Are small displacement motorcycles the future trend in motorcycling?

[faffi]

IIRC, Sir Real Ed also had an Aprilia 550. Apparently, you can spend money on them to make the engine right and reliable. Should be a weapon.

[Brand X]

IIRC, Sir Real Ed also had an Aprilia 550. Apparently, you can spend money on them to make the engine right and reliable. Should be a weapon.

You can get about 20 thousand miles out of a correctly built one  .That's good for a race engine..Getting the cases sealed, and the have the head gaskets setup correctly. is a huge key..Interesting separate oil cavities setup..Dry sump for the engine, and trans oil is in the same engine case..(two drain plugs) 

[Frulk]

Current inventory….750-1450cc

V7R is approx 395 dry. Plenty light

At the other end is the Road King at 760-780. Seat and center of gravity are so low getting it across my mostly level driveway is not an issue.

[willowstreetguzziguy]

As the OP on this subject, i’ve been thinking about and taking notice of e-bicycle users I see daily and whether they would be potential small motorcycle owners in the future. They seem to fall into several categories in my area of South Central Pennsylvania…
1. Young adults who use an E bike primarily for economic reasons to get from point A to point B or to get to and from their minimum wage job. I don’t see very much potential for these riders moving onto a small motorcycle primarily because of the cost and upkeep. Probably when the E bike begins to falter it gets thrown in the junk pile and they look for another one that’s cheap But certainly not a motorcycle.
2. Older adults using their E bike on rail trails for recreation and to get out into nature. I don’t see any of these people deciding to buy a small motorcycle and go out and ride in the traffic that is today a major issue.

And when these e bicycles develop a problem, around here, they could just stop in at the local bicycle shop, and after a couple of days, the problem can be fixed versus taking a motorcycle to the motorcycle shop and being without it for probably several weeks at the least. E bicyclists and motorcyclists…Two totally different types of riders for different reasons.

[SIR REAL ED]

IIRC, Sir Real Ed also had an Aprilia 550. Apparently, you can spend money on them to make the engine right and reliable. Should be a weapon.

Yeah, for very little money, you can end up with a Hell of a machine.

IIRC, the 550's are about 70 rear wheel horsepower and 310 lbs wet.

If you ever get a chance to ride one, do not pass it up.

Very similar to the KTM 690's.
 
IIRC, Allen Noland charged $800 to remove, completely rebuild, and re-install the engine.

AF1 has an amazing forum on the Aprilia RXV/SXV's.  About a half dozen or more of the most knowledgeable people I have ever encountered on the internet post there.  They all agree, that when it comes to the RXV & SXV bikes, do not under any circumstance trust any information you get from Aprilia.

Aprilia never came to grips with the bikes faults and how to fix them.

[bad Chad]

I miss the magazines too, but their demise did not lead to the end of the HP wars, tech did.   There is no reason to push for more HP, it became a dead end 20 years ago.   

[Shorty]

As the OP on this subject, i’ve been thinking about and taking notice of e-bicycle users I see daily and whether they would be potential small motorcycle owners in the future. They seem to fall into several categories in my area of South Central Pennsylvania…
1. Young adults who use an E bike primarily for economic reasons to get from point A to point B or to get to and from their minimum wage job. I don’t see very much potential for these riders moving onto a small motorcycle primarily because of the cost and upkeep. Probably when the E bike begins to falter it gets thrown in the junk pile and they look for another one that’s cheap But certainly not a motorcycle.
2. Older adults using their E bike on rail trails for recreation and to get out into nature. I don’t see any of these people deciding to buy a small motorcycle and go out and ride in the traffic that is today a major issue.

And when these e bicycles develop a problem, around here, they could just stop in at the local bicycle shop, and after a couple of days, the problem can be fixed versus taking a motorcycle to the motorcycle shop and being without it for probably several weeks at the least. E bicyclists and motorcyclists…Two totally different types of riders for different reasons.

 
Another catagory I see on ebikes (or tiny 2 stroke engines on bicycles)  are scruffy looking older guys who look like possible
DUI candidates. They blast around here at all hours. 

