http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-6173848-7.html

Add a 7.5 kw, high efficiency generator and a small tank and you'll have a hybrid motorcycle that seriously embarrase some Harley riders. Best of all, it would do it silently.

Bob Wilson

 

Wow!
I could make it to work i n 4 minutes or so.

 

Harley riders wouldn't be embarassed by the fact that another motorcycle out-accelerated it. They're not embarassed when another motorcycle requires less maintenance. They're not even embarassed when they're sitting on the side of the road due to a breakdown. Afterall, most Harley riders buy their bikes because of a certain status symbol that they're trying to achieve. So tell a Harley guy that there are better bikes out there and all they're going to say is, "well, it's not a Harley."

That track they're talking about is Firebird Raceway in the East Valley of Phoenix. I've never been on their drapstrip. But I've done a trackday on their West track. Lots of fun! In fact, the pic in my avatar is on the Firebird West track. All my drag racing has been done on the Speedworld Motorplex track in the West side of Phoenix. The best time for my model bike is 10.2 sec. I've only been able to get 11.1 myself. I'm merely am amatuer.

 

You can see a photo of the "KillaCycle" with the outer shell off here:
http://www.electrifyingtimes.com/a123/KillaCycle.html

That is one big battery - look at that thing. You're basically driving a frame and a giant battery around. According to the About page, the battery is 150lbs; the total vehicle weight is just 619lbs. About 1/4 of the weight lies concentrated in that one area at the base!
http://www.killacycle.com/about/

I should hope no one would actually want to ride a motorcycle, already known for being dangerous, named "Killa"cycle... . However I wonder, if with the majority of the weight sitting in a massive battery at the base of the vehicle, if it is actually safer with such a low center of gravity. With that much weight so tightly focused on the very center of the vehicle, a strike from behind might keep the bike on the ground rather than tipping forward.

A123 really knows how to market their batteries. This is the second vehicle I've taken notice of that exists entirely to put their name in the news.

 

??

The center of gravity already is pretty low on a motorcycle. They just don't "tip over" when struck from behind. It's actually pretty hard, and takes a lot of skill, to get the back end to come up and have the motorcycle balance itself on the front wheel.

 

Isn't the weight normally distributed more forward though, with the engine sitting forward and higher-up on the bike? Have a look at the photo... you can't get much lower or centered than that.

I'm not suggesting bikes are fundamentally unstable (though certainly dangerous...), just that perhaps this arrangement may offer a small stability edge.