Fastest Production Motorcycle

[Eagle Six]

Although not cheap, it goes on my list of bikes in the future, maybe in 2018 the availability and price will be down. I'll start loading my piggy bank!

https://newatlas.com/lightning-ls218r-el-mirage-land-speed/50766/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=cea8a23276-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-cea8a23276-91436433

 

[exskibum]

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!

F'ing GREAT article! What a leap forward in technology!

". . . when are you going to have one I can **** myself on again?"

BWAHAHAHA!!!!

 

[Eagle Six]

I guess this electric thing is going to be on us a lot sooner than I anticipated a couple years ago. It's still not cheap and will not work well for some applications, but they appear to have breeched the performance standard and about to make a huge leap ahead. If you talked to anyone who knows me personally, they would tell you "George will be the last to buy an electric car", but I'm really starting to like the idea of this Lightning motorbike!

 

[RossKean]

Range is always going to be the limitation for an all-electric bike. Engines/motors gearboxes are much lighter for the electrics and efficiency is MUCH better for electric in terms of work done per watt-hour of energy. The simple fact is even with vastly higher efficiency and lower weight for electric systems, the mass (and volume) needed to "fuel" a long riding range is very high and is likely to remain high for some time. Gasoline has 50 to 100 times the energy density of a lithium battery in Wh/kg! Although you can dump a huge amount of energy out of the newest Li batteries in a very short amount of time and there are electric motors that can use the energy efficiently, there is a very long way to go before you get 200+ mile range out of a decently performing electric motorcycle (unless you are pulling spare batteries behind you on a trailer).

The dynamic could possibly change with systems capable of accepting very fast charge or if there were hot-swap stations available to exchange batteries in minutes while you are on the road. The energy storage density is very much more important on a motorcycle than on a car where an extra couple hundred kg isn't that big of a deal.

Edit to add that, theoretically, fuel cells could give you the best of both worlds. You are powering the motor(s) with electricity (no internal combustion) but the electricity is generated by the chemical oxidation of a fuel (hydrogen in the simplest form but other fuels as well). Big issue with fuel cells is the fact that suitably small ones are not able to produce the very high currents needed to operate a motorcycle at "interesting" power levels.

 

[JamesW]

I do not see this as real world stuff, man and the challenge, topics of conversation etc. I like what I got and the logistics that go with it.

 

[Eagle Six]

I like what I got and the logistics that go with it.

I'm in that same club with you. But if I were 30 years younger, I would be looking forward to the change. To me, 20 years ago, electric powered vehicles were just a laughable dream. As this new industry has been wisely paying it's dues, there is no doubt in my mind it may become a valuable transition.

The Fisker Emotion car can do 400 miles and recharge in 9 minutes. If it comes to production it's a giant leap in performance. The Lightning LS218, that is in production (deliveries late this year) can do 180 miles on the street, which will most likely improve in 2018. Innovations like these are a fickle road. At 71 years old I doubt I will see it, but I also doubt it is 20 years away. I don't think it will replace all vehicle applications that soon, and I'm not embracing the change, but things will change and hopefully for the better. Whether we like it or not of course is up to each individual.

 

[FJR Flyer]

Did they go to Bonneville? I didn't see them in the list of record holders.

 

[Eagle Six]

Sorry, I haven't been keeping up with it. Maybe someone else has and can offer an update.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Is it a motorcycle or a two wheeled electric vehicle? Apples & Oranges.

Dave

 

[Eagle Six]

Apples & Oranges, that is the question Dave. Is the Tesla a car or a four wheeled vehicle? Or, maybe it's a banana!

 

[kliembiddle]

I like what I got and the logistics that go with it.

I'm in that same club with you. But if I were 30 years younger, I would be looking forward to the change. To me, 20 years ago, electric powered vehicles were just a laughable dream. As this new industry has been wisely paying it's dues, there is no doubt in my mind it may become a valuable transition.

The Fisker Emotion car can do 400 miles and recharge in 9 minutes. If it comes to production it's a giant leap in performance. The Lightning LS218, that is in production (deliveries late this year) can do 180 miles on the street, which will most likely improve in 2018. Innovations like these are a fickle road. At 71 years old I doubt I will see it, but I also doubt it is 20 years away. I don't think it will replace all vehicle applications that soon, and I'm not embracing the change, but things will change and hopefully for the better. Whether we like it or not of course is up to each individual.

I agree totally....but what really caught my eye was Best Regards and Rx? 73 to u sir...

 

[SacramentoMike]

Think of the Blue Rhino propane tank model. You drop off your empty and pick up a full one. Think we might see racks of charged-up batteries in standard sizes available all over for exchange in a few years, some to fit all cars, some for all motorcycles? Just thinking outside of the box a little.

California will soon have a new symbol on those blue signs we have on freeways--the ones that have a knife and fork symbol, or a bed symbol for motels, etc. The new one will be a lightning bolt or something to show you can find a charging station at the next exit for your electric car. Or motorcycle?

 

[Bustanut joker]

Wheel spin at 190? dayum!

 

[Laser Dude]

Is it a motorcycle or a two wheeled electric vehicle? Apples & Oranges.
Dave

It is a MOTORCYCLE. An actual Motorcycle. I think what you were trying to do is imply it doesn't have a motor, so it's not a Motorcycle. However, motorcycles run on Engines, not motors, so technically, it's the current terminology that's wrong. It should be an Enginecycle to be technically correct, if it's how I always understood the difference.

A motor being electric and an engine consisting of an internal combustion process. I could have been taught wrong, so take that for what's it's worth, an opinion on the internet