Opinion: Why I’ll never buy an EV motorcycle, but 400 Aussies just did in a single day | Opinion
Fire sale! Nothing gets Aussies reaching for their wallets quite so enthusiastically, especially when it’s a no reserve online auction.
That’s what happened this week as over 400 electric motorcycles from US-brand Zero went under the hammer at Pickles Auctions.
Street, adventure and all-terrain EV bikes were included, and a Pickles spokesperson told EV Central individual bike sale prices “ranged from $3000 to over $15,000” once the hammer fell.
READ MORE: 2025 Savic C-Series Alpha review: Is it possible to make an electric motorcycle that doesn’t suck?
READ MORE: 2025 Streetdog EV motorcycle Review: No bark and no bite, the name is about right
On Zero’s Australian website ride-away prices start at $9995 for a Zero S, while the priciest DSR/X is listed at other retailers for a chunky $46,800.
These same e-motorbike models were available at the auction, suggesting they’ve sold for around one-third their retail price.
Ouchy.
Being a no reserve auction, all have found new homes. The bulk went to individual buyers, while Pickles said a total of 33 went to two wholesalers.
Ergo, you’re soon to see around 400 new electric motorcycles on Australian roads.
For context, only 429 new e-motorcycles sold here in the whole of 2024, so Pickles’ sales has basically doubled the number of potential new registrations in a calendar year.
The sale was due to retailer Peter Stevens Motor Cycles – founded 55 years ago – being placed into administration in May, before being sold to rival Motorcycle Holdings in July.
Administrators KordaMentha had reported Peter Stevens’ $80million collapse was in part due to the company investing heavily in Zero electric motorcycles, which have now been auctioned off at a fraction of their original prices.
Quite evidently, Aussie appetite for EV motorbikes hasn’t taken off.
Why? Not great range and the hassle of charging are obvious, but they’re also pretty damn expensive.
But there’s more. I can only speak for myself, but I reckon most fellow motorcycle riders eschew electric versions because the thrill – the emotion – just ain’t there.
We want and like the noise. The vibration. The smell. The tapping up and down gears with our left boot. The joy of perfect clutch control when launching, and for we old-school riders, balancing a choke and throttle as the old girl warms up.
Sure, the e-motorbikes do the mad acceleration bit, and I accept they’ll be tranquil, clean and super smooth.
But when I take out my old Honda cafe racer it’s because I don’t want those things. If I’m seeking comfort and quiet I’ll take the car. Or sink into my couch with a single malt and slippers.
I want my ears to get battered, have a face punch of fresh air under the visor, cheek-smash the odd bug and come home smelling of old oil and new petrol.
Take Harley-Davidson’s $50,000 LiveWire electric motorcycle. For a brand best associated with beards, bellies and bikie gangs, losing the peace-shatteringly obnoxious exhaust whack to the eardrums was never going to win favour.
Our own Stephen Corby, on testing the zero-emissions Harley, declared it “the most bizarre, wrong headed and weird device I have ever encountered.
As an aside, that booming exhaust has its merits. Not just for the soul, but to warn pedestrians and wildlife of your presence. Be it old lady, schoolchild or kangaroo, the outcome for all – rider included – is never pretty when motorcycle meets mammal.
What about public charging? Some of Zero’s e-motorcycles quote up to 290km range for city use. It’ll plummet when at play on your favourite back road, so on a decent Sunday blast you must refill.
I can think of little else worse than cooking in a set of leathers while at a charger. Experience has taught me charge points are either exposed to the elements or in some grief-hole car park, and never at your favourite mountaintop bikers’ cafe.
Look, I’ve heard the e-motorbike propaganda that they’re not just tranquil and lovely to ride, but of course zero emission, hence reducing urban pollution.
All very lovely. But if it’s for town use, why get an electric motorcycle when you can get an electric bicycle? There’s no rego nor insurance to pay, you don’t need a licence, and you’ll probably get around at pretty much the same speed.
What’s that you say? E-bicycles go too slow? Check out your local roads. I’d be surprised if there’s a single e-bike left that’s not had its electronic limiter adjusted to allow speeds and acceleration not far off what e-motorbikes manage in the city.
Which, by the way, pisses me off more than you can imagine. Not only is this illegal e-bike modifying making inevitable meat crayons of our school kids, I feel an utter mug every time I drop hundreds of dollars on annual registration and insurance for the oily-bits Honda.
