Posted on 12/21/2006 1:27:16 PM PST by Red Badger
Think of it as “Easy Rider” meets “An Inconvenient Truth.”
Or, maybe, the perfect Christmas gift for the environmentalist with everything.
A solar motorcycle.
Well, not solar, strictly speaking, but electric — with its battery charged by the solar panels on Rob Thayer’s Village Homes roof.
Thayer, a UC Davis professor emeritus of landscape architecture, recently purchased the custom motorcycle for $7,000 from electricmotorsport.com, an Oakland company that’s one of a handful modifying or building electric motorcycles.
His is a 2003 Spanish-built Derbi Grand Prix racer, its gas engine replaced with a battery and low racing handlebars replaced with higher, “old man handlebars” that are gentler on his 59-year-old back.
“I can’t deny that this is anything other than a toy,” Thayer said Tuesday. “But it’s a toy with implications.”
It has motorcycle torque, so it’s quick off the line, and splashy, racing bike graphics with the word “solar” in yellow. What it doesn’t have are exhaust fumes.
It also lacks the trademark rumble of Harley or the high, mosquito whine of a Japanese speedster. Its chain sounds like a kid’s toy car, the sort you pull back, then let go on the kitchen floor.
Thayer doesn’t mind that the bike isn’t freeway-ready, topping out around 60 mph.
“Some kids asked me, ‘How fast does that thing go?’ I said, ‘Fast enough.’ ”
He’d rather take the train to Berkeley, where he’s a visiting professor, than suffer smog-inducing traffic, anyway.
For Thayer, the motorcycle scratched a few other itches.
He’s the first to admit it’s a throwback to his younger days, to a time in the late 1960s when he buzzed around on a Yamaha — a bike he gave up when he settled down to raise a family. Getting a little older found him hungering for something fun.
“I’ve had some friends die recently,” he said. “I decided I ought to do some things while I still can.”
He’s always been a guy who likes toys and gizmos, especially those that are environmentally friendly, like ever-newer bicycles, canoes and kayaks. And he loves a project to tinker with.
It also fit with his avowed love for his new solar array, installed in August at a cost of $22,000 after rebates. He and his wife Lacey invested in the bigger-than-needed 4 kilowatt-rated photovoltaic system with the thought that, someday soon, they’d be driving electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Enter the motorcycle.
“It’s transportation for both sides of the brain,” he said. “It’s fun.”
Thayer began his academic career studying product design at Cornell University. He figures that a handful of up-and-coming companies are starting to figure out that green-friendly consumers don’t just want “something geeky” to drive.
He calls the electric GEM car, for example, a dull, unsightly “atrocity.”
“Companies have got to satisfy the deep psychological needs there seem to be in Americans,” he said.
Ah yes, the lure of the open road.
Not so fast. Thayer’s motorcycle can cover only about 30 miles before running out of juice.
He hasn’t tested its limits because he’d rather not push the 300-pound machine home.
He figures that soon enough, longer-lasting batteries will mean more time in the saddle. For now, though, he can tool around town or make an extra trip to pick up some groceries at the Co-op, guilt-free.
Thayer’s also been scheming ways to extend his range by converting the motorcycle to a plug-in hybrid that uses biodiesel.
His goal: to be able to ride to Winters for a cup of coffee.
Eat your heart out, Dennis Hopper and Al Gore.
Ping! I think.......
vroom, buzz, ping
The first FReeper to mention the sophomoric and trite term "donorcycles" following this post is a nitwit.
~ Blue Jays ~
Bizerkly Professor Ping.
Hahaha, enviroloons.
Couldn't possibly be a proper motorcycle. No kickstarter. No oil leaks...
No sound.........
My 11 year old has a Razor that looks exactly like that.
That thing is strong enough to haul me around even tho my knees are beside my face while riding.
The Chinese are clearly looking ahead while solving their transportation and environemental issues.
I think it's kinda cute.
...can't go wrong with a Ducati. I got a 888SPO :).
Right-o! The next time I have a spare $250K around I'm gonna have those folks build me a touring version ala BMW KLT ....
*sigh*
Donorcycle, donorcycle, donorcycle! Nyaaa, nyaaa, nyaaa!
:>)
I'm a dimwit even without using that word.
Ben Rothlisberger.
That's funny. Sorry.
Best not to think about the pollutants produced by the manufacturers of the bike and the solar array...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.