I have spent a lifetime on motorcycles, and by “lifetime,” I mean enough time to accumulate a catalogue of injuries that would make a medieval jouster wince. I have crashed in places where ambulances fear to tread, I have taken corners with all the confidence of a man who truly believes in an afterlife, and I have learned, the hard way, that adventure and stupidity are separated only by a very thin line. Usually one marked by a road sign you just ignored.
Yet, of all the things I have done on two wheels, nothing invites more dramatic gasps than when I say:
Electric motorcycles are the future. Ignore them at your peril.
You would think I had suggested replacing leather jackets with sequined cardigans. Faces contort, voices rise, and someone, somewhere, eyebrows raised in mock horror, will inevitably utter the most overused phrase in motorcycling:
But what about the range?
Because, apparently, the real essence of riding isn’t freedom, or speed, or carving through mountain twisties at dawn. It’s sitting on a 200-kilo machine and obsessing over how far you can go before needing to pee.
Range Anxiety: The Myth That Refuses to Die.
Here’s the thing: no one actually rides further than their own biological limits. Your motorcycle does not dictate how far you can go. Your spine, your bladder, and your need for food do. No one wakes up, rides 2,000 kilometres without stopping, and then gently rolls into the afterlife like some sort of high-speed monk achieving enlightenment. The human body taps out at 900 to 1,200 kilometres per day, and even then, only if you are fuelled by a diet of tobacco, caffeine, and questionable life choices.
And that, right there, is the actual number that makes range anxiety irrelevant.
If an EV motorcycle can ride 900 to 1,200 km on a single charge, range anxiety ceases to be an argument. Not theoretically. Not emotionally. Objectively. Because at that point, you have to stop, whether you like it or not. Your body demands it. And when you stop, that’s when the EV charges, as do you. The day we hit that real-world number, every petrolhead argument about range anxiety will become a relic of history—something to be whispered about in vintage motorcycle meet-ups between discussions on why modern bikes lack “soul.”
Meanwhile, off-road motorcycles are already perfect for EVs. Unlike their touring and commuter cousins, off-roaders don’t even need the long-range debate. No serious dirt rider is doing 1,000 kilometres in a single session. These machines live on trailers, get thrashed over a couple of hundred kilometres of brutal terrain, and then get loaded back onto their carriers—just as an EV would demand. Torque-rich electric motors, fewer moving parts, lighter (and better balanced) weight, and the absence of heat build-up in slow technical riding?
That’s not a limitation, that’s an evolution.
More Than Just Braking That Gives Back.
For those still clinging to nostalgia, there are more reasons to embrace EVs than just regenerative braking. Yes, they extend your range by converting momentum into energy. But that’s just the start. Electric motorcycles don’t need scheduled oil changes, arguments with the timing chain, wrestling matches with the clutch adjustor, or a weekend of swearing at the carburettor (or the fuel pump, as the case may be) that has, once again, decided to embrace entropy.
The idea that motorcycling must be hard, loud, and mechanically frustrating is just another relic of the past. The true test of a great ride isn’t in whether you know how to gap a spark plug—it’s in whether you can dance with the road, lean into the curves, and experience pure motion.
But EVs Aren’t Really Green!
Ah yes, the “EVs are just as bad for the environment” argument. It is usually thrown around by people who believe their petrol motorcycle emits pure oxygen and lavender mist. Look, let’s be real. No vehicle is 100% clean. Batteries require mining. Manufacturing takes energy. Electricity has to come from somewhere. But if we are measuring impact over time, the case is clear:
- EVs get cleaner as the grid gets cleaner. Unlike petrol, which will always be what it is, EVs evolve with energy production. A decade from now, a petrol bike will still be burning fuel, but an EV will likely be running on cleaner energy.
- Maintenance footprint is near zero. No oil changes, fewer consumables, and longer-lasting parts mean fewer resources used over the vehicle’s lifespan.
- Urban pollution reduction is immediate. Internal combustion engines dump their waste right where we live. EVs move that problem further up the chain, where at least we can regulate and improve it over time.
So, is an EV perfectly green? No. But is it better than burning dead dinosaurs at 9,000 RPM in city traffic? Absolutely.
The Problem With the Macho Mystique.
There was a time when motorcyclists needed to be mechanics. In the early years, riding a bike meant knowing how to adjust spark timing, how to fix a broken belt on the side of the road, how to pray in multiple languages when your fuel pump gave up on a mountain pass. But that era is long gone. Not knowing how to fix an engine is not a bug. It’s a feature.
Why? Because it frees us. It releases us from the greasy bondage of troubleshooting a machine so we can experience what riding was always meant to be—pure, uninterrupted motion. The joy is not in the oil-stained hands or the vibrating seat; it is in the feeling of carving through open roads, of leaning into a corner with absolute trust, of becoming one with the landscape rather than fighting the machine.
Those who still insist that real riders must understand the inner workings of an internal combustion engine are like the people who believed a pilot needed to be able to build an aircraft before flying it. The world has moved on. And that is a good thing.
The Future is Riding, Not Fixing.
We are at the edge of something wonderful. A new era where motorcycles are no longer judged by how much they shake, or how loudly they scream, but by the purity of the experience they offer. An era where the machine disappears, and all that remains is the road, the ride, and the unbroken connection between emotion and motion, between (hu)man and machine.
Once, we measured riders by their ability to endure hardship. But perhaps true skill isn’t in how well you can fix a bike. Perhaps it is in how well you can ride one.
The future of motorcycling is not about fuel tanks and grease-stained hands. It is about being in the moment, in the movement, in the ride. It is about seeing a curve in the road ahead and knowing, with absolute certainty, that it was meant for you. It is about breaking free from the mechanical past, unshackling ourselves from the idea that struggle is a necessary part of joy, and finally understanding what it means to fly, not just ride.
Because that is what motorcycling was always meant to be. Not a collection of noises, or a battle against moving parts, or an engineering puzzle for the mechanically inclined. It was meant to be freedom.
And for those who still resist, who hold on to the past like it is the only thing that ever mattered, I say this: Let. Go.
The motorcycling heaven isn’t the one where you feel the vibration in your skull, rattling your brain, where you smell of 95 octane, and where your fingers are stained with the lube you used on the chain a while back. Heaven, my friend, is where there are no limits.
Come, the road is waiting, and the ride is about to get better. Stop resisting and lean into the curve. Attaboy!
