Tag Archives: ebike

News

Aussie engineer teams up with Castiglioni to move E-Bike project forward

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Stealth Electric Bikes

Stealth Electric Bikes, a tech company founded in 2008 by Australian engineer John Karambalis, and pioneer in the field of e-mobility, is preparing to launch a range of urban mobility, outdoor, civilian, and military products.

Stealth F-37 electric bike

As part of a four-year plan, Stealth has bought in a new shareholder, C-Creative, which was founded by Giovanni Castiglioni, one of the main players in the world of two-wheels born from motorcycle royalty.

John Karambalis – CEO of Stealth

“This is a key moment for the future of Stealth company and I’m excited to have joined forces with such an experienced team. New developments in the market have prompted us to broaden our horizons and shape the future of the recreation and mobility sectors across the globe. Collectively we will continue to be the industry’s point of reference for engineering and design and set new benchmarks for technological advancement.”

Stealth B-52 electric bike

To date, the Australian company has focused on the production and marketing of off-road products for civil and military use. Inspired by the famous American B-52 Bomber, Stealth’s top-of-the-line model, offered a high-powered electric bike combining the fun and agility of a mountain bike with the power and freedom of a dirt bike.

With C-Creative joining its shareholders, Stealth will further expand with an ambitious commercial and industrial growth plan. The plan is based on a new range of high-performance off-road products and L1e-B road-legal products designed for urban commuting.

Stealth B-52 electric bike

Two 250w city bikes and 250w dual purpose bikes will also go into production in 2022, designed, like the entire range of new products, from the pen of Adrian Morton, a world famous designer and creator of motorbikes.

Not only will Stealth focus on bicycles, electric motorbikes, innovative and revolutionary mobility solutions; it will also increase its investment in the military sector, the original inspiration for the company.

Giovanni Castiglioni – Founder of C-Creative

“I have been a Stealth customer for several years now and I have never found anything more exciting in the e-bikes scene. Stealth is a brand that has a unique charm and charisma, and the C-Creative team is thrilled to be able to bring decades of experience is the world of two wheels to the company.”

Stealth and C-Creative (Castiglioni Creative) are teaming up

Source: MCNews.com.au

Motorcycle News, News

Triumph launch Trekker GT e-bike

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Triumph started in 1889 as a bicycle company and now they are returning to bicycles with an e-bike called the Trekker GT.

They are not the only motorcycle manufacturer looking to ebikes as a supplement to their motorcycle business.

Ducati and even Harley-Davidson are getting into the ebikes trend.

It all comes as some riders are calling for ebikes to be registered before they dominate bike lanes, chew up available parking space and lawless riders give all motorcycle and scooter riders a bad name.

The move to add ebikes also comes as Triumph Motorcycle recently announced it would slash 400 jobs globally, blaming the pandemic for falling sales.

Triumph also made bicycles in the 1970s, but this is a modern pedal-assisted electric model with some hi-tech features such as digital instruments.

Triumph Trekker GT ebikeTrekker GT weighs just 2.88kg and is powered by a 250w 60Nm Shimano Steps E6100 motor and Shimano E8035 504Wh battery, all neatly hidden in the front stem of the frame.Triumph Trekker GT ebike

It was designed in-house and will be available in Europe with other markets to follow.

There is no word yet on price.

Triumph Trekker GT E-bike tech specs

Frame

6061 Hydro-formed aluminium frame with integrated lockable battery

Suspension

RockShox Paragon forks with 65mm travel

Drivetrain

Shimano Steps E6100 250w motor

Fully integrated Shimano E8035 504Wh battery

Wheels

Shimano hubs & Alex Volar rims 27.5”

Tyres

Schwalbe Energizer Green Guard 27.5 x 2.0 tyres

Rear Mech

Super-silent Shimano Deore Shadow 10-speed rear mechanism

Brakes

High-performance Shimano Deore M6000 180/160 brakes

Saddle

Ultra-comfortable Selle Royal Vivo saddle

Grips

Triumph branded lock-on grips

Standard-fit Specification

LED lighting, full length mudguards, side stand,
pannier rack & ABUS Proshield lock

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Motorcycle News, News

Call for Ebikes to be registered

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Ebikes or pedal-assisted electric bicycles are growing out of control in many countries, creating danger for other road users, robbing motorcyclists of parking and giving all riders a bad name.

There are now calls in Australia and around the world for regulation or registration for these vehicles.

In China it is so bad, more than 10 major cities have restricted or banned them, despite the bikes providing cheap and easy transport.

Many see them as a green transport alternative that free up the city and provide cheap transportation with some health benefits.

However, some Chinese authorities claim ebikes are dominating bike lanes, endangering bicycle, motorcycle and scooter riders as well as other motorists. They are also riding on footpaths and paying little attention to road rules.

Ebikes epidemic

ebikesChinese bikes destined for Europe (Image: Electrek)

Many other countries are now finding similar problems with the burgeoning growth of ebikes and the EU has complained about China dumping bikes in Europe.

There is a fear that they will grow even faster in the post-pandemic world where people eschew public transport because of the dangers of infection.

Motorcycle manufacturers such as Ducati and even Harley-Davidson are getting into the ebikes trend.

rude boy bicycles ebikesHarley ebikes

Like many countries including Australia, you can ride an ebike without a licence.

