Why the future of motorbikes might belong to high-tech startups, not heritage brands

As makers of custom motorcycles in Hong Kong, the Barras brothers - Guillaume and Benoit - have long taken a rather forensic view on how they’re made. And, with what they’ve seen of the electric motorcycle market - the future of motorcycles, much as EVs are the future of cars - they haven't been impressed.

“There’s so much wrong with EV motorcycles right now, as our customers keep telling us. It’s why they’re reluctant to switch,” says Guillaume Barras, co-founder, in 2012, of the Angry Lane custom workshop. “For one, there’s just too much plastic, which could be changed. And they take too long to charge, even though the technology is available for fast charging right now, if only manufacturers chose to use it”.

They don’t, he reckons, simply because they’re set in their ways. Not to pick on just Norton, but it’s telling that its recent new launches - following takeover by and a cash injection from TVS, the huge Indian motorcycle manufacturer - all have conventional combustion engines and, some might say, conventional ‘retro’ looks.

BBM and the problem with doing things the old way

But not BBM, the bike brand the Barras brothers have now launched out of Bilbao. They’re pretty determined to do things differently. For one, the Hiro, its first launch, does come with a fast-change battery – 100km of range in nine minutes, 220km on a full charge – set low in the motorcycle’s superstructure for better stability.

The motorcycle’s motor – developed with Belgian EV specialists Sarolea, a name that dominates the Isle of Man TT Zero – can be set at different power outputs over a 94hp range, including one low enough to suit the beginner rider, or one who doesn’t want to have to get a full licence.

A modular motorcycle built to change with you

More innovatively, the €17,000 Hiro – a final pre-production model is set to be unveiled in June – is built on a platform to which panels are then affixed, the type of panels determining whether the motorcycle consequently looks more café racer, roadster or street fighter.

“That idea really came from the fact that we couldn't choose what type of motorcycle to create, so we took an idea from the customer bike world and adapted it,” explains Barras. “If next year you decide you want a change the look for your Hiro and you have some tools, you can swap out the panels yourself”.

These, by the way, are also made of vegetable-based resin bio-composites, making them not just recyclable and lighter – an important factor when it comes to the range of any EV vehicle – but able to be given a much wider range of colours and finishes. Inevitably, that’s something a custom motorcycle workshop thinks about a lot.

“Don’t get me wrong,” says Barras. “I love my Harley Davidson Speedster. Even with all the oil. But the big motorcycle brands are too set on pushing their past – on the dirt and noise of their engines – when, for younger generations to start riding motorcycles, we need a more modern, adjustable, more accessible product. In a way, we’re lucky to be starting with a blank canvas. But we see there’s a market for a new motorcycle for a new kind of rider”.

The wider shift towards cleaner, simpler bikes

BBM is not alone. Out of Finland, for example, also comes Verge, another EV motorcycle maker established by a pair of brothers – Tuomo and Marko Lehtimaki – trying to do things differently, and now the current Guinness World Record holder for the longest journey by an electric motorcycle on a single charge.

Its futuristic models operate using a hub-less motor, meaning it directly drives the outer wheel, with necessary components such as electromagnets set directly within the wheel itself. That also means there are fewer moving parts, so maintenance is easier and cleaner – especially for a new generation of riders, Verge agrees, that has no interest in getting its hands dirty for fun. Funnily enough, having scorned Verge’s hub-less motor idea, heritage brands are now said to be in negotiations with the company to license its so-called Donut engineering.

Verge is also breaking with motorcycle industry tradition in selling direct to customers and serving its products through its own showrooms – hoping to cut out the problems historically created by third parties, including the use of unofficial parts in maintenance – following the model established by Tesla in the car industry.

“We want to be an impact business and provide something that’s better than what's available,” says Tuomo Lehtimaki. “The next generation wants the kind of motorcycle that’s so high-tech it’s like using your phone… they just want to be able to get on it and ride”.

Certainly, demand for a new kind of motorcycle is there. Verge is already something of a hit with the tech bros of California – it has been dubbed ‘the Apple of motorcycles’ – while BBM took provisional orders for 170 motorcycles in its first month. The company is now developing a smaller platform suitable for a 50cc engine, with a view to what it reckons will be a coming revolution in green, easy, everyday two-wheeled mobility.

That follows the ethos of the Barras brothers’ custom business: making distinctive, clean-lined designs that their customers will actually ride – “not those kind of show bikes you see standing around that you know will never be ridden,” as Barras puts it.

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