SILENCE is the latest company looking to take advantage of public transport's slide out of public favour. Rather than just focusing on cost-effective convenient urban commuters, they have a whole fleet of bikes for a range of applications.
Regardless of how warm your affections for the internal combustion engine, times are changing, and the conventional forms of transport that fed a stream of workers into cities across the globe are looking less and less attractive.
Driving this change are companies like Silence, the latest electric scooter manufacturer to fuel the drive off public transport and onto two-wheels.
Here’s a rundown of its new models.
Silence S02 LS - £2,695
The S02 LS is aimed at riders who have short commutes into and out of the city in mind. It’s about the equivalent to a 50cc moped, with a 30mph top speed (the LS in the name stands for low speed) and a 1.5kw motor. Whisking you to work will be a 2kWh battery, that Silence claims will provide a range of around 35-miles. That means commutes of around 15-miles each way are on the cards, or slightly longer if you have the ability to charge it up at work.
The bike comes with three riding modes – Eco for the best range, City best balance of range and performance, Plus for optimum performance, and Reverse for manual handling of the bike.
Silence S02 LS Long Range - £3,595
The S02 LS Long Range has professional scooterists in its sights, with all the same features as the bike mentioned above, albeit with some extra range provided by a beefier 5.6kWh battery. Silence claim that should be good for around 91-miles of range – we assume with most time spent in the Eco battery saving mode.
Silence S01 and S02 - £4,995 and £4,695 respectively
At the business end of the range are the S01 and S02 machines, which are much more than just at home in the city. Both machines are equivalent to a 125cc machine and have a claimed range of 80-miles. The battery is a 5.6kWh pack, and the motor is 7kW (with 9kW peak power).
The differentiation between the two models comes in the form of the top speed. The S02 tops out at 56mph, while the S01 will reaches terminal velocity at 62mph. Not enough for any motorway work but at least dual carriageways won’t be quite as dicey.
Both the S01 and S02 also come equipped with a Sport riding mode that forgets about battery conservation and focuses all of the bike’s power to the back wheel.
Connectivity to the Silence App
A dedicated Silence app, available for Apple and Android devices, allows you to control the bike and check its charge status and activate remote lock/unlock, all from your phone.
The Silence app also includes navigation. As well as being able to plan and follow a route with Google Maps, you can also check journey history and the app even tells you how much CO2 each journey has saved.
Every Silence e-moto scooter has its own on-board GPS receiver, to help you check its real-time location from the app and even find it in car parks.
Those sharing their scooter can set different user profiles, to save favourite destinations and journey data. The app even allows friends to share a code to unlock and start the Silence, without needing the keys.
Removable batteries
The Silence e-moto scooter features an ingenious, patented click-and-go portable battery system, with its own integrated carry handle and trolley wheels. When you arrive at home, at work, or even at the coffee shop, you simply unlock the seat and slide out the battery. Just extend the handle and wheel it with you like a small bag.
If you don’t want to take the battery, it remains securely locked in the scooter chassis.
Visordown’s take on the electric revolution
There are some who believe that electric bike brands like Silence are trying to steal away the petrol engine and replace it with an electric motor. Personally, I think that’s a pretty blinkered and narrow-minded view.
Brands like Silence really aren’t really targeting owners of 1000cc sports bikes or members of the GSX-R1000 Track Rider’s Guild. What they are doing is offering those who don’t feel comfortable travelling by conventional forms of urban transport to get off the bus, train and tube, and get out on two wheels instead.
And that’s a good thing. Once you get that buzz that can only come from riding on two wheels, you’ve got it for life. And who’s to say that those owners who found they actually enjoyed the scooter life won’t go and add a petrol-powered machine to their garage in a couple of years’ time.
Any extra bums on seats in the motorcycle world is a very good thing in my mind.
For more information on the range of bikes from Silence, head to: silenceuk.com