All things considered, I’m as committed to never owning an electric motorcycle as I am to never holidaying in Canberra.
And as a final kick-them-when-they’re down bit of news to finish, I’ve just learned MotoE – the electric version of MotoGP – is being ditched at the end of this year after failing to attract enough fan or industry support.
Highlighting why, I’d never even heard of the series in its seven years of silent running. And I’m the sort of person who still has Valentino Rossi pyjamas.
I’ll champion many forms of electric mobility: urban and daily driver cars, buses, trucks, mopeds, boats and the like, but let’s just step back when it comes to enthusiast stuff like motorcycles and motorsport.
Life’s restricted and boring enough these days without completely robbing us of our casual joys.
Find me a motorbike rider who truly wants to ditch the aural euphoria and crotch-fizzing rumble of saddling up a petrol-sucking two-wheeler in favour of an electric version and I’ll show you a liar.
“Raises hand”.
I’ll take my Energica any day over an ICE bike
You clearly have no experience with a proper electric Motorbike and it shows.
You also come across as a senior citizen with you outdated views.
Well, we’re all entitled to an opinion, and I have written mine.
It’s actually really positive to hear you enjoy the Energica over any ICE bike. If we’re staring down an all-electric future, I’m happy an EV bike owner rates them so highly and would recommend over petrol.
While I’m sold on electric cars for most uses, I’m simply not on electric bikes. Just my ten cents.
Cheers
Been riding ICE bikes for 55 years, owned at least 30, currently have 4 in the shed.
I’ve test ridden the Zero range, and honestly I’d love to own one – except for the price and tha range limitations.
We have a pure EV car, which is easy to charge from our home solar and offers acceptable highway range.
Once the battery technology advances so the same is true for e-bikes, I think you’ll see plenty of dyed-in-the-wool riders enjoying the low-cost, low-hassle, low-emission experience. Maybe with an ICE classic in the shed for an occasional nostalgic noisy, smelly weekend outing!
Excellent point Mick. I’m ready to have my opinion changed if e-motorcycles advance as you say. Caveat with I’d need that oil-dripping one in the shed too
Certainly sales of EV motorcycles outside delivery things which are illegal inn most cases seem virtually non existent so not sure what ??
Sad to say people who say never cannot be trusted. There was a time people said they would never buy a horseless carriage. Never buy a mobile phone. Never shows a failure to learn and pig headed stubbornness
Considering the criminal and deadly extraction of lithium/cobalt/dirty nickel/graphite resulting in site deaths and choking pollution in some 3rd world countries, I’m surprised you bothered to comment. And guess what charges your EVs? Anyway, at least you’ll hear us coming!
BTW – deaths, accidents, fires, modified evs are a concern
Couldn’t agree with you more Iain,
And with such a fire sale only proves your point even further lol!
Wow, talk about “Grumpy old man shouts at TV” sentiment. As someone who owns three 1000cc self-built cafe racers, one of which has over 150hp, I have to say I have differing opinions of electric motorbikes. I also have a 1000cc sports tourer and an electric mountain bike. Yes, electric motorbikes are still niche and as such, too expensive and don’t have enough range for many longer distance use cases. Although the “Marc Travels” Youtube channel is documenting a German rider who has covered vast distances across Europe and Asia on a Zero SR/F and a Verge TS and he still absolutely loves electric bikes. Seriously though, I bet you rarely if ever take your Honda cafe racer further than 200km in a day. Mine at least are too uncomfortable for anything more. I recently bought a BMW electric scooter and it has brought back the joy of everyday riding, partly because it has all the practicality of a scooter but also because it is deceptively quick and much more convenient. It has built-in storage for riding gear, helmet, shopping, etc and it can be fully charged at home for free, ready to go every morning. Having a reverse gear is also incredibly convenient. It is also feels a lot safer than my other bikes, with its lean sensitive ABS, traction control and great weather protection. I’m using it at least 10 times more often than any of my petrol bikes. One thing I really like about it is you can enjoy blasting off from every light in almost total silence, whereas I’d come across as an anti-social twat if I did that on one of my petrol bikes as the deafening noise would attract unwanted attention. Don’t get me wrong I still love the sounds of a good ICE engine but the relative silence and instant power of an electric bike is another different and addictive experience. I see so many die-hard petrol heads ride an electric bike and reluctantly admit they love it and many will then list off the reasons they won’t get one, some of which are legitimate. The “just