Want to try out an electric motorcycle, but don’t want to part with a lot of money to do it? You might consider the new City Slicker offered by CSC Motorcycles. The City Slicker has a claimed top speed of nearly 47 mph and a range of 35 miles. The Chinese-made machine is being offered for an introductory price of $1,995. Here is a press release from CSC Motorcycles with more details:
AZUSA, Calif. – July 11, 2018 – PRLog — CSC Motorcycles announced a new electric motorcycle today, the City Slicker, a motorcycle to be initially offered at the astonishingly low price of $1995 under CSC’s introductory “Don’t Miss The Boat” program. The all-electric City Slicker motorcycle meets all US Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, and California Air Resources Board requirements, and the motorcycle is approved for all 50 US states. Like CSC’s other offerings, the City Slicker is manufactured to CSC specifications by Zongshen, one of the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturers.
“We’ve done very well bringing Zongshen motorcycles to the US,” said Steve Seidner, CSC’s Chief Executive Officer. “When we first saw the City Slicker, we knew it was right for the United States,” Seidner continued. “We worked closely with Zongshen to tailor this extremely affordable, high quality motorcycle to US expectations. The build quality is world class, and the bike is just plain fun to ride. Riding an electric motorcycle is a uniquely-different experience. The City Slicker is completely silent, and it is very quick off the line. The experience is like riding a bicycle downhill or sailing. It’s different and it’s fun.”
The all-electric CSC City Slicker uses a nonhub motor and final drive is via belt drive, which eliminates the chain noise created by other electric motorcycles offered in the US. The City Slicker has two operating modes controlled from an easily-accessible handlebar-mounted switch. In the Power mode, the City Slicker has a top speed of 46.6 mph and a range of approximately 35 miles. In the Eco mode, the motorcycle has a lower top speed (37 mph) with a greater range. The City Slicker requires 6 to 8 hours to recharge a fully-discharged battery using a standard 110VAC outlet. Instrumentation includes a speedometer, odometer, and trip meter, as well as a cellphone-like battery status indicator and a motor temperature indicator. Controls are similar to conventional motorcycles, with the exception of no clutch and no gear shifting. The motorcycle has inverted forks and a large, lockable storage compartment where a conventional motorcycle fuel tank would be located. The City Slicker also has a unique reverse drive feature. The City Slicker has hydraulically-operated front and rear disk brakes.
Azusa-based CSC uses a direct path to market for its motorcycles (CSC sells direct to its customers, with no dealers). Motorcycles are shipped from CSC directly to customers’ homes, with no assembly required. The City Slicker is available in two colors (blue or red). The electric motorcycles will have a one-year, unlimited-mileage warranty.
“As we have done in the past with the RX3, the TT250, and our other motorcycles, we are offering a Don’t-Miss-The-Boat introductory price of just $1995,” Seidner explained. “We’ve found that our Don’t-Miss-The-Boat introductions get the word out quickly and accelerate market acceptance. After the initial shipment, the City Slicker’s price will be $2495. That’s still many thousands of dollars less than any other electric motorcycle offered in America,” Seidner said. “We are taking deposits now and the motorcycles will be here this fall.”
See more of MD’s great photography:
More evidence that electrics are coming…just a year away from a viable ICE competitor from a price/range/performance perspective….remember, you read it here first
Remember when you were young and you shined like the Sun—Oh, a little Pink Floyd shot through my brain!
What I meant to say, is remember when you were young and every motorcycle you rode was a very FUN experience! Fun should still be in the equation somewhere:
I’m only 11 miles from work, 9 on beautiful country roads and 2 in the city and I had just as much FUN riding a new Yamaha ZUMA 50cc, two stroke scooter to work as I had on my recent Triump Rocket 3 Roadster:)
I ride 3 scoots now, a 2016 Suzuki DL650 V-strom, a 2014 Honda CTX1300D and a 2006 Suzuki Burgman 650 and I still get ‘that lovin’ feeling’ no matter which mount I ride.
85 bikes and 55 legal years of riding and owning most every type of bike, except an electric one but I do see the day coming when I will buy one. For my short commute, it would be perfect:)
Electric powered vehicles will someday be very commonplace and their performance has and will exceed current Petro powered vehicles. Go to Youtube and type in: “Electric powered 1/4 mile races,” and watch the Tesla destroy every stock, gasoline powered vehicle on the road today:)
Electric bikes built for the 1/4 mile are scary fast too!
Sam
At a mere 2 grand this thing should be as common as tater tots on most SoCal college campuses.
Price point and Eco friendliness for the broke, environmentally sensitive college student sounds like a sure thing
Seems worth the risk for a mere $2000. Too bad I don’t have room for one. It would be good for commuting around suburbia or a city, as long as you don’t need to get on a highway. It appears from the photo to be roughly the size of a Grom.
