My fellow Toastmasters. What is the first thing that cross your mind when you first heard about the word ‘motorcycle’? This is what I think about motorcycle:
1. They are noisy
2. They are, in addition to cars, are the source of pollution
The number of motorcycles in Jakarta keep increasing every year. Can you imagine how the pollution from motorcycle and cars can affect the global warming? But, the increasing number of private vehicle is undertandable because public transportation in Indonesia is not reliable and hardly comfortable at all.
I live in [deleted], about 18 to 20 km depending on the route I take. It takes 1 hour and 45 minutes to get home using public transportation. 1.30 if I’m lucky, and 2 hours in my unlucky day. I am getting sick and tired of spending my time in the traffic and try to find another transportation mode for commuting.
A Ferrari can go from 0 to 100 km per hour in less than 3 second. But I bet it cannot take me home in less than one hour during rush hour. So I delete the option of buying a Ferrari. My next option is using bicycle. But, using bicycle to the office will make me sweaty, stinky, and tired. Plus there is no place to take shower at the office. So, bicycle is deleted from the list.
And then one day I find out about electric bike. How many of you have ever heard about the existence of electric bike in Indonesia? OK, electric bike, as the name implies, is a bike that use electricity as the main source of power. Instead of using gasoline, electric bike is using a battery, a Sealed Lead Acid battery, to activate the dynamo and the movement of the dynamo will push the tyre of the bike to move forward. So, the main component of an electric bike is the battery, as the main source of power, the controller, that control how many current is delivered to the dynamo. The more current that goes to the dynamo the faster you go. And the last one is the dynamo that moves the tyre. All other component is the same as the ordinary bicycle.
Electric bike comes in many shapes. The first one is exactly like the ordinary bicycle, with the pedal and a box of battery attached. The second one is exactly like the ordinary motorcycle, minus the exhaust pipe (is it muffler), and chain. The last one is hybrid, shape like the motorcycle, minus the muffler but plus the pedal.
I think, electric bike is better than ordinary motorcycle:
1. No gasoline is needed. That means you don’t have to worry about the oil price. You don’t have to wait in queue to fill in the gas tank in your motorcycle. And the most important thing is you don’t need subsidy from government so you save billions of rupiah by not buying a gasoline.
2. They are very quiet.
3. Less maintenance. All you have to do is to make sure that you charge the battery everytime after you use the bike. Make sure that apply the right pressure to the tyre. And make sure that the nut and bolt in the motorcycle is tightened.
4. No driving license or license plate is needed.
5. No need to pay taxes.
6. Last but the most important thing is that electric bike is environmentally green, because there is no pollution at all. No smoke is coming from the bike. Imagine if all the vehicle in the world doesn’t produce smoke at all, the world will become a better place to live.
As a famous preacher once put it: if you want to make a good deeds, start from small things, start from yourself, and start now. By using an electric bike, I contribute to the greener world. So, I will ask you my fellow toastmaster, “Go Green, Use eBike!”
(c) images: private collections; words: by MZ
1. They are noisy
2. They are, in addition to cars, are the source of pollution
The number of motorcycles in Jakarta keep increasing every year. Can you imagine how the pollution from motorcycle and cars can affect the global warming? But, the increasing number of private vehicle is undertandable because public transportation in Indonesia is not reliable and hardly comfortable at all.
I live in [deleted], about 18 to 20 km depending on the route I take. It takes 1 hour and 45 minutes to get home using public transportation. 1.30 if I’m lucky, and 2 hours in my unlucky day. I am getting sick and tired of spending my time in the traffic and try to find another transportation mode for commuting.
A Ferrari can go from 0 to 100 km per hour in less than 3 second. But I bet it cannot take me home in less than one hour during rush hour. So I delete the option of buying a Ferrari. My next option is using bicycle. But, using bicycle to the office will make me sweaty, stinky, and tired. Plus there is no place to take shower at the office. So, bicycle is deleted from the list.
And then one day I find out about electric bike. How many of you have ever heard about the existence of electric bike in Indonesia? OK, electric bike, as the name implies, is a bike that use electricity as the main source of power. Instead of using gasoline, electric bike is using a battery, a Sealed Lead Acid battery, to activate the dynamo and the movement of the dynamo will push the tyre of the bike to move forward. So, the main component of an electric bike is the battery, as the main source of power, the controller, that control how many current is delivered to the dynamo. The more current that goes to the dynamo the faster you go. And the last one is the dynamo that moves the tyre. All other component is the same as the ordinary bicycle.
Electric bike comes in many shapes. The first one is exactly like the ordinary bicycle, with the pedal and a box of battery attached. The second one is exactly like the ordinary motorcycle, minus the exhaust pipe (is it muffler), and chain. The last one is hybrid, shape like the motorcycle, minus the muffler but plus the pedal. I think, electric bike is better than ordinary motorcycle:
1. No gasoline is needed. That means you don’t have to worry about the oil price. You don’t have to wait in queue to fill in the gas tank in your motorcycle. And the most important thing is you don’t need subsidy from government so you save billions of rupiah by not buying a gasoline.
2. They are very quiet.
3. Less maintenance. All you have to do is to make sure that you charge the battery everytime after you use the bike. Make sure that apply the right pressure to the tyre. And make sure that the nut and bolt in the motorcycle is tightened.
4. No driving license or license plate is needed.
5. No need to pay taxes.
6. Last but the most important thing is that electric bike is environmentally green, because there is no pollution at all. No smoke is coming from the bike. Imagine if all the vehicle in the world doesn’t produce smoke at all, the world will become a better place to live.
As a famous preacher once put it: if you want to make a good deeds, start from small things, start from yourself, and start now. By using an electric bike, I contribute to the greener world. So, I will ask you my fellow toastmaster, “Go Green, Use eBike!”
(c) images: private collections; words: by MZ
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