EICMA Electric Motorcycles and Scooters (minipost)

Yep, this one is a lazy post, but Grizz, the Canadian Knievel, and I have been perusing this New Atlas post with lots of lovely bikes from the 2017 EICMA (Italian International Motorcycle Expo) show. I was so excited that I thought I'd pick out the electric models to share with all of you. I also tried to find relevant manufacturer website links to help you learn more about the ones that tickle your fancy. Enjoy!

My favorite in this lineup - the e-Schwalbe (Germany)

Energica Esse Esse (Italy)

Energica bikes get more and more appealing to me, and this model is the most appealing so far. And yes, they sell Energicas here in the US. Check out this site to learn more.

Evolve Electric (Not much luck finding their site)

The KTM FreeRide E-XC (Available in the US!)

Kumpan electric Model 1954 (Canada)

Niu N1S Smart eScooter (China)

Torrot Velocipedo (Spain)

Vespa Elettrica (Finally!)

Volta BCN City (Italy)

Volta BCN Sport/Forest

Vuuk Rieju (Had trouble finding anything on this one - Spain)

Lots of fun stuff in there - and they don't burn fossil fuels! Woohoo!

May you be inspired to make greener choices!

Rad Wagon or Euro Wagon? Another Saturday Ramble

The post is colored bittersweet green. It's because I have green-car envy.

It doesn't help that I keep parking the Vespa at work, looking around, and noticing all kinds of green cars parked around me. (Woohoo! More green cars around!)

Since the truck broke down (and went away), I've been two-wheeling it on the scooter and the bicycle. The electric bike broke down too. And I've been fighting bronchitis. So, it's mostly been scootering and catching rides.

I'm missing having weather protection, and I'm missing being able to haul stuff about. So, even worse than usual, I've been dreaming about a new ride.

Look what popped up on Craigslist this week:

How that for some serious Euro-Dork street cred?

I have a weakness for wagons - they make sense to me and it's a little easier to dream that I'm buzzing about in a space shuttle. And this one could easily shuttle my people about and haul a kayak and dogs and bikes and all kinds of groovy stuff. It could even haul the little guy to school in all weather. But this one has some serious drawbacks - it's old, it'd be expensive to maintain/register/operate, and it's definitely not green.

(Also, the good doctor's latest climate study hit the presses this week, and let me tell you, we need to be taking green action now - not later.)

The other wagon in the same price range (not on Craigslist) is the $1599 (with free shipping) RadWagon electric cargo bike. Instead of a space shuttle, this one'd help me feel like I was buzzing through the trees of Endor on a speeder bike. And it'd haul many of the same things (less conveniently and less far). It'd even take the little guy to school - weather permitting. And it would be very green (and orange) and would be super cheap to maintain, (not) register, and operate. Weather protection, though, is sold separately.

And both are a little beyond this lower-middle class income at this point. So, it looks like it's time to fix the electric bike, tackle a DIY cargo bike frame, and keep pinching the pennies.

But it sure is fun to dream about all these sexy wagons cruising about.

May we find greener ways (both big and small) and make healthier choices, no matter how tough.

Electric Euro Scooters We Can't Have #2: Motorman

[Yesterday's post was about the electric Schwalbe - a vintage scooter retrofit to be electric.]

The Motorman was a slow burn when I first saw it - it was just too simple, too European, and too expensive. It took me a while to figure out how beautiful that simple part is.

And it's hard to figure out what it is. It sure doesn't look like a scooter. It's not a moped or electric bicycle - it has no pedals. Really, when you get down to it, it's the distillation to the simplest of motorcycles (but most people won't see, hear, or smell the motor.)

The Motorman is the design of Ronald Meijs, a Dutch designer who set out to build a basic and beautiful eco-friendly urban transportation. He took styling inspiration from the American board track racers of 100 years ago.

The Wired Article from 2015

(Lots of Mesquite Hugger motivation in the first paragraph.)

(Just ignore the last paragraph's coming to America theme.)

Frame, hub motor, wheels, brakes, and a seat. What could be simpler? No pedals. No chain. No gears. No clutch. Easy to clean, Easy to maintain. Easy to charge. Even easy to haul - it's only 99 pounds.

