Motor Bikes Running On Electricity

[Sparkles]

My wife and I need some transportation , beside our car, to get us around our large housing estate ,markets etc and occasional runs to the highway (about 2 km) but not to travel on the Highway.

Are they any good ? Does anyone own one that could give us an assessment. Preliminary enquiries tell us that the price is ok but not sure about the longevity and warranty situation

[Maccheroncini]

If you mean the one like this would be a good idea.

http://www.dai-o.com/main/index.php

[jtp]

My wife and I need some transportation , beside our car, to get us around our large housing estate ,markets etc and occasional runs to the highway (about 2 km) but not to travel on the Highway.

Are they any good ? Does anyone own one that could give us an assessment. Preliminary enquiries tell us that the price is ok but not sure about the longevity and warranty situation

The simple answer is yes.I owned one in China just for getting around the huge compound i lived in,over 2000 units,own shopping centre,the works.The only setback to using it was that when the battery needed recharging,i had to take it out and log it to the foyer and into the elevator.Amazingly reliable,no noise and plenty of go.I was very pleased with it.I used to get 55 km/h out of it,and the battery would last 20-30 kms,depending on how hard i pushed it.

[neverdie]

Just another thing to keep in mind with them....they don't make any noise & the other day I saw a fellow step sideways at the side of his car...directly into the path of one of these things. Naturally, its not something that would stop you buying one, but keep it in mind when your riding it.

For your information, the one I've seen, lives near my place & I remember seeing it more than a year ago & its still wizzing around the place....very quietly!

[jtp]

Just another thing to keep in mind with them....they don't make any noise & the other day I saw a fellow step sideways at the side of his car...directly into the path of one of these things. Naturally, its not something that would stop you buying one, but keep it in mind when your riding it.

For your information, the one I've seen, lives near my place & I remember seeing it more than a year ago & its still wizzing around the place....very quietly!

Yeah,we didn't have the problem of being too quiet,as beeping your horn in China is a national <deleted> pastime.........

[neverdie]

Just another thing to keep in mind with them....they don't make any noise & the other day I saw a fellow step sideways at the side of his car...directly into the path of one of these things. Naturally, its not something that would stop you buying one, but keep it in mind when your riding it.

For your information, the one I've seen, lives near my place & I remember seeing it more than a year ago & its still wizzing around the place....very quietly!

Yeah,we didn't have the problem of being too quiet,as beeping your horn in China is a national <deleted> pastime.........

[jtp]

Just another thing to keep in mind with them....they don't make any noise & the other day I saw a fellow step sideways at the side of his car...directly into the path of one of these things. Naturally, its not something that would stop you buying one, but keep it in mind when your riding it.

For your information, the one I've seen, lives near my place & I remember seeing it more than a year ago & its still wizzing around the place....very quietly!

Yeah,we didn't have the problem of being too quiet,as beeping your horn in China is a national <deleted> pastime.........

:jerk:

Lol,one day i was riding outside the compound and i got clipped by a Chinese bloke in a new VW Jetta,and i came off the bike...He screamed abuse at me until i took off my helmet and screamed back at him!The look on his face,to see a foreigner riding that bike,well he just got back in his car and took off... I was a lot more careful after that incident...

[neverdie]

That would of been funny to see too.

I find the chinese really like to get up and personal, they seem to have a different idea to personal space than me.

I probably would of done more than scream back at him

[toptuan]

My buddy here in central Isaan bought one about three years ago (made in China, sold here near Khon Kaen). Three years later, he's very happy with it. Range is about 60km; simply runs a long cord from the bike (built into the bike) to the house each night). Costs 150B a month in electricity. He uses it every day to commute about 15km round trip to a college where he teachers. He's head of one of the departments of a technical college, so the guy knows his gadgets.

[jtp]

That would of been funny to see too.

I find the chinese really like to get up and personal, they seem to have a different idea to personal space than me.

I probably would of done more than scream back at him

Haha,yeah they don't mind being right up in your face hey!! I should point out the reason it was strange to see a foreigner riding a motorbike(Electric or otherwise) is because you could not buy or register even a pushbike without a residency permit.I actually had to buy a full face helmet to stop people just staring at me...........

[jtp]

My buddy here in central Isaan bought one about three years ago (made in China, sold here near Khon Kaen). Three years later, he's very happy with it. Range is about 60km; simply runs a long cord from the bike (built into the bike) to the house each night). Costs 150B a month in electricity. He uses it every day to commute about 15km round trip to a college where he teachers. He's head of one of the departments of a technical college, so the guy knows his gadgets.

I think my size made it hard for the poor electric bike to get more then 30 kms....And it was a couple of years ago,technology would have improved greatly since then.if you are close to a power point,saves you alot of pain carrying the battery..

[jtp]

I would buy one again,but it just seems easier with the Airblade,here in Sawan.My daughters boyfriend had one,it was nice to ride,easily carried me to the 7/11 and back.I think she liked the electric bike because it was easy to operate and quite fast for someone as small as her,40 kgs.

[Greenside]

I am very disappointed that the Thai government or even the local authorities don't support electric bikes as the Chinese do. Go to a city like Kunming or Shanghai and (this was two years ago) something like 40% of the bikes on the road were electric reversing the trend of air and noise pollution* that had seemed on an ever upward spiral until recently. It was blissfully quiet and transformed the city centres - the only drawback being, as someone pointed out, that you had to watch where you were going or be run over. Furthermore they are extremely well priced with some starting at under 12000 baht. The powers that be seem to have done a good job promoting their use with relaxed license requirements and tax advantages as I understand it.

I saw them on sale in Laos at about 16000 baht so when I came to CM I got very enthusiastic about getting one only to find that there remains only one dealer and prices for the scooter type machines are almost on a par with the regular Honda and Yamama Waves and Mios. Someone told me that they are taxed the same as gas bikes on import but it's obvious that without support and incentives sales are going to be difficult here to say the least. Another issue is that until sales gain momentum, apartment owners aren't going to provide recharging facilities at ground level making the battery lugging scenario another reason to go for gas. As it is, people tend to overestimate their daily distance travelled - 40 to 50km would almost certainly cover most urban dweller's needs - but faced with a Wave or a Vestor each at 39,000 baht, Thais make the obvious choice: go for the one that makes the most noise.

These bikes really are the way of the future and can have terrific performance too. Currently (as with the cars) at the specialist high end of the market, machines like the Zero are starting to show that they can compete with the internal combustion engine with full acceleration available from standstill. Quantya looks pretty good fun for off road too (You Tube movie here). I'm fantasising about the day we have have a silent Doi Suthep Hill Climb competition.

There is, as far as I know, only one serious dealer in town and they stock a wide range of bikes branded Vestor. I'm told they're Thai but suspect they're assembled here from Chinese kits. The main dealer is a double fronted store about one kilometre down on the left hand side of the road as you head for the railway station from Narawat Bridge and they have a yard at the back where you can try one out. Prices start at 19,000. LA Bicycle stocks a few bike style models and so does the sports shop on the top floor of Kad Suan Kaew - they once stupidly encouraged me to ride one around the department! I noticed that JRD was featuring an electric Fino lookalike at the recent CM motor show so it's probably in their showroom now.

*Before anyone mentions it, yes the pollution may be simply shifted to a different place depending on the method of power generation but I think it's better out of the city whatever the outcome and hopefully increased demand will improve battery life and lessen the waste problems that brings too.

[Greenside]

I meant to include these pictures in the last post but the edit window ran out

Kunming 2007

Kunming 2007

Three generations of bike

Electric wagons too. This is happening just a few hundred miles away - why can't we have them here?

....and they're fast - well this one says it is.

[dave2]

we didn't have the problem of being too quiet,as beeping your horn in China is a national <deleted> pastime !

Cambodias the same ...... drives you nuts !

dave2

[TheWalkingMan]

I was up in Changchun, China and saw several of these electric bikes cruising around town. They are very, very quiet and if the gov't in Thailand promoted them more, I bet they would be a big hit.

TheWalkingMan

[Bizz]

Anyone got information on the manufactures in china.

[lannarebirth]

Anyone got information on the manufactures in china.

http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?Search...ct_en&ssk=y

[malcy]

Just another thing to keep in mind with them....they don't make any noise & the other day I saw a fellow step sideways at the side of his car...directly into the path of one of these things. Naturally, its not something that would stop you buying one, but keep it in mind when your riding it.

For your information, the one I've seen, lives near my place & I remember seeing it more than a year ago & its still wizzing around the place....very quietly!

A good way to get around the problem of it being to quiet would be to stick playing cards on the front forks poking into the wheel spokes that way the faster you go the noisier it will be . used to work on my bicycle when i was a kid.

[Bizz]

Anyone got information on the manufactures in china.

http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?Search...ct_en&ssk=y

Many thanks

Just another thing to keep in mind with them....they don't make any noise & the other day I saw a fellow step sideways at the side of his car...directly into the path of one of these things. Naturally, its not something that would stop you buying one, but keep it in mind when your riding it.

For your information, the one I've seen, lives near my place & I remember seeing it more than a year ago & its still wizzing around the place....very quietly!

A good way to get around the problem of it being to quiet would be to stick playing cards on the front forks poking into the wheel spokes that way the faster you go the noisier it will be . used to work on my bicycle when i was a kid.

clothes peg stiff cardboard happy memories

[neverdie]

Just another thing to keep in mind with them....they don't make any noise & the other day I saw a fellow step sideways at the side of his car...directly into the path of one of these things. Naturally, its not something that would stop you buying one, but keep it in mind when your riding it.

For your information, the one I've seen, lives near my place & I remember seeing it more than a year ago & its still wizzing around the place....very quietly!

A good way to get around the problem of it being to quiet would be to stick playing cards on the front forks poking into the wheel spokes that way the faster you go the noisier it will be . used to work on my bicycle when i was a kid.

Unlike you malcy.....I never gave this up ....sometimes i even make the mouth noises as I go too .

Thanks for the pics greenside, they must be really popular over in china. I also agree that here in thailand alot of people living in condos and rooms would have trouble getting the power to the ground to re-charge the bikes...How do they get around that problem in China (they also have similar style housing, dont they?)??

[Greenside]

Thanks for the pics greenside, they must be really popular over in china. I also agree that here in thailand alot of people living in condos and rooms would have trouble getting the power to the ground to re-charge the bikes...How do they get around that problem in China (they also have similar style housing, don't they?)??

I don't know exactly how this works in China but I would think that there must be some kind of infrastructure solutions on the market and if there aren't, there soon will be. You'd think that a service provider could install and maintain a charging station in a location (either standalone or loaned by the apartment management) that was either coin or smart card operated and take a profit by marking up the power dispensed. There are programmes underway to install charging stations in some North American cities to service the plug-ins that are promised for the market in 2010.

The whole area is very interesting but without support from government it's unlikely to make much of an impact especially as many people seem to have already forgotten the 33 baht litre of gas. Unless you're very patient and have deep pockets, I think importing bikes is very high risk - what's the odds that Honda and the other big boys don't have quiet development programmes running right now or at the very least their eye on the front runners as targets to acquire the technology at the appropriate time? Their dealer networks are unassailable and would be crying out for product to sell if they could see electric taking off in any big way.

It's likely that the gas station operators will take car charging on board. Swapping out batteries looks like one possibility and since it's analogous to topping up with petrol, consumers are comfortable with the concept which has an added advantage in that you can factor the replacement cost into the re-charging price and relieve owners of the lump sum burden when units have reached the end of their useful lives.

Whether there is room for small businesses to establish niches in this market to be is very much in the air but if anyone is interested in getting together at Tuskers one evening for a beer and a chat about electric transportation please PM me and I'll sort a date out with Chas.

Edited January 31, 2009 by Greenside

[Greenside]

we didn't have the problem of being too quiet,as beeping your horn in China is a national <deleted> pastime !

Cambodias the same ...... drives you nuts !

dave2

We were so blown away by the horn beeping on our first trip to Vietnam that we started counting on our cab ride from the airport. The driver used his more than 110 times before we reached the lake in the centre of Hanoi - a journey of about 25 minutes if I recall! Thank goodness the Thais have thankfully managed to avoid this nightmare although the speaker trucks are an attempt to compensate, I guess.

[jtp]

Just another thing to keep in mind with them....they don't make any noise & the other day I saw a fellow step sideways at the side of his car...directly into the path of one of these things. Naturally, its not something that would stop you buying one, but keep it in mind when your riding it.

For your information, the one I've seen, lives near my place & I remember seeing it more than a year ago & its still wizzing around the place....very quietly!

A good way to get around the problem of it being to quiet would be to stick playing cards on the front forks poking into the wheel spokes that way the faster you go the noisier it will be . used to work on my bicycle when i was a kid.

Unlike you malcy.....I never gave this up ....sometimes i even make the mouth noises as I go too .

Thanks for the pics greenside, they must be really popular over in china. I also agree that here in thailand alot of people living in condos and rooms would have trouble getting the power to the ground to re-charge the bikes...How do they get around that problem in China (they also have similar style housing, dont they?)??

The electric bikes have removable batteries,so you could log them upstairs and plug them in your home power points....But the problem was,the humongous batteries were heavy as all heck.... And if you lived in a building without elevators,then 20-30 floors is painful.Luckily i had an elevator.. How do those sounds go.....BRMMMMM BRMMMM BRMMMMM POP POP,BRMMMM BRMMMM...

[damian5000]

saw a couple others mentioned kunming already, but i'd like to add that this was the ONLY type of motorbike in that city... they were all electric.....

[Greenside]

saw a couple others mentioned kunming already, but i'd like to add that this was the ONLY type of motorbike in that city... they were all electric.....

How recently were you there?

"The electric bikes have removable batteries,so you could log them upstairs and plug them in your home power points....But the problem was,the humongous batteries were heavy as all heck.... "

Some do and others just plug in - the dealer here in CM has both types. I have the feeling that the lift out batteries are unsurprisingly to be found in the less powerful machines.

[sassienie]

Some time ago I was considering buying an electric motorbike for the wife.

Visited several electric motorbike dealers.

The actual batteries have a life span of between 2 to 5 years depending on how often the batteries are charged.

None of the dealers stocked replacement batteries and suggested trying shops in the town.

I wasn`t impressed because I was concerned that it was going to be very difficult or impossible to purchase new batteries once they have reached the end of their service.

[Greenside]

Some time ago I was considering buying an electric motorbike for the wife.

Visited several electric motorbike dealers.

The actual batteries have a life span of between 2 to 5 years depending on how often the batteries are charged.

None of the dealers stocked replacement batteries and suggested trying shops in the town.

I wasn`t impressed because I was concerned that it was going to be very difficult or impossible to purchase new batteries once they have reached the end of their service.

I think the dabblers have disappeared and left just the one guy but he's making a serious go of it and I'd be amazed if he didn't stock batteries too. Maybe time for a review?

[jtp]

saw a couple others mentioned kunming already, but i'd like to add that this was the ONLY type of motorbike in that city... they were all electric.....

How recently were you there?

"The electric bikes have removable batteries,so you could log them upstairs and plug them in your home power points....But the problem was,the humongous batteries were heavy as all heck.... "

Some do and others just plug in - the dealer here in CM has both types. I have the feeling that the lift out batteries are unsurprisingly to be found in the less powerful machines.

Possibly,but the one i had used to chug along quite well,easily beat the cars to the local Carefour/Lotus shopping centre...

[GrahamF]

I was in Shanghai in October of last year and I was impressed at how many electric scooters and bicycles there were. I am not sure, but I believe that some of the scooters were also LPG powered. Concerning battery charging, my brother said that many of his co-workers bring the battery into the office and charge them there, also battery theft is becoming prevalent as well.

As an aside I did witness one scooter vs. electric bike accident, it wasn't anything horrible, but the screaming and yelling was! Especially when the witnesses got into it as well, I thought it was going to turn into a riot!