Electric dirtbike vs. gas dirtbike !!!

jumpingjoe628 · Mar 20, 2005

The other day I saw an interesting clip in the "Video on demand" feature on Comcast cable. It was in the tech tv section called "gaming desktop" along with other cool gaming computer clips, it was the electric dirtbike called the Blade. In the video they were riding on a hardpacked motocross track going through REAL whoop sections and hitting jumps that had to be at least 30-40 feet long. I was impressed !!! It only has 18 rwhp but it out performs a 2004 XR 250 from 0-30 mph and it is all touque. The Blade is more money than a conventional dirtbike upfront at around $8400 w/ a 20 min charger but think.... no gas, no oil changes, no topends, no valve adjustments and you can get away with riding it virtually anywhere because it is super quiet. With the current batteries it only last an average of 20 minutes and has a top speed of 45 mph which be good enough for now but only time will tell when they start breaking out the Lithium batteries. New gearing will help with top speed also. So what do you think?

SpeedyManiac · Mar 20, 2005

I'll pass until they are serious contenders with a gas bike. Interesting idea though.

acanz · Mar 20, 2005

Yeah I'll wait until they can keep up with a gas dirtbike before even considering one. Cool idea, but gas is still better then electricity as of now.

jumpingjoe628 · Mar 20, 2005

I agree with the fact that gas bikes are faster, in fact isn't that the reason we all are in this sport, to have fun, and Speed is really fun. Though, living in New Jersey makes it real hard to ride when and where you want to so this new bike looks to be my next when my CR 250 is no longer economically viable. For me there are a lot of factors that are leaning towards the Blade bike and I'm real excited to see it progress like the gassers have in the last couple of years.

jumpingjoe628 · Mar 20, 2005

I almost forgot, here is the link to their site http://www.electricmoto.com/electricmoto.php?id=specs_blade

gowen · Mar 20, 2005

It looks and reminds me of a nice bicycle with a battery and a heater fan motor. I'm not impressed, but will consider it, like everybody says, when it can put out 50+hp.

xsnrg · Mar 20, 2005

It would be good for a backyard track in the city. What could the neighbors say?

jumpingjoe628 · Mar 20, 2005

50 HP ?!!! what are you insane! To match todays bikes in the 250 class the electric bikes would only have to make 35 HP. That would make the power to weight ratio the same. As it stands right now the "Blade" can out run an xr 250 from 0-30 by a half second with an 18 HP motor. Imagine what it could do if it had 35 HP.

acanz · Mar 20, 2005

An XR250 is not a full-on MXer. The XR250 probably makes 20-25 HP while a CR250 will put out nearly 50. The "Blade" is making nearly the same power as the XR, just its light weight lets it get off the line faster then an XR250. At 35 HP, the "Blade" <i>might</i> get off the line faster in a race, but by the first turn I would be suprised to see it anywhere but last.

Glitch · Mar 21, 2005

Being an electric motor, wouldn't torque be a better thing to look at. That is why trains use them, because you can get 100% of the torque right after 0rpm(pretty sure). Traction control, if so desired, would see more possible than with a gas engine. When a sensor senses that the back wheel is spinning freely, it would be easier to tell an electric motor to slow down than a gas one, or better than the brake slowing it.

It says it has over 250 ft/lbs torque at real wheel????(doesnt sound right) What does a 450f have?

jumpingjoe628 · Mar 21, 2005

If you have Comcast cable service you can see it in action. Just go to the "On Demand" feature and select "Cutting Edge" - "Tech Tv" - and then "Gaming Desktops". And I think this is older footage probably when it first came out.

splatt · Mar 21, 2005

If the cost wasn't so high as compared to a gas powered bike I think it would be a blast to ride in areas where the gas bikes aren't allowed.

