This looks really cool and I can't wait for electric bikes to become more mainstream in North America. Although I can't see the weekend outlaw-cosplay Harley crowd warming up to them.
Yamaha MOTOROiD
201–210 of 332 posts
Re: Yamaha MOTOROiD
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
Quads do no harm, bit less co2 than a car, bit more exposure to the elements. Buying two vehicles is considerably less eco. More noisy than electric but better range and more fun. If you can't appreciate other people having fun, of course, it's lose, lose.
I think you missed OP's reference to "urban areas". People who blast though densely populated neighborhoods on quads (usually "sport" models with obnoxious exhausts) generally have no regard for anyone around them. This is a very different scene compared to someone riding in the woods on one.
They're scarcely more tolerable in the woods.
Re: Yamaha MOTOROiD
#203Really interesting concept. I like the general lines of the bike. Looks really well thought out/clean sheet mechanical design. Two points of contention: 1) After putting over 40k+ miles on various bikes, I never once wished there was a self balancing feature to make it stand up on its own. At a stop light; I put my foot down; at a really long stop light, I put the kickstand down. If the self balancing feature can fun…
>After putting over 40k+ miles on various bikes, I never once wished there was a self balancing feature to make it stand up on its own. At a stop light; I put my foot down; at a really long stop light, I put the kickstand down. As someone with 138cm height, All I ever wanted on a normal sized motor-bike is self-balancing. So far my options to ride a normal size bike is to convert it to three-wheeler with after-market…
You have a very valid point. I'm 5'11" so getting my foot down at stop lights has never been an issue; unless I'm dealing with a 450cc dirt bike.
My GF is about 5'2 and stopping a motorcycle in traffic is actually a pretty big deal. She isn't tall enough to put her foot down, without awkwardly angling the bike. The only bike should could ride of mine is a 250cc ninja. The 400cc+ supermoto was way to awkward/tall for her to comfortably ride.
I'm totally open to the self-balancing idea now.
Re: Yamaha MOTOROiD
#204Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Like playing your music through a loudspeaker in a public place. You're in luck, that's exactly what electric cars will do instead of being quiet!
It’s a scifi low drone noise though, just enough to notice, it’s not annoying at all.
Re-reading my comment, I see how this can come across. I'm actually fully in favor of having these speakers. Even if they would be annoying, then we should just switch to mainly using public transport especially in areas where people live or want to enjoy the outdoors. But yeah presumably it's just a low volume, enough for the person behind the car to realize it's on and rolling but not carry further. I haven't heard one myself yet.
Re: Yamaha MOTOROiD
#205Earlier quoted context omitted.
To me the sound of those big bikes is a form of terrorism. They rise my blood pressure, increase stress levels and make me hate. Try living somewhere where every 20 minutes such bikes make the windows of your flat shake and you can't hear your TV or your partner talking until the bike is gone. Why do I have to suffer this every day of my life? I can't wait until the ICE is part of our primitive past.
I understand that performance engines need unobstructed exhausts up to a certain point, but pipes tuned to amplify this sound is distracting at best, damaging your ears at worst. I don't like them. They become hazardous in tunnels, underpasses and other closed spaces. Ultra loud pipes kill my ears' locating capabilities and I can't mentally place the motorcycle to the correct place so I won't unintentionally endanger…
Euro 4/5 big bikes are surprisingly quiet off the floor then they swap the exhaust and it's loud as fuck.
I'm a motorcyclist and I'll be moving to a larger bike next year but I want one that is as quiet as practical, on bike comfort is better if you don't scream every time you go over 5K.
Re: Yamaha MOTOROiD
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
To me the sound of those big bikes is a form of terrorism. They rise my blood pressure, increase stress levels and make me hate. Try living somewhere where every 20 minutes such bikes make the windows of your flat shake and you can't hear your TV or your partner talking until the bike is gone. Why do I have to suffer this every day of my life? I can't wait until the ICE is part of our primitive past.
I understand that performance engines need unobstructed exhausts up to a certain point, but pipes tuned to amplify this sound is distracting at best, damaging your ears at worst. I don't like them. They become hazardous in tunnels, underpasses and other closed spaces. Ultra loud pipes kill my ears' locating capabilities and I can't mentally place the motorcycle to the correct place so I won't unintentionally endanger…
> "I understand that performance engines need unobstructed exhausts up to a certain point"
As a motorcycle and car enthusiast, that point is way beyond any sort of reasonable level of performance for public roads.
Re: Yamaha MOTOROiD
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
I owned ride 6-7 different motorcycles, and I believe there's a special place in hell for those who put on loud aftermarket exhausts. Sure, it sounds nice to them . It shows an astonishing disregard to thousands of other people they impact daily. Let alone your next 10 neighbour houses who put up with it on consistent basis. ... :O There's no increased safety factor - there's no real location or distance clue such lo…
As a bicyclist, loud motorcycles are the fscking worst. They're deafening and extremely distracting, which is extra terrible if anything complicated is going on. Which there often is, because people on loud bikes are often driving like fscking idiots, dodging between cars who end up nearly crowding me off the road.
I had a motorcycle pass between me and a car while I was in a bike lane. Revved his engine while he was right next to me. Scared the daylights out of me. It sounded like a bomb had gone off. Seriously, screw motorcyclists with loud pipes that drive like idiots.
Re: Yamaha MOTOROiD
#208Earlier quoted context omitted.
Where I live, they have started adding noise pollution cameras in the city center. They don't give ticket, just display the noise level and a smiley, but I'd love for them to become active and more common. It's so annoying being woken up at night because of some kind of really loud exhaust noise.
I'd love it if there were automated tickets for this. But California can't even get it together to allow automated speeding tickets, a bill for this just got killed. In SOMA in San Francisco I'll often hear motorcycles drive by that are so loud they set off car alarms along their path. And don't get me started on the cost/benefit of car alarms.
I used to work in a busy downtown area of the east bay and we used to get a lot of the loud bike with loud stereo rolling through. What other possible motivation could there be for such a thing than wanting the attention? South Park hit the nail on the head with their loud motorcycle episode.
As for the cameras, I’ll echo the sentiments of a sibling comment. You don’t want them. I lived in AZ in the mid 00’s when these things were everywhere. They mostly serve to disrupt the natural flow of traffic and caused people to make dangerous sudden stops when they should have proceeded through a yellow lights. Also, many are operated by third parties who take a cut and charge a fee to run them. If they fail to produce enough revenue they become a financial liability to the city, which will either monkey with signal time to increase ticket revenue or simply remove the camera.
Re: Yamaha MOTOROiD
#209Earlier quoted context omitted.
>After putting over 40k+ miles on various bikes, I never once wished there was a self balancing feature to make it stand up on its own. At a stop light; I put my foot down; at a really long stop light, I put the kickstand down. As someone with 138cm height, All I ever wanted on a normal sized motor-bike is self-balancing. So far my options to ride a normal size bike is to convert it to three-wheeler with after-market…
You have a very valid point. I'm 5'11" so getting my foot down at stop lights has never been an issue; unless I'm dealing with a 450cc dirt bike. My GF is about 5'2 and stopping a motorcycle in traffic is actually a pretty big deal. She isn't tall enough to put her foot down, without awkwardly angling the bike. The only bike should could ride of mine is a 250cc ninja. The 400cc+ supermoto was way to awkward/tall for…
Thank you for considering my point of view.
Re: Yamaha MOTOROiD
#210And they thought about this in 2017! Damn, Yamaha is working on some pretty interesting Electricals. This would be one costly bike to crash tho!