ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
General Category => Electric Motorcycle News => Topic started by: Richard230 on June 28, 2025, 08:01:22 PM
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This "Daily Rider" review of the 2025 Can-Am Pulse, which I have not yet watched, was just published by Revzilla a few minutes ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JWvO5zi7JY
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Pretty brutal judgement on the Ninja 7 Hybrid there at the end.
I really want to like the Pulse, it does so much right but it feels like it just doesn't make itself an attractive product.
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chain totally sealed in oil. hmm that remains to be seen how well that works out.
he's lane splitting, which is legal in california, ok, but he's swapping back and forth from lane to lane with no turn signals, is that legal? in florida you are supposed to use a signal to swap lanes i believe.
14k still, a bit hard for a bike that's not really 'wow'. for it's top speed and battery capacity, you can get a scooter for quite a bit less.
this one might be a hard sell for them.
what's interesting though, this bike , energica, if you are riding about the same way, average speeds, the power per km/mile is about the same. it's not like it's giving you a butt ton more miles per kw than a bigger bike.
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The only real problem with the pulse is the tiny battery. Sorry guys but it's got to be at least 15kWh or it's just too limited for anything but poncing about on.
Though the fully-enclosed chain drive was mentioned (and is AWESOME) not enough was said about the fully liquid-cooled architecture, which is actually the huge advance here.
Cas :)
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I finally got around to watching this video. Personally, I like the integrated design and engineering of the Pulse, but I agree with the reviewer that it is more of an around town bike, compared with the Zero S. In that market it would need a much lower price to compete with Chinese electric scooters and electric bicycles. I would also agree that the BMW C04 scooter would be a better purchase. It has similar performance, but I would have a lot more faith in BMW's engineering, design, service, reputation and build quality, although I am not a fan of the looks of the BMW scooter, it seems to work well and is likely more useful as utility transportation. Plus, it is much less likely to be a object of interest to potential thieves.
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Regarding lane splitting in CA, it may be legal, but I would not have the nerve to do what the rider does in the video. If someone changes into the adjacent lane just as you pass you could end up being dead meat. Just doing something that might be legal doesn't do much for you if you end up in the hospital, or worse. I have "filtered" most of my riding career, but only when adjacent vehicles are stopped or moving very slowly. That way if someone tries switching lanes, it will be done slowly, giving me a chance to stop before getting hit.
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Yeah, I'm with you Richard, filtering is fine, lane splitting the way I see yanks doing at highway speed is unwise.
I was interested in the Can-am as a sporty alternative to the CE 04, but aside from tyre selection (being 17s) it has no real advantages. The BMW has way better braking and electronics, before you get into the storage and dealer network.
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Agreed richard, i think it's plain dangerous. all a car has to do is drift a little bit and touch you and you are done. I think these guys don't understand that if anything touches your handlebars, it's not going to be just a little bump or wiggle, and you curse and go about your day.... that is a major input that is going to cause your bike to aggressively dive, and since you are already in close proximity it won't take much to hit another vehicle, then you are on the pavement rolling and sliding, and totally at the mercy of the rest of traffic... who are busy updating their selfies, or videoing your dumb ass to post on fakebook how this jerk ran right by them on the highway today ;D
to each is own on this but i think it's just a bad idea to squeeze between side by side cars. trucks are worse with that wind knocking you around.
aaron
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Yeah tangentially ... I watched Zack filtering (on this and many previous videos) and it really puts me on the edge of my seat with stress. Especially knowing what I know about Californian driving competency in general :D
I wish he'd be a bit more cautious ... not just to look out for himself but maybe to show the impressionable sorts of people that might watch the videos how to do it safely.
Cas :)
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The only real problem with the pulse is the tiny battery. Sorry guys but it's got to be at least 15kWh or it's just too limited for anything but poncing about on.
I kinda disagree there. Such as in this area, my little 7KWH battery has more than enough range to go anywhere I would want and then some, because of the number of charge stations in this area. That is more important than range, IMO.
The other day I rode up to Acratia and recharged here. (https://www.plugshare.com/location/330081) I also recharged on the way up. I recharged my 2017 Zero DS 6.5 (but with the 7.2 KWH battery) on the way up there also, in Fortunia, (https://www.plugshare.com/location/199118) at 6.4 KW using external chargers. Because the battery is small, charge times are short, and I can get places just as fast as those with larger batteries. Just my stops are half as long but twice as many which comes out around the same.
I am here in Redcrest, CA in my motorhome, Ave of the Giants, Redwoods with my smallest Zero which is very handy out here. I could ride this bike all the way into Canada if I wanted to at around the same amount of time a larger battery bike could. I enjoy the shorter stops more often.
-Don- Redcrest, CA-
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Yeah tangentially ... I watched Zack filtering (on this and many previous videos) and it really puts me on the edge of my seat with stress. Especially knowing what I know about Californian driving competency in general :D
I wish he'd be a bit more cautious ... not just to look out for himself but maybe to show the impressionable sorts of people that might watch the videos how to do it safely.
Cas :)
I absolutely agree!
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another thing, and i am NOT advocating it in any way. in states where lane splitting is illegal, people see you sliding up between vehicles like that and they will intentionally slide over or move to cock block you. and guess what.. YOU get the ticket!! same with opening doors, well officer i opened the door to spit me tabaccer juice out, i didn't open it into the other lane it was still in MY lane, didn't expect a motorcycle to be there, he had no business to be.