Steve

Oldschooldeathwish · Mar 21, 2005

Glitch was correct when he said that electric motors develop the most torque at startup. as for the 250 ftlbs at the rear wheel that does sound correct if they are factoring in the gearing, because lets say your street car has 100 ftlbs torque and your trans had a 3:1 ratio in first and yout real end had a 3:1 ratio then at the rear wheels you whould have 900 ftlbs torque. if lets say the blade had a 12 tooth front and a 51 tooth on the back that would give it a 4.25:1 Final drive ratio not including the transmission seeing as though it only has a top speed of 40 mph I think the actual gear ratio must be alot higher lets say the motor made 20 ftlbs at the crank then to acchive 250 ftlbs at the rear wheel it would need a total gearing ratio of 12.5:1. I hope i didnt confuse anyone too much with the post as I am kinda skatterbrained as for my opinion on the bike i think it is kinda cool and a good idea. but dont you think it would be weired seeing someone fly past you without making a sound except for the air moving around them

TheGrinch · Mar 21, 2005

That's the future my friends. I think it looks like fun and the development of these bikes will only improve over time.

Dirtbike'n man · Mar 21, 2005

Oldschooldeathwish said:
but dont you think it would be weired seeing someone fly past you without making a sound except for the air moving around them

also not to mention hearing them scream when they are about to crash into a tree. :yikes:

SpeedyManiac · Mar 21, 2005

Another thing, I think it looks more like a mountain bike, the forks look like they're off of a mountain bike, same with the brakes as well as the wheels. Not sure on the shock.

wardy · Mar 21, 2005

yep and you know someone will just have to put cards on the spokes so it will be "louder" then the other guys.

wardy

xsnrg · Mar 21, 2005

SpeedyManiac said:
Another thing, I think it looks more like a mountain bike, the forks look like they're off of a mountain bike, same with the brakes as well as the wheels. Not sure on the shock.

I was thinking the same thing, but they are also a lot lighter overall than a gas engine dirtbike, so they don't need the beefy frames and forks to absorb the same landings a gas dirtbike would. But, until they can run for 5 hours at a time for a good trail ride, I'm not interested. I think though that if you lived in town, it would be cool to make a mini MX track in your back yard and just go out back and mess around on it. But $8k is alot of jack to shell out for a backyard playtoy.

holeshot · Mar 21, 2005

Dirtbike'n man said:
also not to mention hearing them scream when they are about to crash into a tree. :yikes:

Or the scream when they're electrocuted while riding through a water obstacle.

kevinfries · Mar 21, 2005

There was a thread about this on a different forum, and there was a link to a cnn article or something, It said that they were trying to make it have artificial engine sound so you can hear it. I think it will be a good thing once it is improved upon, why not just use a larger motor? How will the classes go? Now it will be between 4strokes,2strokes, and electric!

jumpingjoe628 · Mar 21, 2005

I would gladly pay $8k for it, if it improves. Even though I cant afford it lol. You'll save in the long run. As long as it can do all the jumps at a MX track I'll be happy.

acanz · Mar 21, 2005

What about when the motor burns out? Cant overhaul that like a gasoline-burning engine....

jumpingjoe628 · Mar 21, 2005

sure you can.

acanz · Mar 22, 2005

I dont know many people that send their engines to a shop whenever they overhaul the top end, because thats the equivalent of what your saying about overhauling the motor. If the motor burns out, if your lucky you could get it professionally rewound (cant do that yourself), or if your unlucky its trashed and you need a whole new motor.

wardy · Mar 22, 2005

kinda sounds like a deisel thumper LOL! hire it done.

wardy

Electric dirtbike vs. gas dirtbike !!!

jumpingjoe628

SpeedyManiac

acanz

jumpingjoe628

jumpingjoe628

gowen

xsnrg

jumpingjoe628

acanz

Glitch

jumpingjoe628

splatt

Resident mental case

Oldschooldeathwish

TheGrinch

Dirtbike'n man

SpeedyManiac

wardy

2005 Lori Nyland Award Winner

xsnrg

holeshot

Crazy Russian

kevinfries

jumpingjoe628

acanz

jumpingjoe628

acanz

wardy

2005 Lori Nyland Award Winner

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