A Modular Design with So Many Uses
Cake has a new bike. I actually got to ride the Cake Kalk at AIMExpo this year, and at that show one of the PR folks there shared that the Ösa would be coming at a later date. He didn’t give me too much info and what he did he said it was embargoed, but now the Cake Ösa has officially broken cover, and it’s one of the most interesting electric motorcycles out there.
Two Bikes In One
The bike features a modular design. there are actually two different types of the Ösa. There’s the Ösa Lite, and then there’s the Ösa+. The Ösa Lite has a 30 mph cap on it and is classified as a motor-driven cycle.
This keeps it in a lower classification of bike in many states. For example, in my state of Indiana, you would just need a Class B motorcycle license (pass a written test) and you don’t need insurance on the bike (I still highly recommend it). This opens up the door for a new class of rider, a smart move by Cake.
The Ösa+ is a mode that can hit 63 mph and is classified as an actual motorcycle. This means you’ll need a legit motorcycle license, insurance, and everything.
The Specs and Equipment
There are two different battery options a 1.5 kWh one and a 2.5 kWh one. The 1.5 kWh one is good for a range of 47 miles (37 on the Ösa+). The 2.5 kWh one is good for a range of 75 miles (63 miles on the Ösa+). Both the Ösa Lite and Ösa+, the battery takes approximately three hours to charge in a standard outlet from fully drained to 100 percent.
The electric motor is good for peak power of 10kW and 31 lb-ft of torque. This is true for both versions of the bike. The Ösa Lite has a continuous power rating of 4 kW and the Ösa+ has a continuous power rating of 7 kW. Both feature a belt drive.
The bike offers three different ride modes, a TFT display for speed and other bike information, a 6061 aluminum welded frame, four-piston brake calipers front and rear, 5-volt outlets for phones, and 12-volt outlets for computers and other larger electronic devices.
The Unique Design
What interests me most about the Ösa is its unique design. It looks kind of like a simple workbench on wheels that’s modular and can be updated at any point. That’s by design.
Cake has crafted this with a variety of customers in mind from commuters to workers to adventurers and outdoors people. There are accessories like boxes for cargo, racks for carrying a surfboard, skis, or even lumber. There’s a mobile workstation accessory so you could pop your laptop open on the back of the bike while parked. It’s an interesting concept.
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This would make the bike seriously useful in a variety of applications. There’s even DC-AC inverter you can add to the bike so you can provide juice to your power tools, lights, etc.
Like I said at the beginning of the article, I got to ride one of the Cake Kalks at AIMExpo. I actually came away impressed with the machine. It’s super lightweight and way better build quality than I thought it would be. These things kind of look like what you’d expect if Ikea made a motorcycle, but they’re built with high-quality materials and the Ösa design, in particular, is super interesting.
Cake is asking $4,500 for the Ösa Lite and $6,500 for the Ösa+. That’s really very reasonable for the range and uniqueness of the machine. I hope to be able to have the chance to really test this model or the Kalk for longer than a quick ride at some point in the future.
They are butt ugly, but they look really useful. If be able to rock one easily for commuting since I live close to work and can take surface streets. Could easily charge the battery at work, but probably wouldn’t need to do that since it’s only 6 miles away via surface streets.
I could also throw it on the camper for running around in the campground, getting to hiking spots instead of taking the rv back out.
I wonder if my solar setup on my truck/rv could charge it…hmm.