Erik Buell’s newest creation is edging closer to showing up in driveways around America. Buell is pitching his Fuell Fllow electric motorcycle as not only his most innovative design yet, but a vehicle so good you won’t want to take a bus or a train to your next city destination. For the price of $10,495, Fuell says you can place an order today for an electric motorcycle with 47 HP, over 150 miles of range, and can fast-charge in under 30 minutes. Let’s take a look at what you’d be getting if the company hits its estimated launch date of late 2024.
Back in December 2022, I wrote about how AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer and engineering legend Erik Buell teamed up with Scuderia Ferrari F1 team principal Frédéric Vasseur and entrepreneur François-Xavier Terny to create Fuell. Together, the men have created an e-mobility company where Erik’s wild ideas are allowed to flourish. Erik has long wanted to create futuristic personal transportation devices but until now, hasn’t really been able to see these dreams become reality.
Fuell was founded in 2019 and that year, it announced it had the Fuell Fllow electric motorcycle in the works with a planned release date in 2020. Of course, the world changed in 2020 with the pandemic, and that pumped the brakes on the Fllow. Investors then got cold feet, leaving the Fuell team without funding to put the motorcycle into production.
That wasn’t going to stop Fuell, and the company decided to fund the motorcycle with the sales of the company’s ebikes, with pre-orders, and through crowdfunding. Last week, Fuell released an update on this project, which includes more details about the motorcycle, Erik Buell’s dreams for the future, and the company moving from pre-orders to full-price orders.
From Sportbikes To Urban Mobility
In case you haven’t been paying attention to the whirlwind of news around the Buell name, the Buell Motorcycle Company was revived back in 2021, but Erik has nothing to do with the reincarnated brand bearing his name. That company was restarted by the liquidator that scooped up the assets from Harley-Davidson and Erik Buell Racing, respectively.
Instead, Erik Buell has been chasing dreams he’s long had and with this venture, Buell is looking toward the future. Buell says his electric motorcycle dreams even date back to the Harley-Davidson Buell days, but back then, Motor Company brass were allegedly not interested. Here’s what he has to say about why he’s making electric bicycles and now an electric motorcycle:
When I look to the future, there is one compelling solution for urban/suburban transportation. Well, two actually, two wheels… two wheels in a single track with green power. Whether it’s a human-pedaled bicycle, a pedal-assisted electric bicycle, or an electric motor, two wheels are the clear solutions for urban mobility.
Mass transport works to some extent, but it’s just not a pleasant experience, and it only gets you vaguely near the place you want to be. It’s also a very expensive endeavor that burdens city budgets. Sometimes these huge expensive vehicles are full and sometimes nearly empty. In either case, they keep running from point A to B at Y o’clock even though you need to get from C to D at Z o’clock.
In Europe where streets are smaller, the support and infrastructure for two-wheelers are exploding. In the US it is starting as well. In Asia, two-wheelers have always been the solution, and now the growth is in making them greener, less polluting, and less noisy. Replacing the 60 million new gasoline-powered two-wheelers sold annually with electricity creates a huge impact on quality of life.
In short, Erik believes that two-wheeled personal transportation is the future of urban mobility. Why ride a bus when you can ride an electric bike or motorcycle that gets you exactly where you want to go when you want to be there? Of course, this all sounds pretty weird from the engineer who used to pair Harley-Davidson Sportster engines to motorcycles with novel floating brakes and frames that carried fuel. The Buell Lightning XB9SX sitting in my mini warehouse is the polar opposite of Buell’s dream future here. But Erik’s quite serious about this new direction:
A well-designed two-wheeler becomes one with the rider, with speed and range far beyond the rider’s ability. Those great two-wheelers make you feel like you have superpowers!
We have to blend this feeling with the needs of today and tomorrow. So quite frankly, innovation is critical – you cannot build a new future hanging onto the old ways. New urban electric vehicles must not only feel approachable but also integrate with the digital environment and technology that is part of our society.
We Now Know More About The Fuell Fllow
As Fuell’s estimated production date edges closer, the company has received validation on the market testing platform Prelaunch.com. After that success, the company revealed more information about the Fuell Fllow-1S electric motorcycle. Erik says that the Fllow is being developed with a sporty style but with the utility needed by urban dwellers and suburban commuters. To the Fuell team, this means building a motorcycle with the acceleration of a superbike, the agility of a middleweight, more storage than a scooter, charging speeds as fast as an electric car, and an upgradeable modular battery.
