Ezi Ryder Lifestyle Scooter

When Kamo Duiker told me that he was starting a business selling electric bikes I just thought it was an interesting business space to enter and engage. It immediately took me back to a dream and ambition of mine of building a car in my later forties, living on a farm where there is a race track as well. I imagined that this is how you start, you start small and you keep on pushing and discovering what works and what doesn’t work and to explore boundaries. I believe that this era where a lot of my peers are starting businesses – in 5 or 10 years time they will boom and all these businesses will be big businesses that the world will respect.

So Kamo had just delivered the latest upgrade model of the Ezi Ryder and he wanted me to test drive it and feel the difference. I think that week I had about 3 cars in my complex which is always cool because you decide what you feel like driving and you just do. I took it out for a spin the first day I got it and realized that its faster than the previous model and it had different gears as well which is a good improvement and the ride is also better. You can lock the ride now with the new key and it also has an alarm system which was not there before. The battery is also detachable and you can charge it separately while the bike is parked outside which makes it hassle free. I decided to go for a ride in Alex because its not really far and I don’t know how far the battery can go with it fully charged. The drive is definitely better and faster because of the different gears you have to adjust for different roads.

Got to my grandmothers house and people were interested in this bike that seems not to have an engine and wondering why it is silent as well. I had to explain the idea of the electric bike to them. Most of them found it interesting because most people in Alex don’t pay for electricity therefore the trick is to get the bike and everything else is sorted out.

What I find interesting is that in the near future you will find more and more locally produced bikes such as the Ezi Ryders (Ezi Ryders are not locally produced).The top speed was about 60KM/h which is impressive, the only thing that I didn’t get was that sometimes it takes a break when you stop for long and you have to switch it on and off to start again. The battery gave a return trip from Morningside which is about 17km, its not bad at all.

I know that Ray J also is pushing the same types of bikes in the United States of America and I am sure that this is the future of transport. I don’t know if Kamo has looked at the renting options or different payment options because these are available from R14 000 which is about R1100 per month for a year give or take. The two wheeler will cost you about R17 000, these are perfect for the coastal lifestyle as well.

I can’t wait to see where Kamo and his company are going to be in the next few years, but I see a prototype of their own bikes and a car. These are exciting times.