Long before Jalopnik, I worked at a General Motors dealership where I was constantly ragged on for owning a Miata or Subaru instead of a GM product. I told everyone the same thing: I’d happily buy a GM product as soon as the company made something I actually wanted to own. Now, finally, GM is targeted a market segment where it’s historically failed — me, specifically — by building something new: An electric motorcycle. Or, at least, motorcycle-ish bike.
Visordown spotted the GM patent last week, which shows a simple little one-seat vintage-ish-looking bike. It seems to fall in that nebulous middle ground between an ebike and an electric motorcycle, akin to something like the Onyx RCR. The footpegs point toward a motorcycle, but that rear hub motor won’t exactly give the bike Zero power. This GM bike, should it reach production, will likely end up a cheap, lightweight bike built for bopping around cities and drawing the ire of every cyclist you whip by in the bike lane.
I like this little thing
GM’s design looks like something the company could manufacture to capitalize on the popularity of lightweight emotos like the Sur-Ron Light Bee — a patent application date of 2023 would put it right at the point when companies were taking notice of the small electric bikes — but this seems like a more commuter-focused design than the Sur-Ron’s juvenile agility. The bike seems to have a hydraulic front brake but an unassisted lever for the rear, and the geometry alone points to a stabler bike than the Sur-Ron. Expect something more like BMW’s CE02, a little electric scooter that would be absolutely fantastic if it had a removable battery. Maybe GM will learn that lesson here.
If this little bike ends up making it to market, it’ll likely be a fantastic, lightweight way to bop around cities. It may not have the power or agility for stunting, but it doesn’t really need to — bikes like this are invariably a fun time even at low speeds. GM is truly targeting me here, and in the process it’s designed what I think could be its best vehicle since the C6 Corvette. Deck this out in a Compuware livery, and you may sell me on it right there.
