly hopping off the charts. The big thing this year sucking up investor money is AI. EVs are no longer looking like they will have a good return on investments and motorcycles least of all. Personally, I wouldn't expect anything other than slight detail improvements, such as bold new graphics (if even that) for Zero and Energica for a while.
-
As long as ANY of my vehicles are running and problem free, I have no reason to get rid of any of them. My K1200LT is 25 years old this year and has over 238,000 miles on it. It is also the most reliable vehicle of any kind I've ever owned. I'd have to be STONED to replace it. I traded in my 2001 Subaru Outback in 2018 because I could no longer get replacement parts for it. Other than that, I'd still be driving that today.
I have little to no incentive to replace either my 2021 SR, or my 2019 XMAX. As long as they keep running, I'll hang on to them. Can't understand why anyone would want to replace a perfectly good running vehicle which is why I've never purchased a used vehicle until recently (the SR is the first used vehicle I've ever owned, and the previous owner's reason for selling it made sense to me when I was in the market for another Zero and could no longer get what I wanted from the manufacturer).
-
Sometimes it's just about variety being the spice of life, etc. I get a new bike every 2-3 years, just to experience different bikes. Waste of money really, but then some people "waste" money going on holiday every year and don't have much to show for it either.
Cas :)
-
I was on the different bike every three years roundabout for many years until I realized I was wasting money and not getting a better bike. Now I replace bikes for specific reasons. I bought a 2015 BMW F800GT to tour with. We have a 2019 Zero SR and a 2021 Zero S for commuting. Our 2001 Moto Guzzi V11-Sport and 1987 Cagiva Alazzurra 650 are our weird Italian bikes. The Yamaha RZ-350 was my wife's daily rider for decades. Luckily, I have enough garage space to not worry about too many bikes. I mean, how many are too many?
-
Energica have been super focused on Experia production and I'd really hope they'll break out and drop something exciting this year
The said zero devlopment on the Eva platform, with ...5? new models to come off the experia platform by 2027. I think this was the Energica sales director a couple years back now.
-
What you all say is Oh So True ;D Humans are hunter-gatherers, so we like to have shiny new things and collect them.
Personally, I am looking forward what Ducati's next move will be. With their engagement in the Moto E GP it would be probably idiotic to not monetise the know-how gained there.
Thus I am expecting them to come up with a beautifully designed electric motorbike with at least the performance of an Energica within the next two years. I hope, I will not be dissapointed!
TBH the best would be if Ducati would take over Energica. Pairing Energica's know-how with Ducati's design and distribution/sales/workshop network would be a dream come true (at least for me) :)
-
What you all say is Oh So True ;D Humans are hunter-gatherers, so we like to have shiny new things and collect them.
Personally, I am looking forward what Ducati's next move will be. With their engagement in the Moto E GP it would be probably idiotic to not monetise the know-how gained there.
Thus I am expecting them to come up with a beautifully designed electric motorbike with at least the performance of an Energica within the next two years. I hope, I will not be dissapointed!
TBH the best would be if Ducati would take over Energica. Pairing Energica's know-how with Ducati's design and distribution/sales/workshop network would be a dream come true (at least for me) :)
The thing about Ducati is that they are owned and backed up by a huge automobile company (VW, Audi?) and can go to them for financing and technical support if they need it. If Energica or Zero needs money to make substantial upgrades to their electric motorcycles, where can they go? Likely not to a commercial bank. They used to get the cash from startup investors, but those guys have moved on to the next big thing - AI. That is all I am hearing about in the business news this year. AI is sucking up every loose dollar in the U.S. and Europe right now. ::)
I have been saying for years that the electric motorcycle market is just not really going anywhere until you see the big established motorcycle companies like the Japanese or European manufacturers jump into the consumer market. While they all dither around with electric motorcycle concepts just to keep their engineers busy during slack times, and likely to keep government regulators and politicians off their backs, they otherwise don't seem to be doing much else when it comes to actually producing a mass marketable product.
Granted H-D did spin off their LiveWire program, while sticking to their ICE big twin golden geese, but that is not exactly making any money for the corporation and their investors. I believe that the LiveWire brand is loosing money faster than any sales can support. I am also reminded of Polaris, that bought the fully developed Brammo electric motorcycles and then killed it off a year or two later. Now they go to Zero to look for EV support for their off-road ATV commercial vehicle line. What is the world coming to? ::)
-
The smaller off road bikes seem to have the most mojo right now. Maybe two 80hp dirt bikes by years end.
Electric Cycle Rider's channel seem to keep up with the latest offerings.
https://www.youtube.com/c/ElectricCycleRider/videos
-
A year or so ago, the sentiment was OOH ELECTRIC drool drool, I gotta have one, it's the newest bestest thingie!!
There were government dollars to push it too.
Today, the market sentiment is, eeh, maybe it's not time yet, can't find decent chargers, although Elon to his credit is doing his best to help that! The government cash is going mostly to rooftop solar and power gen, and a lot of bitterness from the iceholes over E anything in general.
Then throw in the screaming meemies with their fear porn, Oh it's going to blow up and burn the planet to the ground!! which ironically 150 years ago was the same fear about the ICE engine over the beloved horse and buggy.
Toss a shitty economy on top with the price of everything up 25 to 40 percent of what it was a year or so ago and rising fast, meaning people have very little disposable income anymore, ... and here we are..
As for Ducatti taking over Energica, I can't see that happening. They would never let their EGO's.. integrate with the Energica's EGO's (pun intended) but I can see them putting an E bike out, just to say they did it,.. because eventually they WILL come back again. I believe I seen somewhere that they did have some racing bike in the beta stage, that had some sort of no slip traction thing on it or something novel.
price will be a HUGE factor in if they ever take off or not, all around, which essentially means, that new tech is going to have to appear, to make Lith's expensive profile, a thing of the past. There are a lot of promising things like a Sodium battery among other techs as super caps, but those are probably a few years down the road before we see anything hit any kind of automotive field.
The big companies ARE paying attention, very close attention, and when the time is right, will cut and past (minus the 10 percent alteration to get around the patent issues) their own bikes.
I think the racing circuits will see them hit first and hardest TBH, I mean look at the mindset there. The adrenaline rush is what it's all about, speed, speed!!! and what is taking off faster that a 200 HP motor crammed up your crotch?? New battery tech / lighter batteries will make that scene explode IMO.
Predictions... not worth a shit but hey, lets have some fun eh?
Aaron
-
I would love to see Ducati make an electric Multistrada, but I’m guessing their MotoE efforts are for long-term testing and we won’t see a serious effort from them in the consumer market in the next few years. Maybe a short-ranged Hypermotard type if they can keep the weight down.
OEMs might eventually do something with hybrid drivetrains, since electric motors can help tremendously with off-the-line acceleration and allow them to keep the gearing high for efficiency, but I think Kawi was early-to-market with their hybrid, so I don’t expect to see many other attempts for a while. Would love to be proven wrong, of course. A good sport-touring or adventure hybrid might be a day-one purchase for me.
-
I mean, how many are too many?
As it is widely known, the ideal number of motorcycles under ownership is n+1, where n equals the number of motorcycles currently owned.
Cas :)
-
Motorcycle math is like chicken math.
Small bikes don't count as full bikes.
Bikes being repaired or rebuilt don't count
Bikes rescued don't count as yours
Bikes that other people use are not 'yours' they are 'shared' so don't count against your numbers
Harleys only count as 13 / 16 of a bike at best, because you just KNOW that thing left some parts here and there, and is not a whole bike.
Bikes inherited don't count they were not yours
You get the idea.