E-Rider on the road | Dr Sarah Hendrica Bickerton | Super Soco TC Max
E-Rider on the road, Electric motorcycles
Auckland, Dr Sarah Hendrica Bickerton, E-Rider on the road, Super Soco TC Max
E-Rider on the road | Dr Sarah Hendrica Bickerton – New Zealand: “I was taught to ride dirt-bikes by my mother in my teens. She was someone who rode growing up (I have old photos of her back in the 1960s on bikes) and so much of her side of the family also rode (uncles, cousins, etc) so it was very much in my blood, and something I saw as perfectly normal as a woman. As I became an adult I rode different machines, but drifted away as I moved different places around the world.
But as I was finished my doctorate, a friend came around one day with an earlier model Zero S he had just bought second hand, and I hopped on the back with him. Immediately I fell in love with the bike … the acceleration, the responsiveness, the smoothness the silence, but also the wonderful Star Wars speeder-bike sound at speed. I was hooked.
I had to wait till I had secured a permanent academic job, but once I had, I got myself a Super Soco TC Max, and I absolutely adore this bike. She’s my daily driver, zipping around the city here in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, exploring the city as much as I also commute most days on her. I get so many comments and questions, and she’s almost always a conversation starter.
I’ve enjoyed having her so much, riding has come back to me as a complete passion, and I am now attempting to save up so I can get a bigger electric motorbike. I mean, given I’m a junior academic, such saving isn’t easy! Serious dreams of needing to win the lottery it feels like. But something that will let me tour around Aotearoa New Zealand, use public chargers, to explore this amazing country on a bike that lets me experience everything, be immersed in the environment in the way only an electric motorcycle can.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love the sound of ICE bikes, the low throb of a big BMW, the distinct sound of a Ducati, the rumble of a Triumph, the growl of a Royal Enfield. But I have fallen for electric, and now love the sound & feel of them, as well as my commitment to doing my part to fight climate change. I’m trying as much as I can to promote the enjoyment of electric motorcycles on a small scale here in Aotearoa New Zealand, sharing videos I’ve taken on the bike (see below) but also sharing electric motorcycle news and insights on the socials to de-mystify things for people.
Electric motorcycles are wonderful, but we are 5-10 years behind EV cars, and we really need to work to bring people along on the journey we have embraced, because they are so worth it, and bring such joy.”
Follow Sarah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahhbickerton
Or at Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sarahhbickerton.bsky.social
Sarah’s videos on YouTube: