My Motorcycle Weighs 40 Pounds, How Much Does Yours Weigh?

[TopCat]

Well lads if you have a spare $70,000 to fritter away on a new bike you could buy this German made bike made of carbon fibre and weighing in at only 40 pounds but I think for that sort of money members of this fourm could make an good RC bike with speed and good range and still have money to spare.
I think the people who end buying this bike will have more money than sense

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/2010...-pounds-how-much-does-yours-weigh-with-video/

http://www.pg-bikes.com/

Regards
Tom

 

[Thud]

The only thing I like about that bike is the Leather wrap on the battery box & grips.....I love that!

the rest is all techno-pop euro-trash (as we North american Punks say )
Now is the time on sprockets when we dance!

 

[recumpence]

That bike is actually quite technically stunning. Also, it runs 62mph totally stock!

However, I am sorry, $70,000 is just plain STUPID! I mean, give me a break. For one thing, I was able to build a bike that was 42 pounds and went 55mph and only cost me $3,300 to build. Most people here would be capable of building a bike with most of those specs for under $10,000 even if they had to pay a machinist to do custom work.

This bike accomplishes pretty much everything we are pushing for on this forum, but at a price that is not astronomical, it is STUPID! Sheesh, that is just plain idiotic. For one thing, prices like that tell people, in no uncertain terms, that electric vehicles are out of reach. Beyond that, it is also representative of where things are going, expensive, and ugly.

Besides, who would spend that much and not even get suspension?

Matt

 

[tchapin]

Jay Lenno did a piece on it for his web site. He is about the only person that could afford it.
http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/pg-bikes-blacktrail-electric-bicycle/1243504/

 

[torker]

Somebody needs to call Jay ! Recumpence Show him a real bike

 

[DAND214]

This German made bike! Should say it all. Made in GERMANY puts a stupid price an all of there products specaly there cars. Good products but way over priced!
Why do they charge so much for a Porsche 911? JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN and We are stupid enough to buy them. I don't remember the year when Porsche said that they were selling as many 911's as they can make so we are going to double the price, but they did!

I'm not saying the $70,000 is a lot of money for a bike, I'm saying there are people out there that WILL BUY IT BECAUSE THEY CAN but can't start to buid one even with the stupid money it costs.

Well I guess I am saying it's a LOT OF MONEY! At least to me but not the ones who NEED the IMAGE thing.
You know LOOK WHAT I HAVE!!

Is it legal in any state or country? Maybe if you have that kind of money it might be.

Stupid price but nice carbon Fiber bike!
Wish we had Carbon fiber bikes here in the states, Oh I think we do! So I don't need to go F-1 to get Carbin Fiber after all!!

Nice bike STUPID price.
Dan

 

[Carsten]

i agree its way overprized but the intention for building this bike was "whats possible?" not "how much?" thats typical for F1 related companys, they dont have to think about budget. this way many innovations found their way to market during the years, like ABS, traction control and so on. from a technical point of view, this is not only a carbon fibre frame, its a prepeg monocoque with optimized fiber structure for every single layer + aerodynamic optimization. thats a lot of engineering inside.

according to suspension, the frame manufacturers side say something about a "vertical shock absorption bar", dont know what that is but sounds like there is some suspension built in + 3" tires.
it also says the motor + transmission unit weighs about 6.3 kg, i think theres a lot of room for improvements.

i cant find something about gearing, building such a bike with only a single gear would be a shame. maybe i missed something.

aesthetically i dont like it, its ugly, but thats only my opinion. but it has some nice features like the inbuild lights.

 

[Miles]

It use a 3 stage chain reduction to the bottom bracket, made by: http://www.clean-mobile.com/

 

[Thud]

I beleive the seat post is shock absorbing.
I am amazed at peolple balking at the price of this bike....considering it was designed in a shop that comands (complete guess) $300+ an hour for development & proto-typing that caters to the F1 crowd.

Cleary owning one is purly a status symble. Your not buying a $70k bicycle....your buying a unique collectors item with serial #s & a limited availability. like a coin, or rare auto.....worth is purly subjective.
If i could aford one, I would prolly buy a pr. & let the kids wreck them in the back yard LOL! ( & then buy a few more)
*thud wakes up realizing that this is about the same price as his rapidly de-valueing home residence would bring :| *

 

[jag]

19kg for a complete ebike is a very nice result. Likewise 30min charge to 80% is what we want for quick recharge stops along the way. Means that the charger pulls 1800-2000W from the electric outlet, near the full power available on a 200V 10A standard European circuit.

I'm wondering if the performance numbers are possibly a bit optimistic though.

Motor is said to be 1.2kW output and max speed 100km/h. I'm thinking it will take more than 1.2kW to push just a sitting human to 100km/h (regardless of how aerodynamic the bike is -- there is no aero enclosure for the human, and riding position would be at best semi-reclined)

Range at max speed is said to be 40-60km. Now the battery is 48V, 17Ah so about 900Wh. That means they claim it can travel at 100km/h using just 15-22Wh/km, unrealistically low IMHO.

 

[Carsten]

in the video he mentioned the max rated power is about 3.somewhat kW. i think the 1.2 kW is for travelling speed (30-50 kph according to their website)

edit:
thanks for the link http://www.clean-mobile.com/drivetrain/

Auto-Gear Box

The gears are switched automatically through the main controller according to payload, acceleration needs, road conditions etc. This combination allows the system:

* to translate a very high torque of 120+ NM into forward movement.
* to operate the engine in a very efficient mode.
* to seamlessly shift gears (the user simply accelerates, gearswitching is automatic and will not be noticed).

thats an explanation for the 6.3 kg.

edit2: thats not the drivetrain they use. the clean mobile drive uses an automaticly shifted cvt hub. i think its the nuvinci 171b developers version. that would be way to heavy for this bike, maybe a custom middrive cvt.

hopefully last edit:
i watched one of the promo videos on their website and its definetly a middrive cvt specifically developed for this bike.

 

[grindz145]

Overpriced or not, it's a serious piece of engineering. If nothing else it's a high bar that we can all look to for our own builds

 

[dontsendbubbamail]

It is a pretty ride, but my ugly old 45 lb steel bike can do over 50 mph. That is a lot of money for 5 less pounds and less then 12 extra mph. I will stick with heavy and ugly.

Bubba

 

[recumpence]

I do like the bike (the tech bits). But, I am still dumb-founded at the price.

As for Leno, a friend of mine is an advertising rep. He knows Jay and has his number on his cell phone speed-dial. Any time I want to talk to Jay, all I need to do is call. Actually, it would not be Jay, but Helga, his personal assistant. She has to forward you to Jay after screening the call.

At any rate, I have considered calling him to if I could get a spot on his site one week.

Maybe when the new motor is developed and ready to go......... :wink:

Of course, just because I call him, does not mean I will even get to talk to him, let alone get a spot on his site.

Matt

 

[torker]

Oh Yea ! Do a little rc versus "sorry not sure" Anyway it's homebrew all the way Matt !! I have no doubt !!

 

[EVTodd]

Of course the price is stupid but it gets the bike plenty of attention. I'm sure that was the point.

I personally like it a lot. Everyone has different taste but I think it's really well done. I love how they integrated the speedometer and the lights into the frame.

Is it Practical? No... But neither is a Lamborghini and I still want one.

Now I need to find a hard leather box for my batteries. lol