Erik says that the Fuell Fllow should make more sense for urban riders than a gas-powered motorcycle:
There is no argument that currently, with battery technology as it stands, gas-powered motorcycles designed and used in traditional ways seem to be a more rational choice. Yet when you take into account the growing restrictions in city centers, and you focus on the duty cycles on urban/suburban use, the relevance of new types of urban scooters and urban motorcycles makes a lot more sense. Even more so when you integrate high voltage systems into your design, to make them compatible with automotive fast charging stations already installed in those areas.
Until now, Fuell hasn’t revealed much in the way of specs. We knew the motorcycle would have a 47 HP hub motor, a 10 kWh battery, a top speed of 85 mph, and a projected maximum range of over 150 city miles. Its style also looks like the natural evolution of the weird machines Buell designed under the Harley-Davidson umbrella. Now, Fuell is giving us more information on how it wants to achieve these numbers.
Starting with that motor, Fuell says it’s a patent-pending axially integrated transverse flux motor developed by Buell himself. This puts out the aforementioned 47 ponies. An interesting number is torque, which comes in at 553 lb-ft. Fuell doesn’t say how it arrived at that number, but it has become common for EV motorcycle manufacturers to claim mountains of torque. This motor is said to propel the Fuell Fllow-1S to 62 mph in 3.5 seconds and onto a sustained top speed of 85 mph. A hub motor was chosen to eliminate a final drive while keeping weight low. From Fuell:
We knew we needed wheel designs that would work with the large-diameter electric motor technology we are considering: transverse flux. We have come up with a design that works well with this technology: the design allows a sealed housing for these large-diameter designs, but keeps everything as light as possible and allows wheel/tire changes without disturbing the motor seals. Also, a design that would prevent any wheel rim and spoke deformation from lateral and vertical loads from being transferred to the motor housings.
Because the drive motor is a large diameter, the drive torsion forces go from the rotor out to the rim, therefore the spokes from the rotor carry no torsional loads, only road loads – like the ZTL brake system physics.
Also notable is that there will be a version of the Fuell Fllow with a 15 HP motor. The Fllow-1 will be targeted at jurisdictions where lower power machines have less stringent licensing requirements.
Moving to the battery, Fuell says it’s a major structural component of the motorcycle. Buell is famous for his weird chassis work and this is no different. The chassis is said to be a magnesium monocoque and the 10 kWh lithium battery is a large element of it with its own magnesium casing. With that in mind, apparently the motorcycle isn’t married to the battery forever. Fuell says that as technology advances, Fuell Fllow riders will be able to upgrade their batteries.
This modular battery is a 400V unit with a CCS charger. When hooked up to a fast charger, the motorcycle can fill up in about 30 minutes. When you charge at home, the bike’s onboard 750W charger can do the job in 10 hours. Optional will be a 3.3 kW charger capable of charging the motorcycle in 2.5 hours and a 6.6 kW charger that fills the bike in 1.25 hours.
Something I noticed with the pictures is a lack of a rear brake next to the pegs. Fuell says the motorcycle will come with a patent-pending linked braking system. This appears to be activated with the right lever. The motorcycle also features regenerative braking at the rear wheel activated by said braking system. Other systems include ABS, collision warning, traction control, blind spot monitoring, wheelie control, navigation, and more.
All of this rides on a motorcycle with a 53.9-inch wheelbase, a 30.1-inch seat height, and a weight of 400 pounds. There’s a monoshock in the rear, inverted 40mm telescopic forks up front, and 50 liters of storage in the fake tank. Fuell says there’s enough storage in there for a helmet and a computer or a helmet and a bag.
Made In America, But Still A Long Wait
Fuell says the motorcycle features 60 percent fewer parts than a gas bike and could be assembled in 40 percent of the time. The Fllow will be assembled here in the United States with parts sourced from here and other Western countries. At this current time, Fuell has a working prototype. Production is estimated to begin at the end of next year. When it launches, Fuell is currently targeting an MSRP of $12,995 for the Fllow-1S. It’s unclear what the 15 HP Fllow-1 will cost.
If you’re interested in getting your hands on one, Fuell has moved on from the pre-order stage to the ordering stage, where you pay full price. For right now, you can click here to place an order for a Fuell Fllow-1S for $10,495. Though, Fuell does note that as the company exceeds its targets, the price is subject to change. You should also know that Fuell does not currently have a hard production date, so keep in mind that if you do order, there is still a wait of at least over a year long. And as I said before, this project is still crowdfunded.
As a huge fan of Buell’s work, I’m excited to see this project rolling along despite the delays. Fuell has to overcome a lot of roadblocks to put this to market, and we’re still cheering the team on. If Fuell can pull off the numbers it’s promising and reach production, this motorcycle should make a fine and stylish electric commuter. You bet I’m going to be swinging a leg over one the moment Fuell lets me.
