Talaria Electric Bike

On the Grid

More electric motorcycle tech…

Like it or not… OK you’ve heard us talk about it all, but electric bikes are a thing and it is inevitable that the tech is getting better and better as giant companies turn their attention to keeping lawmakers happy. Over the last few years, you’ve seen many weird looking things featured in our pages, they are virtually unavoidable with even the big traditional motorcycle manufacturers investing in the tech. Now, we, personally like traditional, noisy, soul moving motorcycles but we have ridden a few electrics that have made us sit up and say HMMMMM! And we are not here to debate the whole thing. We’ve heard all of the arguments and opinions… but the fact remains… electric bikes are ‘a comin!’ so you’d best embrace the tech. And it has been interesting for us to watch the technology evolve over the years, we’ve ridden lots of the bikes that have been brought in and tried out and some have been quite impressive.

Roll on 2022 and a call comes in from the guys at Biking Accessories in Pretoria. “Howzit chaps! We are now stockists of the Talaria range of electric bikes, How’d you like to come and ride one?” Easy answer, we hopped on to the traditional bikes and hared off to the Mamarock track on the outskirts of Pretoria. Long-time dirt biker Brett van Bergen arrived, we offloaded and had a chat. One of his mates import the Talaria range of e-bikes. The idea was to make something available to the less fit older guys and the beauty of e-bikes are that they are accepted at all of the bicycle places, housing estates, golf estates, beaches because they are silent you can ride them anywhere. The company has been approached by SANPARKS anti-poaching units to check out the viability of using the bikes for patrols. Our question was, “Its it fast enough to get away from a charging Rhinoceros?”. We geared up, and really put the bike through its paces on those great track and trails at the park.

Two rider modes – Eco and sport.
Eco is controllable and easy to use in the tight, twisty stuff, without scaring the blazes out of a novice. The lekker thing is that the bike does not lose much power for hill climbs, which is something that we have experienced on other electric bikes over the years. On those bikes, ECO was more of a limp mode to get you home, on this little sting, the bike is still fun and powerful enough to get you through it all with a grin. What you need to do is just take a little run up before hitting that climb. Sports mode is quick! No really! Way quicker than we’ve ever seen anyone peddle a bicycle, with lots of instant power. If anything, you need to be careful that the bike doesn’t catch you out when you open up too enthusiastically.

You can’t really compare electric power to a petrol driven bike, the power delivery is distinctly different. Where a traditional bike gradually works up power, the Talaria torque is instant. As you open the throttle, it literally takes off with a little wheelspin and… no noise, which takes a bit of getting used to. The bike only weighs in at 60KG’s and it is small, light and nimble, closer to a trick BMX than a dirt bike. But it is still has a dirt-bike feel with your rider triangle. It’s rated for a rider of 95kgs or less, but our slightly heavier testers had no issues flinging the bike around the track.

It has bicycle like suspension and brakes and this is where a heavier rider would need to upgrade specifically the rear shock. Kyle is a hard rider who weighs in at just over 90KG’s he flung the bike around with no complaints, he commented that the bike moves around under the rider a lot more than a normal bike, the light weight and spinning rear wheel would explain that. I weigh in at just more than 110kg’s and I’d stiffen up the back a bit. No complaints in the braking department because the bike is relatively light and stops easily. It’s as if the Mamarock track is custom made for these bikes. Tight, twisty, so much fun and in sports mode, you’re never really open up all the way.