Surprise! Motorcycling isn't dying

U.S. motorcycle sales are in sharp decline.
(Graphic from CanyonChasers)

 Today we're told that motorcycling in the U.S. is dying. Riders are aging out, young people are on their phones, motorcycle prices are high, and insurance costs crushing. The police are always watching, and everyone says motorcycles are dangerous killers. 

The joy is gone. 

Except, it's not. 

Surprise! Motorcycling is booming. 

And why not? Motorcycling is fun. You remember your first ride, don't you?

I still remember my first time. A high school friend took me for a ride, as the passenger, on the new Honda step-through his parents had bought him. The little white motorcycle wasn't fast, but I was thrilled. 

I had dreamed of owning a sports car some day but, in high school in the 1960s, a sports car was way out of reach for me. But here was a vehicle maneuverable enough to be exciting, easy to ride as my bicycle, and not impossibly expensive. 

I loved that it had a horn, lights, and even a tiny luggage compartment. It carried two, just as my imaginary sports car would, and, best of all, it could take me anywhere right now. 

We innocently rode without helmets or protective gear.

Of course, we didn't actually go anywhere; just around his neighborhood and briefly out on Sepulveda Boulevard with real traffic! The thrill was in imagining where it could take us.

It would be years before I would ride a motorcycle on my own, when my brother handed me the keys to his medium-sized Honda and told me to "ride around."

That was all the training I got. (I didn't even understand how a positive-stop gearbox worked. I had to figure it out).

Motorcycling is a blast. So why does everyone seem to think it's going away?

In a surprisingly upbeat and even comic YouTube video, "Dave" at CanyonChasers suggests that U.S. bikers treat motorcycling as "a nostalgic hobby."

Worse, old-time bikers treat newcomers on anything less than a liter bike as "cowards." Their little bikes won't do double the Interstate speed limit and, besides, they're too quiet.

Even worse? Newcomers are being gruffly clued in that they are unworthy: they haven't "paid their dues," with scars on their knees and grit under their fingernails.

We forget that, back in our day, someone (my brother to name one) handed us the keys for free and told us to "go ride around." No one demanded "dues."

So who is killing motorcycling in the U.S.? WE ARE, Dave says.

Our behavior is stupid. Luckily, it isn't working.

Because two-wheel ridership is exploding! Young people are riding and having a whale of a lot of fun. Their mounts are inexpensive to buy, incredibly cheap to run, require no registration, no insurance, no training and are astoundingly reliable even compared to a Honda. They park for free.

And, yes, they're quiet.

They're electric mopeds and scooters.

Oh God: those zippy little vehicles that so annoy me when I am a pedestrian. They may have pedals but everyone knows that's a gag. These are motorcycles.

They're everywhere, and I mean everywhere. On the streets. On the sidewalks. On the handicap ramps. In the bike lanes. Shoving foot traffic aside on running paths. Lane splitting and even riding the wrong way in traffic.

Red light? No problem: they run right through. Few bother with helmets, none bother with gear. These are the "outlaw bikers" of this era.

And the police don't care!  Enforcement is nonexistent because it's impossible and, yeah, it's all just "kid stuff" anyway.

The riders are mostly young and many are even girls. This is the new-birth future of motorcycling, Dave suggests.

Peering back through the mists of old age I recognize myself, riding back seat on that Honda step-through. That experience of freedom, possibility and joy. It's still happening for people.

We should celebrate this.

And if it goes against the grain a little bit, old-timer, I know how you feel.

Because going back to motorcycling at 50 was my attempt to re-capture a little bit of my youth. My interest in Royal Enfield motorcycles, particularly the retro-models, is that attempt to get back to those happy days.

Yes, it's my "nostalgic hobby." It works for me.

But look around, look around. Watch the video:

New Flying Flea buzzes with big ideas

Rider pretends to kick start Royal Enfield's new electric Flying Flea.

 Word salads can have a delicious taste in the mind, whether or not you actually understand what it is you are eating. 

Just for instance, taste this, from the press release introducing the software behind the Royal Enfield's new "Flying Flea" brand of electric motorcycles: 

"Designed specially to support two-wheelers, the Snapdragon QWM2290 SoC is engineered to provide a truly ‘connected’ experience into Flying Flea’s motorcycles. The Snapdragon QMW2290 SoC powers the core vehicle control unit running an in-house operating system, developed by Flying Flea, that enables the motorcycle to manage all aspects of the vehicle and ride experience through the interactive true round TFT cluster. The Snapdragon QWM2290 SoC and Snapdragon Car-to-Cloud give the Flying Flea an ability to maintain seamless communication between the rider and the machine through a secure multi-modal interaction, both on and off the motorcycle with 4G, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. This powerful and efficient chip allows users to maximize the potential of the cluster and develop a simple and intuitive UI (user interface) and UX (user experience), including a dedicated Voice Assist button. The motorcycle comes with five pre-set ride modes and allows the rider to customize the ride mode combinations based on the rider requirement and terrain. It also allows the system to recognize and enable mobile phone as a smart key to unlock and start the vehicle." 

