More good City Slicker info…

A peek from the saddle on Route 66 in Duarte earlier today.

Wow, the City Slicker questions are pouring in, and many are along the lines of “So what’s it like to ride the CSC electric motorcycle?”

In a word, it’s like being a kid screaming “wheeeeee!” on a roller coaster. I think you know what I mean. It’s that feeling you get on a bicycle when you’re going downhill, or when you jump out of an airplane before the parachute opens, or when you’re tacking into the wind on a fast sailboat. You accelerate with no effort, there’s no engine noise, and you’re initially surrounded by an eerie, serene silence. As you rapidly pick up speed, the silence grows into the screaming wind. It feels like you’re getting away with something. You’re going faster and faster without pedaling, without engine noise, and without effort. It’s fun.

I rode the City Slicker in China, and I’m putting more miles on it here. The bike is new to us, and I’ll be honest…we have a lot to learn. At this point, we have more questions than answers, and the wizards of Chongqing are working overtime to get us the information we need. And, we want to do our own testing here in California to confirm things like range, top speed, time to recharge the battery, and more. We’re just getting started, and it’s fun. I’m having a blast. I haven’t had this much fun on a motorcycle in a long time.

I guess the major question is: What’s the price? That one we know: It’s $1,995, plus fees (the fees are in the mid-$300 range). You’ll have to pay whatever your sales tax is. Shipping is free in the Lower 48. You can argue with me all you want, call me names on the Internet, and do whatever else you want to do, but we’re not going to let you pay a penny more for your City Slicker.

You know, this whole electric bike thing is fascinating from many perspectives.  One of these perspectives is extremely low maintenance costs.  One of my good buddies who sells scooters (yep, he’s a dealer) is dropping his electric scooter line.  The reason?  There’s no follow-on service work after the initial purchase.  Dealers rely on the built-in service annuity inherent to their new motorcycle sales, but other than the odd tire purchase on an electric scooter, there’s just no maintenance.  To me, that’s a paradigm shift in the new motorcycle business.  We’re through the looking glass.  We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.  (Not that there’s anything wrong with being from Kansas, but if I offended you that comment, hey, you’re young.  You’ll get over it.)

The City Slicker is a different approach to motorcycling.  It’s kind of like an iPhone…you’ll have to plug it in every day to recharge it. We’ll be providing more data on this and the bike’s other characteristics as we get it, so keep an eye on the CSC blog (like always, you’ll hear it here first). The City Slicker is not a long distance cruiser, and it’s not a freeway bike (we call it the City Slicker for a reason). It’s a bike that’s ideal for bopping around town. It’s cool.

So like I said, we don’t have all the answers yet. But I grabbed a few photos today that will tell you a bit more about this exciting new motorcycle, and I’d like to share some of them with you.

You’ll get a charge out of this…Zongshen told us it takes 6-8 hours to fully recharge the City Slicker. Our bike went from 0% charged to 100% charged in 4 hours. We’ll see what it takes on the other bikes.

The dash. Lots of good info here.

See that “P” switch where the starter would ordinarily be? That for Park, but the bike doesn’t have a parking brake. It just disables inputs from the throttle to prevent any inadvertent motion if you accidently twist the throttle.

The “P” indicator, showing the throttle is disabled.

Inverted forks. To some folks this is a big deal. Truth be told, I never could tell the handling difference on a motorcycle if it had standard or upside down forks, but if you need inverted forks, we’ve got you covered.

This is the retaining screw for the battery access door. Unscrew it and you can open the door to the battery compartment.

The battery access door screw is tethered to the bike.

The battery access door opens to give access to the battery.  The battery is mounted low, and with the bike’s 216 lb weight, the City Slicker feels very, very light.  The battery is locked into its compartment with the ignition key.

Those super cool trellis frame members? Hahahaha, they’re plastic. They’re styling touches. I like them!

LED turn signals.

The Economy and Power switch. The Economy mode gives a lower top speed and a longer range. The Power mode gives a higher top speed and a shorter range.

Super cool master cylinders, with transparent chambers. The front and rear brakes are operated by the handlebar levers, just like a scooter.

A storage compartment in the “gas tank.” It’s lockable.

The opened storage compartment. It’s not big enough for a helmet, but it’s a nice touch. I’ll carry my Nikon here.

The motor in this motorcycle. It’s in the swingarm.

The drive unit in the swingarm. It’s a very clever and compact design, and it keeps the weight low.

There’s a lot more coming, folks.  I’m going to be on the City Slicker again tomorrow, and I’ll grab some video and more photos.  You’ll see all of it here first.