Kiwi Rider November Vol.2 2022 | Page 89

As if any rider , new or old , needs the added distraction of all that going on in his lid . Seriously ? But we love technology , even if it is ultimately counterproductive . Helmets should be getting lighter and aiming for the sub-1000g mark . That is what actually makes them “ safer ” in a huge variety of situations , never mind reducing rider fatigue . Loading them up with gimmicky techno bullshit is not the way forward . Are there already not enough mindless YouTube rider POV videos of some gronk ’ s wobbly commute or shameful cornering ? Brother , unless you ’ re doing something entertaining , like smashing into a truck , going off a cliff , or running from the cops , please stop polluting the Internet with your boring rides . Electric bikes are also a thing . They are not coming . They are here . But I ’ m of the view Australia and New Zealand will be two of the last countries to embrace them . There are a few reasons for this . Our motorcycle community can be likened to a medieval village stubbornly conservative and resistant to anything revolutionary . There are still goblins honking about ABS , for pity ’ s sake .

So when a new thing appears , like an electric bike , pitchforks are taken up , torches are lit , and the mob moves forward to lynch the witch , so to speak . That aside , Australia and New Zealand have , at the moment , a shitty infrastructure to deal with electric vehicles . In Australia our distances are vast . New Zealand is heaps smaller , so your issues are different . So , while there may well be a take-up of electric bikes in urban areas , it ’ s going to be a while before the regional areas start to embrace them . But battery technology is improving all the time , and our rulers will , eventually , address the infrastructure needed for us to more fully accept the silence of the electric bike . With some luck , I will maybe have another 15 or so years of riding left in me . That ’ s quite a long time in terms of technological advancement , and I very much look forward to see what lies in store . Because while I am not a fan of change , I understand it is utterly inevitable . And probably Chinese .

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