Passes & Canyons Blog

We’re all familiar with these power-assist bicycles that are now pretty much everywhere. Some people hate them. Think walkers on a trail or bike path along a creek. Many people love them–look at all the people riding them.

But pair this recent phenomenon with another, the decline in sales of motorcycles, and you have to wonder: Will these e-bikes be the gateway drug to draw more people into motorcycling?

Frankly, I don’t see how they can not be. Especially if you get into riding an e-bike at an early age.

I look back to my own adolescence. As a kid I was broke. I never dated because I never had any money. I sure as heck didn’t own a car. But I know I longed to escape the confines of the city bus system or getting a ride from a parent. I had a plan to buy a 50cc Honda Cub (we only knew it as a Honda 50) when I was old enough and I saved the $30 a month I earned on my paper route to buy one when I reached the legal age. And only when I was of age and had the money did my mother get around to saying, “You’ll never own a motorcycle as long as you live in my house.”

So I considered mopeds of various kinds. Unlike today, these power-assisted bicycles had gasoline engines. Some had the engine built right on but you could also buy a conversion kit that you attached to your bicycle’s wheel and it turned the wheel for you. I forget how it accomplished that. I never did follow through on that, though.

Maybe all that’s irrelevant. I was interested in a moped because I really wanted a motorcycle. Today’s question is whether riding a moped (which is really what a motor-assisted bicycle is: motor/pedal, get it?) will lead at least some riders to want to move up to something bigger. But if you start out as a 10-year-old on an e-bike, and it’s so much fun and extends your range so much, wouldn’t it just be natural that you would want to move up to an actual motorcycle once you’re in a position to do so?

There are some voices challenging my view, though. Not a challenge, but voicing the general thinking, here’s a quote from a recent article on MOTO eMAG: “Why would you want to spend $10K on a midrange motorcycle, when you can spend $1K on an e-bike that can do 40mph and with some tweaks even 60, weighs little, costs little, requires no registration, no license, no insurance and you can throw it around and charge the batteries at home the same way you charge a phone.”

I don’t claim to know. Maybe in another five years we’ll be seeing an increase in motorcycle sales. And maybe some enterprising reporter will be asking new riders how they got interested. And just maybe the answer will be, “Oh, I had an e-bike as a kid and this is just taking that one step further.”

Time will tell.

Biker Quote for Today

Riding a bike is not a phase; it’s a lifelong love affair.

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) is to the national scene what the state-level ABATEs are to the state scenes. A motorcycle rights organization working to protect our rights and shape legislation in ways beneficial to, or at least not detrimental to, riding motorcycles.

I generally tend to support what the MRF works for but in the most recent case I personally feel the group has gone a bit off the deep end. Specifically, in a letter to Sean Duffy, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, it said:

The MRF strongly opposes the Biden Administration’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards finalized in June 2024, which require automakers’ new vehicle fleets to reach an average of 53.5 miles per gallon by model year 2032.

Now wait. The CAFE standards relate only to cars. What does this have to do with motorcycles?

OK, the letter continues and explains the concern:

The CAFE standards drive automakers to increase production of electric vehicles and phase out
internal combustion (ICE) engines. As these manufacturers pivot resources toward electric
vehicle (EV) compliance, we expect reduced investment and innovation in ICE technology, which
powers most motorcycles. This shift could lead to:
• Reduced availability of affordable support technologies and fuels for motorcycle riders
• Distorted market dynamics and limited consumer choice
• Decreased relevance and impact of the aftermarket parts industry
• Rural motorcyclists being disproportionately impacted due to insufficient infrastructure

Yeah, OK, so you’re saying let’s nullify technological advancements for cars in order to insure that motorcycles won’t be orphaned. Guys, that’s a really weak argument. First off, there are a gazillion cars pumping out megatons of air pollution while there are–to be generous–significantly fewer motorcycles. Gosh, I don’t know. I kind of like breathing clean air and while theoretically the technological advancement of motorcycles might be negatively impacted, I really don’t believe it will grind to a halt.

I also don’t understand what they’re saying about rural motorcyclists being disproportionately impacted. I guess the build-out of charging stations in rural areas will be slower than in metro areas but at the same time I suspect the phasing out of the gasoline supply industry will also be slower in rural areas, especially as long as farmers use gas- or diesel-powered farm implements.

Nope. This is a case where I definitely break with the MRF. You guys do good work but we all screw up some times.

Biker Quote for Today

Anything that gets your blood racing is probably worth doing. — Hunter S. Thompson

It happens as you get older. You eventually find you don’t need all the stuff you’ve accumulated and you start thinning the herd.

