Agility Saietta - the Electric Whale

[Rincewind]

A new e-bike competitor is was shown at the Carole Nash British bike show yesterday, the Saeietta.  They are promising new urban sports-bikes that will produce similar power outputs to 600-800 twin-cylinder bikes, and have a range of 50-100 miles.  

Most striking is it's phunky, whale-like form.  I have seen concept-bikes with humps like this before - but I think this is the first such bike to make it to production.  



From engadget.com:

Agility Saietta unveiled, the decidedly unconventional electric sports bike

A new player has entered the electric motorcycle game, joining the likes of Brammo's Empulse but doing it with rather more... unconventional styling. It's the Agility Global Saietta, an all-electric sports bike that will come in two flavors: the 50 mile range Saietta S and the 100 mile Saietta R. The latter of the two will be quicker than the first, getting to 60 in under four seconds, whereas S riders will have to wait another tick of the stopwatch. Naturally that extra range and speed will cost you: £9,975 for the S and £13,975 for the R, figures that equate to roughly $16,200 and $22,650. Hefty sums, both, but nobody said being on the cutting edge of the humpbacked sport bike trend was going to be cheap. We weren't given any specific horsepower or weight figures, but we're told the power to weight ratio is 675hp per ton. You can make your own guesses about weight to try and get a firm power figure, but it certainly should be peppy enough.

At this point we don't know much about the bikes themselves beyond what you can see in the photos, which show a trellis frame cradling a sizeable battery pack. The swingarm is a combination of machined parts and pipes, rear suspension elevated to make room for the electric motor sitting just above the pivot point. Front suspension also shows an unconventional design, offset steering linkage and a single damper eschewing the traditional fork design found on your average (non-BMW) motorcycle. These images are, of course, just renders, but the bike has just made its word debut at the MCN London Motorcycle Show and we'll be bringing you some actual pictures as soon as we get them. As to when those who order the bikes will get theirs, we're told shipments begin in April.

[zer0netgain]

Does gas go in the blowhole?  

[county]

What is the deal with the big tubing around the front tire?

[Rincewind]

What is the deal with the big tubing around the front tire?

That's just the bike stand

http://www.engadget.com/photos/saietta-launch/#3844222

[OmegaSix]

What is the deal with the big tubing around the front tire?

Really???

No.

Can't be...

You're just f*ckin' with us...