Delicious sounding. But is it nutritious? What exactly is this dish, anyway? The press release is happy to explain what it is you're chewing on: 

"Flying Flea, endorsed by Royal Enfield, is the electric vehicle brand that is an expression of Royal Enfield’s commitment to keep moving forever forward. Operating at the intersection of technology and lifestyle, Flying Flea is a new brand of electric vehicles that continues a legacy of innovation and creates a new category for the global electric motorcycle marketplace and beyond. "

Ummm. Sounds mouth watering, although you wonder what it means that Royal Enfield has "endorsed" the Flying Flea?

Is that like, you know, putting sugar coating on oats and promising you'll love them for breakfast?

And WHAT a great cereal box the Flying Flea comes in! The looped introduction to the brand is a masterpiece. It's addicting. You can't stop eating it up.

Hungry for more? You can sign up for updates on Flying Flea motorcycles, which will come in city-bike and scrambler versions.

Want to add a little flavor to your Flying Flea? Feel free to season to taste. According to TopSpeed "Royal Enfield says the processor allows you to fine-tune ride modes beyond the five pre-set settings, with nearly 200,000 unique combinations."

Or is all this just a bit too much spice, for those who associate Royal Enfields with kick start, oil leaks, drum brakes and balky four-speed gearboxes with a neutral finder lever?

No, no! The press releases assures that the heart (although not the internal combustion thump) of Royal Enfield will always be there:

"Royal Enfields are engaging, uncomplicated, accessible and fun to ride; a vehicle for exploration and self-expression. It’s an approach the brand calls Pure Motorcycling."

New Flying Flea's logo includes parachute, a tribute to the original.

OK, OK, I've had a bit of fun here as I try to decode Royal Enfield's recipe for the future.

But it's plain the future is electric and sophisticated and Royal Enfield doesn't want to be left behind.

The original Flying Flea, of World War II, was decidedly crunchy: a two-stroke motorcycle with tank shift, tough enough to parachute into combat.

It isn't coming back, even in "retro" form. But Royal Enfield did try to sell the original to the civilian public after the war. It sold to country parsons and young couples on a budget.

The new Flying Fleas will seek customers among urban residents with sophisticated tastes.

Royal Enfield tried to sell Flying Fleas to the public.

Decoding Royal Enfield's new Flying Flea

Royal Enfield's coming Flying Flea electric is full of surprises.

 Three things strike me from the launch of the electrifying new Royal Enfield Flying Flea. 

First, it's not a motorcycle. Flying Flea is a new brand of Royal Enfield. The Flying Flea factory will make first the FF-C6 city bike, then a scrambler version called S6. 

Second, this new Flying Flea is no variation on a previous Royal Enfield, although a Himalayan served as a development mule. It's brand new technology -- 28 patents' worth. 

Third is Royal Enfield's continued attention to its unique history. Flying Flea was the nickname of the little two-stroke Royal Enfield built during World War II to serve Britain's airborne units. 

Royal Enfield Model RE, nicknamed Flying Flea.

The look of the model unveiled this week is purposely "retro" to honor that history.

Of course the new Flying Flea is a lot prettier than the olive drab military original. (In 1943 there was no sense putting high style into a thing you were going to drop from an airplane.)

Instead there is a magnesium battery case adorned with fins mimicking an air-cooled motor. Here's some descriptive poetry from the press release:

"The dynamic front fins, arranged in odd sequences, represent innovation and modern technology while the elegant rear fins, placed in even sequences, embody tradition and legacy. Both clusters of fins twist and turn, eventually merging seamlessly into a graceful wing-shaped motif at the center."

The Flying Flea FF-C6 has clean, light look.

Sounds like a work of art, and, for a battery-operated appliance, the Flying Flea does look nice.

Unavoidably, it also looks somewhat spindly to me. So did the original Flea, of course, as its purpose for being was to get to the front inside a glider or under the wing of an airplane. It had to be light.

So just accept the new Flying Flea is made to excel under battery power, and it looks that way. Except... well, you know, someone could make battery covers out of plastic and claim they were just as pretty.

There will be a learning curve for those of us raised on gasoline motorcycles. In the launch press release, Royal Enfield CEO B. Govindarajan complimented the in-house development of the "BMS."

That was a new one on me: it stands for Battery Management System.

The Flying Flea S6 scrambler will look a bit rowdy.

Battery life, of course, will be an issue. I'm wondering: could I stuff some saddlebags full of laptop batteries and plug them in when I needed a little extra boost to get home?

The press release notes the history of the Flying Flea, being airlifted to the World War II battlefront. "It was later embraced by civilians too, for city exploration purposes."

1947 civilian Flying Flea was spindly looking, too.

While it's true that the nickname Flying Flea must have come from its airborne duties, the fact is that the little Royal Enfield was first designed and built for civilian use, being referred to as the Royal Baby. It was only enlisted to serve the military after the war began.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the new Flying Flea (besides its small size and light weight, for a Royal Enfield) is the remarkable girder fork. This no-doubt much improved device pays tribute to the original Flying Flea's rubber-band girder fork.

Spectacular aluminum girder fork of Flying Flea C6.

Less surprising, but still impressive, is that your smart phone will be how you program the adjustable ride modes, the press release notes. You can choose the throttle, brake and regen modes to suit the riding feel you're looking for.

Being the pessimist I am, I am sure I would make sure all those modes are set to produce maximum range, and I would just put up with how that feels.

I don't need the thrilling experience of not being able to return from the place I got to in an extra big hurry.

