The Bikeshite Thread

[martc]

Well, I've been to the bike show at the NEC, it's always a joy and I saw some very interesting kit - the Langens and DOTs were almost jewel like, and made in the UK. Norton have rebranded themselves, for the worse in my humble opinion, particularly the new logo. They had some nice smaller twin cylinder bikes made in India and the great big V4's, but no Commando (sad face).

MotoGB, the chief importer of Chinese chod, had an absolutely groaning stand, possibly the biggest at the show, jam packed with bolides significantly better in quality and design than from a mere few years ago. The Morbidelli tourer was a lovely thing, although an Italian registered company, they are made in China alongside their Benelli cousins. But, like the Japanese in the '70's, the Chinese really need to get a grip of their names - there was a Hunk, but worse three Bendas, and of the three the worst name was the Benda Chincilla (cf the Datsun Cedric and Gloria).

Anyhow, I was there to consider a new electric bike, to replace my trusty Zero SR. And, to be honest, I think I'll be keeping it,

The Honda WN7 was a disappointment, the seat was hard and sloped forward, there was little character to it and worse Honda seemed embarrassed about it. It was hidden away and no sales person approached me at all when I gave it a good looking at (in fact they avoided talking to anyone looking at it). I wasn't too keen on it in the first place (heavy, underpowered and poor range) and my opinion has not changed.

The Can Am Pulse was nice, it was comfortable and nicely made if a little plasticy. It's considerably lighter than the Honda and has a better range (but still less than the SR). It could be on my shortlist, but the sales people where a bit cagey about my nearest dealer, they sort of hinted that it could be in 'Scotland' or 'Poole' both hundreds of miles away from me. Can Am will contact my nearest dealer and will ask them to ring me.

The Zero DSR, a little more comfortable than my SR, of which it has much in common. However I found the fairing a bit overwhelming, and something I don't really need. If they did one without I'd snap it up.

So, I think I'll be putting a new front tyre (and possibly a 'comfort' seat) on the SR and just keep it. Unless there's a Can Am dealer a little closer than Poole....

Oh, I had a good look at the Maevings as well. Now they are really no more than an electric 125 and so not what I'm looking for, but I thought they were absolutely fantastic, particularly the new RM2, and they're made in Coventry. If anyone wants a small commuter EV give them some serious thought. Or the brand new Zero LS1 scooter, quite a solid little thing.

 

 

 

 

[myglaren]

[Cavcraft]

On 14/11/2025 at 11:00, Stinkwheel said:

Something happened yesterday, I'm more than over excited about it, I just cant tell you how much I like sporty 2 strokes. (well, i probably could actually)

 

HUBBA HUBBA 😍😍

On 14/11/2025 at 19:10, andy18s said:

I still ride with a couple of fingers covering the clutch lever,just in case ..... 

 

The fingers on my left hand have become considerably more athritic feeling since riding Vespas and Lambrettas. 

[UltraWomble]

1 hour ago, martc said:

 

Oh, I had a good look at the Maevings as well. Now they are really no more than an electric 125 

£8000
HFM????

[5speedracer]

On 19/10/2025 at 17:09, martc said:

Talking of new Hondas, I'm going to give this a good caught of looking at when I'm at the NEC show next month...

The hilariously named WN7. Why hilarious you ask, well W = Wind and N = Naked, yes it's the Honda Wind Naked 7. You'd have thought they'd have tried a little harder with their first electric bike.

I'm really enjoying the Zero but as most bikers, but not most bikers wives, know, we get itchy feet after a while and start looking around. I do have an excuse as my Zero came from a dealer in East Anglia and although the relationship has been very good they are over a hundred miles away and it's always been a bit of a worry. My nearest Honda dealer is 40 miles away.

Anyhow back to the WN7, details are very scarce. But we do know that it has about a third of the power of the Zero (18kW vs 52kW) and about two thirds the torque (100 Nm vs 140 Nm) but I'm not sure that will be a problem in the real world. The thing that makes me a bit twitchy is the range - I quote - 'more than 80 miles'. Zero quote 162 miles for mine, which is generous but just about doable so I'm guessing Honda, like Zero, are quoting the best possible figure you can get. I'm also guessing the Honda may have a smaller battery than the Zero but as it only ways 6kg lighter I don't know what is so heavy on the Honda if it's not the battery (the battery being the heaviest component by far, the weight being directly proportional to the number of cells). The Honda is water cooled and the Zero air cooled so that may explain some of the weight. I may be talking myself out of this but I'd like a sit on one. Starts from £12,999. https://www.honda.co.uk/motorcycles/experience-honda/register-interest-august-2025.html

Whilst at the NEC I'm also going to have a good look at the Can-Am Pulse. Now this is 35 kW with a 100 mile city range, still not as good as the Zero, but better than the Honda. It only weighs 177kg as the battery is half the size of the Zero, but it has water cooling which begs the question, again, why is the Honda is so heavy but has, potentially, the poorest range? The Can-Ams torque is lower at 72 Nm. It's a little cheaper (£11,399) and my nearest dealer is only 10 miles away. https://can-am.brp.com/on-road/gb/en/models/motorcycles/pulse.html

There's also the expensive option, an upgrade from my SR to a DSR/X, this has a similar chassis to the SR but a slightly larger battery giving a 179 mile range, the motor develops 75kW and there's 229 Nm torque and is the most expensive by far (£19,970). But the dealer is in East Anglia. https://zeromotorcycles.com/en-gb/model/zero-dsrx

Or I'll just stick with the SR.... (which needs a new front tyre as the original has squared off but annoyingly has plenty of tread left).

IIRC the range and efficiency on Honda's EV offerings have been nothing to shout about.

[martc]

3 hours ago, 5speedracer said:

IIRC the range and efficiency on Honda's EV offerings have been nothing to shout about.

Yeah, the 'e''s range was purposefully kept low as it was touted as a 'city' car which seems to be madness to me in the UK, perhaps not to someone in Tokyo. Honda have released the range of the WN7 - 140km (87 miles), I guess this is for the best case scenario, I expect it to be lower in real life, which is pathetic considering it's the same size and weight as my Zero which I can stretch to 140 miles; Zero claim 163 miles. The Can Am range is 100 miles, it's more comfortable and much lighter (because it has a smaller battery, as does the Honda - so where is all it's weight?).

A couple of days ago I had a quick scan of You Tube to see if anyone had road tested a WN7 yet, they haven't. But I'll keep an eye out to see what actual range they get* before completely dismissing it.

*but I need to bare in mind that many testers will thrash it and get a ridiculously low range and then declare that all EV's are crap.

[martc]

On 19/11/2025 at 16:26, myglaren said:

That's probably as close as your average bad assed bro, sorry, middle ranking accountant has got to that sort of position since his honeymoon* 30 years ago.

*'I tired it once and didn't like it'