#moped

Yamaha Motor Europe outlined its plans for electric two-wheelers, revealing a range of scooters, bicycles and a moped. The announcement confirmed our report last week that it would include an electric scooter called the “NEO’s”, but the 50cc-equivalent model was only scratching the surface.

When Ryan Adams finished riding the 2019 Vespa Elettrica, he came back with one glaring complaint: it’s too slow. Vespa must have taken his words to heart, because at EICMA 2019 there’s a new version – the Vespa Elettrica 70 km/h – upping the top speed to, you guessed it, 70 km/h (or 44 mph for the US crowd). Vespa says this new top speed is the result of optimizing the current components already on the Elettrica and not through any change of hardware. Speaking of hardware, here’s a refresher. It can deliver a continuous 3.6 kW of power, with a peak at 4 kW, putting it roughly on par with 50cc scooters. Where it far surpasses a little scooter is with its 200 Nm of torque. And it’s all completely silent. Maximum range is roughly 100 km, and full recharge can be done in four hours (with 220v).

While it seems like such a small task, we often fail to forget that explaining things like a twist throttle and “balance” can be a lot for a first timer to grasp. Clearly this guy was struggling with the concept. “Just accelerate” evidently wasn’t good enough advice.

Monday Motorbikes is a Brisbane, California-based company producing a modern moped. Like the mopeds of yesteryear the Monday Motorbikes M1 is outfitted with pedals, but in place of a small internal-combustion engine resides a brushless DC motor.

If you’ve ever found yourself longing for a 1901 Indian but find yourself a little short on the funds to actually buy one, perhaps this moped (yes, you read that right) from National Moto & Cycle can help you scratch your vintage Indian itch. For about $5,400, you could own this cool-looking replica, and because the engine only displaces 49cc, you wouldn’t need a license to ride it – or you could just use the pedals to ease on down the road.

I hate to break this to you, regular Motorcycle.com reader, but you might be the wrong audience for the GenZe 2.0 electric scooter. How do I know? Well, if you’re here then you appreciate the speed, the sound, and the power (both mechanical and personal) motorcycling provides. The triple threat is an addictive combination to stir the emotions. The GenZe 2.0 doesn’t have any of that.

We’ve traveled down this path before when we asked what types of bikes our readers have owned. What we learned there, frankly, didn’t surprise us too much. You’ve owned a bunch of different motorcycles. That makes you a lot like us. We like motorcycles – all motorcycles. As an industry friend once said about our profession, “All motorcycles good; we investigate.”

Grammy Award winners Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have released a brand new track with motorcycle-themed lyrics and video called “Downtown.” The musical duo, best known for chart-topping songs “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us” are joined by hip hop legends Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, Grandmaster Caz and Foxy Shazam lead singer Eric Nally on the new track.