Indicative of what all this investment, thought and beauty means is perhaps best summed up by the plan to release the Flying Flea first in Europe and America -- not India. In other words, in  places with lots of disposable income for fun vehicles that only have to be used within their limitations since the rider has other vehicles for daily use.

Putting it gently, the press release says "this is the beginning of a new breed of electric mobility for those who choose to travel in style, for purpose and for fun as well as necessity."

Perhaps the best view is from the rider's seat.

Forget "necessity." Nobody is going to be beating these up delivering pizzas. For one thing, the Flying Flea likely will not parachute into the market at bargain prices.

Royal Enfield's gasoline powered motorcycles have always delivered style (well, of a sort, in the case of the Himalayan) at prices that were attractively low.

The Flying Flea will have be measured on some other scale than price-per-pound if it is to be competitive.

“We’re not betting the entire farm on it,” Royal Enfield boss Siddhartha Lal was quoted as saying at the launch. “We are putting money behind it, but if it doesn’t work, we’ll be okay.”

Watch the video of important moments in the Nov. 4, 2024 launch of the new electric Flying Flea.

How electric bicycles are cheating

Electric bicycles evade rules against personal vehicles on park road.

 Electric bicycles are cheating. 

I say this without rancor. At my age, the time when I myself will need an electric bicycle if I mean to keep pedaling at all is soon approaching. 

But it's true: as useful as they are, electric bicycles are unfair. 

And I am a grouch about it. 

Case in point: my wife and I recently returned from a vacation in beautiful Zion National Park in Utah. To enter the park and take advantage of its stunning beauty you are required to park your car or motorcycle near the entrance and get on one of the park's frequent, comfortable, and free shuttle buses. 

The shuttles are a phenomenal success overall, although they are standing room only in the busiest season.

Before the shuttle system was inaugurated in 2000 this (relatively) small national park was being visited by 5,000 cars a day -- but had only 450 parking spaces. (How is this even possible? Period photos show the narrow park road lined with cars parked bumper-to-bumper on each side.)

So we parked our rental car, and got on the buses.

But not everyone took the bus.  Many rented electric bicycles at shops outside the park. They were now free to gum up traffic on the single, narrow park road, and park at will anywhere and everywhere in the park.

These folks had successfully evaded the rules against private vehicles; rules meant to benefit everyone.

I asked one of the shuttle drivers about the electric bicycles.

"I hate 'em," he replied. To be fair, he also "hated" all bicycles, electric or not. On the narrow park road the big shuttle buses are a tight fit and there are no shoulders to spare.

"We try to give them a little extra room," the shuttle driver told me. "But the shops that rent them don't tell riders that they are supposed to stop and put a foot down when we pass."

From our seats on the shuttles we watched as some bicycle riders did what bicycle riders often do: riding against traffic, riding side-by-side (blocking a lane), ignoring traffic behind them, and wobbling alongside as the buses passed.

Some time back I posted a photo of an electric street scooter on Instagram. It was not an electric bicycle (no pedals and, of course, tiny wheels). But the thing illustrates what bugs me about electric bicycles.

The thing had a seat. Seems like no big deal, but what kiddie kick scooter ever had a seat? Never. It also had front and rear disc brakes and full front and rear suspension.

Electric scooter built for road but parked on sidewalk.

What it did not have was a license plate. Free of registration costs, and undoubtedly free of insurance costs, it had one more unfair advantage that bugged me: it was parked on the sidewalk. Free parking, in the city, and a tripping hazard for pedestrians!

My angry post got me one reply, accusing me of being a mean old grouch: "Get off my lawn, you kids," the reply read. Yes, I laughed.

I don't begrudge electric bicycles a seat. Of course, all pedaled bicycles need a seat. But in other respects, they share the foundation of my displeasure with that electric street scooter.

Electric bicycles are motorcycles, or mopeds, if you will. They deserve to be treated (and taxed) as motor vehicles. It's not OK for these things to be parked at a bicycle rack, or on a sidewalk.

I assure you that if I parked my Royal Enfield Bullet at a bicycle rack I would get a parking ticket (it HAS happened to me).

I admit that I probably will soon be shopping for an electric bicycle, and I probably will behave as irresponsibly as anybody else. 

But I shouldn't be allowed to do so.

There oughta be a law.

Electric vehicles are ready, but am I?

 Electric vehicles are coming and no doubt all of us will be driving and riding them. 

The cars and motorcycles will be ready. But will we be ready for them? 

Here's where I am going with this: Mrs. Compton, the lady down the street, drove us kids to school in her 1953 Nash Rambler. From the passenger seat I watched as she, seemingly effortlessly, guided the gearshift lever around in its ball and socket joint to keep the car moving. 

Since there was no labelled shift quadrant, I could not figure out how she knew where to find the gears! 

The beauty of the three-on-the-tree gearshift was that Mrs. Compton knew that second gear, for instance, was all the way up and forward, and third gear was down from there. 

She didn't have to look at the gearshift to know how to move it, and she could have gotten into any car on the block and driven it, since they all worked identically. 

Mrs. Compton didn't need to take her eyes off the road to shift.

Last time my wife and I traveled our rental car was a brand new Toyota Prius hybrid, a new one (it looks better than the old ones, to my eye; more sleek, less geeky). 

Ever drive one? It's interesting. Obviously very well made, and solid as a brick. Very small trunk, but that is to be expected. We put three adult women in the back seat for one ride, and they did not complain.

