I participated in a no motor race from the Brasstown Bald visitors center (Georgia) at the top of the mountain back down to the bottom of it. We had 10+ motorcycles and we met a large group of road bicycles at the center, all set off from the top of the mountain with only a push off. I can remember hearing one of the dudes on a road bicycle behind me laughing his ass off as we coasted down the side of that mountain. Not hearing an engine was odd but we still built up enough speed that you had to use the brakes for coners. The group of bicyclist thought it was the coolest thing ever to be coasting side by side with a motorcycle without the motor running and everyone was moving at the same pace. Slowest,,,but some of the most fun I've had on two wheels without being at a track.
Maybe I'm not super surprised because many European countries have announced similar initiatives in the past 2-4 years. I remain skeptical about the execution because 1) we don't know where technology will be and 2) I think demand will remain for gas powered vehicles in certain areas or applications. I think CA is more in line with some of the Euro thinking, and having lived overseas, it's not a foreign concept to me. I think this is the way the industry is going whether we are on-board or not. CA may have it's horror stories, but since moving here, the car/bike scenes and available riding areas are great. I enjoy access to those areas more than I enjoy the ability to make BRAAP noises. One of the top reasons riding areas and racetracks get shut down is noise. Fire risk is another, but TBD if electric will reduce fire risk.
Silent things (other than a dog walk) require a motor to get you to a place to enjoy some thermal, or gravity induced, activities.
I played this game once, albeit involuntarily. If one could look through the primordial mist to a time when KZ1000's freely roamed the land, it might be possible to see me astride such a beast atop a California mountain. For those of you not familiar with this prehistoric creature, the amount of fear it engendered in lesser machines was equalled only by its prodigious thirst for fuel. As fate would have it, I found myself well into my reserve fuel supply at about 8:55 one pleasant summer evening. Much to my relief, I rounded a corner and spotted the welcome glow of an illuminated gas station sign. As I rolled up to the pump, said glow was immediately extinguished. The attendant informed me that he had already turned off the pumps but, as I seemed to be in dire straits, he would turn them back on for a five dollar surcharge. At the time, that sum would have perhaps filled my tank twice. Never one to respond favorably to attempted extortion, I suggested that he perform an anatomically improbable sexual act upon his own person, fired up my bike, and charged off down the mountain. I made it the better part of 100 yards before I ran out of gas. I decided to play the hand I had been dealt and let gravity be my friend. I was rather unwilling to apply the brakes, as momentum had never before seemed so precious. Eddie Lawson would have been proud of the way I hustled that big tank around that mountain road. Anyway, in spite of having the seat upholstery firmly clenched betwixt my buttocks, I rolled all the way down the mountain and right up to a functional gas pump at the bottom. True story. And, if perchance he sees this, I would like to once more tell Mr. Curmudgeonly Gas Station Dude to go fuck himself.
Electric motors need power from a dam, a (thermal) combustion generator, solar panels, or wind power, unless you are just “walking the dog”
You've lost me. What's your point? What does any of that have to do with having fun in vehicles that don't make noise?