Nice. As for it being from China? Well it is correct to proffer that China is working hard to become the new Japan. If for instance Benelli (owned now by the Chinese) were to bring in the Leoncino 500 into the USA via their importer SSR and it was of good quality and at an affordable (to almost everyone) price, why not buy one if it had a decent dealer network? Hondas used to be sold in hardware stores and the like. Benelli minibikes were sold in Sears stores. Imagine that.
At one time the Japanese were our enemy. Of course we had to kick their collective buttocks and then help them rebuild but they’re now amongst our staunchest allies and they make quality motor vehicles of every stripe.
China is trying. For example, the Benelli/SSR TNT135 looks to be a viable competitor to the Grom and the Z125.
I realize this is not the 1950s anymore but if we are to go forward, then looking back at our roots might be worth doing. If the Chinese makers succeed, hindsight will be 20/20 for all of today’s naysayers. Except for some of them. Why? Because hindsight is only 20/20 unless you’ve got your head shoved up your butt so far you could chew your food twice on the way down.
One big difference here with regard to the Japanese and the Chinese. The Japanese have traditionally played by the rules and have respected intellectual property as well as learning through trial and error. The Chinese mostly state-run industry respects no one.
That may be true in the very recent past, but you are forgetting the bulk of history. Look up “Rape of Nanking”, “Japanese treatment of US prisoners in WWII”, “Pearl Harbor”, etc.
I’ve owned a lot of Japanese bikes, and a lot of Japanese and Chinese tech, and it is reasonable to let go of the offenses of the dead, but let’s not be blind to historical realities.
I wasn’t speaking of wartime.
1960: Suzuki enters the TT for the first time and finishes 15 minutes behind the winning MZ bike.
1961: Shunzo Suzuki meets with the MZ ride Ernst Degner. Degner agrees to defect and steal MZ’s 2-stroke technology.
1962: Suzuki wins the TT
1960’s and 70’s: Suzuki builds their motorcycle business on that stolen technology.
You are forgetting the Japanese business motto: Business is War.
For some reason my last post has been removed. To sum it up.
Suzuki stole MZ two-stroke technology in 1961 and used that stolen technology as the foundation to build their company from an unknown to a international competitor.
Read up on Ernst Degner.
Well, with the Chinese disrespect for intellectual property, I guess it is safe to assume that their “Chinese junk” will be very comparable in quality and function to the innovators they are copying in a pretty short time. Most consumers are just as willing to violate intellectual property right too when it comes time to pull out their wallets.
Sounds dangerously slow unless you live downtown in a really big city. I would have to go out of my way to find places where I wouldnt be run off the road on this thing. And considering the range, the recharge time is horrible.
It’s a city commuter, meant for the same rides as small displacement scooters do today. I bet the hard parts it’s made from are in 100’s of 1000’s of e-scooters in Asia already. That kind of volume is the only way these components could be assembled into a decent vehicle this economically.
A traditional scooter can run at top speed until it runs out of gas. This bike will go slower and slower as it runs out of electric power.
With an absolute top speed of 46 mph, its not very safe for most cities IMO. People drive waaay faster than the posted limits of 35 and 45mph these days.
If it was designed with even the most basic understanding of electric vehicle propulsion, it will go the same speed from the beginning to the end of the usable charge. This is what battery management systems are for.
45mph is faster than any 50cc scooter that I know of, and they litter cities all over the world.
Pit bike, around a lake or beach, in a campground, places you’d take a bicycle if you had the energy. And the charge time is very reasonable. Sheesh
The “Brutale-inspired” design is pretty amusing.
Man, getting so close! Can I get one for 4 grand that I can take on the highway to take me ~30 miles to work and back?
I’ll wait for the Japanese version. I really need something like this.
Re. the Sur-Ron Light Bee…I just looked at the specs. I am an avid mtn. bicyclist, now riding a nice HT with a great 34mm German designed suspension fork, and 29 x 2.6 tires.
I’ve owned and/or ridden many or most rim/tire combinations including:
26 x 2.2 HT and full suspension
26 x 4.0 rigid (“Fat” bike for snow, sand, etc.)
27.5 x 3.0 HT (“Plus” or semi-fat)
29 x 3.0 rigid and HT (Plus)
I finally settled on my current 29 x 2.6 HT, my all time favorite by good margin. Such tire (2.6-2.8) falls between standard width (1.9 to 2.3 inch) and the popular Plus range (3.0-3.25). Some call 2.6-2.8 “Wide Trail,” and it quickly gains in popularity.
I noted the Sur-Ron has 19 x 70mm tires front and rear (70mm = 2.8 inch). I suspect 2.8 is an ideal compromise for that e-bike’s intended purpose.
Curious about the “100” (1-1) ratio of height to width.