[faffi]

I miss the magazines too, but their demise did not lead to the end of the HP wars, tech did.   There is no reason to push for more HP, it became a dead end 20 years ago.

I would go as far as to say that lack of power, for street bikes, have not been an issue for the past 40 years. The first 150hp bike appeared around 30 years ago, and Kawasaki had a 120hp bike back in 1979.

[blu guzz]

HP was an issue of desire, not practicality.  A 550 lbs bike with 100 hp is more than anyone needs short of a track, but they would have sold far fewer bikes if a large segment of the riding population decided to stick with need based purchases.  From a practical standpoint, most of us could have kept those original Japanese bikes we bought in the 80s as they were at least adequate for our needs. Imagine all the extra money we would have had.

[faffi]

Very valid points, blu buzz. For better or worse, it is a human trait to want more than enough.

[bad Chad]

However, the vast majority of motorcycle riders are not crying out for plus 200hp bikes. 

[Perazzimx14]

As the OP on this subject, i’ve been thinking about and taking notice of e-bicycle users I see daily and whether they would be potential small motorcycle owners in the future. They seem to fall into several categories in my area of South Central Pennsylvania…
1. Young adults who use an E bike primarily for economic reasons to get from point A to point B or to get to and from their minimum wage job. I don’t see very much potential for these riders moving onto a small motorcycle primarily because of the cost and upkeep. Probably when the E bike begins to falter it gets thrown in the junk pile and they look for another one that’s cheap But certainly not a motorcycle.
2. Older adults using their E bike on rail trails for recreation and to get out into nature. I don’t see any of these people deciding to buy a small motorcycle and go out and ride in the traffic that is today a major issue.

And when these e bicycles develop a problem, around here, they could just stop in at the local bicycle shop, and after a couple of days, the problem can be fixed versus taking a motorcycle to the motorcycle shop and being without it for probably several weeks at the least. E bicyclists and motorcyclists…Two totally different types of riders for different reasons.

I don't think e-bikes are springboard into motorcycling.

I think they are popular because:

1. Inexpensive, requires no license, registration or insurance and no training to operate. Just hop and and go who cares about any traffic laws.
2. Laziness. Why pedal when the electric motor can do the lions share and you still can brag that you rode your bicycle 10 or 15 miles on a dead flat rail trail.

In Harrisburg e-bike are taking over as the mode of transportation for the young pilars of the community that formerly used dirt bikes or ATV's to do their business. E-bikes are quite, do not draw the attention that unlicensed dirtbike/ATV's do and get you around just about as fast in a much stealthier mode.

[rocker59]

Not in USA, horsepower rules. As always.

It does, but my local Indian Triumph dealer sells the little Triumph 400s by the dozen.  Mostly to older grey beards who are downsizing.

To be fair, they also sell their huge Indian Challengers by the dozen, but to working class d00ds in their 30s and 40s.

[rocker59]

As the OP on this subject, i’ve been thinking about and taking notice of e-bicycle users I see daily and whether they would be potential small motorcycle owners in the future. They seem to fall into several categories in my area of South Central Pennsylvania…
1. Young adults who use an E bike primarily for economic reasons to get from point A to point B or to get to and from their minimum wage job. I don’t see very much potential for these riders moving onto a small motorcycle primarily because of the cost and upkeep. Probably when the E bike begins to falter it gets thrown in the junk pile and they look for another one that’s cheap But certainly not a motorcycle.
2. Older adults using their E bike on rail trails for recreation and to get out into nature. I don’t see any of these people deciding to buy a small motorcycle and go out and ride in the traffic that is today a major issue.

And when these e bicycles develop a problem, around here, they could just stop in at the local bicycle shop, and after a couple of days, the problem can be fixed versus taking a motorcycle to the motorcycle shop and being without it for probably several weeks at the least. E bicyclists and motorcyclists…Two totally different types of riders for different reasons.

Don't forget the cost of insurance, and the proliferation of bike trails in cities.

