Work & Business
Cake Gaining Speed With Electric Motorcycles
When you think of dirt bikes, you probably think of blaring motorcycles ripping down a dirt track and soaring through the air.
Cake is trying to change that. Well, sort of.
You still can fly down dirt tracks and jump through the air, it just won’t be as loud. In fact, aside from your adrenaline-fueled screaming, there won’t be much noise at all.
What is Cake?
Cake, based in Stockholm with offices in Taipei, Taiwan and Glendale, Calif., produces an all-electric dirt bike called the “Kalk OR.” The name, according to its website, comes from kalksten, the Swedish word for limestone. Limestone is the bedrock of the island of Gotland and is used to build the testing tracks for Cake.
Cake’s goal is to help quicken the transition to a zero-emission society. And by zero-emission, that means no air or sound pollution. Some of those particularly keen on motorbikes might not immediately find a near-silent motorcycle too appealing, until thinking about the positives of that. You can hear more of your surroundings (like birds chirping, or the crushing of sticks you’re riding over), and it means you can go ahead and build that racetrack in your back yard without bothering your neighbors.
Keeping it clean and simple
Cake emphasizes four features it kept in mind when developing the Kalk OR: lightweight, clean, simple and easy to maintain.
Electric motorcycles evolved from builders essentially strapping electric motors and batteries to bicycle frames. With electric motors already weighing less than the internal combustion counterparts, the overall weight is considerably less than traditional motorbikes. For riders, this means “snappy and lively rides,” according to Cake. It also means more people can ride it, as the lighter weight allows “anybody despite physical condition to comfortably handle the bike.” (Wired and Outside magazine are just a couple of the outlets who have reviewed Cake’s Kalk OR.)
No fumes or pollution is just the start to the Kalk bike being clean. Since it’s electric, there are no fluids, grease, gasoline or oil.
With no gas motor, that means no gears. New motorcycle riders often struggle with the clutch and shifting gears on a motorbike, but the Kalk takes that worry away. All riders have to worry about is using the throttle and brake, meaning just about anybody can hop on and ride.
The lack of a typical gas motor means the bike is remarkably easy to maintain. There’s considerably fewer moving parts compared to the average motorcycle. All an owner really has to worry about is cleaning it, servicing the brakes, occasionally checking the suspension, charging it and keeping it clean. To make things even easier, the Kalk is, as Cake describes it, “built like LEGO.” If the drivetrain goes haywire, the whole part gets replaced.
Getting your hands on the future
Cake’s bikes are revolutionary to the motorbike world. The company not only is opening up new developments in economic sustainability, but also in rideability.
Delivery for the Kalk OR began earlier this year. The bike can be purchased online at Cake’s website, for a total of $13,000, with an initial deposit of $200 being required, followed by the full payment before the bike is shipped (for free).
To learn more about Cake, visit its website.
