Come on ORB your tempted :)

MOI? Tempted?

I was a poor motorcyclist even though I had a couple of nice machines. Triumph T160 trident. Honda 550/4. Yamaha 750 triple.

If it's OK with you all, I'll pass.

Apart from what are clearly commuter machines - low miles in and out of cities etc, I just don't see the point in a large electric motorcycle. You fill it up, you know that it will get you X miles to where you are going, and there will be a filling station to fill it and get you another X miles.

When travelling in Europe I knew to the mile that after filling up in Adinkerke in Belgium when the fuel reserve light would come on, about 5 miles from home in the UK after 240 miles travelled.

I want certainty, not "might" have a range of X miles if blah blah blah etc.

Complaing about something not being able to do something it is not designed to do is a little unfair don't you think?. I mean obviously electric motorcycles are not going to be for people who do lengthy european tours are they?. If a farmer were to buy a Ferrari and then complain that he couldn't use it to deliver bales of hay to his sheep on the hillside, would that be a fair comment?.

Electric motorbikes are specifically aimed at commuters and for good reason, they are a perfect solution to urban congestion. Ignoring where the electricity comes from, they have zero emissions, the instant torque makes them perfect for squirting away from the traffic lights, their light weight means you don't need massive heavy batteries like an electric car. In fact with quite a few electric scooters i have looked at, the battery weighs 10kg or less and can be removed for charging. If you think about that, it opens up electric transport to folk who can't use an electric car due to not having a place to (reliably) charge up. It also means that you could buy an extra battery which, if you were travelling further afield, can double your range. And finally, it also means that you have extra security from theft, as the power source is not on the bike if it is on the street or communal car park.

Another area where electric motorbikes could potentially flourish is the custom scene. As with electric cars, not having an internal combustion engine means the layout does not need to follow convention. On a custom bike, this can free up the designer to do stuff not possible if you have to find space for a big "vee twin". This is not a custom bike by any stretch, but does give an indication of what can be done by a designer wanting to stand out, and to think outside the box, eriderbikes.com/electric-mopeds/miku-max-electric-.../

Personally, i think electric motorbikes (whether big or small) are a great thing and should be fully embraced by anyone who might be thinking about using a conventional motorbike for commuting to work.