In Australia, they are limited to 25km/h, but illegal and virtually untraceable modifications can make them such faster and more dangerous.

Ebikes menace

Long-time motorcycle advocate Rodney Brown says they are a menace.

“Ebikes are unregistered, the riders unlicensed, some not roadworthy, uninsured and electrical grid drainers,” he says. 

“They need to be registered, insured, roadworthy, speed restricted, age restricted and need to heavily enforced.”

Rodney Brown Rider's call for ute tarps rejected bike lanesRodney Brown

He says they are also taking up valuable footpath parking space in Melbourne.

This follows calls last year by the the Tasmanian Motorcycle Council for free identification numbers, not registration, for cyclists over 18 so their traffic offences can be reported and riders fined.

Their call was backed by Emeritus Professor of Transport Marcus Wigan who says electric bicycles and scooters blur the lines between bicycles and registered motorcycles and scooters.

He says bicycles are legal transport and as such should be bound by the same features of ID as other vehicles using the roads.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Motorcycle News, News

Recharge electric motorbike in 5 minutes

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A Canadian company is working on battery technology that will recharge an electric motorcycle in about five minutes without reducing battery life.

The discovery by GBatteries is a potential boost for electric motorcycles and other vehicles as recharging time, not range anxiety, is the biggest hurdle.

Harley-Davidson claims its LiveWire electric motorcycle can be recharged to 80% in about 30minutes using DC fast chargers.

Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycleHarley-Davidson's electric LiveWire short circuit minutes
LIveWires on DC fast chargers

Recharge in minutes

However, this process degrades the battery, shortening its life.

Now GBatteries has discovered a process where micro pulses of power will charge batteries quickly without any degradation.

They have filed for 45 patent applications, with 10 patents granted and 28 pending. 

“Our mission is to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles, by eliminating the final barrier of charge time and enabling electric vehicles to charge as fast as it takes to fill a tank of gas,” the company says.

“One hour isn’t what we call fast. We’re pioneering technology that will enable electric vehicles to charge as fast as it takes to fill a tank of gas.”

How it works

GBatteries isn’t developing new materials or changing battery chemistry. Instead it is working on new software and hardware.

Their ChargeSense software uses artificial intelligence to create a complex series of small charging pulses and learn about the state of the battery as it charges to avoid degeneration and overheating.

electric garage fire energica
Fast charger causes a fire in the Energica garage housing MotoE race bikes

This also prevents overheating which recently caused Harley-Davidson to temporarily suspend production of its electric LiveWire and sparked a fire which destroyed all the Energica MotoE racing bikes earlier this year.

It is not the same as recent Deakin University research which makes lithium-ion batteries smaller, lighter and less likely to burst into flame.

GBatteries’ hardware consists of off-the-shelf components with their own “architecture” to generate exact engineered pulses at high frequency.

But don’t get too excited just yet.

GBatteries say it could take up to seven years for their technology to become commercially available.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

News

Transport expert supports bicycle ID

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The coming wave of electric bikes and scooters will create an overlap with bicycles that will put more pressure on cyclists to have ID plates or devices, a transport expert says.

Emeritus Professor of Transport Marcus Wigan says bicycles are legal transport and as such should be bound by the same features of ID as other vehicles using the roads.

His comments follow our recent article in which Tasmanian Motorcycle Council (TMC) called for free identification numbers, not registration, for cyclists over 18 so their traffic offences can be reported and riders fined.

Since publishing that article, the debate on our website and social media has been prolific. Click here for the full story.

Overlaps

Marcus says there are going to be “more and more overlaps (in speed capability) between bicycles and powered two-wheelers and hybrids such as ebikes and electric scooters”.

Even Harley-Davidson has announced a range of electric mountain bikes (photo at the top of the page) and scooters in the next few years.

Harley electric LiveWire ID
Harley electric scooter

“We need to deal with the blurring boundaries between different vehicles,” Marcus says.

“So the real question is not about approving of bicycle ID, it is when will we treat all vehicles and road users consistently?

“This is now a real issue.”

Marcus says he often sees bicycles exceed the speed limit in Albert St, East Melbourne, and asks why they should escape traffic offence notices.

Bike ID

He also pointed out that his words in a 2002 VicRoads paper are even more relevant now with the blurring of vehicle categories between bicycles and ebikes.

Marcus Wigan harassment
Marcus Wigan

Here is a slice of that text:

Vehicle identification is valuable for a range of official and personal purposes: registration, theft recovery and speed enforcement are the major ones. A range of alternatives to conventional rear number plates are considered, with special reference to bicycles and motorcycles. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Infrared Identification (IRID) barcodes and combinations of Geographical Positioning System (GPS)and GSM mobile telephone chips (GPS/GSM) approaches are considered and discussed. While it is still premature to move to automated remote identification systems, barcodes and short range RFID systems alone or in combination offer genuine advantages for vulnerable road users, especially for theft protection, and to the Police for identity verification. Trials of the latter hybrid methods in combination are suggested, and careful consideration of the trust and surveillance aspects of potentially continuous tracking system be undertaken, and the developments widely consulted over  before progress can be made on the deployment of widespread automated remote identification. However short range RFID tags deployed to verify vehicle identity for theft and other purposes may prove to me an effective first step towards automated remote identification systems.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com