get an e-bicycle instead” idea is a straw-man argument. I have one and it’s a different tool for a different use case. I have been waiting for electric bikes to get cheaper and get better range and it will come. The $40-50k price tag of the top of the line Zero or Energica has been too much to sway me. I have always liked scooters and the BMW is the ideal use case for an electric city bike. At $17k it is also very good value for money compared to my $10k mid-spec e-mountain bike and top spec versions that cost $20k. Still not yet as cheap as petrol but worth the premium IMO. I don’t believe anyone seriously wants to come home “smelling of oil and petrol” as you claim. I hated that. I suppose people said the same thing about horse shit when cars first took over. You are wrong if you think electric motorbikes are dead or dying. You stated the MotoE is being ditched which is not quite right. It’s a temporary hiatus. I saw the MotoE race in Barcelona in 2018 and no, it wasn’t as good as the MotoGP, but it was still engaging and it was better to watch in some ways as you could actually have a normal conversation with your friends. Also you must have missed the CEO of Ducati revealing the new Ducati electric sport bike. It has the latest solid-state batteries that promise to halve the weight of batteries (or double the range).This will be the breakthrough that is needed. Honda also announced this week they are releasing the new WN7 electric bike.
Really interesting feedback, cheers Joe. If this opinion piece has taught me anything, it’s that there is solid support for e-motorcycles from those who own and ride them, and many seem to love them. That’s a true positive, because if that’s all we’re offered in future, we want them to be excellent.
I’m okay with me having alternative opinions, including enjoying the familiar, comforting, homely smell of oil and fuel. I love opening the garage door and it filling the nostrils, knowing that old Honda’s been having a cheeky black wee on the floor overnight.
On the MotoE, I know they said it’s a “temporary hiatus” – but I’ve also been in this game long enough to know that’s PR BS. Sponsors and stakeholders don’t do temporary hiatuses.
If MotoE is back on tracks in the next five years, I’ll buy you a pint at your choice of Queensland pubs. If we’re both on e-motorcycles to get there, I’ll buy you two pints.
Cheers Iain, I’ll take the first bet at least and buy you a pint if it doesn’t return. As to whether you’ll be on an e-bike in 5 years, you sound pretty adamant! The new Ducati V21L Moto-E prototype being unveiled 2 weeks ago at Volkswagen Group press conference here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMQ-8Wey4h4&t=220s
This really seems like lazy clickbait ‘journalism’. If you had actually investigated why Peter Stevens had gone into administration you would have seen the fall in sales of petrol brands like Harley and expansion into new expensive retail locations while the motorcycle industry as a whole went through a weak sales period post COVID and during a cost of living crisis had a bigger impact on the business.
While you may ride a motorcycle to get your kicks on the weekend and enjoy tinkering with the ‘oily bits’ to keep it running smoothly, many riders do not prioritise their choice of motorcycles based on that. Convenience, low maintenance, low running costs, reliability all rank higher for many riders – areas in which electric motorcycles excel. If you mainly use a motorcycle for short trips like a commute – having a bike that starts first time, runs smoothly, accelerates quickly, is easy to ride, costs very little to charge up, is potentially safer in urban areas and causes less disturbance to your neighbours at 7am – an electric motorcycle makes a lot of sense. 368 Australians look like they agree based on those auction results. And they weren’t parting with chump change here – once you factor in Pickles 16.5% auction fees, transport, registration costs – most premium Zero models would have cost those buyers over $20k and that’s with no warranty or factory support as they weren’t sold through official channels. Again – lazy journalism to try and make this news fit your narrative. Clearly there’s a lot of Australians that do see the value of these bikes and have voted with their wallets.
Then you start mumbling about electric bikes! Iain – have you actually ridden a premium electric motorcycle like a Zero or Energica? It seems unlikely based on your ‘opinions’ above. If you had ridden one it would be very unlikely you would be likening them to an electric bicycle.
Pretty disappointing that a website that is supposed to publish progressive ideas and news about electric vehicles takes content from someone who appears to be too set in their ways to even try the technology out there and contributes with lazy, poorly researched content like this. It’s like you took 4 topics (Pickles auction, Peter Stevens, eBikes and and asked chat GPT to tie them together in the style of a boomer blogger. This might be why journalism is a dying art form.
