One of my favorite sensations on two wheels in recent years is riding electric motorcycles. I straddled the Harley-Davidson LiveWire when it first came out, and it resulted in me doing my first burnout while simultaneously doing my first wheelie. The instant torque of an electric vehicle translates to pure hooliganism when applied to a motorcycle. But on the other end, the slow stuff isn’t bad, either. Riding an electric motorcycle can be even more calming than taking a ride on a vintage Honda Helix scooter. Now that I finally have a place to charge an EV, I’m considering adding one to my massive fleet. And because I’m a serial cheapskate, of course I’m looking at the inexpensive end of the market. If you want a cheaper electric motorcycle, there’s a lot of good news out there. Kollter is building a lineup of affordable EV motorcycles, as are Ryvid and Sondors. And who can forget the Kenyan startup aiming to punch out a $1,500 bare bones electric motorcycle? Another player in this field is CSC Motorcycles, and they’re about to release an option that sounds attractive.
CSC Motorcycles, previously known as the California Scooter Company, is an Azusa, California-based dealership that has been around for over 30 years. In 2010 it made headlines when it brought a vintage motorcycle back from the dead. The Classic looked like the 1947 Mustang Colt mini motorcycle brought back to life. After, the company shortened its name to just CSC since “Scooter” confused some about what the company actually sells. From then, CSC positioned itself as a provider of “Fun You Can Afford.”
Today, the company is known for importing Zongshen motorcycles from China and applying its own flair to them. In doing so, CSC has been able to offer some compelling motorcycles for aggressive prices. For $2,795, you could get a CSC City Slicker, an EV with a range of up to 50 miles, a top speed of 46 mph, and the looks of a Honda Grom. And if you love the looks of vintage café racers, CSC will sell you the San Gabriel 400 for $4,895. That one looks like a 1980s Japanese motorcycle that’s gotten hacked up in someone’s shed. It gets a parallel-twin making 36 HP with overhead cams and liquid-cooling.
You can even get yourself a 450cc adventure bike for $4,995. Even BMW’s cheapest, the G 310 GS, can’t beat that. But if you want your adventure bike powered by electrons, CSC has you covered there, too. Hitting the road early next year is the RX1E, a motorcycle that CSC calls a commuter, but is styled like an adventure bike. The RX1E is the electric version of the Zongshen RX1, an adventure motorcycle that would normally house a 204cc single making 21 HP. It has 6.6 inches of ground clearance and a 319-pound dry weight. The RX1E costs $8,495, or $7,995 if you pre-order it. So what does going electric get you?
The RX1E ditches the internal combustion for a liquid-cooled electric motor providing 8 kW of continuous-rated power and 18 kW peak power. That translates to 10 HP continuous power with a burst of 24 HP. How long it can run at peak power isn’t said, but top speed is listed at 80 mph. The motor delivers its power to the rear wheel through a belt drive. Acceleration to 60 mph is noted to be under 9 seconds. That motor is fed by a 6.16 kWh lithium-ion battery and the motorcycle is rated for 112 miles on the New European Driving Cycle. I should note that NEDC simulates ideal conditions, so I would take that number to mean 112 miles maximum. You’ll likely get fewer miles on a charge. Sadly, it charges only from 110V, which means that it takes six hours to go from a flat battery to a full charge.
As I said before, CSC imports its motorcycles from China. Over there, this motorcycle is advertised as being able to handle different terrain. And indeed, even the U.S. version has 50/50 street and trail tires. You also get crash bars to protect the motorcycle. Going electric costs you a half-inch of ground clearance, and the weight goes up to 436.5 pounds before you add the crash bars or cases. With the charge time and the range, I can see why CSC is marketing it as a commuter. This would be best to ride to and from work… but if there happens to be a dirt road or a few along the way this can handle it. And it should be a comfortable ride, too. The RX1E’s inverted front fork has 4.7 inches of suspension travel, and the rear adjustable mono-shock has 4.3 inches of travel. Bosch ABS helps provide stopping power. There are other neat things, too. It has aluminum wheels and tubeless tires, a 30.9-inch seat height, and a reverse function. What I like most about this is that it has ample storage! You get cases to put your purse, tire repair kit, or anything else that you’ll want to bring with you. Hard cases are part of what I like most about my Triumph Tiger.
If you’re interested, you can preorder a 2023 RX1E right now. CSC wants a refundable $500 deposit for them, and your price will be $7,995 before document fees and shipping. Readers will point out that $8,000 buys a lot of internal combustion motorcycle, and sadly that is true. This motorcycle has specs on the level of a 250cc model that’s half of the price. And it gets even worse if you go used. However, if you are a fan of EVs, it’s nice to see more and more of these sub-$10,000 machines hit the market. It’s great for your commute or weekend cruising but you can lean on your car for long trips or anything outside of the range of the bike Also, 112 miles out of a 6.2 kwh battery is nuts. I average around 7.5 miles per kwh on my Livewire, and that does not include much highway driving (I’m closer to 5.5 miles per kwh at highway speeds). Even if the entire 6.2 kwh capacity was usable, 112 miles would be 18 miles per kwh. I figure this bike will get closer to 50 miles in real world use.