Just plug and charge

Don't let the numbers bother you - you can't buy it over here anyway.

Do I want a Motorman - oh yeah! But not in Euro-spec. I would want it to be a simple motorcycle capable of somewhere around 45 mph, which should be pretty attainable. But then I'd probably want to mess it up by adding things like suspension and a cushy seat.

How about you? Do you find appeal in this stripped down machine? May you find a scoot that avoids that Wired article's first paragraph!

PS. If you want a cool electric moped-ish machine that you can buy here, be sure to check out Monday Motorbikes - straight out of San Francisco!

Electric Euro Scooters We Can't Have #1: Schwalbe

Happy Fossil Free Friday, y'all!

Since selling the truck, I've been riding the bicycle a lot more, but I've also been riding the old gas-powered scooter. And I have to admit, it's been nice - all that riding with traffic at traffic speeds, getting to work in 10 minutes instead of 25 for the bicycle and it's really nice to make that 100 degree ride home without a whole lotta any pedaling!

But there's that whole burn-the-gas-kill-the-planet thing that really puts a damper on the scooter ride. Yep, I've been jonesing for an electric scooter again.

So, yesterday when the Oogle feed brought up a CNET article on Bosch electric drivetrains which featured an electric Schwalbe scooter, I knew it was time for a re-visit.

CNET Bosch article featuring the e-schwalbe

 

I was happy to learn in the article that the modern version of the Schwalbe is being built by the very well respected German scooter manufacturer GOVECS. (By the way, you can buy GOVECS scooters here in the States. I got to check them out at Electric Avenue Scooters in Austin and was very impressed!)

 

The Schwalbe site where Europeans can configure and order one

 

Vintage + Scooter + Electric = a happy mesquite hugger, and I (long-distance) love this machine! I like the big wire wheels (great for bad Texas roads) and the bar-end blinkers (the better to see you with) and the capacity to haul a second person and a little stuff. It's a new vintage scoot that treads very lightly. Good stuff.

Out of reach in so many ways!

 

Like many cool and eco-friendly Euro products, this one is not available stateside, but it sure is nice to dream of running about your daily business like those Milky Chance kids but without all that pesky two-stroke smoke. (I may have to let my hair grow back out.)

 

May you scoot freely without doing much damage!

 

Is that the Milky Chance guy again in the Fido video?

 

PS. If you want a cool electric retro scooter that you can buy here, be sure to check out the Fido - straight out of Kalamazoo!

Fossil Free Friday - Electric Scooters

Since Grizz, Mendi, Fester, the Loi-Yer, Double K, and Melissa are headed to the Texas United Scooter Rally this weekend, it seemed like a great day to throw a few electric scooters up for Fossil Free Friday.

Grizz' red Vespa and the Mesquite Hugger E-Vespa

  

Earlier this week, Derek Markham posted about a new electric German scooter. (Or should that be "German electric scooter"? Where's Noam when I need him.)

Derek Markham article on TreeHugger

I'm always excited when I run across a new electric scooter so I popped on over and found a pretty standard little scooter that

• looks a whole lot like a 2006 Yamaha Vino
• has a 28mph top speed
• 30 miles of range
• is available only in Europe. Snagit.

 But, then I remembered that we have a similar scooter available over here. The Genze 2.0.

And the Genze may not be all retro-Yamaha stylish, but it's got a nice list of virtues:

• It's vastly slightly faster (30mph!)
• It has the same range - 30 miles
• No insane Teutonic import tariff -  it's made, or at least assembled, in Ann Arbor Michigan!
• It has a removable battery pack, too!
• You can buy one (in Texas) for less than $3000!
• And, it's a 2-wheeled pickup truck! (You know me and electric pickups.)

(A pretty small pickup truck)

The pickup bed even inspired a weekly contest!

So there you have it - two emission-free electric scooters to help you get off the gas, keep it in the ground, clear the air, and generally make the world a less stinky place.

May you live in a less stinky place that you helped to create!

