Yes, you can buy this, now. That’s the answer to your first question, the question that crosses everyone’s mind when they see one. This is a completely road legal, production motorcycle built in Austria and shipped around the world.
Produced by Johammer, there are in fact two models on sale, the J1.150 and the J1.200. Visually, they are both the same but the difference lies beneath the skin. One gets a capacity battery pack than the other and therefore, rides longer between charges.
It is a quite unconventional looking motorcycle with the electric motor mounted in the rear hub; not good for unsprung weight but handy when it comes to packaging the whole thing and keeping the bike simple. Stripped, the massive disparity between the front and rear wheel sizes is also much clearer, perhaps explaining why the bodywork has that all-enclosed rear wheel design. All the controls are bar-mounted, allowing for two sets of footrests – one pair at the front for that proper chopper riding position, the other more conventionally positioned below the seat.
All in all, it’s an intriguing machine, but the price means few are ever likely to experience it. The base J1.150 with the 150 kms range, costs €23,000 while the longer-range J1.200 with its 200 kms range costs €25,000.
There’s no holding back the future but for now, the future seems a bit out of reach for the average electric motorcycle enthusiast with pricing like that.