Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1420253
looked in my own garage. I already own an electric weed whacker and leaf blower, and my petrol-powered lawn mower is very soon up for renewal and will no doubt join the electric revolu- tion, too. Then I looked at my Norco Sight VLT E-mountain bike. And my fantastic $300 electric Go Trax scooter I use at Chuckwalla when I need a nervous pee just before my race, and I'm a quarter mile away on the other side of the pits. The Go Trax is absolutely bet- ter than a petrol equivalent and the Norco actually makes me want to ride up massive, rocky hills for the prize of tearing back down them with fear in my eyes and a scream in my heart. Once this fact hit me, New- som's incoming law didn't seem to matter all that much. Then it got me thinking about the other gas-powered things in my drive- way, namely my Suzuki GSX- R600 race bike and Husqvarna FS 450 supermoto. Luckily, these bikes will not be joining the mower scrap heap any time soon. These are still precision instruments, their performance far exceeding any electric equivalent. I know this for a fact because the electric equivalent does not exist. Yet. But it's coming, oh yes. Recently I've started to change my tune on electric bikes. I have ridden both the Zero SR/F and the Harley-Davidson LiveWire— oh, sorry, I mean LiveWire. Not Harley-Davidson. Both bikes are fun, fast, interesting and I would absolutely not purchase one because the petrol equivalent (there's that phrase again) is superior in every way except for emissions. Plus, the manufactur- ers are making damn sure every year they meet these ever-tight- ening targets for these glorious gas guzzlers. The electric revolution has indeed been a long time com- ing, but nowhere near as long as it took gas bikes to reach the kind of performance they have now. When the first Zero went on sale in 2009, that thing was I read with interest the recent news that California will ban the sale of petrol-powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers by 2024. California Governor, Gavin Newsom, signed the law two weeks ago which also has provisions for the outlawing gas- powered generators, chainsaws, weed whackers, and golf carts (the latter is almost entirely elec- tric now, anyway). As an immigrant, I can't vote, so I don't give a crap who is in office or not, although I'll admit at first, I was rather incredulous to the notion that gas-powered mowers were on death row until I P116 CN III LOWSIDE A face only a mother could love. Hopefully our futuristic silent rides will look a little better than this. BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK THEY'RE COMING...