(Images: Fuell)
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Seems to be a bit of hate for buell and some of his comments here. The fact of the matter is that most people don’t want to take public transit. In some areas and cases it’s fine, in others there’s poor to no access, or it’s just not particularly safe. There are few instances where it doesn’t significantly increase commute time. While riders here stop for weather, plenty in Europe commute year round, and you hardly see anywhere to park a car in places like Italian cities. Bikes really do make sense for lots of people, even if they don’t admit or don’t like it here in the states (ignoring the snow covered north). This company has already put out e-bikes so it’s not like it’s just vaporware. And while I don’t think he’s some kind of engineering god, he isn’t afraid to go against the grain and try something interesting.
Regarding this bike, I’d say it’s a big miss to not include a rear brake lever. I drag mine all the time at slow speeds.
No hate, looks like a cool machine, just a weird jab based on the goals mentioned in the article. Generally speaking, if you support single drivers moving out of cars and onto bikes/motos, the next step in efficiency (reducing costs, pollution and congestion) is mass transit.
True, but that’s assuming you could get people out of cars and into mass transit. What would a 30 min commute look like if you now have to walk a mile to the bus stop and then a half mile to work, while the bus takes a route only vaguely in the direction you need to go? It becomes an hour. Plus, if cars suddenly weren’t an option, houses/apartments near bus lines and subways will skyrocket, pushing lower income people out and unequally burdening them with commute times (which triggers the buzzword in this country-racist). Legalize lane splitting and that commute drops to 20 min on a bike. Get enough people on bikes and congestion/road wear/parking issues drop rapidly.
I would agree though that e bikes would be a better and cheaper solution for anyone in urban areas.
As someone who (depending on mood, weather, what time I got up, if I want a coffee on my way etc) walks 850m for a train, puts all my safety gear on and takes the scooter (Yamaha Nmax 155) or drives about 30km each way for work (basically it takes about 1.5hrs door to door with walk, traffic etc no issue) the spec of this would work great for me but advocating motorbikes etc over mass transit (where its an option) forgets that a) if everyone did there would be no time benefit from lane-splitting because it would be like Bali or KL, just scooter traffic jams instead of car traffic jams, b) any time saved lane splitting at least on my hour plus commute is lost changing in and out of my riding gear (textile Ixon jacket, kevlar jeans, boots and gloves etc) and c) weather can suck or just be impractical especially hanging wet gear in an office environment. Trains here are pretty great and the hilly walk no doubt will do my fatass some good but in the car I have a radio, a roof and a coffee.
It’s being marketed as a urban mobility option, yet it has none of the urban mobility perks of a traditional scooter shape. Plus, hub motor? Come on. What is the point of this thing? Spend the extra cash and get a BMW CE04, or save a couple bucks and get the CE02. Or go gas and get an XMax or…
owned 5 bikes and currently have a scooter. Scoots awesome but wearing a backpack meets any practicality needs on a bike plus your undercarriage has a heater sitting over the engine rather than having the great bloody valley of wind blasting up my junk on the scoot. CE4 looks amazing though I’d probably have one if I could afford it anyway
“Mass transport works to some extent, but it’s just not a pleasant experience, and it only gets you vaguely near the place you want to be. It’s also a very expensive endeavor that burdens city budgets.“
No thanks, I prefer my “innovation”without a helping of undermined public services.
Plus, the idea that public transit burdens city budgets is a short sighted view of costs. If you look at total costs, public transit is far cheaper than people owning and operating individual vehicles. Purchase price of the vehicle, insurance, gas/electricity, road construction costs, road maintenance costs, parking…
Yup. It’s safer, cheaper, and better for the environment.
I’m all for motorcycles and bicycles over cars for personal transport, but why the dunk on transit?
Heck, they completely ignored the fact that roads are a “burden on city budgets”.
The fact public transit in many cities has degraded to mobile homeless shelters/mental health wards/contagion Petri dishes/assault rooms/toilets doesn’t help.
I don’t even use transit that much myself at the moment, but it’s the best option for a lot of people, and I have been dependent on it in the past. Continuing to underinvest in transit always makes those issues worse, so I will continue to be an advocate, and push back against those who claim it’s a public burden when it’s very clearly the opposite.
I love the gumption, but I don’t think I can get over an electric motorcycle being called the [sic] “fuel flow.”
