Juicer Electric Motorbikes | iDSC020

Juicer Electric Motorbikes – SoCal Custom eBike Start-Up Artistry, self-expression, environmentally friendly and economical – all those elements and more are poured into every Juicer Electric Bike.  And founder/CEO, David Twomey, says he’s open to prospective partners to help take his creations to the next level of production. ***Transcript*** Recording date – January 10, 2018 David Twomey: They're something of a prestige item. People love to show them off. You get a lot of comments, and they're really channeling some of the design influences from the early era of motorcycling. I was really channeling the bikes of 1910, the board track racers as they were known, and L.A. was kind of the center of that in those days. And like you say, it was just at the beginning of the time when motorcycles were starting to have custom built frames around the motors instead of just attaching a motor to a regular bicycle frame. And those early motorcycles had pedals still on them. They were often pedal start Depending on the bike, it'll recharge in 90 minutes to 2 hours. And I use a safer chemistry lithium battery, anywhere from 22 to 30 miles without pedaling a stroke. Tom Smith: Welcome iDriveSoCal, the podcast all about mobility from the automotive capital of the United States, Southern California. I'm Tom Smith. And joining me today is David Twomey. David is the CEO and founder of a really cool company that's a bike, it's an electric bike, and the company is called Juicer and Juicer is working out of the L.A. Cleantech Incubator. David, thank you very much for joining me today. David Twomey: Thanks for having me, Tom. Tom Smith: So tell me about Juicer kind of high level. Well drill down a little bit more. David Twomey: Well, Juicer is an electric bike company that makes powerful electric cruiser bikes. So these are bikes that are meant to commute in or be your weekend ride. And they're not just a to b. They're something of a prestige item. People love to show them off. You get a lot of comments, and they're really channeling some of the design influences from the early era of motorcycling. Tom Smith: And they do that very well. They look like… I'm from the Midwest so I've been to the Harley Davidson museum and some of their really old stuff. Back then you had a hard time making out if it was a bicycle or if it was a motorcycle. And your designs are beautiful and retro, I guess. Way retro. David Twomey: Right. Right. Yeah. When I started in 2010, I was really channeling the bikes of 1910, the board track racers as they were known, and L.A. was kind of the center of that in those days. And like you say, it was just at the beginning of the time when motorcycles were starting to have custom built frames around the motors instead of just attaching a motor to a regular bicycle frame. And those early motorcycles had pedals still on them. They were often pedal start. And today they'd be considered mopeds. But I still think they're maybe the most cherished era of classic motorcycles. Tom Smith: How did…and you're a designer, right? David Twomey: That's right. Tom Smith: So the engineering aspect of this is something that you farm out or something that you just self-teach, or…I get the design part they're beautiful, they're appealing, but how...? And you're also a one man band for the most part, right? David Twomey: That's right. Yeah, I didn't really have the technical expertise when I first wanted to build an EV, so I had to teach myself. And let's cast our memory back to those heady days of 2008 2009 when there really were no EVs on the road. Tesla had just started. But by the end of 2009, I think they still hadn't have 200 cars on the road yet. So if you want an electric car, you have to make it yourself. And I wanted to make one; I wanted to have one....