I realize the Prius is a hybrid, not a true electric car. But the Prius has always been deliberately different, determined, for the sake of efficiency, to make no effort to cater to our familiarity with cars of the past.

Hybrid or not, it is meant to be a taste of electric things to come.

The super-sleek shape means the whole front end from the wipers forward is out of view of the driver. The back window slopes so sharply that, with the enormous headrests in the back seat, vision out the back is peephole style.

I actually wished there was some way to keep the back-up camera on so I could see what was coming up behind me. Changing lanes was a matter of the sensors alerting me to traffic alongside. The rearview mirrors seem enormous (from a larger model?) but couldn't compensate for the blind spots. I was very uncomfortable with this.

What really got me, though, were the controls. Embarrassingly, I could not figure out how to get the vehicle to move forward. Somehow it happened, and I drove to my first destination. Finally, needing to leave the car, I could not figure out how to get it into Park!

My wife ultimately did figure this out for me (along with how to get into Reverse) but it was not intuitive and always required me to take my eyes off the road to mess with the "gearshift." The tiny shift lever obviously had no mechanical connection to anything that would shift gears. It was just a switch and made no effort to disguise it.

The gearshift offered a setting labelled "B."

For battery? No, the Internet explained that B is for increasing engine braking, as I suppose you might use going down a long, steep slope. The added engine braking is not regenerative; it doesn't boost the battery as you might expect from a hybrid.

The oddest thing was the device a driver uses most often: the steering wheel.

Yes, it will steer the car, but only in a remote, effortless way, as if driving is a video game and the windshield a screen. No feedback of effort from the wheel, not even a faux resistance.

Everything about controlling the Prius required use of my eyes.

A moving human, whether it be on foot, or in a car, on a motorcycle, bicycle or boat, expects the seat of the pants to help tell what's going on. The human adjusts effort in response and expects to learn from the response what the effort is accomplishing. The Prius is totally isolating.

I'm sure people get used to this, and some probably love it. So high tech.

Yeah. Great. But here's the thing: the rear door. You don't open it by pulling a handle. You reach behind a panel to where the handle would be and, with luck, find the small electric switch that in fact opens the rear door. This could have been done with a handle. Most car doors open with a handle.

But NO. Everything has to be electric, isolating, tricky, different.

Yes, I did walk away from the still running Prius once, having put it in Park, but leaving it silently "on." Luckily I realized my mistake when I tried to lock the doors and they wouldn't lock.

Young people used to getting used to a new phone every time the old one goes out of date will quickly adapt to electric vehicles, I suppose.

As for me, I couldn't even reset the clock for Daylight Savings Time. Our Prius remained convinced during our visit that it was an hour earlier than it actually was.

Funny. Shouldn't it have known without me having to tell it?

P.S. Toyota is said to be experimenting with an electric car that will feature a manual gearbox and clutch, make appropriate engine noises, and even "stall" if driven poorly.

Want no-mess oil changes? Get an electric motorcycle

When it's built, the Daymak Spiritus three-wheeler won't need oil changes. 

 Want to streamline the process of changing the oil in your classic Royal Enfield motorcycle?

 After lengthy experiments with coffee cans, milk jugs and drain pans, here are my picks for the two best ways to clean up your act when changing oil:

1. Pay someone else to do it for you; or

2. Buy an electric motorcycle. No more oil changes!

 I've blogged repeatedly about my experiments in making oil changes easier and less messy on my 1999 Royal Enfield Bullet. My Royal Enfield is the old Bullet, little removed from its original 1949 design.

Motorcyclists were Real Men in 1949, oil was always oily, and they tended to be in close contact most of the time.

Motorcyclists, one Real Man told me, wore oily jeans because there was no sense getting oil on your new jeans.

I bought my Royal Enfield because I wanted to travel back in time, not just ahead in distance. It turns out that not everything about visiting 1949 is very tidy. So be it.

I may not be a "Real Man," but I am a "Retro Man" to my oil-contaminated end.

I was encouraged in this by Paul d'Orleans, creator of the authoritative and wide ranging website "The Vintagent." He started it in 2006, as a blog; reading it taught me a lot about real vintage motorcycles, not simply retro ones like my old Bullet.

In 2016 The Vintagent expanded its reach to film, culture and, lately and perhaps most notably, electric vehicles. 

The things I love about The Vintagent are still there. Check out Paul's piece on a guy called "Paladin," a Real Biker and philosopher of the old motorcycle scene in San Francisco, oily jeans and all.

Far more up to date is "The Current," the section of  The Vintagent that covers modern, even futuristic electric vehicles. It explains itself this way:

"It’s an ever-evolving, even frantic, landscape of electric vehicles, and it can be tough to keep abreast of all the latest bikes, batteries, and news constantly flooding the market. That's why we’ve re-launched our weekly EV News Roundup to bring you cherry-picked stories that matter to you."

For sure, I didn't know any of this stuff, and much of it is jaw-dropping, even if some vehicles featured won't be on the streets this year, or next year.

One recent edition of The Current introduced me to the Daymak Spiritus, a three-wheeled (and thus maybe a motorcycle) two-seater. It's due in 2025, in two versions, one costing $20,000 and the other $150,000. The more expensive version is to have three-wheel drive and a 0-60 time of 1.8 seconds.

