We bought to journey a pre-production mannequin of a placing new e-bike/e-moped, the Owlet One, with plenty of energy in a small package deal.
We first met Owlet at Electrify Expo in Lengthy Seaside, CA, the place we solely had a pair minutes on its bike. However because the firm is headquartered close by in Los Angeles, they emailed us asking if we’d like an extended take a look at journey, and delivered a motorcycle to us for to spend a couple of hours on this time.
Simply to set the stage for this journey: Owlet is a brand new model, getting ready to ship its first bike. So to start out off, we rode a prototype, not the completed model. This implies it might include totally different options, and we’re not completely certain when it would ship, both.
The very first thing to note concerning the Owlet One is its design, which actually stands out instantly. The bike is made from “aviation grade” aluminum, although remains to be fairly hefty, tipping the scales at 84 lbs (but it surely felt even heavier in our fingers).
On high of Owlet’s placing design, the bike can also be considerably of a singular form and measurement. Regardless of providing a format that appears much like an e-bike at first look, it rides extra like a small moped. This really places its 84lb weight into a distinct perspective – moderately than being heavy for a motorcycle, it may be regarded as gentle for a moped.
However images can’t encapsulate all the pieces concerning the design of the Owlet, as a result of it has one completely distinctive function: an adjustable wheelbase.
This may be finished by one particular person in below a minute, although requires a socket wrench and a small quantity of elbow grease.
In observe, I discovered that the adjustable wheelbase in all probability gained’t come up a lot for driving functions. The longest wheelbase (or near it) was essentially the most snug and steady to me, and shorter wheelbases had been a bit extra of a novelty, particularly on this highly effective bike which might get somewhat squirrelly on the shorter settings.
One other problem is that it modifications the angle of the kickstand, which implies you possibly can’t actually use the kickstand outdoors of a slim wheelbase vary. The ultimate bike will supposedly have a distinct kickstand design, however this can seemingly be a problem no matter the way it’s redesigned.
However it was good for making the bike sufficiently small to suit into locations you won’t usually have the ability to match a moped-style bike. Between its slim handlebars and shrunk right down to its smallest 44-inch-long setting, it match into the again of each a Tesla Mannequin Y and an Audi A3 wagon (each with seats down), however not fairly right into a Mannequin 3 – which I’ve match a number of normal-sized bikes into the again of, although with the entrance wheel eliminated. Although its hefty weight does imply it may be awkward to elevate the bike in there within the first place.
And it’s bought extra energy than you’d anticipate out of most e-bikes too. With a 750W motor (3000W peak), there’s loads of stand up and go, and many to maintain you going whilst you attain nearer to its 30mph high pace. This high pace could be lowered by the bike’s pc, to suit your native rules.
Talking of rules, the bike is formally categorized as a motorized scooter, moderately than an precise e-bike, because it doesn’t have pedals. It’s in the same class to electrical kick scooters, so you should have any class of driver’s license to journey it, although it may be used both on or off public roads (however verify your space’s rules for sidewalk use, helmet necessities, and so forth).
The throttle we examined was a thumb throttle, although we might have most well-liked a twist throttle. The thumb throttle is simply too twitchy, and on a motorcycle with such peaky acceleration, it might get jumpy. This was very true with shorter wheelbase settings. Owlet says there will likely be an choice for a twist throttle when the bike ships, however we’d additionally wish to see the software program reasonable acceleration on the very low finish even with the thumb throttle.
And the bike is totally throttle-driven – there are not any pedals, solely pegs. Owlet plans to supply an choice for pegs connected to the entrance to permit a distinct, extra laid-back seating place.
I examined the bike with a couple of equipment I had laying round, however due to the Owlet’s distinctive design, not all of them would match (the handlebar cupholder seen in a few of my images doesn’t include the bike, for instance, which has no bottle cage mount). You’ll in all probability desire a backpack in the event you’re planning to hold issues on this bike, moderately than saddlebags or the like.
Owlet says the bike’s 1500Wh battery (made with 2170-format cells) can take you round 40-60 miles, and comes with a 350W charger for a ~5 hour cost. Based mostly on our take a look at journey, we expect this vary is cheap or even perhaps conservative – however I’m additionally a fairly light-weight rider at 155lbs, and at all times keep in mind that e-bike ranges fluctuate extensively relying on terrain and rider.
The seat has a really cool look to it and is snug to take a seat on, partially attributable to built-in seat suspension. The entrance fork additionally has 3.5 inches of suspension journey. I’d have appreciated for each suspensions to be somewhat looser, however that’s once more seemingly attributable to my comparatively gentle weight.
All of this comes with a caveat: we rode a prototype right here, not a ultimate bike. So the bike was lacking some ultimate options, some options weren’t working (just like the headlight), and so forth. Owlet says that particularly the LCD and foot stands will likely be modified, however we think about different tweaks are doable (we hope one of many LCD modifications makes it simpler to learn with polarized sun shades – it was a bit powerful, which is true of many, however not all, bike pc screens).
Owlet additionally has plans for a future bike, the Owlet 2, which is extra solidly within the moped class, with a much less wild design and better vary and high pace. Owlet shared an early prototype truth sheet with us, however given the One is already a little bit of a methods out from supply, don’t maintain your breath for the two but.
Briefly, the Owlet is a enjoyable, quirky journey with a really design-forward ethos. When you’re searching for a motorcycle that doesn’t seem like some other, it could possibly be value wanting into. Although it’s positively on the unorthodox facet and it’s important to be prepared to simply accept its eccentricities when in comparison with extra typical two-wheeled units.
The corporate is taking $50 refundable deposits for its bike, which it has mentioned it desires to ship round March – but it surely additionally says that it’s ready for a minimal batch amount of preorders first, and that shipments would take 3-6 months after that, so we think about March could possibly be optimistic.
The bike will value $3,995, although early reservers can get it for $2,995, together with an engraved serial quantity and a 1 yr guarantee/service package deal. Owlet desires to have service areas round LA and presumably one in New York, to start with. It should distribute the bikes by delivery them on to clients.
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