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by

Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada

Heavy Metal Thunder No More: Wind of Change

All eyes are currently on hybrids (such as

Honda’s upcoming all-new Insight) and

electric cars, but electric motorcycles also deserve some attention
(if only because they are less noisy). We’ve featured a few DIY models,
like the

Voltzilla and the

electric Kawasaki, but so far few big players have made them, which
has allowed newcomers like

Vectrix to get a toehold. But that’s about to change.

Honda and Yamaha to Make Electric Motorcycles

According to

Nikkei, “Both firms hope to bring to market electric motorcycles that
perform on a par with bikes with 50 cc engine displacements. The vehicles
will be powered by high-performance lithium ion batteries.”

Yamaha Electric Motorcycle

What we know so far is that Yamaha is targeting 2010 for the launch of
an electric motorcycle with a range of 100 km (60 miles) on a single
charge, with li-ion batteries. No word on price of details on
performance yet.

Honda Electric Motorcycle

Honda is targeting 2011 for launch of an electric motorcycle that can do
50 km (31 miles) on a charge. That might not seem much, but the Japan
Post Service is thinking of switching to electric bikes, and Honda wants
to supply them. We suppose that the range fits with their needs. Nothing
yet on price, or performance details.

We don’t know yet what the bikes will look like. The pics in this
post are of a Honda MBX 50cc.

Moving the Market

Honda and Yamaha own a huge chunk of the motorcycle market, about a
third. If they start making electric motorcycle, that could help
generate attention and encourage other firms to create their own models.
We wish them the best of luck.

Via

Reuters

Daytona Beach Contemplating Banning Temporary Vendors On Main StreetPublished by Cyril Huze February 15th, 2011 in Editorial and Events.

An article published on February 11, 2011 in the Daytona Beach News Journal states that City Commissioner Pam Woods is suggesting to the city’s elected officials ” to outlaw the outdoor salespeople to return the tavern-dominated Main Street to the days when it included a mix of businesses and drew people 365 days a year.”

Her reasoning: the entertainment zone the city wants to create in the core tourist area is never going to take off if Main Street remains a corridor mainly lined with bars and shops that sit empty most of the year until they are occupied just for Bike Week and Biketoberfest. Beachside and A1A merchants support her saying it could rejuvenate local businesses. Of course, Main Street property owners say it would destroy a longstanding and profitable tradition and would raise many legal issues by penalizing only one part of the city. The full article after the jump to Daytona News Journal. (thanks Rogue)