Both versions will offer a crypto-currency "suite." Not only will the vehicles enable you to pay as you go in crypto, they will mine Bitcoin in their spare time. I am not making this up; check the Daymak Avvenire website.

It also says the company has $1 billion in orders on hand, perhaps proving that The Current is really onto something electrifying.

You wouldn't have to change the oil. Hmmm. Maybe I could get used to that.

What I want from a motorcycle no electric can ever do

My brother Phil let my wife and I try out his motorcycle, in 1975.
I don't recall him explaining how it worked. It just did.

Electric motorcycles don't work.

They don't work for me, I mean. They're fine for nearly everyone else, apparently.

In fact, I was shocked by a recent poll showing how well accepted electric motorcycles already are.

A BikeSure survey of motorcycle enthusiasts in the UK found that half either would like to own an electric or already have one.

Further, less than half of those surveyed think that gasoline motorcycles shouldn't ultimately be banned (the UK is on track to ban gasoline cars from roads in 2040).

I didn't expect hard core motorcycle enthusiasts to retreat so easily on any front.

And then there was what I'd call the "other side" of the survey. This is where I was really horrified.

The reasons given by enthusiasts who don't hanker for an electric motorcycle just pale in contrast to the arguments for electrics. There are almost no good reasons to power motorcycles with gasoline.

The gasoline advocates, basically, claim to like noise, grease on their pants legs, constant maintenance, reliability worries and a bigger carbon footprint. Does all this sound like fun to anybody?

Do I really want to sign on to such Neanderthal thinking?

Yeah.

I mean, no, I don't want to pollute the planet one drip of Castrol 20W-50 at a time, as my old Royal Enfield invariably does. (In fact I'd love to cure that drip, since most of it goes on my own garage floor.)

So I won't claim to actually prefer noise to silence, oil stains to cleanliness, fiddling maintenance to doing no maintenance at all, and constant worry to perfect reliability.

But I do strongly agree with one word in BikeSure's report on its survey: "Sentimentality."

They mean the word to kindly dismiss the concerns of petrol-heads as essentially just so much inconsequential nostalgia. So they may be, but for me sentimentality is conclusive.

Electric motorcycles fail, for me, because they do not do the one thing I want my motorcycle to do above all else.

I want it to remind me of what motorcycles were like when I was young.

The survey concludes that electric motorcycles are the future. Even those who don't care for them largely agree with that.

And so they are. But I am not.

I am daily ever more aware that the future, hopefully marvelous in all ways, does not include me.

One day, if I'm lucky, they'll clap me into an electric tricycle and ask me how I like my new wheels. I'll smile, but inside I'll probably be thinking "it's not the same."

Filling in the blanks on electric Royal Enfields

Royal Enfield says there will be electric power.

What's going on with Royal Enfield and electric motorcycles?

You can read "a detailed story rounding up every single fact that has been reported by the media here, in what is shaping up as the most exciting electric motorcycle launch early this decade."

That's according to editor Shrawan Raja of the ElectricVehicleWeb site. Based in Chennai, India (along with Royal Enfield), this website updates the electric vehicle scene daily, including cars as well as motorcycles. He's an engineer who proudly notes that he learned to ride a motorcycle on his dad's 1982 Royal Enfield 350.

The article he pointed out to me in an email tells what is known about Royal Enfeld's electrifying plans, based mostly on widely reported hints from executives that electric vehicles are in the works.

In the same email to me, Shrawan prodded me to pay more attention to electric Royal Enfields.

His website does exactly that.

Click this link to find ElectricVehicleWeb's comprehensive articles about:

The "Charging Bullet" built from a 1961 hulk that has crossed England from Scotland to Land's End.

The "E-Bullet" design that imagines a kit to convert Royal Enfields to electric power.

And the "Photon," a high-end creation that brings high style and impressive power to an electric Royal Enfield.

You'll be impressed by the Photon (and its price), distressed by the blocky appearance of the E-Bullet, and encouraged by low-buck approach of the Charging Bullet.

Shrawan Raja of ElectricVehicleWeb.in

"So the E-Bullet was a bunch of college students who rigged up a prototype, and our idea is to support startups to give them some kind of encouragement to keep getting better," Shrawan explained in his email.

"Many of them have rough edges, but we feature them in the hope that they progress and improve the standing of electric vehicles in India."

With so much going on, "I'm wondering why you haven't yet featured Royal Enfield's electric vehicle plans on your site?" Shrawan noted, accurately.

Electric Royal Enfield, as imagined on IndianAutosBlog.

My reply seemed lame, even to me:

"I was attracted to Royal Enfield by the fact that its products (at the time) were obsolete and they appealed to my sense of nostalgia," I wrote.

"Royal Enfield has improved and saved itself by modernizing its products. It approaches the future with confidence and naturally takes electric motorcycles into its plans. I hope that it accomplishes this with care and style. In the process, however, I feel increasingly left behind, more interested in the past than in the future."

Even I can dispute my argument.

I noted that The Vintagent himself, Paul d'Orleans, America's stand-out authority on vintage motorcycle design and culture, devotes a whole section of his website to electric motorcycles. He curated the "Electric Revolution" exhibit presented by the Petersen Automotive Museum. Although an "automotive" museum, Petersen's Electric Revolution featured only electric motorcycles and e-bikes.

