RoadRunner article re: Motorcycle Propulsion innovation and evolution
BY JEFF BUCHANAN – 02 AUG 2022 – VIEW ONLINE →
Brave New World - Necessity: The Mother of Invention
In the early years of the 20th century, Popular Science Magazine was filled with artists’ renditions promising a future of electric vehicles. They appeared with the same frequency as sketches of airborne men wearing jetpacks and commuters whizzing around modern metropolises in flying cars. We’re still waiting for mass production of flying vehicles, but electric ones have taken position front and center. This looming seismic shift harkens Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel, Brave New World.
In the early years of electric vehicles, the impetus seemed to revolve around innovation for innovation's sake. Today, their advancements are driven by much more immediate concerns—primarily the environment with regard to C02 emissions. With increasingly prevalent, visible proof of climate change, the world has finally figured out we need to find alternatives to burning fossil fuels—fast. This imposing necessity is proving to be a very good mother in terms of invention.
Over the past decade, electric motorcycles have made astounding leaps forward. With impressive runs at the Isle of Man and now an official class on the vaunted MotoGP World Championship, electric motorcycles will certainly enjoy robust evolution in terms of technology. Anyone who has seen them run knows these machines aren’t the docile playthings that appeared in the pages of Popular Science. These next-generation electric bikes possess truly great performance.
Goodbye to the Veteran
It’s been a wonderful honeymoon, but sadly the exalted internal combustion engine is on its way out the door. Alternative power sources will ultimately not only replace, but surpass contemporary fossil fuel-burning engines in virtually all aspects of performance. Who knows what those other sources will be and what will emerge in the coming years. For now, the solution is skewing in favor of electric motors.
Before calling foul on this thinking, consider that there was a time during the two-stroke reign in MotoGP that the notion of running a four-stroke powerplant would have been considered ludicrous. However, the polluting nature of a two-stroke engine (on average expelling as much as 30% of its fuel/oil mixture un-burnt into the atmosphere) destined it to eventually being outlawed. Hence the switch to four-strokes. In turn, the transfer port/expansion chamber wizards of the paddock and clean rooms sunk their imaginative minds into the mechanizations of valves and cams and the results, needless to say, have been astounding. Expect the same thing from the electrics.
When inventors put their hearts and minds to a challenge, they tend to make prodigious advances. Those advances contribute to an exponential surge, given that each new discovery contributes to an acceleration of progress. As a result, there’s no telling where it all will go—or how quickly. The new generation of electric motorcycles is already proving itself in terms of power. The hurdle now—as it has always been—is the battery. That said, it’s quite conceivable that someone is going to come out of the left field with an innovation that will radically alter battery endurance and weight. It will probably happen much in the same way the invention of the transistor made vacuum tubes obsolete overnight.
Combined with innovations like a hydraulic final drive and kinetic energy recovery systems, electric motorcycles could produce unfathomable performance. If this sounds nuts, consider that when automobile engineers started trying to make cars go faster at the dawn of the 20th century, some people speculated that the human body couldn’t withstand speeds in excess of 40mph. In drag racing of the early ‘60s, a kind of mystical speed barrier arose. Even some professional drivers seriously doubted the possibility of a 200mph quarter-mile run. Then, in 1964, Don Garlits broke the 200mph milestone, which sparked a rapid smashing of records. Today, 330mph runs are commonplace. It’s a brave new world.
On to the Future
It may be hard to imagine a future of motorcycling without the wonderful smell of exhaust wafting in the air. For hardcore enthusiasts, this is an essential elixir of life, associating the smell and sound with travel, riding, freedom, and fun. However, when you think about it, the smell actually isn’t all that pleasant. It’s the associations with it that renders it appealing. Who’s to say that future generations of riders won’t derive the same excitement from the smell of super-heated copper coils, or the aroma created when electrical arcs split oxygen molecules and they recombine into ozone? Again, a brave new world.
This might sound like science fiction, and that’s because right now it is. Just wait until the ingenuity of devoted geniuses is combined with the sheer economic muscle of manufacturers to create better, faster, and more advanced electric motorcycles for the sake of commerce. We’re going to see some stellar machines emerge. Personally, I will be among the sentimentalists conjuring memories of the good ol’ days, recalling the snap and snarl of an internal combustion-powered machine. But eventually electric machines might inspire similar stirrings among future generations for the smooth whir of a high-performance electric coil motor emitting its own signature sound.
The world is turning a collective new leaf, with more people than ever conscious of the environment. Even staunch conservatives and conspiracy theorists are all chiming in with acceptance of climate change. The green movement has sparked a rise in inventions to counter the impact man has had on the Earth. Electric vehicles are going to figure prominently in this brave new world.
With the surge of innovation currently taking place with electric motorcycles, it’s funny to think that in the late 1800s there was serious discussion of closing the patent office because some people figured we had already invented everything that we ever could. Although the technology will evolve, ushering in new eras of wizardry, we won’t need to worry about one thing—as long as there are roads to be ridden, motorcyclists are going to take to them.
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