Motorcycles

Johammer electric motorcycle breaks 200 km range, looks like you're riding a terrified snail

Johammer electric motorcycle breaks 200 km range, looks like you're riding a terrified snail
Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle
Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle
View 29 Images
Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.
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Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.
Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle
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Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle
Johammer's bug-eyed headlights
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Johammer's bug-eyed headlights
Johammer's chunky front wheel – note the slot that the hub center steering pivots in
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Johammer's chunky front wheel – note the slot that the hub center steering pivots in
Johammer's unique front end
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Johammer's unique front end
Johammer's throttle and kill switch
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Johammer's throttle and kill switch
Johammer's therapeutic-looking saddle
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Johammer's therapeutic-looking saddle
Johammer's rear wheel hub houses the electric motor
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Johammer's rear wheel hub houses the electric motor
Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle
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Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle
Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle
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Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle
Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle
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Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle
Johammer's bumpy-looking taillights
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Johammer's bumpy-looking taillights
Johammer's mirrors with integrated dash
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Johammer's mirrors with integrated dash
Johammer's front swingarm and brake disc
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Johammer's front swingarm and brake disc
Johammer's frame cradle houses its front and rear shocks
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Johammer's frame cradle houses its front and rear shocks
Johammer's rear wheel hub with integrated electric motor
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Johammer's rear wheel hub with integrated electric motor
Johammer's frame and battery pack
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Johammer's frame and battery pack
Johammer's highway pegs
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Johammer's highway pegs
Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.
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Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.
Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.
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Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.
Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.
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Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.
Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.
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Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.
Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.
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Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.
Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.
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Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.
Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.
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Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.
Johammer manufactures its own battery cells
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Johammer manufactures its own battery cells
Johammer's battery cells
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Johammer's battery cells
Johammer's battery cells
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Johammer's battery cells
Johammer's electric motorcycle
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Johammer's electric motorcycle
View gallery - 29 images

I must admit, I’m kind of amazed this thing exists. The Johammer electro-cruiser is up there with the very strangest motorcycle designs I’ve ever come across. I mean, it looks like you’re riding a very surprised snail. But it does exist; this North Austrian roadster made an appearance at the Linz motorcycle show in February and appears close to production.

Apart from the bike’s utterly bizarre retro-futuristic styling, a few other things are immediately striking. It doesn’t have a traditional dash, opting instead to integrate the speedo and charge indicator into a panel on the mirrors (I shudder to think what they’d cost to replace when it falls over!).

Johammer's mirrors with integrated dash
Johammer's mirrors with integrated dash

It uses a hub-center steering and suspension setup at the front end. These units do a very good job of separating braking from suspension forces and controlling dive under brakes, but they’re also much more expensive than forks, and it’s dubious exactly how much benefit there is to having such an exotic front end on what’s unlikely to be a "performance bike."

But the big ticket item is the fantastic battery range. Fitted with a beefy 12.7 kWh battery stack, the Johammer joins the Zero S ZF11.4 among the first electric bikes to boast a 200 km (124 mi) range when fully charged. That’s a significant psychological number for bikers, because 200 km is a decent fuel range for a petrol-powered bike.

Johammer's battery cells
Johammer's battery cells

The battery modules are developed in-house at Johammer, giving the company a second product stream as well as the perfect demonstration platform. Guaranteed service life of the battery is 200,000 km (124,000 mi) or four years without dropping below 85 percent of the new battery’s capacity.

Otherwise, the bike’s electric motor is enclosed in its rear wheel hub, and it works in reverse as a regenerative brake system. The battery cradle seems to more or less comprise the frame while enclosing the horizontally mounted shocks for the front and rear suspension – a nice touch that should keep both suspension units neat and tidy.

The Johammer seems to have two sets of footrests: one set back to provide a fairly standard upright riding position, and another set of highway pegs further forward for laid-back highway cruising, which has typically not been a strength of previous electric bikes! The additional footrests are made much easier to implement given that the Johammer has no foot controls to worry about – front and rear brakes are operated from the handlebars much like a scooter setup.

Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.
Johammer's unique looking electro-cruiser motorcycle.

So what’s the price of looking this damn sexy? Astronomical. Big battery packs, fancy dash-mirrors and hub-center steering don’t come cheap. The 8.3 kWh version will set you back EUR€23,000 (US$31,860) and the Big Daddy 12.7 kWh version is EUR€25,000 (US$34,630).

If you just want to dip your toe in Johammer's waters, there's the option of taking one out for a guided tour through "historic Upper Austria" – that'll set you back EUR€290 (US$420) and includes a factory tour to start the day off. Sign us up!

View gallery - 29 images
19 comments
19 comments
hdm
Design looks is not for me.... good observations in the article regarding the mirror based speedo/battery info. not sure what effect the scoop has on the aero of the bike..(the front end). doesn't look aero to me.
still, interesting enough to comment on..does look kinda like an insect or something.
i'm not allowed to get a bike anyway....thankfully i had my crotch rocket fun prior to marriage :)
BigGoofyGuy
One will definitely stand out when one is riding that. If one wants and can afford an electric bike that stands out, this would be for you.
It looks like a snail on wheels, perhaps an alien snail? The body looks like it came from siding taken from a barn. The price is a very high for an electric bike.
Mirmillion
Zero protection form the wind means lots of drag and, therefore, lowered riding range. Can't imagine it would be comfortable in the least - but maybe that's not the objective here. Let's see some sort of fairing, even if it looks like they adapted it from a lobster tail. Tech specs all look good though.
buddy
hdm is correct . . . IF this thing looked like a Harley and had colors and chrome I would buy this ! and be proud to show it off. . . .
Leonard Foster Jr
Why not a true hub motor? and were is storage for small/mid sized items?
Daishi
The Johammer Gary: http://i.imgur.com/5WxdHB1.jpg
Jay Finke
Needs a tail, mane and a saddle horn, and it's ready to round up them little doggies.
f8lee
200 Km is a nice range, but the real question is how long does it take to recharge. I fuel up and can go another 150 miles in under 10 minutes.
Bassmandan
The article’s title drew me in. That in mind, my first glimpse of this bike made me chuckle. I’m still chuckling. One thing that stands out is that there is no wind screen. No mention of a top speed either. Apparently they don’t expect it to go very fast; in keeping with the snail motif.
Milton
gotta admit I was turned off by the looks initially,
but for some strange reason I continue to find myself clicking on this article to get another look.
hum... I am not un-decided about the looks.
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