Of note: it’s scooter architecture. The motor is on the swing arm.
I’m also not sure it’s real, some parts look like renderings.
I’ve read good things about the Sur-Ron, I owned an Alta SM and enjoyed it but man was it expensive for only 40-45 mile range, the Sur-Ron would be a neat light trail bike.
More Chinese junk to clutter garages when they quit working and ultimately end up in landfills. We never learn.
Funny you should say that, it’s exactly the same thing my father said in the fifties when a guy in town started selling Hondas made in Japan!
LOL. I have a Chinese scooter cluttering my garage. It’s been apart for a few years now. Quit working with less than 1k on the clock.
You fellas are all thinking of the “old” Chinese offerings of a few years ago. The Chinese in large part, have learned that no one wants junk, no matter how cheap it is. Right now the top rated “midi-cycle” is what, the Honda Grom, Kawasaki Z125, nope, the SSR Razkull is rated better for the bang for the buck category, the Benelli TNT135 is rated better than all of them. The motorcycle market has also gone global like the car industry. Honda, HD (God forbid angering the faithful), Suzuki, Polaris, KTM, and I’m sure more are now having some of their models made in China, Taiwan (China too), or India, and you may not even be able to tell the difference. While I was never a fan of Chinese built bikes in the past, it’s a new ballgame today.
Nearly every piece of “cheap Chinese junk” you have ever experienced was procured and approved by an American product manager. They are capable of making goods every bit as good as anyone else but as in all things, you get what you pay for.
Yes, see how many things in your possession from socks to toasters are from China. Especially anything from the Trump family of business. (sorry (maybe not) had to get that in)
I’d love to see a photo of it next to a full-sized adult. I assume it’s Grom-sized, but…
VERY interesting, and worthy of further investigation. How would one handle warranty issues – by shipping it back to CSC? Does the product have a track record in other countries, and if so, what is its reliability? (if it falls apart in month 13, it’s not so much of a bargain). Is an extended warranty available, and if so, at what cost? How long has CSC been in business, and how likely are they to be going forward? For motorcycle electrification, I always thought a scooter platform made the most sense – the wheels scream “scooter” much more loudly than they do “motorcycle”. I’m heading to their website to see if the answer to these questions are there.
For me personally (being a big guy even without the excess weight issue), it looks to be too small, especially with a seat you can’t move around on. The top speed / range are just about right for a daily commute, so kudos to them on that front. Again, this product will be very interesting to keep an eye on.
Google is your friend
Google has a good search engine, but Google is not your friend.
CSC includes a shop manual with the bike. They will ship part to you under warranty but you have to do the work yourself.
Reliability on their other bikes are step above the typical Chinese bike but below a Japanese brand.
I came across several guys riding some 250cc CSC dual sports together on the TAT in Colorado about a year ago. They were very happy with the bikes but said that owners need to be willing to work in the bikes themselves or have a capable mechanic they trust. The bikes looked pretty simple to me, and I imagine anyone who owns a good socket set and a torque wrench could do anything that could possibly need doing on the bike.
Funny this should pop up. My Sur-Ron Light Bee was delivered yesterday. I’m going to give it a good pounding today at a place what always tells people to leave their loud bikes home. Hopefully the guy has a sense of humor.
I’m pretty interested to hear what that bike is like.
I rode it at this guy’s place yesterday. He has a loop that has eight or nine miles of pretty gnarly dirt bike singleetrack.
I rode the bike stock, expect the I swapped to a different handlebar while putting it together.
The power was a little softer than I would like. But you can hot rod the thing with a different motor controller. If I were a lighter man, this would certainly be less of a problem. The bike was grunting on some of the uphills. But it made it up some pretty technical climbs.
The chassis did a pretty impressive job of tracking straight through rock gardens and over some really hideous tree roots. I got over every log in the trail without issue. The bash plate took a few hits on large rocks without complaint. There were times that I was pretty sure that I was going to crash. But I never did. I bottomed the suspension a few times. But I never really noticed. The bike comes with an O ring on the fork. It marked that The fork had bottomed. The brakes were up to the task and I didn’t have lockup issues on steep rocky downhills.
The overall ride was fun. This on some truly gnarly dirt bike trail on an unfamiliar bike. I had enough battery to ride the loop twice. But my knee braces were irritating a bruise that I got from a mountain bike crash a few days ago and I was really wanting to take them off.
I would have ridden the loop faster on one of my dirt bikes, all of which are around 300cc two strokes. But I don’t think that I would have had any more fun. Having fun was the goal. So I would call the thing a success.
I will get around to hot rodding this thing. Oddly, I ordered a larger sprocket when I pre-ordered the bike. They make the sprockets in house. I got the pre-ordered bike. I have yet to receive the sprockets, I ordered two of them.