I was working on top of the house's roof the other day. I can clearly see a boulevard from there, passing us by about 100 yards (90 meters) at its nearest point. I heard this weird noise, and when I looked, it was two bikes wailing past. The penny only dropped when they had stopped at the four-way stop. It sounded awesome when they pulled away together, turbine-ish - not soft - and something else, maybe belts or the tyres - and no gear changes. There is a hotel-casino complex from where they had come - some presentation perhaps. So it could well have been Energicas or BSTs, the only ones sold in South Africa as far as I know. The e-bikes have arrived - we can just as well make peace with that and welcome them into the fold. It is only a matter of time, years not decades, before their range and charging times will be sorted to the point of them seriously challenging ICE bikes. They are much easier to ride, accelerate like dragsters and the gimmickry potential is virtually endless.