Auto/Moto insurance is getting prohibitively expensive in some places and is probably a big contributing factor for many who use e-bikes for only transportation.

No tags, no insurance, and the ability to ride trails and streets surely makes the bicycles more attractive than motorcycles to that crowd. 

I'm not sure I see the crossover potential to convert e-bicyclists to motorcyclists in very large numbers.

[rocker59]

 
Another catagory I see on ebikes (or tiny 2 stroke engines on bicycles)  are scruffy looking older guys who look like possible
DUI candidates. They blast around here at all hours. 

for years, here in my town, those guys rode 50cc scooters.  Then the city began requiring license plates and insurance.  That killed the 50cc scooter around here.  Now it's e-bikes!

[Perazzimx14]

for years, here in my town, those guys rode 50cc scooters.  Then the city began requiring license plates and insurance.  That killed the 50cc scooter around here.  Now it's e-bikes!

50cc scooters AKA liquor-cycle.

[willowstreetguzziguy]

Every once in a while, I will see one of those electric one wheel things riding in and out of traffic at 30-40 mph breaking traffic laws the laws and some E bikes doing the same. So I don’t think it will be very long until they start reeling them in with laws and regulations.

[Perazzimx14]

Every once in a while, I will see one of those electric one wheel things riding in and out of traffic at 30-40 mph breaking traffic laws the laws and some E bikes doing the same. So I don’t think it will be very long until they start reeling them in with laws and regulations.

If they are already breaking existing laws what would creating more laws do?

[bad Chad]

If they are already breaking existing laws what would creating more laws do?

Only if laws are followed up with enforcement.

[rocker59]

If they are already breaking existing laws what would creating more laws do?

Forcing 50cc scooter owners to carry insurance basically killed them in my town.  (a college town).

I would imagine if the city required insurance coverage on e-bikes, the same thing would happen.

I can see it happening for the 28mph Class III e-bikes.

[Perazzimx14]

Forcing 50cc scooter owners to carry insurance basically killed them in my town.  (a college town).

I would imagine if the city required insurance coverage on e-bikes, the same thing would happen.

I can see it happening for the 28mph Class III e-bikes.

Sounds like a viable solution: thumb:

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

I think it's easy, especially for Americans, to overlook that the Honda Super Cub is the most produced motorized vehicle. It, or variants of it, are the ubiquitous motorcycle/motorbike in much of the world and range from 50cc to 125cc due to licensing and insurance tiers in various countries. I own a few mini motos and love them. These are the ones I currently have tagged:

2021 Honda Trail 125
1980 Honda C70 Passport
1966 Honda CM91 Rally (Two of them, one black one red)
1984 Honda Trail 110
1963 Yamaha Omaha Trail MJ2T (55cc 2-stroke)

Lots of the small bikes on the market are retro styled (or authentically older since they've hardly changed in over a decade like the TW200, XR150L, VanVan 200) which I think has great appeal. Small bikes being approachable is definitely a big driver for their popularity. I keep panniers on my larger bikes but have a rear rack for cargo on the small bikes, so the small bikes are better for lane filtering. When there's a quick errand I avoid the bigger heavier bikes simply because of the little bit more effort they require to roll backward out of the garage. The everyday convenience is there, and you can also choose to greatly inconvenience yourself by riding slow back roads to avoid highways to get a slow and engaging touring experience that's often skipped on bigger, faster, and more capable machines.

I also have an e-bike and use it a lot around town and on trails. I typically ride it without pedal assist but then turn the pedal assist on for steep mountain inclines where on a conventional bike I'd dismount the bike and walk it up or just give up and turn around.

[twowheeladdict]

You're weird. 

I also have a hard time typing on virtual keyboards and auto word replacement.

[willowstreetguzziguy]

What makes the transition from a bicycle to a motorcycle is very difficult and interesting. Generally, you’ll find people are either avid bicyclists or avid motorcyclist, not both. I fall into the rare category of really enjoying both. But so often I find that my motorcycle friends don’t like the idea of riding a bicycle and my bicycling friends have a mental block and don’t want to even try a motorcycle.