Dennis is the latest with stories to tell. He and Janice had lived up in the hills off Deer Creek Canyon Road but had decided it was time to move down into town. They bought a pretty dang nice–but much smaller–place over in Arvada and are pretty happy with it, but . . .

The “but” for Dennis is that the place they left had an oversized three-car garage. He and Janice each have a car and they each have a motorcycle. No problem at the old place. Big problem at the new place.

I was over there last week and got the tour and made a point to see the garage. I definitely understand. There’s plenty of room for the two cars but in order to get two bikes in they first have to move the car on the left out and then wheel the bikes in and line them both up along the side of the garage. Like, right alongside. As in almost touching. Whereas they used to just ride in and park the bike and get off.

It has an effect. It used to be when Dennis needed to go into town he’d just figure “might as well take the bike.” And he rode a lot. Now, it is a real effort to get the bike out. He’s not going to do that just on the spur of the moment, just because why not. No, if he needs to make a quick run to the store–something he used to routinely do on his BMW, or the Indian before that, or the Harley before that–it’s going to be in the car. Every time. Dang.

His situation makes my situation, which I have always thought of as quite nice, seem really, really nice. We have a large two-car garage with an attached workshop. I park one bike in the garage and when I had three bikes I parked two in the workshop. Now I just have one in the workshop. And yeah, I have to pull my car out to get the V-Strom out and then pull Judy’s car out to get it back in, but there’s no issue with cramming it into a tight space. I just pull in front of the cars and park. Then with the bike or bikes in the workshop, I just open the door and roll it/them in or out.

As reasonably convenient as that is, it has nevertheless deterred me from riding as much as I might have over the years. It’s the idea of gearing up and then getting a bike out, just to make a quick run to the store, that just doesn’t work for me most of the time. So I totally understand Dennis’s disinclination to go to all the trouble he has just for a quick run to the store. Dennis has always been the guy in the OFMC who has ridden way more than anybody else. I think that has changed.

Of course, my prospective answer to this issue has for a long time been that I want a little electric scooter. But I’ve never bought one. And now they have these electric power-assisted bicycles. A moped, actually, although the name “moped” has been appropriated by scooters, which are not in fact mopeds. Sooner or later I’m convinced I will. Then it will be the easiest thing in the world to hop on and cruise off on some small errand. Fun. What am I waiting for?

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 18. The bike gets washed and waxed twice a month. The car never.

I received an interesting email recently from the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) about the shift to electric vehicles. It discussed the move by some states, most notably California, to set a point after which no new gas-driven vehicles will be allowed to be sold in the particular state.

In California, for example, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order that all new passenger vehicles be zero-emission by 2035. And apparently–I don’t know the mechanism involved here–a number of other states have their laws or regulations tied to California such that if California enacts something like that, it will go into effect in their state, too. That itself is something interesting and news to me.

As you can well imagine, a lot of people in a lot of states are not inclined to follow that lead.

I personally have no issue with having electric vehicles available. They reduce noise and they reduce air pollution. Who could possibly oppose those? Especially if you have solar panels on your roof feeding your electric motorcycle, all you really need is better batteries to enable you to go farther on a charge. And those better batteries are on their way.

But let’s take Harley as one example. Many Harley purists have for years voiced their preferences for sticking with the old tried and true of decades ago. Yes, Harley has steadily introduced high tech improvements, but the basic engine configuration and styling has met the demands of this group. What if, in 12 years, they had no choice but to buy an electric motorcycle? Screaming bloody murder is pretty much a guarantee.

Let me hasten to note that apparently this executive order does not as of yet speak to motorcycles; it’s just passenger cars and trucks. But don’t think that something addressing cars and trucks won’t eventually filter over to motorcycles. Meanwhile, according to this note from the MRF, “In Colorado, the Energy Office said, ‘While the governor shares the goal of rapidly moving towards electric vehicles, he is skeptical about requiring 100% of cars sold to be electric by a certain date as technology is rapidly changing.'”

The bottom line to all this, ultimately, is that at some point–perhaps not within our lifetimes–the simple act of riding a gas-powered motorcycle, or driving a gas car, will be restricted to hobbyists who have the time and money to source the very scarce fuel needed to run them. There will be charging stations available everywhere but gas stations will be a thing of the past.

Hey, the only constant is change. Just 125 years ago nobody ever heard of such a thing as a gas station. And 125 years from now probably most people will be grossed out at the idiocy of vehicles that spew toxic fumes to foul the air.

