Speaker A
Good morning. I'm Ryan F9, and here's everything that we know about electric motorcycles. Their range blows by definition. My fat torso is not aerodynamic, nor can it lift 5,000 lb.
Ryan F9 explores the realities of electric motorcycle road trips, covering range, maintenance, culture, and challenges faced on the road.
Key Takeaways
- Electric motorcycles offer low maintenance and quiet rides but have limited range for adventure use.
- Market demand for electric adventure motorcycles is currently weak, with products being discontinued.
- Charging infrastructure remains a critical challenge for long-distance electric motorcycle travel.
- Cultural and environmental stories enrich the travel experience beyond just the ride.
- Real-world electric motorcycle road trips require careful planning and adaptability.
What the video covers
- Ryan F9 discusses the limitations and advantages of electric motorcycles, including range and maintenance.
- Electric motorcycles have rigid battery arrays and low maintenance due to sealed drive systems.
- Despite good riding qualities, electric adventure motorcycles face market challenges and declining sales.
- The video includes a narrative about Britannia Mine and environmental history related to copper mining.
- Ryan shares cultural insights, including First Nations food traditions like bananic.
- The journey involves charging challenges and planning around limited electric charging infrastructure.
- The video captures interactions with locals and explores historical and cultural sites.
- Practical tips and anecdotes about moto camping and road trip strategies are shared.
- The video highlights the real-world range limitations and detours faced during an electric motorcycle trip.
- Overall, it balances technical info, travelogue, and cultural storytelling.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to Electric Motorcycles and Range Challenges
- 00:37Electric Motorcycle Maintenance and Ride Quality
- 01:29Market Challenges and Discontinuation of Models
- 02:58Heavy Truck Blind Spots and Britannia Mine History
- 05:09Cultural Insight: Bananic and First Nations Traditions
- 06:08Charging Stops and Local Interactions in Whistler
- 07:12Vintage Vehicles and Personal Stories
- 10:15Road Closures, Detours, and Real-World Range Limits
- 12:43Camping Tips and Final Thoughts on Electric Road Trips
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
So Elon can't simply build a slippery anvil that gets 700 km to a charge. Not that he would build a bike anyways. A little. But electric motorcycles are singularly nice to ride when they're built right. The battery arrays make for
Speaker A
more rigid monococks. And the motors are smaller. So small and free of moving parts that you can build them into the swing arm. This whole drive system moves together and requires no slack, no lash.
Speaker A
It's actually the sealed chain case off of a BRP snowmobile. So, aside from changing 355 ml of oil every 10,000 km, I have no maintenance here. Also, no noise. And because it always maintains a perfect 93% anti-quat, this is the best
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riding adventure motorcycle that I have ever ridden. Not least of all because it has the power of a 700 with the weight and wheelbase of a 300. And I said as much in our full review right before I said
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that it's unusable for its stated purpose. I don't know any roots within a 55 km radius of my toilet that I would consider an adventure. But the most impactful thing that we know about electric motorcycles is that consumers tend to agree. Can-Am
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brought these out 2 years ago for an already lossy 20 grand and today dealers are struggling to get rid of them for eight. All these ClickLink accessories are also 80 to 90% off. Tell me your product is discontinued without actually
Speaker A
telling me your product is discontinued. But okay, if that's everything we know about electric motorcycles, have we ever actually felt what an electric road trip feels like?
Speaker A
[singing] Streets feel [music] [music] [music and singing] and tell you [music] we're invincible. [snorts] Did you see the truck? Hello, I'm Ryan F9 and this is a Wabco 3200. So, three axles, 200 tons of ore per load. And
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because the driver and his passenger sit on opposite sides of an office building, the map of the blind spots can be found in your atlas. That's why these exclusively drive in exclusion zones where every other vehicle is responsible
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for their own survival. So, as you can imagine, this has dick all to do with Britannia Mine. This was hauled here to trap tourists. Whereas that is an underground mine with tiny tunnels snaking 210 km into the landscape above
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and below us. But my favorite Britannia story is how it started. It's 1904 and prospector's up there looking for copper sign. All morning he's looking for sign.
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He's not finding anything. In the day he's not finding anything. In the afternoon he's not finding anything. Get on toward evening he's not finding any of this sign. He's starting to think about his boat ride back to Vancouver
Speaker A
when he sees a buck. It's a big beautiful buck, a majestic stag. So, he shoots it, but he's a bad shot. He hits the thing in the neck and now it's in agony, is running all over the place and
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it's in these kind of death throes and takes so long to die, way longer than you're even imagining that it kicks up so much moss and vegetation off of this spot where he finally catches up with it. Huff its last. That's rubbed
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the earth kind of bare and he sees there his copper sign, exactly what he's been looking for and so that allows him to then rape the earth for the next 70 years to pull what was 17% of the
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world's copper right out of here and that's the kind of environmental story that you don't hear too much of in BC. It's time to go. [music] Protecting my investment, my home.
