Is it the future? .. Who Knows! But it’s certainly part of the future ..
There is a lot of BS going around, especially in the car world at present, about battery powered vehicles. As many have found out there are several issues with it in the car world. There is a cost factor, with new electric vehicles being at the very least 25% more expensive than not electric. There there is the range issue, what is quoted by manufactures is almost never what happens in the rear world. And possibly the biggest issue for car owners is the lack of charging points and the problem that the UK national electricity supply isn’t up to everyone plugging in the vehicles to charge if internal combustion engines were outlawed!!
But in the trials world there is very little choice if that ban arrives. So far all other technologies don’t work in a small lightweight machine that we need for trials. Whilst there is the possibility of synthetic fuels it remains to be seen if they will be suitable and at what cost the fuel will be. So that means battery power is the way it’s looking at present.
I’m not saying you have to all dump your petrol bikes, but i am saying that its another option for us to get out there and ride. Some countries in the world may make it the only choice sooner rather than later but i don’t see the UK going that way for now. What it does give us, especially in parts of the UK like perhaps the south east sooner, is a quite way to go and ride. Noise is an issue in many areas, and the more houses they build the more likely that our riding areas will suddenly find themselves in close proximity to people that will complain.
Another thing to consider is that many youth riders have grown up riding OSET or similar machines, but but when they get too big for these machines there has been no option than to swap to a petrol model. I’ve been told of many cases where the youngster just did not get on with them and have left the sport. Or where they used to be able to play/practice in their gardens etc suddenly they can’t because of the noise issue. So adult size electric bikes would be a natural choice.
EM has been in the market for some years now, and now Mecatecno has joined in. The small company in Spain has been seen in previous e-trial world rounds but weren’t in the position to release a production model, but that has now changed after some financial support from another business and as from March 2023 they are now available…. and I have been lucky enough to spend some time on Mecatecno UK’s demo machine.
… and i have to say i love it! Yes it’s different, and i don’t just mean the lack of exhaust noise. You do have to ride a little different and after nearly 50 years of riding mostly 2 stroke machines it takes a while to do things naturally. Just a bit of brain training needed … but no different than swapping to a 4 stroke or from a 4 to a 2 stroke, you just need a bit of time to acclimatise.
I’ll post again soon with my experiences, i’ve had two 3 hour rides plus some driveway hopping and seem to have figured things out better now.