Which leaves me in the dust and rust of internal combustion Royal Enfields of the past and, well, actually, of the present. Royal Enfield can make anything, as its newest products (all gasoline powered) illustrate. But are electric motorcycles a natural fit? The company has to get this right.

I have in mind Harley-Davidson, which seemed to want to build electric motorcycles and now, confusingly, seems to want to build electric bicycles.

What's the harm? Harley, a company that made its unmatched reputation doing a few things well, is now done with that and anxious to tackle everything new. No wonder I feel left behind.

My hope is that Royal Enfield will avoid creating a similar impression.

Kalashnikov goes for a vintage look on its electric Izh-49.

How? Well, poking around on ElectricVehicleWeb.in I encountered the (to me) startling news that Kalashnikov (yes, the gun maker) created the Izh-49, a limited edition electric motorcycle that summons up vintage appeal.

(One nice detail: I love the way the Kalashnikov runs the wire for the tail light over the top of the fender.)

Not everyone will be nostalgic for a Soviet-era vintage look-alike electric motorcycle. But if they can do it...

I admit it: The future belongs to electric motorcycles

This convinced me: internal combustion isn't worth the effort.

My wife was right: electric motors will rule the world

There seems no doubt that electric motorcycles will be the future of two-wheeled transportation. Maybe they'll be more like scooters, or dirt bikes, or powered bicycles. But they will be electric.

Smooth, quiet, easy to start and increasingly affordable, electrics will make my 1999 Royal Enfield Bullet not just obsolete — it already is that — but seemingly just not worth the trouble.

My kick-start-only Royal Enfield Bullet is running fine — for the moment anyway. But I did just get a severe lesson in the disadvantages of internal combustion: from my outboard motor.

The tide was high on the river this morning and my wife Bonnie said "why don't we put the motor on the canoe and go for a ride?"

That would be the outboard motor that hasn't been started in — what? — 25 years? But it's easy to launch the canoe when the tide is high, so, I said, why not?

It's all my fault. In 1979 Bonnie, observing that we live on a river, bought me the canoe for my birthday. She selected one with a square stern so it could carry a motor, and she bought a tidy little electric trolling motor and marine battery for it.

But no. Mr. Smarty Pants had to look a gift horse in the mouth and insisted on returning the electric and replacing it with a gas motor. You could carry extra gas, I pointed out, but extra batteries were impractical.

Idiot. Bonnie was thinking of spur-of-the-moment outings, a dawn ride into the park just upriver, or maybe martinis on the boat at the picturesque lake downriver, all easily in reach of an electric motor. Romantic sunset cruises. Boating by moonlight. The pop of a champagne cork over the gentle hum of the electric motor.

No. I gave up 40 years of those pleasures in exchange for a heavy, noisy, stinking, polluting bastard of a two-stroke outboard motor I long ago consigned to the attic rather than deal with.

Even when it was working it was a workout for your arm pulling the cord a couple dozen times to get it started.

Even just launching the canoe with the heavy motor fitted is impossible. You have to launch and then awkwardly attach the motor from the dock.

But now — after 25 years of not even bothering to try — I'd have to get it started.

I couldn't find the instruction booklet; I've had it all this time, but now that I needed it, it's gone. The two-stroke oil I have in the garage has been aging in its can for 40 years. It's probably fine, but surface rust on the can seemed to have obliterated writing on the exterior. One thing I could still read: 50:1.

That's a ratio, of course. It means 50-to-one. In my hurry I read it as "50-50." There is a difference, a big one. A two-stroke diesel motor might have run on the half-and-half goo I mixed up, but it was soon apparent (pull! pull! pull! pull!) that no gas engine was going to start on half oil.

Draining it out, to start over, would be no problem because, as Bonnie pointed out as I poured fuel into the tank, "It's leaking out!"

And so it was. Rotted fuel line to blame. That meant a trip to Pep Boys, where a helpful counter guy finally found some fuel line that "might work." It did — kinda — but it quickly became apparent (pull! pull! pull! pull!) that I would now also have to get the oily mixture out of the fuel filter and the carburetor.

I began unscrewing anything that looked like a drain. Every drain I managed to open instantly bathed my hands in fuel. All the rags in the house, and — long story — a bucket of water were soon contaminated with fuel oil.

I had created a Super Fund site in my back yard.

But the motor finally started. It did. After five hours of fiddling. Unfortunately, by now, the tide was at its low point making launching a chore.

We just gave up. I don't think we had any champagne anyway. But next morning, with the tide up again, we did go for a cruise through the neighborhood.

Golly, that thing is loud! I wish I had worn earplugs.

I'm going to look at electric trolling motors.

Can a charging Bullet meet an epic challenge?

The Charging Bullet being prepared to run from Land's End to John O'Groats.

The notion of charging from one end of Britain to the other is probably as old as the notion of riding motorcycles in Britain. The ride from Land's End to John O'Groats became "a thing" in the early years of the 20th Century.

Royal Enfield accepted the challenge in 1964 when it introduced the original Continental GT cafe racer. Royal Enfield of India repeated the feat in 2014 when it introduced the then new Continental GT 535.

Now comes a fellow who wants to do it on an old Royal Enfield Bullet, powered by batteries.

Fred Spaven is a mechanical engineer who restores and modifies classic cars and motorcycles at Spaven Engineering in Hereford, UK.