Hi Robin, cheers for the feedback. First up, it’s opinion. As if we were chatting/debating something at the pub.
Responding to a couple of your points, I did look into why Peter Stevens went into administration, and administrators KordaMentha stated it “was in part due to the company investing heavily in Zero electric motorcycles” as stated in my article. So whatever other factors caused the downfall, it’s fair comment to say the Zero investment played a part. That’s objective.
Your list of positives regarding e-motorbikes are spot on. I’ll not dispute them.
But I stand by the prices being seriously slashed versus RRP, regardless of Pickles’ auction fees. Even if a premium Zero’s gone for $20k, that’s more than double off RRP, and that’s massive. It’s not “lazy journalism” to make this news fit my narrative – it’s my opinion. Lazy journalism would be to do no research – I’m not sure many other journos bothered to contact Pickles (as I did) after the auction to get as much final price information from them as they’d offer.
I suggested some urban journey speeds would be similar between an e-bicycle and e-motorbike, not that they were similar products. Actually, you’ll likely travel faster in urban traffic on an e-bicycle because you can use any bike lanes away from traffic, unlike a motorcycle. As for urban speed limits, despite it being illegal, e-bicycles are very much going 50kmh or 60kmh as their limiters have been disabled. That was my point.
Premium e motorbikes I’ve ridden include the Kawasaki Ninja e-1 (in Europe) and a quick crack on the Harley LiveWire. Not the Zero or Energica sadly, but I’d happily try if offered.
I’ll take your thoughts on board, despite the hostile attacks on my journalistic merits. I’m happy to debate opinions. I’ll always listen. I hadn’t considered the no warranty/factory support aspect you mentioned, so thanks for alerting me to that.
Seriously… you are forgetting that pretty much nobody is buying EV motorcycles. If you’d worked in the industry you’d know no one asks about petrol consumption.. a few about range especially with touring bikes. Just can’t understand why there is this group of people backing and preaching EV’s that don’t sell.
Fantastic article outlining the realities. Don’t listen to the ‘Negative Nancys’ who think we’re all going to be under water by the end of the decade if we don’t all trade our bikes in for the voltage alternatives. Their coping mechanisms aren’t quite geared for resilience. I concur that electricity certainly has it’s place. I just never want it anywhere near my beloved Sunday morning coffee run on the old Triumph. Thanks Iain!
Thanks Andrew, good to hear from the combustion camp!
Mate, I’m a 62 year old rider. I see a new bike and I want to ride and own one. I remember Mick Doohan (I’m sure I’ve spelt that wrong) eating up Phillip Island on an electric race bike. The sound of him coming over the hill round 2 corners then down the home straight was like music to my ears. What you lose in exhaust notes is made up by wrenching the throttle wide open and disappearing into the distance almost instantly. In time electric will find it’s place.
400 suckers
What a long and tired venting from an obviously anti-ev perspective.
For those who have studied marketing the first lesson should have drillled home these words ‘Find a need and satisfy it’,
Now ask any salesman on the floor how many buyers of motorcycles ask about fuel economy on relatively expensive bikes .. they don’t, but do ask about range.
I could go on about going for a good days ride or overnighter etc and how an eV is just not practical and how I feel they are whispering death with no sound in traffic.. but I’m sure ‘buyers’ all understand that. As for the less than half price bargain at $13,000 ?? I wouldn’t part with 10% of that for something I don’t want nor need. Best of luck to all those that bought them selling them when they all fall out of love with them next month.
Ha, never ceases to amaze me how vehemently opposed people (especially bikers) can be to others that might embrace change or new tech. You really ought to give it a try sometime but sure, just stick to what you know and like if that’s what floats your boat. Oh, and you do know the old adage that “loud pipes” saves lives” is a complete myth right? Many studies have debunked it. See https://motoress.com/riding-tips/loud-pipes-do-not-save-lives-the-facts-you-need-to-know/?srsltid=AfmBOop9AgPSf-iqSREdMuQ90seMyqLwq5kfL9CeHi5F8JNOLeUrsIFn
I would have waited the 6 minutes for the Pickles auction to run to make that sentence meaningful in any form.
I did wait the six minutes for that auction to run. Problem is, once it ends, Pickles doesn’t publish the result. I gave the final price I saw before it ended. They probably let those who bid on that lot to see the final sale price, but I was not a bidder.