Argue all you want, the point is, people will get hurt / killed over ignorance on all ends. maybe im being a bit of a pussy but i just watched a man die in the midde of the road the other day when someone made a left turn in front of him and did not use turn signals. he slammed into the side of her minivan, he didn't have a chance. with people out there killing us with their ignorance we don't need to be adding our own to the mix
aaron
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I don't think Can Am really intended to sell a ton of these. I really think it's more of a "proof" to get something to market to at least appear to recover some of the R&D dollars.
The Enclosed chain and liquid cooling system arent needed on such a little underpowered "urban runabout".
My money is these are a stepping stone to the real deal. That's the only scenario that makes sense in my mind. >100miles range and the tiny battery at that price point is just dumb. Batteries don't need active liquid cooling for up to 6.6kw AC charging. There has to be a CCS/NACS 300+volt pack and some monster motor in development.
The Pulse and the Origin will become the Zero FXS and FXE, Ultraviolette F77, RE Flying Flea, etc competitors with a price drop when new big bikes are in the lineup.
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Splitting lanes in California is safer in freeway stop and go traffic than staying out of the split.
It's counterintuitive, but true.
That does not apply in states where drivers aren't aware that bikes can split or where splitting is illegal. There really is an education push for drivers here. Billboards, traffic safety signs, "Look twice for motorcyclists" campaigns etc. You genuinely cannot compare it to splitting in Florida or Michigan or wherever etc. I have a video posted on my Instagram of all the people moving out of the way , pulling their mirrors in etc to let me and other motorcyclists by. Been splitting in Bay Area traffic for 25 years. The number of times I've had someone open their door or try to stop me from passing = 0. I've had some inattentive drivers not hold the lane and get close, but I can count on my fingers the number of times that has happened over the years.
Its not a hellscape of fentanyl and cell phone zombies, even if that's your impression of California.
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Not splitting is weird
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if it's legal there of course people are going to be good with it, it's the law, but when it's not the law, people tend to have this 'ill teach you' mentality about things. then stupid things happen and people get hurt.
personally i don't have a problem with lane splitting as long as it's done safely and the bikers are respectful and not knocking mirrors and stupid shit. two cars side by side, i think is dangerous and id probably not be doing that in a state where they will NOT move over for you. i don't know how it is in california but here in floriduh, half these zombies are too busy looking at their fucking phones and weaving all over the place. i don't want to be behind that mfer and i certainly don't want to be alongside them on a bike.
thats one thing i need to re hook up on my redone ribelle is hook up a horn again. i have a temp setup but it's awkward.
aaron
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Florida seems to be a completely mental place tbh, I've never seen anything about Florida that doesn't make me think WTF :D
Anyway - I agree with @Motoproponent regarding the Pulse being an overengineered proof-of-concept at the bottom end of a line of bikes that will eventually contain the Real Deal, but I worry that Can-Am will see terrible sales and pull the whole project, like LiveWire are inevitably going to do.
Cas :)
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cas even if they had a sweet bike, right now electric is not doing well, it'll be some years, and they might still pull it due to slow sales. at least they have the benefit of having others haven taken the first step so it is out there and not a totally new thing for 'their turn'
aaron
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Plus, there is a plan being tossed around that could be inserted into the Big Beautiful Budget-Busting Bill currently being considered by the U.S. Congress which would tax EVs $250 a year to pay for their share of the federal gas tax that is not being collected because they don't buy gasoline. I also heard that the tax would apply to not only new EV sales, but also existing EV owners. There was a comment that no one is quite sure how this would be enforced on existing EV owners. If this proposal gets passed into law, I would hope that it wouldn't apply to electric motorcycles, but you know that motorcycles are (almost) never mentioned in any law related to EVs, so implementation of the law would end up being the responsibility of the agency that collects gas tax funds. ???
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I think electric would be doing well if they actually tried to compete with gas bikes on any front but there's not a single aspect of any electric bike today that they outcompete on except acceleration, which is a party trick you soon forget about.
Let's see price parity. Or range parity. Or charging parity. There's just no point trying to charge premium bucks for moped abilities. In the current market so far only Zero have got anywhere close - reflected in their market "dominance" (if you can call it that) - and they're still nowhere near. They need to double the battery capacity. Or get charging time down to 15 minutes. Or most importantly - halve the price.
btw the UK gubmint retconned our free road tax already and we start paying it from this year. At least it's only £15 a year :)
Cas :)
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well if they wanted to be 'fair' about road taxes , how about taking it out of gas prices and just charge a tax across the board at the dmv, you pay a penny a mile or whatever the fuck they come up with. that way no matter what you drive, you are paying your 'fair share' and it really is fair, and maybe the price of gas will come down a bit.
if they are going to start fucking e cars for road taxes then how about all these natural gas vehicles their cities love to run? when you going to start surcharging them too????
yah, tax by the mile, if you sincerely want to be 'fair'
aaron
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I always said, charge tax on tyres. Problem largely solved. We digress :)
Cas :)
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im pretty sure tires already have a bunch of taxes and fees on them, and what about non road use tires?
with all the money they DO suck up anyways and you look at the condition of a lot of the roads in the us, it makes you have to ask, where is all that money going? you sure as hell are not fixing any roads with it.
aaron
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A tax on tyres is actually a pretty good idea at first, because the heavier a vehicle is, the more damage to the road surface/the more expensive the road is to construct and typically the more they wear their tyres. However, human nature being what it is you'll find people would just start buying harder tyres (with less grip) which would spur manufacturers to start producing harder and harder compounds (with less grip), which will cause car companies to spec wider tyres....... and so on.
Back to the Can-am, it is curious they have gone to the expense of a fully cooled battery, inverter and motor for such low outputs and charging. The guys saying this is the test bed for more betterer bikes might be on to something.