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[music] [music] How heavy is that camera? How heavy? How heavy is it? It's all right.
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It's okay. 'Cause I know a spot that's worthwhile, but it's a little bit of a walk.
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Let's go. This is bananic. It's an unleavened fried bread that's important to a lot of First Nations in Canada. See, all you [clears throat] need to make this is flour, water, and the fat of some animals. So, in your flour sack, which
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you have to carry around anyway, you can just pour some water and throw some fat and just with your hand in your own carry bag, mix up this little dough ball that you then smoosh into a pan on the
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fire because it's a fried bread. Because it's a flatbread, you have your perfect carby rich snack anywhere with just the things that you carry. And the best place to eat bananic nowadays is in the basement of the Squamish Low Watt
Speaker A
Cultural Center in Whistler because this is a nonprofit for the two nations. So, the banic is very cheap, very authentic.
Speaker A
My bike actually finished charging like 15 minutes ago, but staying for seconds. Hello. Hey, Uncle Mato.
Speaker A
Brian, how are you? I'm good. How are you doing? Good. Where are you? We're, uh, we're just in Whistler, so we're probably, I don't know, you know better than I, but maybe half hour from Pemberton, something like that.
Speaker A
Half hour. Yep. Okay. Just give me a jingle and I'll walk home from meet you guys. Do you know where that station is or do you want me to let you know?
Speaker A
No, I think I know where it is. We'll get the bike plugged in and then right now it's taking like an hour or so to charge. So, we'll have a good bit of time to catch up.
Speaker A
Just call me in there and I'll wander over. Okay, great. We'll see you soon.
Speaker A
Okay, see you in a bit. All right. Okay. Bye. Bye. [music] [music] [music] It's gorgeous.
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Yeah, it's in decent shape, but it's one on weekend. Everybody, oh yeah, this is super cool.
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Super old school, right? You know, in the handling, in the engineering, in what they put in.
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Well, you got quite an enviable collection of files. Well, that's because I built the car.
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[laughter] [music] I'll leave them to you. How's that? Yeah. There we go. This one up here is a [music] What do you mean flying days?
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I used to fly AICS. Okay. Yeah. And, um, that was the plane that I flew which was called Pit Special.
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What was the bike? It's the original Yamaha Pocket Rocket. That was Yamaha's biggest seller for many years.
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It's cool looking. [music] We broadcasting. Ain't nobody [music] asking. We splashing now we moving massive waking you in the basement. I'm back in my [music] zone and stop guning the Maverick like used to last. Bro, it's really not a stress.
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[music] These is plastic. Yeah, it's really not a sweat. Look chilly on the neck and out of pocket. I'm locked it.
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[music] Bust it down and give it drop kicks. Now let me pop off. Make it look easy. I come through like give me one reason that I can shut them down. Switch up the season. [music] Freeze them. Flash the cash and I'm pay
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it all down 'cause there's no slowing up. [music] Make way when we all rolling up. [music] Straight straight to top down. We take them make more. It's a lock [music] now.
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Lay it all down 'cause there's no slowing up. I can send it up. I can send it out. I can send it.
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Oh boy. So this doesn't work. There is one other charger in town. It's not near anything interesting. But if that one doesn't work, too, we're actually screwed.
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Phew. Hello. This is Bridge River Valley. So named because they had to build a bridge over the river that goes through the valley.
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How couldn't you just stare at that for like an hour and 17 minutes? Tomorrow.
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[music] [music] He [music] The dirtiest dirt bag moto camping trick I ever heard is this. If you're on a long trip and you roll into town late at night, you sleep in the cemetery. And every city's got one. And there's lots
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of flat grassy areas to hit your bed roll. You won't get lit up and kicked out like you will in the park. And the neighbors are always quiet. I'm not advocating for this. So, this is just a dirty trick that I heard from a dirt bag
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once. [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] Oh, road's closed for the fire, dude. Oh, what's the plan though?
Speaker A
The fastest detour is 140 [music] km. My real-world range I now know to be about 95. [music] Of course, it's 2026, so there is another way. I can limp [music] back to Lil'owette and daisy chain enough small town chargers to get around
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from the north. [music] I'll have to do s
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places that I normally wouldn't bother to see and ask a few favors that [music] I normally wouldn't need to. But I have no doubt that I'll get there. And as I piece my [music] way through the night, I'll be thinking about how my electric
Speaker A
road trip was blockaded by a landscape on [music] fire. And whether that speaks of how imperative these green options are or how futile [music] [music] Thank you.
Speaker A
[music]
Topics:electric motorcycleelectric bike road tripFortNineRyan F9electric motorcycle rangeadventure motorcycleelectric vehicle chargingmotorcycle maintenanceBritannia MineFirst Nations food