For now though, I have three gas-powered motorcycles and I intend to ride them as much as I can. It’s not that I don’t care about clean air, . . . I don’t know how to end that sentence. I do care about air pollution but I’m still going to ride my bikes. End of discussion.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you think any motorcycle is too loud.

OK, that title is a bit overly dramatic but it’s also true. All of us who ride know that when it comes to pollution and infrastructure, motorcycles are a plus. And that gets more true when the motorcycles are electric. I mean, let’s face it, with electric cars growing in numbers it gets harder and harder to make the low pollution argument. Electric bikes get us back on track.

So I was interested when Judy sent me an email with a link to a TED talk video about an effort going on in Africa. The video, “Africa’s path to clean mobility — driven by motorcycles,” has this guy, Adetayo Bamiduro, talking about a start-up he and another guy have got going to help put motorcycle taxi drivers in Lagos, Nigeria, on electric bikes.

First a little background. (If you watch the video, sorry, I’m just repeating some of what he tells you.) Lagos is one of the biggest cities in Africa and by 2060 is projected to be larger than New York City or Mexico City. Also, Nigeria is projected to be bigger (in population) than the United States. So we’re talking big.

As in much of the world, motorcycle taxis are common and make sense. However, says Bamiduro, most drivers are outside of the formal economy so they have to get money to go into business from loan sharks. They then have no cash left to maintain their bikes properly, which leaves them with heavily polluting machines. Big problem in a big city like this.

So the start-up owns a fleet of electric bikes. The driver signs up on their app, takes out a company-maintained machine, cuts out the middle man (loan shark) and doubles his income while cutting pollution by a lot. A big win-win.

This is such a big change in just a few years. I remember when Zero Motorcycles first came on the scene. It was a real question whether anyone would even have any interest in something like that. I test rode some Zeros a couple times and they were fine but they were small, had a very limited range, and cost a whole lot.

But Zeros get better each year, as does the range of their batteries. And now there are a lot of electric motorcycles on the market, including one built by Harley-Davidson.

I assume that one day I’ll own an electric car, although at the moment I have only 80,000 miles on my 2006 Hyundai, so it probably won’t be any time soon. But I also assume that one day I’ll own an electric motorcycle, and I suspect that will happen sooner. The future really is now.

Biker Quote for Today

A motorcycle cannot/will not fall over without an audience.

I tend to be pretty environmentally minded and so for years I’ve been a little proud that I ride motorcycles, which get better gas mileage and use fewer resources.

That said, is it really true that we who ride are easier on the environment than people in cars? This is a question I have raised more than once and the answer is never clear cut. So I’m approaching this from a different perspective today.

The point I want to focus on today is that, if we only used bikes for transportation and were saving all that gas and resources it would be a simple yes. But we don’t. In fact, many of us almost never use our motorcycles as basic transportation, we ride them for recreation.

Which is to say, when we ride them we are burning more gas, creating more pollution, using more resources, than if we had other recreational pursuits. When the OFMC takes off on a trip, each of us is riding a motorcycle, getting good gas mileage. But how does the gas usage of our whole group equate with what we would burn if we all rode in one van? I’m sure that flips the equation pretty seriously.

Now, I do use my bikes for transportation some of the time. I have a number of regular errands that I almost always run on a motorcycle. But most of my riding is just joy riding. It’s a beautiful day, I want to be out in it. So off I go.

One option that grows more viable with time is getting an electric motorcycle. Can I see myself with one of those at some point? Absolutely. In fact, I went up to Boulder a few years ago with cash in pocket intending to buy an electric scooter. I didn’t because it was used, and thus had some issues, and the seller did not strike me as altogether trustworthy when he spoke to the issues I raised. But yeah, I’d say there is a 100% probability that some day I will have an electric two-wheeler.

Which brings me to the second part of this discussion: Do we really care about being green?

Do we really, truly care? Yes, I care about being green, that’s why I recycle, cut my waste to almost nothing, turn lights off, walk a lot, take light rail . . . so many things that I do. But do I care so much that I’m going to stop “wasting” gasoline on motorcycle joy rides?

Emphatically NO! I love riding motorcycles way too much for that.

So does this make me a hypocrite? I guess it does, at least a bit. Am I going to beat myself up over it? Probably not. I’ll just take solace in knowing that whatever I do that is harmful to the environment, most people do a lot more. And I accept that if you are going to live in our so-called modern society this is what happens.

But I really should keep my smugness in check.

Biker Quote for Today

Fast cars and motorcycles raisin’ hell in cowboy boots. — Tim McGraw