An Interesting Moped For the Future
I’m a big fan of mopeds—those little pedal-internal-combustion-engined bikes that have more or less disappeared from the modern motorcycle industry. I own a 1989 Tomos Golden Bullet. I love the little underpowered thing. It’s perfect for shooting over to a coffee shop or up to the store for a loaf of bread.
The problem is it’s loud. It has a two-stroke engine on it, and my reasonably quiet neighborhood likely doesn’t appreciate the blue-smoke-spitting, ear-splitting demon very much. I’d love an electric one, and that’s pretty much what this Tempest Titan R is.
It offers a smart blend of an electric bicycle and electric motorcycle. It looks awesome, too. Some of the other electric mopeds I’ve reported on look a little dopey, but this one is actually cool. It offers a long flat seat, and a motorcycle look. The faux tank hides the electric controllers for the bike’s power system.
Speaking of power, the bike gets 52 V 13 Ah battery and a 1,000 W motor. That’s good for a 28 mph top speed. The company claims a range of 30-40 miles. It takes four hours to recharge from completely dead, and the battery pops off so you can take it inside for charging while you’re at work or wherever. It has front and rear hydraulic brakes, an aluminum front fork, and aircraft-grade steel frame.
The electronics are kind of cool, too. The bike offers an LCD screen. It requires a passcode to start the electric motor, and you can choose to limit the top speed if you want to make the most of the range, and there’s the ability to make the bike a pedal assist machine instead of it running on pure electric power, according to electrek.
The bike is technically an electric bicycle, so you could get away with riding it on bike paths as well as the street. It’s definitely not a solution for everyone, but it’d work for urban commuters and people looking for a fun electric toy. With a price tag of $2,900, there’s not a ton to complain about here.
Interesting, but I think the concept is better done by the folks at Monday Motorcycles. I think they’re out of San Francisco.
To be honest, I’d love these new scoots better if I couldn’t get a 250-300cc full-power motorcycle for the same price. Hopefully the price of electric will come down soon.