Press

Electric motorcycles have spent the last decade hovering between promise and compromise. Range anxiety, charging times, battery longevity, and eye-watering prices have all conspired to keep many riders firmly wedded to petrol. But every now and then, a machine comes along that doesn’t just tweak the formula—it redraws the blueprint entirely.

From the grit and uncertainty of 1976 to the self-awareness of 2016, motorcycling hasn’t followed a straight line. It’s zig-zagged. It’s contradicted itself. It’s loudly declared one thing, then quietly gone and done another.

If 2006 was the moment technology took control, 2016 was the year motorcycling looked in the mirror.

By this point, bikes were no longer the limiting factor — riders were. Performance had peaked far beyond what most people could use, electronics had become normal, and the industry faced a question it could no longer dodge:

By the mid-2000s, motorcycling had entered a new phase — one driven less by rider demand and more by what engineering could achieve. Power figures climbed sharply. Electronics crept in quietly. Bikes became astonishingly capable, often far beyond what most riders could realistically exploit.

By the mid-1990s, motorcycling had quietly entered what many riders still describe as a golden age. The bikes were fast — genuinely fast — but no longer fragile. They handled brilliantly without trying to throw you into the scenery. Brakes worked. Frames were stiff. Engines were tractable. And, crucially, you could live with them every day.