After a test ride on a Zero electric motorcycle he decided to create his own. He already owned a battered 1961 Indian-made Royal Enfield Bullet. In an article he wrote in Vintage & Classic Motorcycle magazine, he explained why this made sense to him:

Battered and rusty, this original 350cc Bullet has been resurrected as an electric.

"So I thought about my commuting problem, my love of classic bikes and my half-restored Enfield, and I decided that the only solution is to build an electric motorcycle myself. Modern efficiency in a vintage frame..."

Friend and film maker Fin Varney offered to document the process, but only if some "challenge" was introduced. A Google search showed there are enough public charging points to ride all the way from Land's End to John O'Groats.

So, that's settled. They plan to depart from Land's End around Oct. 8.

Fred and Fin call their project the "Charging Bullet."

There's a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign to pay for the project. Its FAQ section answers the question "Did you notice you are using KICKSTARTER to start an electric bike project?" These boys are not approaching the challenge without a sense of humor.

Fred Spaven test rides the Charging Bullet.

Their off-the-beaten-path route is a journey of 1,200 miles. To do it the electric Bullet will need more than the originally planned 12 Nissan Leaf batteries. Panniers will be added to carry an extra six.

A Lynch electric motor will produce 21 bhp, more than the (supposedly) 18 bhp offered by the Royal Enfield's original 350cc gasoline engine. The Charging Bullet will be geared for 55-60 mph (direct drive = no gearbox).

Even so, with stops for charging and filming, and speed limited to extend the range (maybe 75 miles with all 18 batteries), they expect to be traveling for three weeks!

Fred answered some of my questions in an email. For instance, why the Royal Enfield Bullet?

"The bike was chosen as it's a simple, open frame with plenty of uncluttered space for battery boxes, and cycle parts are readily available from India. Plus, the faster you ride, the shorter the range so it made sense to go for a 'B-road' machine, rather than something you'd want to do 100 mph on!

"The bike will have regenerative braking; as you roll off the throttle it will simulate engine braking and recharge the batteries. That said, regen doesn't improve range much on a naked bike due to the high drag-to-weight ratio; it makes a much bigger difference on something heavy and slippery like a car."

If you'd like to support the notion of an electric Bullet don't delay — go to the Charging Bullet's Kickstarter page. The goal is high and unless it's reached by Sept. 21 it will not be funded and your money is returned.

Royal Enfield's new/old cafe racer vs. the future

Ride Apart pit the Zero electric motorcycle against the Royal Enfield Continental GT.

Which would you choose? The new Royal Enfield Continental GT cafe racer or the Zero SR electric motorcycle?

Why would anyone ask? Give the Ride Apart blog credit for inviting controversy with its "Technology vs. Heritage" feature pitting the two motorcycles against one another.

If you're reading my blog, you know that the Continental GT is a modernized tribute to the 1965 Royal Enfield model of the same name. It has timeless good looks and its performance is from another time as well — with an underwhelming 85 mph.

Brakes and ride are improved to make it a sterling example of what the original Continental GT might have become if it had remained in production all these years.

It has a sense of history; of heritage.

In contract, Ride Apart says that the 2014 Zero SR "can go from 0-60 in a mere 3.3 seconds and hit a top speed of 102 mph."

"Zero doesn’t seem to be concerned about classic ideas of what motorcycles are or should be," Jacob Moss writes.

"Instead, they have visions of what the future of motorcycling could be."

The article naturally inspired a long list of interesting comments.

The first, from Nathan Haley, pointed out that we tend to consider the single-cylinder Enfield a "simple" motorcycle while the high-tech Zero is considered complex modernity.

In fact, the Zero is all solid-state simplicity while the Enfield is a mass of gears, valves, pumps and pushrods.

All-in-all, a thought provoking article with no one answer that will suit everyone.

Except, perhaps "I'll have one of each."

Electric motor powers Royal Enfield adult tricycle

Royal Enfield tricycle with electric motor.

UPDATE: It's sold!

A Royal Enfield adult tricycle with an electric motor powering the front wheel is for sale on CraigsList in Danielsville, Pa.

Although I've written about these Royal Enfield branded pedal-powered trikes before — some of them with gasoline engines — this is the first I've seen with electric power.

The seller, "Terry," writes:

"I purchased this item from a guy at work. He bought it at a yard sale. We aren't sure if the motor is original to the bike. It runs off a riding mower battery which sits in front of the basket on the back. It drives like a normal bike. You can push the one hand control and the battery moves the bike, the other hand control stops the bike.

Electric motor powers front wheel. Pedals power the rear.

"It has drum brakes on the front wheel. Basket on the back. It has a 12-volt Pedal Motor on front. Manufactured by General Engines Co. Sewell N.J. Can be pedaled like a normal bike or use the motor. This is a bike that will need tires as they are worn. Motor does work. Asking price $200."

This electric version is yet another variation in these machines, which come in many colors, with single and multiple-speed gearing and front drum or caliper brake.

Common to all of them is the Royal Enfield name, although they were not built by Royal Enfield in Redditch, England or Chennai, India. Some are labelled "Made in Japan."

Who builds these Royal Enfield tricycles?

Common, too, is the curved, step-through frame, which must be immensely strong since it is unbraced. All seem to have the high-rise "ape hangar" handlebars and single solo seats.