I backed/own the Fuell Flluid, their e-bicycle. It’s super well-made and easily the nicest pedal-assist bike I’ve ever seen… but it’s plagued with 1st-generation oddities like underwhelming cable management, no mounting points for standard racks/fenders, non-standard stuff all around actually, etc. The 2nd-gen is on sale now and maybe? fixes some of those problems. At any rate, their customer service is instantaneous and it seems like they really mean it when they claim a 10-year warranty. I just had a crank arm replaced by them at no charge no questions asked within 24 hours of identifying the problem.
All that to say that I’ll wait for the 2nd-gen Fllow. I’m not flush enough to early-adopt at that price. I have a sneaking suspicion that in an effort to disrupt the paradigm this bike might make some decisions that are solved problems (see: Tesla & stalks).
0 to 62 in 3.5 seconds doesn’t sound stellar considering they’re claiming 553 lb-ft of torque. Is that quick in the motorcycle world? As someone else mentioned, I’d be concerned about that unsprung mass there: seems that wouldn’t play nice with the potholes we often have in our urban centers.
on the flip side, though not a motorcycle guy, I’ve been hearing about Erik and his ideas for years now, and would like to see one of his visions pan out. I mean, if you can’t root for the underdog dreamer, what’s the point?
No, not really – it’s mid-pack for 600cc sport bikes – but this isn’t positioned as an all-out performance machine.
It does have a lot of torque, but that was going to happen with an electric motor.
What’s interesting is decent torque has always been a Buell characteristic given the mostly HD-derived engines. But roadracer that he is, I guess Erik never liked playing that up.
It’s been a few years, but IIRC one of the original selling points of the Buell 1200s was the significant low end and midrange power compared to inline 4s. It made them easier to ride: if you were in the wrong gear coming out of a corner, you would have enough oomph to mitigate the effects of the mistake.
Man this ticks off all the boxes. Decent range, styling and most importantly… price point.
BUT we don’t know when this bike is coming out, what the final price will be and how long Fuell will stick around for service support if it goes under.
Also I wonder how one goes about changing a tire with a hub motor wheel.
Good point on changing a tire, but to be honest, a flat on a bike was never a 10-minute quick-fix like it is on a car.
You can still plug it. Plugs are a contentious thing in the motorcycle world, but I’ve used them for years without issues.
The hub motor doesn’t really affect tire changes that much; wheel is much heavier though.
Are you sure Erik is still involved in this project? I’d fact check that I haven’t heard anything from him on this recently.
Did anyone think to ask him if they’ll also also offer it with a NACS port, or, if they’ll be switching from CCS to NACS?
Erik has been giving me snake oil salesman vibes for a while. EBR was run into the ground partially due to a Hero deal falling though but still. The wheelnerds had an interview with Erik from April 19th 2019 called Things in the Frame. Its now 4 years later. Im getting Elio vibes.
Huh. Seems like a bit of un-sprung weight back there.
Also disappointed in the lack of perimeter brake.
I can ride the CTA for 11 and a half years at that price. I’ll stick with the bus, thanks. Cool bike, love to have it, etc etc but he’s gonna have to come waaaaaaaaay down to compete with good transit. (Add a bicycle to the equation and most of the city during motorcycle months is pretty easily and cheaply accessible.)
E-bikes are the perfect last mile solution that makes public transportation work for me. I load my bike on the train, sleep through a 55 mile commute, and laugh at the poor suckers stuck in traffic in sunny SoCal. When I get to LA, I can be anywhere Downtown in 10-15 minutes and never have trouble parking!
Evidently there is no rain/snow/cold/heat waves in Erik’s 2 wheeled utopian city centers. Insert eye-roll emoji.
I love the entire design ethos of the HD powered Buell’s and have lusted after an XB9 for a long time, so I really enjoy the man’s work. I just wish he would have said “I want to build cool motorcycles and Electric is where the buzz is right now” rather than try to sell it as some urban mobility panacea. It’s a motorcycle, with all the benefits and drawbacks that entails.
He’s been on about this for some time. When Buell folded, he had a statement to the effect of still believing in personal mobility solutions. I remember thinking “Huh? That sounds like there’s some Rush-style dystopia on the horizon….seems a tad pessimistic”
“…passed the Motor Law” wasn’t meant to be an instructional lyric, yet here we are. *points to London*
I’m fine with motor law, so long as I’m not pursued by gleaming alloy air-cars two lanes wide.
Nothing a one lane bridge can’t fix.
[anticipation intensifies]
Dammit.
Anyway, this is still really interesting and I appreciate his motivation.
I too am cheering them on. It’s a lot of hurdles to bring something like this to production, and we have all seen too many pre-orders end up being 10-20k more than what was projected. I don’t see that here, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it go up 3-5k.