Kymco may have the answer to one of the biggest problems with electric motorcycles by allowing riders to dial in their own motorcycle sound!
The Taiwanese scoter company is branching out with their SuperNEX electric sports bike concept unveiled last week in Milan.
They have produced this video which is actually quite useless as it doesn’t give an example of the sound nor show the bike in action.
However, we have little doubt that the concept will work.
Kymco has been around a long time and has been working on electric vehicles for the past few years.
In March, they unveiled their Ionex electric scooter with two swappable batteries.
The SuperNEX concept electric superbike features some serious kit including Brembo brakes, Ohlins suspension, Oz wheels, an alloy frame and Metzeler Racetec tryes.
Dial in sound
But the most interesting aspect to us is the sound.
Electric vehicles are quiet which is not only a turnoff for riders, but also a danger to pedestrians in the urban landscape.
On the highway, electric motorcycles can actually make quite a bit of noise. In fact, like most motorcycles, at that speed the loudest noise is tyre on tarmac.
But for those who love to hear the motor working, Kymco has developed what they call a dial-in Active Acoustic Motor.
They don’t say how it works but claim the rider can dial in sound and “tune” it to their taste.
Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire electric motorcycle which will be available overseas next year and in Australia at the end of 2020 makes a turbine “whooshing” sound by meshing the gears.
Maybe the SuperNEX does something similar with the gears.
Speaking of which, Kymco’s SuperNEX will also appeal to riders of conventional bikes because it has gears.
Like the ill-fated Brammo (and then Victory) Empulse, it has chain drive and normal gears.
Most electric bikes are direct drive and have twist-and-go-throttle with no gears like a scooter.
Other than that, Kymco has not released any tech specs on power, speed, range and battery charging times.
There is also no word on if/when it will go into production.
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com