PS. In case the Genze 2.0 is not your thing, be sure to check out the Fido (my favorite), the Boxx, and the Monday Motorbike. - three very different approaches to electric scooters.

Sidebar Minipost: From Russia with Love?

I never expected to say this, but it seems that Mesquite Hugger has something in common with our new American president - receiving much love from Russia!

I feel like the dorky kid in a teen movie who says he has a girlfriend in another country.

I am going to laminate this and keep it in my upcycled-bike-tube wallet!

Mesquite Hugger is a pretty low-rent blog. A good day around here gets a few hundred clicks, and those clicks usually focus on the most recent posts.

The top 10!

So imagine my surprise this morning when I logged in and saw over 5000 clicks for the day. With a little investigation I learned that there were indeed a few hundred clicks here in the States, but the rest came from Russia. And they're not all focused on yesterday's brilliant post about a pedal-powered pump. As a matter of fact, the most viewed post is about one of my favorite subjects - the Citicar. If you've been around this blog much, you know that the tiny little beast is the pinnacle of the Mesquite Hugger dream!

Vintage Electric Car Profile: the almighty Sebring-Vanguard Citicar!

 

So here's my hope - that the Russians are hoping to copy the design of the Citicar and start building their own version like they did with the Vjatka scooter and the Ural motorcycle. If so, I am all about it!

 

 

I think they should name it the Dorky Park Car. I want mine in blue and gray, like the Vjatka!

 

Or maybe black with flames!

 

May it always be this much fun (and eco-friendly) to be loved by Russia!

Fossil Free Friday: Hope for a Vintage E-Vespa Kit

Vintage. Retro. Classic. Old school.

It's a rough thing sometimes to be a reformed gashead.

Old cars, trucks, motorcycles, they still turn my head.

 

Oh, the choices - but I prefer all those on the left!

 

But that whole gasoline thing messes it all up. Yes, cool vintage vehicles still turn my head, but if it burns gas, I don't want it.

No room for negotiation on this one.

 

For me, there is no vehicle more enjoyable than a vintage scooter, I am especially fond of old Vespas. But there's that whole messy gas-and-2-stroke-oil-destroying-our-ability-to-live-and-breathe issue thing that ruins the whole thing.

 

Here and there I run across news of someone who is working to create a green upgrade for old scooters (and the people who love them). Keith (good friend and accomplished Vespa restorer) shared one such venture with me earlier this week, and I am smitten!

 

Unlike almost all Vespa electric conversions I have seen, this one does not use a hub motor in a redesigned swingarm - this one uses the original swingarm, transmission, and clutch. The top-end of the engine is replaced with a specially designed brushless motor conversion. Ah, the best of both worlds. More power, no emissions, and you still get to chunk through those original gears! Sweetness!

 

ScooterLab UK - Stoffi FlowEr Power Vespa Interview (Video included)

 



Here are my two favorite quotes from the video:

 

"The guy who is doing this [at CRANK-e], he is a freak, and he's doing it perfect!"

"There will be, for the future, a kit." (!!!!!!!!!) 

 

Stoffi's Garage is an Austrian Vespa shop known for their high-quality work and components. I am excited to see them working on green alternatives for vintage eco-dorks like me! The electric motor setup is from an Austrian company called CRANK e. It is a very cool design. They refer to it as an electric crankshaft.

 

May your inner eco-dork be granted its greenest wish!

 

PS. The video also mentions a kit for the Vespa Ape (3-wheeled pickup), the large-frame Vespa, and the Lambretta. Whoohoolio!!!

Fossil Free Friday: Electric Scooter Jones

  

Lots of years and smiles traveled on this scoot

 

I rode the old scooter to work this morning. I really enjoyed the ride to work this morning - sort of.

Part of it was simply the joy of a beautiful morning at 40mph. And part of it was the mirth of a vintage scooter.

Life is more fun on a scooter! (Find it here.)

