Comment by wraptile
4 years ago
As someone who lives in SEA this obsession with e-bikes is rather fascinating. Modern ice motorbikes are dirt cheap (you can get one for the price of OPs battery pack) , easy to maintain and are surprisingly silent. Finally it can carry the whole family - pets included! It's not that uncommon to see 4 people on a scooter around here.
Honestly aside from weather I wonder why the west has such terrible adoption for imho the best transport vehicle we've got.
ICE motorbikes in the west are usually ridden by hobbyists, not people using them for commuting. Where I live, it is cold and/or miserable for 7 months of the year, and its rare to see motorbike riders during that time. So they're bought by people who already have other modes of transport. The weekend rider crew. And they are usually quite expensive. On top of that, where I live they need special licensing, so add 2000€ for a driver's license. Also, you'd be pulled over so fast for having a child or pet unsecured on one of them, your head would spin.
> Honestly aside from weather
Also we are generally wealthy enough to afford cars and they fit a whole family a lot more comfortably. If you can afford a car, why by a motorcycle unless you want one for fun? Ebikes are nice in the west because they can travel in bike lanes which have a lot less traffic.
> Also we are generally wealthy enough to afford cars and they fit a whole family a lot more comfortably.
I'd disagree with comfort - sure sitting in a car is great but a motorbike brings it's own comforts like easier parking and faster commute. I think we can all agree that the worst parts about commute is the traffic and parking - getting rid of these does change your perception of the experience significantly.