Practical notes for anyone who rides, buys or keeps an older motorcycle.
Rides and testing · September 1, 2026
Sturgis 2026: making the cut, and getting there on electrons
Our Detroit-built electric chopper was picked for Motorcycles as Art at the Buffalo Chip. Then we towed it 1,300 miles to Sturgis behind an electric van.
3 min read
Ruminating · July 6, 2026
The freedom to build
On America's 250th, the founding promise most people never think about, the one that created the patent, and what it has to do with a Detroit motorcycle shop.
3 min read
Shandoka story · February 4, 2026
Winter is for building
A Virago 535 speedometer finds a new home, and Detroit design students take on a motorcycle safety app with Shandoka.
2 min read
Ruminating · November 3, 2025
We asked the AI to write our holiday pitch
We asked a popular AI writing tool for an over-the-top holiday pitch for electric motorcycles. Here's what came back, and why we still write our own.
2 min read
Shandoka story · April 3, 2025
After the storm: Helene, California, and a new home in Detroit
Hurricane Helene hit our Mars Hill workshop, a California event took our fleet west, and an invite to Newlab made Detroit the new home of Shandoka.
4 min read
Events · September 12, 2024
Fall is for motorcycle gatherings
Back at the SmokeOut Rally in Salisbury, North Carolina, then north to Detroit's D.A.M. Show and the Stockbridge All Clubs Day in Michigan.
2 min read
Racing and records · August 24, 2024
Competition, improvement, and the things that drive us
Competing against time, in the same time, and across time, and why Shandoka wants to set an electric world record for distance in 24 hours.
3 min read
Racing and records · July 27, 2024
Going racing: Super Hooligan
NASCAR shows an electric prototype, and Shandoka wins preliminary approval for the MotoAmerica Super Hooligan series with a 1982 Virago 920.
2 min read
Ruminating · July 22, 2024
Why every ad has a motorcycle in it
Fewer than 4% of US vehicles are motorcycles, yet they sell everything on TV. Even people who don't ride know motorcycles are cool.
1 min read
Rides and testing · May 22, 2024
Tail of the Dragon, 1,300 miles in
Our electrified 1983 Yamaha takes on US 129's 318 curves in 11 miles, with 1,300 miles on the odometer.
2 min read
Rides and testing · April 12, 2024
Daytona Bike Week 2024: MidKnight on the dyno
Ten days at Daytona Bike Week, and the day a portable dyno showed up 75 feet from our tent.
2 min read
Know-how · January 12, 2024
Read your tire date codes
What a tire date code is, where to find it on the sidewall, and why a five-year-old motorcycle tire that looks new can still fail.
3 min read
Shandoka story · November 16, 2023
Mars Hill: first looks at our new home
Why Shandoka set up its first building hub in Mars Hill, North Carolina, on the old Honeywell plant site at the edge of the Smoky Mountains.
1 min read
Rides and testing · August 3, 2023
First rides: country roads, a mountain and the interstate
Summer 2023 on the first Shandoka bikes, from a walk-around of the XS400 adapter to a silent mountain ride and 81 mph on the interstate.
2 min read
Ruminating · April 22, 2023
We are Pavlov's dog
A century of loud engines has trained us to hear power. What that means for builders, rallies, and an electric motorcycle that stands on its own mettle.
3 min read
Ruminating · January 10, 2023
Raw science of electric vehicles
Professor Julius Sumner Miller, how to make a magnet, and why riding on electrons is as human as a campfire.
2 min read
Shandoka story · August 20, 2022
How I founded Shandoka
From a hydrogen fuel project in Telluride to a dead bike in a Sandy, Utah garage, the founder on where Shandoka started.
4 min read
Know-how · August 18, 2022
The fuel is the problem
Ethanol fuel is hard on older motorcycles, and gas stations will get harder to find. Why electric conversion keeps a classic on the road.
2 min read