People embrace vintage scooters in a way that they seldom embrace other forms of transportation that get noticed. People wave, smile, and ask friendly questions. The old bike doesn't carry connotations of entitled wealth, hooliganism (or wanting to be viewed as a hooligan), or an attempt at compensating for undersized appendages. Young men (not on a Harley) often yell, "Get a Harley," but that's about the biggest form of negativity we face. And it's not like a bicycle where drivers often resent your intrusion into their domain.

Find it here

 

[There is one weird little thing with driving a scooter - people in cars and trucks race you everywhere you go - there's some stigma about being seen going slower than a scooter, no matter how fast a scooter may be.]

Riding an old scooter around can be extremely enjoyable! But if you are like me, there's a big elephant in the room (or on the scooter). It's that gasoline and emissions thing. Old scooters may get great mileage, but they are very messy in the way they go about it. It's definitely not the vehicle for a Mesquite Hugger who wants to save the world. I ride mine very little and do not feel good about it when I do.

But I sure miss all of the good stuff that comes with riding one. Most of middle-aged life feels like obligation, busy-ness, and fixing things that break. It would sure be nice to scoot and smile guilt-free from one obligation to another. (Sigh)

I will get there one day. Until then, I keep my eyes open and do a lot of dreaming. I dream of building my own. (The Silver Pigeon twins). I dream of buying a new retro-vintage scooter.

(Fido. Bolt. Scooterson. Schwalbe.)

Or picking something up that's cheap and readily available.

 

Do you think this electric scooter would make my butt look fat?

Do you think I could pull off this look?

 

And then there's this guy who really did build a green Vespa. Hmm...

 

How about you? What green transportation are you jonesing for?

 

May you find it, and may the having be better (for all of us) than the jonesing.

Two-Wheel and Tuk Tuk Tuesday (2/3 Powered by the Sun!)

[Before we get started, I owe all of this one to Steve Hanley over at GAS2 - he led me to all three of these stories. Thanks for sharing all the cool stuff, Steve! Readers, if you like electric vehicles you should be reading GAS2.]

I'll start with the sexy one first - keep in mind that sexy can be mind-blowingly expensive.

Airbus, a company known for making some big, honking airplanes, is now making an electric motorcycle - the Light Cycle. It's one of those machines that skirts the line between bicycle and motorcycle. Since it has no pedals, we'll go with motorcycle. It is all kinds of simply gorgeous. The frame is 3D printed using an aluminum-ish material. It only weighs 77 lbs. Wow! Top speed is around 50 miles per hour, and the range is around 35 miles. None too shabby.

A work of art!

The price? Let's just say that you could buy a new one of all these for the same money:

That's a lot of moolah!

Moving on (but still not having to pedal): A -solar-powered e-bike.

Considerably less sexy and 40lbs lighter, this next contender hails from Netherlandia - a place of many bikes. Really, other than having two wheels and electric power and being European, they have little in common. But this one pulls at my heart strings because I dream of self-solar-powered transportation, and the Maxun One is just that - a vehicle that cleanly fuels itself up and has the ability to travel in a bike lane. If I had one, I'd have to add legs and a clear tablecloth. This thing is the ultimate self-powered picnic table! Cheers to Albert van Dalen - keep up the great work!

Check out Albert and the Maxun in Action here

 

Staying in Europe but getting closer to my vintage scooter roots is the story of a German/French electric vehicle rally - man, I'd like to go to that! But this isn't really about the rally, it's about Naveen Rabelli and his solar-powered tuk tuk  named Tejas.

 

Read the GAS2 article and check out the video here

 

The machine started life as a diesel Piaggio Ape. ("Ape" is Italian for "Bee"; Piaggio's more famous product, the Vespa, got its name for resembling a wasp.) Having converted my own Piaggio product to electric and living in a place called "Tejas", I felt a little affinity with Naveen until I read that he will travel to Germany (from India!!!!!) in his tuk tuk so that he can participate in the rally! Triple cheers and a round of "For he's a Jolly Good Fellow" to Naveen and his solar-powered adventuring. Living the dream never sounded so grueling!

 

There you have it  - 3 electrics and 2 solars plus a big clean Euro-rally. My typing here is (Almost) done!

 

May you dream of self-solar-powered transportation, and may your dream come true! ;-)