Africa’s female electric motorcycle
The Kenyan based electric vehicle firm Roam, has revealed its electric motorbike named “Roam Air.” The electric motorbike has been designed for African environments handling both urban and rural roads. Its development was entirely done by the Nairobi Roam Engineering Team and is manufactured by team that is 40% female. Roam was established in 2017 and aims to make electric mobility more accessible and affordable to users, first in Kenya and then the rest of the continent. Africans bought 3.5 million new motorcycles in 2016, a figure that’s expected to top 10 million a year in the early 2030s. As in many developing areas with inadequate public transport, cheap, hardy bikes have become indispensable as commuter transport, delivery vehicles and moto taxis. To note, the motorbike is fully electric and will see its users save up to 70 percent in running costs compared to fuel-powered motorcycles.
The dual-battery system allows a user to unplug a battery from the bike, and charge it while at home, just like you would do with a smartphone. You can charge anywhere there is a three-pin outlet with 220V. A user also has an option to swap the battery at authorized charging stations. The roam has a range of 180 km. The Roam is mechanically robust and has been designed to tackle challenging terrains. Additionally the Roam has no clutch or gears which creates an easier, more intuitive motorcycle that anyone can ride. The company will ramp up production in Nairobi to accommodate notable customer interest. The dealers will also facilitate financing, battery swapping, and selling the vehicles to commercial clients. The company is currently establishing a dealer network for sales and service.
In terms of charge cycles, “We are looking at 2000 cycles at the moment. Performance should be good for long into the product’s lifetime.” Customers will also get a free portable charger, helmet, and reflector vest. Indeed, the company has kept prices impressively low for such a practically designed vehicle.
Harley Humor
If my name was David and I had a boy, I would have to name him Harley.
That way he could introduce himself, I’m Harley, David’s son.
I just got a wooden motorcycle. It has a wooden frame, wooden handlebars, wooden wheels, and a wooden seat. Guess what?
It wooden start.
Why don’t Harley riders wear helmets?
If you spent $30,000 on a bike and $10,000 on the clothes, would you want people to think you are a wuss?
One fine summer’s evening, Malik, Mick and Liam are riding back home from the bar, all three of them on Malik’s motorcycle.
Of course, they get stopped by a cop who says to them, “This motorcycle is only licensed to carry two people, and there are three of you. One of you will have to get off and walk.”
“Three of us?” says Malik as he turns to Elijah, “Jeez, what happened to Rory and Niall?”
February 14th Birthdays
1988 – Asia Nitollano, 1998 – Madison Iseman, 1987 – Tiffany Thornton, 1988 – Eliska Sursova
1948 – Ray Teller, 1972 – Drew Bledsoe, 1818 – Frederich Douglas, 1990 – Brett Dier