They come up for sale often on CraigsList in the U.S. There must be many of them out there. I'd like to know more about them and so would Terry, who says he welcomes input from anyone who knows more about his trike.

Electric motorcycles move, but do they move you?

As the owner of an old-fashioned Royal Enfield motorcycle, I somehow don't see the appeal of modern motorcycles powered by electricity.

My brother Phil, a motorcyclist and mechanic, agrees — and he disagrees.

Modern electric motorcycles are mechanical wonders, he says, having read about them in recent editions of motorcycle magazines.

"They're really thin," enthused Phil, who is also really thin. Thinness is good, I suppose, although I never thought of it as a  reason to choose one motorcycle over another.

"The only trouble," Phil said, "is that they don't vibrate, make noise or leak."  I suggested that electric motorcycles might also be very reliable and, thus, slightly boring.

Phil theorized that electric motorcycles separate motorcyclists who really love riding from people who want to make noise and tell amusing stories about breakdowns.

An electric motorcycle removes the distractions of noise, vibration and harshness.

"If you really want the experience of moving on two wheels, what could be better?" Phil asked.

This made sense to me, since I have noticed that partisans of electric motorcycles include many experienced and capable motorcyclists. Perhaps theirs is the more pure experience.

But I'm not buying it. Would climbing Mount Everest be as big a deal if there was an escalator to the top?

"Well, it still has a great view," Phil said.

But, then he noted that "You could helicopter to the top of Mount Everest. You could fly your Alouette SA 315 right to the top. You could rendezvous with the people who walked up. But would you be equal?"

Blindspot Cycles makes electric motorcycles that look like real motorcycles should

Look closely: Blindspot Cycles' Honda Rebel conversion
has the look of batteries "under glass."

True believers hanker for electric vehicles almost regardless of how they look. Take the Nissan Leaf. Please.

In contrast, the individual styling of Blindspot Cycles would make me want one even if it was powered by a rubber band.

Blindspot takes classic looking designs from the past and recycles them with modern electric power. What is so refreshing is that they give you plug in power without looking like you're riding your wife's hair dryer.

So how much is that motorcycle, Mister? And has Blindspot considered converting a Royal Enfield to drink electric juice?

Chris Ravana, CEO of Blindspot Cycles, Fort Collins, Colo., graciously replied to my inquiry:

"Can't wait to find a Royal (Enfield) in my price range. I am a vintage junkie, and hate, hate the plastic spaceships!" he wrote. And, as for price:

"My bikes can come in from a simple conversion only at $7,000; light custom or restore at $10,000, or full custom at ?????.

"The trike I am building now will finish at about $20,000.

"I have seen some Royal (Enfield)s around but have not pulled the trigger on any. I hope to soon though."

But there's more good news. Daughter Anna first alerted me to Blindspot Cycles and asked how much they cost. She will be delighted to know that she doesn't have to shell out for an entire motorcycle this coming Father's Day.

"The clothing line will be going up on the website soon," Ravana, said, "and I hope people enjoy the line. There will be service shirts, T's, hoodies, and hats. The clothes are produced with eco-friendly materials, and are very reasonably priced for the quality of fabrics."

Given the style obvious in Blindspot Cycle's motorcycles, the clothes should be classic. Don't worry, Anna, I will send you a link as soon as they're available.

Love,

Dad

The face of the future? Nissan Leaf

Surprise! Electric motorcycles can provide a vintage look and feel

I am a sourpuss. So, when daughter Anna pointed out that California will subsidize the purchase price of electric motorcycles, I groused.

Electric motorcycles, I complained, aren't as green as they seem, since the power has to come from somewhere (a power plant).

But what was really bothering me was the motorcycle Gov. Schwarzenegger was astride: it looked like a plastic toy.

The Zero brand electric motorcycle is the first to qualify for California's $1,500 rebate program. Since this is a motorcycle blog, I guess I am supposed to like it.

But it wasn't easy. Electric motorcycles, I whined, don't provide the vintage experience I'm looking for. Not if they look like that.

Then Anna pointed me toward an item about Blindspot Cycles, on the Inhabitat (Design Will Save the World) blog.

Blindspot Cycles recycles a Suzuki.

Here is the legitimate motorcycle look I wanted: real fenders (shiny ones), a round headlight and upright riding position. There is even a center stand. The flat-tank look reminds me of the earliest motorcycles. The parallelogram panniers recall Art Deco.

I have no idea how practical Blindspot Cycles are as motor vehicles. I almost don't care. (Note: the modified Suzuki GS250 shown here will do 70 mph and has a 50-mile range, Blindspot says.)

Inhabitat writer Andrew Michler describes Blindspot Cycles this way:

"Reuse starts with a trip to a salvage yard looking for the right cycle. All makes and models have potential. They first help a client choose just the right ride.

"These reclaimed motorcycles squeeze the past and future together. Coupled with a DND DC permanent magnet electric motor, a set of Deka brand AGM batteries and some styling you get a home-brew, super efficient ride. If they can find it salvaged rather than new it goes on. If it is high quality and American made then it goes in."

Blindspot Cycles has managed to capture a style that says the motorcycle was imagined by human beings, in the past, not by space aliens in 3030.

Now, these are green machines that I could like.

Blindspot Cycles' recycled Yamaha.